I would like to go to paris for a few days before our cruise. What is the best way to travel from Paris to Southhampton England. Plane, train, Ferry or what. Thank you for any information.

There are a couple of direct flights a day with Flybe (from CDG) and Air France (from Orly, which is actually closer to central Paris) to Southampton airport, which is about 7 miles from the cruise terminal

All other options take a great deal longer. There are ferries from Portsmouth to Normandy, but you're looking at close to 18 hrs each way that way from Southampton to Paris. There's no nearby station on the railway line to Paris: you have to go up to London and cross it. Allowing for checkin time, you need to leave Southampton 3 hrs before the Paris train leaves.

You could also fly to Heathrow then take a National Express coach to Southampton or Eurostar to St Pancras, cross central London to Waterloo then train to Southampton - see Megatrain for very low fares

By train and ship, you can get a train from Paris at 1845 to Caen, taxi to the port, then the overnight ferry to Portsmouth, and a train or bus to Southampton, arriving at about 0900.

OK. It's only 14.25 hours by ferry.

But it's still just 50 mins from CDG to Southampton airport, 3.2 nanoseconds from plane to cab rank at Britain's most user-friendly airport and 15 mins taxi to the cruise ship.

here is a recent thread - ignore the bickering, there is actually some really good information here -

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-356383-2.cfm

Thank you so much, it seems like flying is the most pratical way. Donna

I cannot find the airline from Paris to Southhampton or even Portsmouth. Thank you

www.airfrance.com

from: Paris (all airports)
to: Southhampton, Eastleigh - (SOU) - UK

looks like a flight from Orly at 1:45pm arriving in SOU at 2:05pm. not sure if that is daily or not.

I assume you know to build in an extra day or a few hours to make the cruise ? You may want to consider taking the Eurostar to London and spending an overnight in London and then taking the train. No matter how close the places, I would never fly the day of the cruise... too many horror stories. Might not be convenient to do so if you are packing heavy as most cruisers do...

I am flying from Southampton to Paris CDG on Saturday morning and returning Sunday evening.

My flights are with www.flybe.com

They are a budget airline, and you get the best prices booking as early as you can.

I've paid around £80 return.

flybe also fly to Orly

"<i>I cannot find the airline from Paris to Southhampton</i>"

see flanner's first post: >>>. . . couple of direct flights a day with <B><u>Flybe</B></u> (from CDG) and <B><u>Air France</B></u> (from Orly) <<<

(surfmom and julia_t provided links to both airlines)

"I cannot find the airline from Paris to Southhampton"

Try looking for Southampton with only 1 "h". Flanner is absolutely correct. I live no more than 10 minutes from Southampton airport, and would not contemplate any other way of getting to Paris (now that Eurostar no longer departs from Waterloo)

Whoops, one minor point - look at luggage allowances on Flybe - it is a budget airline, and cost per suitcase can rise alarmingly.

If flying becomes prohibitively expensive, then consider Paris to London on Eurostar (< 3hours), cross London to Waterloo and take train to Southampton (about 90 minutes)

"<i>Try looking for Southampton with only 1 "h".</i>"

Yep - spelling IS important

<<< Whoops, one minor point - look at luggage allowances on Flybe - it is a budget airline, and cost per suitcase can rise alarmingly. >>>

That's why I mentioned the Eurostar option - effectively no weight limits except what they can carry

>>>I cannot find the airline from Paris to Southhampton or even Portsmouth<<<

Just for completeness here, there is NO airport in Portsmouth (it closed down many years ago). Southampton to Paris on either FlyBe or Air France is a breeze compared with the other options suggested. I'd be surprised if the airfare, even including bags, would seem expensive in relation to the total cost of your trip.