London to Paris - train or flight?

[allsf]

I used many of the suggestions I've goten here and found these two best prices for a one-way London to Paris on Monday, Aug 6th..

Eurostar - U$98 - St Pancras/Gare du Nord
Easyjet - U$64 - London Luton to CDG - with all taxes and luggage fees, as far as I could figure out..

the train would leave from St Pancras (central London?) to Gare d Nord.. and the flight from London Luton (??) to CDG..

considering transportation to and from the airports.. which one would be the less hassle option? any other suggestions?

thanks!

[Eagle]

allsf,

For that trip, my preference would MOST DEFINITELY be the EuroStar!

While the flight may seem initially less expensive, you have to factor in the time and cost of not only getting from central London to Luton (which is on the outskirts), but also the the cost to get from CDG (or whichever airport you'll be using) into Paris. The flight will probably cost you more, when all is considered and will most likely be more stressful. Especially since it's such a short flight, I'd find it highly annoying to have to go through all the hassles at the airport: check-in, baggage issues (and possible surcharges), waiting, boarding, etc.

While you will have to go through airport-style security to use the EuroStar, once you're on board you can sit back and relax, perhaps have snack or a short nap and when the train stops you'll be at Gare du Nord, which is right in central Paris. From there it's only a short ride via Metro or RER to just about anywhere in the city. In my view, using budget flights only makes sense if the rail trip is eight hours or more.

Happy travels!

[WillTravel]

Note that the cheap Eurostar train rates sell out quickly, so jump on that price!

[allsf]

thank you guys!!

sometimes I feel like I am abusing all your great help.. but I must say I wouldn't be as comfortable getting ready for this trip if it wasn't for all the help and support I've found here.. so I guess I'll keep bugging.. hehe

I'll do the train.. is four full days enough for London though?
any way I can avoid the U$12.95 e-ticket fee? it seems like is either that or a U$18 for a paper ticket delivered to me here in the US.. :-(

[WillTravel]

Did you try booking at eurostar.com ?
You can try it with either the US, UK, or Belgian site, as they may all give different prices. The important thing there is not to buy a ticket that will be sent to a European address. For example, if you choose the UK site, you can get a 35-pound ticket on August 6, but I am not sure what delivery methods they use because I did not complete the booking. Self-print is ideal. Also, try the other sites too.

In four full days you can see a lot. You won't exhaust what London has to offer, but if you aren't terribly interested, it's probably a good amount.

[allsf]

Will,

thanks for the info.. I had no clue the same site would offer different prices for different countries.. go figure..

I could not find the Belgium version of it.. and the UK version indeed has GBP35 fares I can't seem to be able to book and pay for not having a credit card with an UK address.. I've sent them an email asking how I should proceed.. let's see what they say.. any other ideas on how to 'trick' these sites??

thanks!!

[herrbert]

Always check with the site of the airline itself, (especialy if they put in another 5 euros charge for creditcard use or something like that.) or check others (like edreams.com)

[WillTravel]

Another possible site for Eurostar: www.lastminute.co.uk

I am not sure about the credit card. Do they allow AMEX? An AMEX rep once told me I could enter the address for another country if need be, so you could enter your accommodation address in London perhaps (but I would only do this if I could self-print the tickets, and I would not have them mailed to accommodations because they would probably lose them).

[allsf]

hey guys,

that one ticket is solved.. I was able to get my London-Paris ticket for L$51.. same website that offered that ticket for L$35 the other day but wouldn't let me pay for it.. go figure.

now I am facing a similar problem with my Paris-Amsterdam ticket.. I've been doing a lot of research and it seems like the best fare is a 6:25am train for E$52.. other later times for E$70..

very pricey!!!
any suggestions/ alternatives??

[WillTravel]

The problem is that you are looking maybe 1 month ahead, rather than 3. The 625 time is the one no one wants, so the cheaper tickets are going more slowly there.

There is a bus between Paris and Amsterdam that takes 7 hours or so, I think, and is relatively cheap.

[allsf]

will, thanks for the patience!!!

I always hear so much about train in Europe that buses never occur to me.. nor have I ever heard of anybody who actually did buses in Europe..

I checked www.eurolines.com/ and it looks like a Paris-Amsterdam ticket runs at about E$41.. not that much cheaper I guess and indeed it is a 7 hour journey.. maybe not for this particularly part of my itinerary but something to keep in mind for shorter distances..

I was just playing with raileurope and it seems like point-to-point trains from the Paris-Rome part of my itinerary would cost me about E$625.. I guess cheaper than a rail pass, eh?

[WillTravel]

I wouldn't trust the prices on raileurope for single tickets. They're usually inflated. But if you know you want spontaneity, the accurate way to tell if point to point is better, or if a pass is better, is figure out the walkup prices for buying those tickets, versus the pass plus reservation costs.

[Eagle]

You might consider using a budget airline on the trip from Paris to Rome, rather than rail.

Air Berlin flies from Paris / CDG to Roma / FCO, which in both cases are the main airports for each city. I had a brief look at the fares and they seemed to range from about €80-160.

If you decide to travel via budget airline, pay special attention to their baggage regulations (which in some cases are different than in North America). Often only ONE carry-on bag is allowed. Note also that tickets are usually non-refundable and non-changeable once booked (check the terms on the airline's website).

I also had a quick look at the rail fares from Rome to Paris, and these ranged from €125 - 250 (approximate). I'm assuming the fares in the opposite direction would be about the same. Where did you get the amount of $625??? The trip from Paris to Rome is at least 12-hours, so that's why budget airline is a better alternative in that particular case.

Cheers!

[allsf]

Eagle,
nice to hear from you again..

thanks for the thoughtful note.. however, I guess I wasn't very clear when I said Paris-Rome.. I meant all the cities in my rough itinerary between Paris and Rome.. I am actually starting my trip off in London, but already got a train ticket to Paris.. and I am intending on flying from Rome to Greece to Barcelona since I probably won't want to go back to South France this time around..

just a quick recap of my itinerary.. again, this is just a rough guide and nothing set in stone.. although I thought I'd follow suggestions here and book hotels for London, Paris and Amsterdam.. since those are probably the most expensive cities of my itinerary.. from there I'll try to be more of a 'free spirit' I guess..

London(5) - Paris(6) - Amsterdam(4) - Berlin(4) - Prague(4) - Krakow(3) - Budapest(3) - Vienna?(4)- Ljubljana(3) - Zagreb/Spit(4) - Venice(2) - Firenze(2) - Rome(4) - Naples/Sorrento(5) - Greek Islands(6) - Barcelona(3) - Madrid(4) - Sevilla(2) - Algarve(2) - Lisbon(4)

* ( ) - number of planned nights

I am still unclear about doing Greece this time around.. while it's always been on the top of the list of places I want to go to one day (Egypt is right there too!).. I've been listening to suggestions that it can be a bit too much to do this time around with my already busy route.. perhaps expensive and time consuming to get there from Italy??.. and I've heard suggestions to do the Croatia's coast instead.. I am still to decide on that one..

also, since I am planning on exploring more of Italy, Spain and Portugal if time and money allows.. I was considering perhaps to get a Italy pass before I enter the country?.. but I've also heard that trains in Italy are quite cheap?

again.. lots of questions.. and your thoughts are always much appreciated..

cheers-

[WillTravel]

I think that if you get a rail pass, almost certainly do not get one for Italy, Spain, or Portugal, because there are very few circumstances where there would be any cost savings there. Looking at your itinerary, I don't know how it gets up to 625 Euros between Paris and Rome. How is it pricing out for you?