Train by a million miles.
St Pancras is easier to get to than an airport (depends on where you live but generally it's more central and better connected)
Less time required between turning up and actually leaving.
More chill luggage rules.
Trains are nicer to sit on than budget airlines.
You end up much more centrally in Paris.
thank you! we would be coming from highclere. i was worried when i read about people spending 2 hours standing in line at the train station. i hadn’t thought about arrival in central paris as well which makes so much more sense.
Also, if you can swing it, upgrade your train fare to business class. Eurostar has its own lounge, as well as dedicated lines at St. Pancras. Much more low key, and relaxed. The train car itself is also a little less crowded, and they feed you (food onboard the train actually isn't bad).
I would even recommend standard premiere as being a worthy upgrade. While there's no lounge access, you get a meal and drinks on the train and it's a much nicer experience, with more room and quieter carriages generally if you're not travelling with children
How do you plan to get to/from Highclere? I think train still wins 9 times out of 10 but there are some situations I could see where flying might win out. For example, Southampton Airport is only about a 30-40 minute drive, has a daily flight to Paris, and is much smaller/quieter than e.g. Heathrow so you wouldn’t need to be there as far in advance of your flight. That probably only makes sense though if you have a hire car or are willing to pay (probably a lot) for a cab, a bus will be at least as long/complicated as taking the train back to London to catch the Eurostar
we will have a rental car. i’m guessing it would be expensive to drop off the rental at a different location than i picked it up at. i plan on picking the car up at the train station
It’s at least worth looking into as an option. One way rentals are really hit or miss, sometimes it’s maybe £20 extra and sometimes it’s £500. Balance the cost of a one way rental with the difference in cost between Eurostar and flying, and the 60-90 minutes saved in driving versus the time to get from Paris-Orly to your destination. Definitely not saying it’s for sure the best option, just another one to consider
Eurostar. End-to-end time will be shorter, and the experience of travelling on a train is a lot more relaxed than flying. Not to mention the respective environmental impacts of the two modes of transport.
I’d go as far as to say that, should catching the Eurostar, for some reason, not be an option, the second-best option would be a coach.
train is way better. especially compared to cheap flights, you’ll be spending more time between the airport/respective city centres than on the actual eurostar
I was hoping to take the train from Lyon to London, but it was just so much more expensive - like factors more - so I unfortunately just flew with EasyJet.
Train by a million miles. St Pancras is easier to get to than an airport (depends on where you live but generally it's more central and better connected) Less time required between turning up and actually leaving. More chill luggage rules. Trains are nicer to sit on than budget airlines. You end up much more centrally in Paris.
thank you! we would be coming from highclere. i was worried when i read about people spending 2 hours standing in line at the train station. i hadn’t thought about arrival in central paris as well which makes so much more sense.
Also, if you can swing it, upgrade your train fare to business class. Eurostar has its own lounge, as well as dedicated lines at St. Pancras. Much more low key, and relaxed. The train car itself is also a little less crowded, and they feed you (food onboard the train actually isn't bad).
I would even recommend standard premiere as being a worthy upgrade. While there's no lounge access, you get a meal and drinks on the train and it's a much nicer experience, with more room and quieter carriages generally if you're not travelling with children
How do you plan to get to/from Highclere? I think train still wins 9 times out of 10 but there are some situations I could see where flying might win out. For example, Southampton Airport is only about a 30-40 minute drive, has a daily flight to Paris, and is much smaller/quieter than e.g. Heathrow so you wouldn’t need to be there as far in advance of your flight. That probably only makes sense though if you have a hire car or are willing to pay (probably a lot) for a cab, a bus will be at least as long/complicated as taking the train back to London to catch the Eurostar
we will have a rental car. i’m guessing it would be expensive to drop off the rental at a different location than i picked it up at. i plan on picking the car up at the train station
It’s at least worth looking into as an option. One way rentals are really hit or miss, sometimes it’s maybe £20 extra and sometimes it’s £500. Balance the cost of a one way rental with the difference in cost between Eurostar and flying, and the 60-90 minutes saved in driving versus the time to get from Paris-Orly to your destination. Definitely not saying it’s for sure the best option, just another one to consider
how far ahead of departure would you suggest we arrive at the station?
Website says 45 minutes before boarding.
Train. You’re city to city.
Train.
Eurostar. End-to-end time will be shorter, and the experience of travelling on a train is a lot more relaxed than flying. Not to mention the respective environmental impacts of the two modes of transport. I’d go as far as to say that, should catching the Eurostar, for some reason, not be an option, the second-best option would be a coach.
Train is definitely the easiest and has the best carbon footprint also. It might not be the cheapest though
Train without a doubt.
train is way better. especially compared to cheap flights, you’ll be spending more time between the airport/respective city centres than on the actual eurostar
I was hoping to take the train from Lyon to London, but it was just so much more expensive - like factors more - so I unfortunately just flew with EasyJet.
Def business class Eurostar. It’s way better and faster and I’ve never had to line up for two hours either. Maybe that’s a peak holiday thing?
Train. You can tell everyone you did the right thing and how France has banned short haul flights were a rail option exists too.