re: Easy Jet vs. Eurostar (between London & Paris)
 

My husband and I are trying to decide between taking the Eurostar (round trip) from London to Paris, OR, flying Easy Jet.

We will be leaving London (staying in Chelsea)on a Thursday in May, returning to London on a Saturday, in June. (Before departing to Pairs, we will have stayed a week-ish in London. After Paris, we will be heading to the Cotswolds for four days, then home. This part of the trip is booked and we are not changing the route.)

We can take Easy Jet @ 2:00ish pm (Thursday, May 26) from Luton airport to Charles de Gaulle, and return home on a 12:25 pm flight (Saturday, June 4) for a round trip price of $238.99 (plus transportation to and from the airports). At that point, we will be renting a car & driving to the Cotswolds.

The Eurostar option is more flexible with times. However, when we figure in the cost and complexity of traveling to the Eurostar stations, then to the car rental agency at the airport (or wherever), etc., it seems to be quite a bit more expensive and a big hassle.

We're trying to figure out (as soon as possible) which option we'd be better off taking. We know we don't want to be driving in the city, as we have never driven in the UK, and have read enough to be wise not to take the risk from London.

We also need to consider transportation between our apartments in both London (Chelsea) & Pairs (the 6th arr.), and that we'll have baggage to deal with, of course. We're looking for convenience, simplicity, time, and although we're not pinching pennies, we also don't have a disposable income.

Can anyone help us to simplify our options & feel at ease with a choice? This part is sort of overwhelming to us & we're just trying to get this part over with so we can plan the next steps.

Thanks so much.

I would think the logistics of the Eurostar would be simpler. The cost and time is about equivalent, once you account for getting from city to airport and airport to city.

Did you try www.flybmi.com ? I don't know if going via Heathrow would be simpler or not for your plans.

Unfortunately it is too late to really fix your itinerary. An Open jaw into Paris/stay Paris, Eurostar to London/stay London, car to Cotswolds, drop car at LHR and fly home would be by far the easiest way to do this.

But you have set it up to visit London, then go to Paris and then go to the Cotswolds. The Eurostar is most convenient for getting you to Paris -- but it is not the most convenient for getting you to the Cotswolds.

There is nothing simpler than take the train London > Paris. But on your return journey you end up at Waterloo, have to travel all the way across London and then out to the northwest and the Cotswolds.

With your limitations I personally would take the Eurostar to Paris, fly back to LHR, pick up my car there and head out to the Cotswolds. Even if this was a bit nore expensive I would still do it because the logistics of either driving through London or getting out to LHR to pick up a car would add time/money.

You can get from Waterloo to Paddington in ten minutes for £10 in a taxi. Then take the train to Oxford and get your car there.

Getting out of Heathrow in a car isn't a whole lot easier than getting out of London.

I'll give you £100 if you can get from Waterloo to Paddington in 10 minutes. Heck - it will probably take more than 10 minutes just to get to the front of the taxi queue when a Eurostar has just pulled in.

Well, I've done it early in the morning on a Saturday. YMMV

It seems to me that the return, going from Paris to the Cotswalds is fairly convenient to use Easy Jet to fly to Luton and get your car there. Much easier that taking the Eurostar into London and then multi transferring to go get a car somewhere.

On the other hand, it is much easier to take the Eurostar from your central London stay to central Paris.

So why not compromise. I don't think there's a financial advantage to booking round trips on Easy Jet, and if you do it right on Eurostar either. So why not take Eurostar to Paris, and fly Easy Jet from Paris to London Luton?