Paris to London
 

My wife and I wouod like to travel from Paris to London in early June. We would like to do this by train to the west coast of France that would connect to a channel ferry. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

hi Marty,

Although you do not give specifics (how long in london, return to paris etc?), the fastest and cheapest way to go from paris to london will always be on the Eurostar, as long as you are booking in advance.

I would recommend you checking them out at www.eurostar.com.

The eurostar is the fast speed train that travels from london to paris and return, many times daily. It leaves Waterloo station in london and arrives at Gard du Nord in paris and returns the same way. The route it takes is from london to chunnel to calais to paris and return.

Even if you are not going to use the return, the least expensive ticket is the advance leisure return. DO NOT PURCHASE A ONE WAY TICKET. it will be more expensive and is not necessary.

hope this helps.

I think you are imagining something that does not really exist - - especially if you mean traveling around the Brittany peninsula - - that would require a serious ocean-going vessel, and as far as I know, there simply is no market for such a route.

I don't think there is even any service west of Dieppe. Hoverspeed perates service from Dieppe to Newhaven.

Normandy and Brittany are such worthwhile destinations - - I might suggest planning a route that takes you to some of the jewels throughout the NORTHwest of France. Then to get easily back to the UK look into some of the very low-cost routes served by Ryanair - - such as Dinard, Brest or La Rochelle.

Best wishes,

Rex

You can get from St Malo, Cherbourg or Le Harve to Portsmouth, and Cherbourg to Bournemouth. But I don't think it is very practical unless you plan a few days for the journey.

You can get from London > Paris in 3 hours and avoid the frequently VERY rough channel crossing. Except for the short Calais to Dover route, all other Channel crossings involve long - sometimes overnight, voyages.

The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European Timetable. The map on page 516 shows the boats that sail from Normandy and Britanny to the West of England and Portsmouth, and you can look up sailing days and fares by using Google. These are not ocean-going cruise liners, but are very well appointed, as the photos on site will show you. The ships have stabilisers, and the June seas are peaceful. You see that this is an overnight journey, and does not take a few days. Your big problem is to stay in bed long enough on the morning you arrive. You could e mail the two companies to ask them whether they let foot passengers lie in, but I doubt they do. I am showing weekday trains: those at weekends run a little later in France and a little earlier in England.

P & O Ferries
For the longest night on the boat: Paris St Lazare 1829 to Cherbourg 2149. Cherbourg 2300 or 2345 to Portsmouth 0645. Portsmouth Harbour 0801 to London Waterloo 0939.
Otherwise: Paris St Lazare 1930 to Le Havre 2140. Le Havre 2330 to Portsmouth 0545. Portsmouth Harbour 0649 to London Waterloo 0831.

Brittany Ferries
Paris St Lazare 1905 to Caen 2113. (Bus an hour from Caen to Ouistreham). Ouistreham 2330 to Portsmouth 0600. Portsmouth Harbour 0649 to London Waterloo 0831
Paris St Lazare 1829 to Cherboutg 2149. Cherbourg 2230 or 2345 to Poole 0600. Poole 0648 to London Waterloo 0847

Please write if I can help further. Welcome to Europe.

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The fare from Ouistreham to Portsmouth in June for two people in their cabin with shower is 224 euros. But both companies web sites are hard to use, and I think I would book by phone.

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Well one way to do it would be to take the train from Paris to Calis, then take the short ferry over to Dover (only an hour or so, don't remember exactly). Then you'd need to get another train to London, or rent a car and drive around southern England and end up in London. You didn't say WHY you wanted to take a channel ferry. If it's because you thought that was the easiest way, then, as pointed out above, the Eurostar direct from Paris to London is the fastest and easiest. But if it's becuase you WANT to do a water crossing over the channel then what I suggested will work. I did it in reverse a few years ago but it was because I wanted to see the white cliffs of Dover and take a ferry. Plus I had been driving around southern England anyway so it was easier to leave the car there than to backtrack all the way to London just to get the Eurostar.

Isabel: You are right of course - unfortunately Calais is nowhere near the west coast of France that MartySteffens asked about.