Eurostar Tickets
Discover Europe in comfort with Great Eurostar deals
There is a fabulous range of cheap Eurostar tickets and Eurostar breaks. With summer finally here, take advantage of the great prices with a weekend Eurostar Paris break. Been there done that? Why not get a tasty helping of Brussels or Disneyland Resort Paris instead.
Let the Train Take the Strain
Increasing numbers of holidaymakers are turning their backs on airlines after enjoying more relaxed, convenient – and often cheaper – forms of transport.
Why you should travel by train to Europe
Ash clouds, airline strikes, soaring oil prices and rising extra charges are four reasons why travellers should let trains and ferries, rather than planes, take the strain this summer.
Travellers from the south of England switched to Eurostar long ago for their business trips and city breaks in Northern France or Belgium. This is shown in the increasing number of daily services to Paris (currently 18) and Brussels (now 9). There are now a small number of flights from the London airports to the two capitals.
Faster trains, better connections
Faster trains, better connections, seamless ticketing from regional cities and reduced fares make trips to the Côte d’Azur, Provence, the Basque Coast, the Alps, Italy and even Spain a more realistic option.
Rail Europe believes that, for some, the switch to rail could be permanent. “There has been a fundamental change in people’s thinking,” a spokeswoman said. “No one is pretending rail is perfect. But people who previously would not have considered the train are being forced to try it and realising the advantages: the space, the convenience, the facilities, the fact that they are not charged for their bags or to reserve their seats, that they can step on and off in a city centre, and that journey times are much quicker than perhaps they had realised.”
130 cities in Britain are now linked into the Eurostar network
Some 130 cities in Britain are now linked into the Eurostar network: passengers can buy a ticket that will take them from their home station to their destination. If you don’t live in the South East, the prospect of changing trains twice may not appeal, but the process is now much smoother. When services left from Waterloo, anyone going to the Continent from the North needed to allow at least 30 minutes to travel across London from Euston, King’s Cross or St Pancras.
Eurostar’s hub is at St Pancras
Now Eurostar’s hub is at St Pancras – just a short walk from King’s Cross, a change of platform from St Pancras mainline, one stop on the Tube from Euston, four from Liverpool Street or five from Paddington.
This means that you can travel from Derby to Paris in just four hours, 46 minutes, from Leeds to Brussels in four hours, 53 minutes and from Manchester to Paris in five hours, 12 minutes – with return fares from £87.
Travel by train for convenience
You do not necessarily have to traipse across the Paris metro with your luggage: many of Eurostar’s summer services are now routed through Lille, where you need only change platforms to board the TGV south to Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Bordeaux, Marseilles or Montpellier – all of which are less than seven hours from St Pancras.
More destinations available on Eurostar
Between July 10 and September 11, Eurostar offers a weekly direct service to Avignon from St Pancras or Ashford, a journey of less than six hours. There are also direct routes to Disneyland Paris and the Alps; the eight-hour service from London to Bourg St Maurice, Moutiers and Aime La Plagne allows access to the resorts of Courchevel, Les Arcs, Tignes, Méribel, La Plagne and Val Thorens.
From London, Cologne and Amsterdam lie just five hours away, the Spanish border at Irún is only eight hours away, and Milan, Nice and Biarritz are less than nine hours away.
Many flights have become less of a city-to-city service and more an exercise in orientation for arriving passengers, thanks to the deals airlines have struck with lesser-known airports that are often miles from passengers’ destination. For example, Paris Beauvais airport is 65 miles north of central Paris; Girona (Barcelona) airport is 64 miles from Barcelona; Stockholm Skavsta is 62 miles from the city centre.
With the exception of London City, all four London airports, too, are at least 30 minutes from the capital. Add that to the hassles of airport transfers, luggage check-in, security checks and passport control, long walks to a departure gate, the scramble for seats on low-cost carriers and the long wait at the carousels at the other end, and a change of train seems a minor inconvenience.
While airlines are passing on the rising cost of aviation fuel and levying more and more extra charges, rail fares are becoming increasingly competitive. Return fares of £69 to Brussels and Paris are available all year. Weekday services are heavily used by business travellers, so weekend rates tend to be cheaper.
When comparing rail with air, remember to take into account the reduced cost of transfers at either end (Gatwick, Heathrow or Stansted Express will set you back between £25 and £32 return); that you can take two suitcases and a piece of hand luggage free (on a return flight easyJet charges £18 to check in one bag, Ryanair £40 and Flybe £20).
Add to this that children under four travel free, that all seats can be reserved in advance, and that carry cots, music equipment, bikes and golf clubs – for which the likes of Ryanair charge £80 return – are also free, and there is a strong argument to take to the rails this summer.
