amyjenkins91

I am staying in Oxford this summer. I will be very busy and only have 1 day that I could possibly go to Paris. Would it be possible to leave in the morning from Oxford and spend a day in Paris and return to Oxford that night? I don't mind not seeing much in Paris, I'd just like to go. Would this be too difficult for what it's worth?

latedaytraveler

Amy, it is certainly doable. If you check London tours, you will find all kinds of options for spending a day in Paris.

amyjenkins91

Thanks

amyjenkins91

Any thoughts on Cardiff for a day trip? Or any other ideas? I looked into prices for Paris and am wondering if I could go somewhere cheaper.

KayF

Will you be spending any time in London on your visit? If not, then have the day in London, maybe visit a museum, browse some shops, get half price tickets for the theatre, do a guided walk with www.walks.com - lots of things to do in London!

I suppose you could visit Paris for the day but you wouldn't have much time there. You'd need to get the train or bus from Oxford to St Pancras first, then the Eurostar to Paris takes about 2 hours. You need to arrive about 45 mins before the Eurostar departs, to allow for security and immigration. You go through British and French immigration at St Pancras so when you arrive in Paris, you just walk off the train and start your sightseeing.

You do arrive in the centre of Paris, not out at an airport so then you just need to get the metro to wherever you fancy going. London Walks also have some walks (in English) in Paris if you like that sort of thing. If you book as soon as tickets become available - 3 months prior - you should be able to get Eurostar tickets for £60 return.

Kay

suze

Paris shouldn't be expensive if you just go on your own. Other than the cost of transportation, and a couple meals which you'd need wherever you are, you could just walk around and see the sights of central Paris on foot using a street map. It wouldn't have to cost much at all.

amyjenkins91

I'll be in London for about 6 days during my 3 1/2 week stay. Paris is sounding more and more difficult, so as much as I'd like to see it, I'm doubtful I will on this trip.

Thanks for all the information!

antoallison

I would not bother with Cardiff - I spent over a year there and there is not enough to do to warrant a day in the city - even from Oxford. Have you seen Bath - much more scenic for a day out.

alanRow

"Doing" Paris as a day trip from central London is easy - but it's not from Oxford unless you fly from Heathrow. The Oxford Bus Company has a coach service between Oxford & Paris. Even then I think there are better places to see on a day trip

Steve_Ricks

"If you book as soon as tickets become available - 3 months prior - you should be able to get Eurostar tickets for £60 return."

WRONG and WRONG. Eurostar tickets available 4 months prior. Wait until 3 months and the best prices will be gone.

Let's be careful out there!

flanneruk

Lots of us go to Paris for the day from the Oxford area reasonably frequently. None of us delude ourselves we're "seeing" Paris: we go for a quick meeting, a new exhibition, or for a spouse's birthday treat lunch. Occasionally we might just about merge two of these. I honestly don't know whether the logistics let you do anything touristy of any substance - but I can't understand why you're deciding not to go on the basis of a couple of uninformed pieces of bad information from people who don't live here and haven't bothered reading your question.

The easiest way is to drive to Ebbsfleet or Ashford (about a 2 hr drive from most of the area) to pick up a Eurostar, which gets you into the centre and lets you walk straight to a cab, bus stop or Metro platform without messing about with immigration.

If you're relying on public transport, Oxford has almost ceaseless buses and trains into half a dozen airports with flights to Paris. From central Oxford, the most time-efficient way is to get the hourly, 65 min, train to Southampton Airport, the world's most customer-friendly international transportation interchange, though you need to check via the airport website and www.nationalrail.co.uk whether there are trains early enough to get you to your plane. From the platform, if you've checked in online, it's less than 3 mins to airport security. Air France flights to Orly get you into Paris quicker than Flybe flights to CDG.

There's no Oxford-Paris bus service. You COULD get a bus to London, then to Paris (google Eurolines), but it'd take forever.

Many people living in Oxford who make this journey delude themselves they'll save the planet by getting the absurd environmentally destructive train from central London - some even going do far as to take their own bike for the cross-London connection. It's almost always a great deal quicker, though, to get the bus (every 20-30 mins: about 75 mins, depending on traffic) to Heathrow then pick up a conventional flight on BA or Air France. Book the plane a few months ahead, and prices are comparable with low-cost airlines from Birmingham (a one-hour train ride away) or Luton (a 90 min bus ride away), both of which have less frequent flights and slightly messier connections involving getting a bus between the terminal and a slightly distant off-airport railway or bus station.

Though there are frequent direct buses to the terminals at Stansted, they take 2 hrs or more and Paris flight frequency is low.

alanRow

"Though there are frequent direct buses to the terminals at Stansted, they take 2 hrs or more and Paris flight frequency is low."

That's "low" as in "non-existent".

There are only 3 London airports that have flights to Paris - Heathrow, Luton & London City. From Oxford you either use Heathrow or go to Southampton.

Odin

<<Air France flights to Orly get you into Paris quicker than Flybe flights to CDG.>>

There are no Flybe services to CDG from SOU, they codeshare with AF to ORY. Birmingham is a good option from Oxford, with services to both ORY and CDG on Flybe and AF