Train from Paris to London
 

Can someone tell me if I can complete a one day trip from Paris am returning to London pm by train? I heard that I can see a lot in the matter of one day. Is that true? Keep in mind, I'm traveling alone and so I can really make tracks! Thanks

Yes, it can be done ... if you are willing to spend 6 hours on the train.

I have done it in the opposite direction for a day in London. Works well and is completely doable but is tiring.

My biggest question is what can I see in just one day? I love to sightsee. Is it feasible to see almost everything and get a feel for their culture in 6 hours?

Yes, it is possible to get a feel for Parisian culture in a one-day round trip. It will be very superficial, but it's better than getting back to Wichita and saying, "Gee, I was just three hours from Paris and I didn't go."

Britrail sells transportation/tour packages from $205 unescorted, $255 escorted. See

<b>http://www.britrail.com/doc/BritrailUS_2004_brochure.pdf</b>

Re&gt;Is it feasible to see almost everything and get a feel for their culture in 6 hours?&lt;

No. Paris is one of the great cities of the world, and it would takes weeks to see almost everything.

But, skimming the surface and seeing only a little is possible, and that little bit you see will still be wonderful.

Go up the Eiffel Tower. Do not go inside the Lourve. Go into the Pompideau and ride the escalater up the side. Walk through the lobbies of three or four of the great hotels.

Have a sidwalk cafe coffee as soon as you arrive, have a good lunch in a medium priced, medium paced restaurant so you don't waste too much time but do build a memory, and find a district with something of particular interst -- old books or modern art galleries or haute couture or trendy clothes -- and then head back to the train.

I've head several single-day Paris visits, usually Sunday's before a Monday-Tuesday meeting, and you can see lots and have a good time, but yuou'll only scratch the surface.

So plan ahead. Catacombs? Sewers? ride on the Seine? Flea markets? Five memorable tastes on the tongue? There's so much to choose from that you need to plan.

BAK

You will be travelling/waiting for 8 or 9 hours or more in a single day.

Most people who attempt this are on a very short vacation to begin with so they are just coming off a long flight. yes, it is doable but it is torture. i have done it for business because i had to but i would never do a day trip like this for pleasure.

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Is it feasible to see almost everything and get a feel for their culture in 6 hours?
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

in a word, &quot;no&quot;. you can see a few buildings/monuments but that's about it. personally, i think you should save the travel time to see more in your primary location (paris, i think from your post).

Sorry for the confusion. I will staying in Paris for one week and wanting to take the train to England for the day.

quote&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

I've head several single-day Paris visits, usually Sunday's before a Monday-Tuesday meeting
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

tacking a leisure day on to a business trip is much different from going and returning in a single day.

-your not paying for all of it
-your not taking the travel time out of your valuable vacation time.
-you have much more time and can relax more as you don't have to hop back on the train in the evening.

I personally don't usually recommend doing these one-day trips to London (don't worry, your post was very clear that you are travelling from Paris to London and back).

But there is no way it would mean 8 or 9 hours of travel -- the Eurostar now takes substantially less than 3 hours each way. And Waterloo station where you would arrive in London is VERY colse to Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and other sites.

You could actually see a fair bit - but not if you spend time in the big sites like the British Museum, V&amp;A, Tower of London, etc. each of these take several hours to see.

I'd probably walk over to the London Eye for a 30 minute ride to see all of London below you, then over the bridge to Westminster to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, maybe walk to Trafalgar Square or BUckingham Palace through the parks.

Then you can jump on one of the hop-on-hop-off bus tours that would let you see most of &quot;tourist London&quot; in a couple of hours.

You'd have enough time to do all this and a couple of meals - maybe lunch along the river and a pub dinner, before heading back to Paris.

Do realize you will spend a lot of money for just a few hours in London -- but some people think its worth it.

Okay, &quot;from Paris am returning to London pm&quot; is, it must be admitted, a little self-contradictory, but anyway: yes, a whirlwind tour of either capital is possible.

1. Print out the map at

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/cen_bus.pdf</b>

2. Buy a bus pass for &pound;2.50 at Waterloo Underground station.

3. Get on the RV1 at Waterloo, and take it from there.

- OR -

Buy a tour from <b>http://www.theoriginaltour.com</b> (includes a 90-minute Thames excursion)

janis...trust me, i make this journey all the time - just returned to london about 3 hours ago on eurostar. the following times i think are very reasonable averages and difficult to argue with. the 1 hour check in is per eurostar and for me, includes cushion time in case of delays getting to the train station (getting lost, traffic, etc).

travel to gare du nord 0.5 hour
1 hour checkin/wait
2.5 hours journey
0.5 hour disembark train and get to trafalgar sq.

0.5 hour to get back to waterloo (may be much more)
1 hour check in/wait
2.5 hours jouney
.75 hour disembark, return journey to hotel

Total = 9 hours, 15 min.

Eurostar offers a day return ticket return for only $94, but it's sold in limited allotments and can be hard to book - for details i suggest calling Budget Europe, the Eurostar experts 800-441-9413. Go for it, the train ride itself, through rural France and England and the Chunnel is worth it by itself plus Waterloo station in London is right in the heart of town, a few blocks from the Thames, many famous places within a short walk.

OTOH, there are always people who only want a one-way but buy a round-trip because it's cheaper...

Maybe you can make a deal for the unused trips. Here's one I wish I'd bought:

<b>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;category=1310&amp;item= 2282940145&amp;rd=1</b>

(BTW, if you ride First Class, you can check in 10 minutes before departure. Saves all kinds of time.)

Thank you for so many wonderful suggestions...now I'm totally confused on what to do:) I liked hearing Janis' advice because I know that I can make tracks very quickly but then I became immediately concerned when I read walkinarounds' timelines for the arrival and departure of the train. I'm going to check out some of the websites provided by all of you GURUS! Thank you so much. I really like this site...it was helpful last year when I asked for help (my first time to Europe) and it still an excellent resource.

Well, let's put this under the microscope:

travel to gare du nord 0.5 hour <font color="blue">Or 10 minutes if you live closer</font>
1 hour checkin/wait <font color="blue">Or 10 minutes if you go First Class</font>
2.5 hours journey
0.5 hour disembark train and get to trafalgar sq. <font color="blue">Or 10 minutes if you're going to Wesminster</font>

0.5 hour to get back to waterloo (may be much more) <font color="blue">Or 10 minutes if you're at the Globe</font>
1 hour check in/wait <font color="blue">Or 10 minutes if you travel First Class</font>
2.5 hours jouney
.75 hour disembark, return journey to hotel <font color="blue">Or 10 minutes if you live closer</font>

Total: 6 hours

If you take the 6:37 out of Gare du Nord, you're in London at 8:26. The last trip back is at 19:43 and arrives at 23:23. You can see a lot in 11 hours!

1. Remember the time change works for you in that direction.
2. What's the obsession with Trafalgar Square? The experience starts as your train is arriving: the view across the river towards Parliament is probably the best view any train anywhere offers arrriving into a major city, apart from the European entry into Istanbul. The South Bank, around Waterloo, has a lot of second-order stuff to see and do, including free early-evening performances outside the National Theatre, as well as The Eye which is high on many people's list of things to do in London. And the walk across Hungerford Bridge offers some of the absolute best views of London.
3. You'll be able to cram tons of sightseeing into the day. You'll gain zero insight into our culture. However, buying The Guardian, The Sun, The Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, The Spectator and Time Out to read on the way back will remedy that a fair bit.
4. Your original post couldn't possibly have been more clear.

robes,

i think i said AVERAGE. Anyone suggesting that it is realistic to set out for gare du nord 20 minutes before their scheduled eurostar departure is very wrong (and to suggest that to a first timer unfamiliar with this area is even sillier). Some people will stay closer but many will stay much further than a 1/2 hour DOOR TO DOOR journey to the eurostar terminal. You have shown times that are highly theoretical while i have shown times that are realistic. some things listed will take more time and others less.

flanner,

there is no &quot;obsession&quot; with trafalgar square. Without any idea what this person wants to do, I chose a hypothetical destination that is quite close to waterloo but not right next door. If she wants to go to tower of london(for example), obviously this will take much longer. if she wants to go to the london eye, it will be less time. Hence the concept of average.

That said, if she is going to a walkable destination (i.e. trafalgar sq) then i do agree that the walk is very enjoyable and part of the experience.

any one of these points can be challenged and even if you take an hour off my estimate, you are still left with 8+ hours. I travel very frequently back and forth on the eurostar and it's just fact that the total day's journey time is much closer to 9 hours than 6. Even knowing exactly where i'm going i would never consider following robe's timeline.

while i do agree that the train journey is fun for a first timer (and others), i think it is fair to question the following:
is 8-9 hours of travel the best/most interesting use of precious vacation time if you are only spending one week in europe (which is very short considering flight times from home, jet lag etc). Also, I question how much fun 8-9 hours more of travelling and waiting is when you have just recently flown several hours from north america and will be flying back very soon.

i think this comes down to those who want to see the most vs. those who prefer to explore an area in the greatest depth that time allows. personally, i think it is more rewarding to spend the time to experience more of paris and the surrounding areas. there are merits to either approach depending on your perspective and travel experience.

When I do the day trip I always travel first class because it is more comfortable and you have at your seat meal service included. I take a very early train out of paris, say 630 or 7 am. I have breakfast on the train and then perhaps sleep a bit. I then spend the day in London until around 6 pm. I have dinner on the train on return. That way I am consolidating both meals and travel into one event.

I dont consider that I lost that much time because I normally would still be in bed at 630 and I would eat dinner out so I end up having about the same amount of time to site see that I would have if I just stayed in paris for the day.

I've never done that trip in one day, but I have done day trips with the travel time of almost that much, and yes, I do feel it can be &quot;worth&quot; it. You state you are traveling alone so can &quot;really make tracks&quot;. That indicates that you are the type of person who can walk fairly long distances and see plenty in a short time. So I say go for it.

Here's what I would do. From the train station walk over the the Jubilee Embankment for a great view of the Houses of Parliment and Big Ben. Classic view and I don't feel like I've been in London until I see it. The embankment has the London Eye and lots of street performers in nice weather. Then cross the bridge and you're almost at Westminster Abbey. You can tour that on your own in a fairly short time. Don't miss the cloisters. From there walk over to St James Park. A beautiful park and a nice view Buckingham Palace. You only need a view of it, can't go inside anyway and I wouldn't bother with the changing of the guard even if your timing did work out.

From there walk down the mall through Admirality Arch into Trafalgar Square. Great views of Big Ben Tower down Whitehall St. Have lunch in St Martin in the Field Church Crypt (basement cafeteria, inespensive and atmospheric). The National Gallery is next door and since it's free you can pop in for only a few minutes if you like.

From there you are almost at Covent Garden. That's pretty touristy but it also feels very &quot;Londony&quot; (I know that's not a word, plus I'm just a tourist myself so what do I know - anyway, lots of pubs in the area). Then I'd walk down the Strand to Fleet Street and the Middle Temple area. Temple Church is one of my favorite places in London. That gives you a taste of Legal London. From there I'd walk over to St Paul's church and through the &quot;city&quot;. There are lots of &quot;walks&quot; published in guide books if you have time to do anything more than just walk on the main street. The side streets are much more interesting. Several very interesting churches in the area.

You probably won't have time to do the Tower but you could at least see it from the outside. And then walk over Tower Bridge.

Anyway, lots of walking but you'll have several hours on the train to rest your weary feet on the way back to Paris.

walki -

I didn't mean to imply that your timetable was unrealistic, only that it might discourage someone who hadn't seen a more optimistic scenario.

isabel's itinerary has more walking in it than I would recommend. After all, grabbing a bus once in a while will give you the opportunity to rest your dogs and also get from site to site more quickly, thereby covering more ground in the short time you have.

An unlimited bus pass is about $4.50

at the risk of beating a dead horse...

robes, i understand but such a timetable is not even close to realistic and perpetuates a common american misconception that europe is super compact and getting anywhere is as easy as &quot;hop on a train and go&quot;. i do not think my timetable was at all pessimistic as it could take much more time.

Maybe I should have done this at the start but tuesday morning i went to paris on the eurostar here is my ACTUAL time door to door...

left my home at 6:45 am, arrived at my destination in paris at 12:15 (4.5 hours with time diff x 2 = 9 hours). I live 25 minutes by train from the waterloo (which for london is not a lot) + walk to station/platform and wait time of 10 min total (very little). my destination in the 12th was 30 minutes by metro from nord. even if you halve my relatively short travel time to and from both stations you are still looking at 8 hours. there were no delays on my trip (delays are not uncommon).

Also consider the fact that having done this trip millions of times i know exactly where i am going so therefore, feel safer cutting it closer than a first timer would. i could not do this journey nearly as fast if i were navigating in unfamiliar cities/stations.

Thanks Isabel, Robespierre, walkinaround. Thank you everyone.