Think you are somehow muddled or drunk.
The statistics on delayed flights to Europe and delayed train links to europe speak for themselves.
This is not driving to France. This is sitting in comfort with a G @ T or better in hand watching the lovely European countryside wash by instead of the hassle at the airport that you obviously masochistically enjoy.
Why not fly to Egypt!!!

​Yes, I've booked for valentines, but please don't be so derogatory about my missus!

Might not be far off once you consider everything that's not the actual travel time. Assuming no delays the train takes 4 hours 40 minutes and you need to allow 1 hour to check-in, total 5:40. On arrival you're already in the city centre and there's no passport control as that's all done at the departure station.

The plane has a 2 hour check-in, 1 hour 45 minute flight time, say a realistic 45 minutes from landing to leaving customs / baggage claim and another 30 for a taxi ride into town, total 5:00. Those 40 minutes 'saved' could easily get eaten up in travel time to and from the airport (depending on where you live relative to train station / airport of course) as well as slower departure from the aircraft or transport problems to the city centre in Lyon. Assuming all services ran to time for both journey types suspect it would be pretty damn close.

Plus I'd take Eurostar over being squeezed into a typical cattle class seat any day. Heck, if you got lucky with pricing you can probably go in premium seating on Eurostar for about what you'd pay for a normal BA ticket.

Once it gets up to spread its more of a beurre I think you meant....?

lol fast as the plane

5 Hrs . That's 4 hrs stuck at the border looking for stowaways abd 1 hr travelling time. We used to travel to France and Italy regularly via Tunnel but all border issues completely put us off especially to France. Italy love it - but would fly

and you can take your bike

its a great way to get to the south of France, but once that train gets up to spread its more of a blur than a view

Thanks Op.

Very early (limited) travel times, and Title should include "Single fare" maybe.

Yeah but it costs an arm and leg to travel on UK trains. Remember privatisation is great for customers.

Great for people who are afraid of flying and can't drive.

Well found.

Can you take pets (e.g. Dog)?

Heated. :smiley:

That's a shame. I can't get my bloody Alsatian to sit still in the photo booth.

"and you can take your bike" assume you mean pedal cycle?

​oooh matron!! no I meant motorcycles

Its so logical but you have explained it very well
Hassle free life !!!!

Eurostars premium is crappy they cut it back no meal now no champagne no gin,, and same price.. Just a crappy cold sandwich and can of beer

Eurostar is crap sudden rather fly business on BA

That would be such a good cycle trip back as well I may join you.

The only issue with these trains is you have to disembark in Lille Europe for customs on the return journey

i did Wigan-Perpignan a few years ago by Virgin, Eurostar and TGV the other year came to £79 return

You can also take as much Alcohol on the train as you want but i think they only let you consume 3 drinks of your own

So where in the UK can you simply travel for that same price?

London to Milan return for two adults, four children and one young adult £4300!!! or Paris to Milan return with exact same details £565.00 return! I can't quite see how they can charge nearly £4000 to go from London to Paris? x

Nice

​I used to be able too, but she's no where near as supple now we're both getting older, and much prefer something a bit more comfortable!

And/or Cyprus?! ;-)

​for the detailed reply 10/10. still wouldn't travel to France by either method of transport. doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Can you take your car?

If you want more comfortable, there have been lots of chocolate deals lately. Fill your boots, legs, gut and Bingo wings. Instantly a softer saddle to ride on.

A return to France under £50.
Aberdeen to London, £108.
The railways in his country can go take their prices up their tunnels.

Exactly Mr Cameron are you listening to the people about privatisation or are you happily blindly letting the shareholders take the micky out of us!!!

Love the trains over there. Did London to Disney Land Paris last year, nice clean and comfortable train. As someone who doesn't like flying I would happily give this a go, pleased they've done it.

can you take your car on this train?

We did this several years ago from London St Pancras - Paris - Montpellier.
The French railways was brilliant, nice clean trains and a smooth journey.
Journey was very scenic in France from North to the south, the way the landscape changed from the normal boring green to beautiful palm trees.

Would do it again.

I wonder if they will ever put on a night train that goes a bit slower. Would be great to wake up in a new destination direct from London.

​Involve a sporty car and we've got a Top Gear challenge :wink:

I actually can't get these prices for some reason. Any ideas?

Its 575 Miles so you would need to go some in a car.

At least you get fast track check in and security, luxurious lounge with complimentary hot meals beers wines spirits and champagnes, priority boarding, champagne and 'real' food on board, all drinks (as much as you can drinK) complimentary !

Compared to Euro* premium class:

No port facilities
Cold snack
Couple of small cans of stella or tiny plastic bottle of wine

Or take the wheels off then it's classed as carry on luggage :wink:

Brilliant deal - I hate flying so this is perfect for me!
Price-wise, you'll find it hard to rival. London to the South of France for £100 return? Fantastic!

What would be the easiest way to get to Nice from Lyon? Is there another train? Thanks

Surprised there's no comments on illegal immigrants across the border or those ISIS Paris attack nutters or anti-socialist comments or on the corrupt circus called the EU in this thread.

Maybe as quick as flying if you live in London, but for us Northerners you can add at least a couple more hours :disappointed:

[quote=jaycrooks][quote=fedex1401] So if you want to fly to the South of France which airports can you go from in the North of England?[/quote]

Manchester to Nice, two and a half hours flight time, £80 return (Jet2.com)

so price to London st pancras peak time £50... price from st pancras to south France £44... *sigh*

Good call I hadn't thought of that
Lets use it as a wake up call to our slightly privileged, privately school educated, Politicians that things can be done differently.
No Investment by all governments over the years in a hugely densely populated country has led to this mess. It needs to be A-political
maybe we can help to make that happen :smile:

Crickey - do you work for BA or something?

Regular flyers would usually have Bronze or above status anyway and so they don't need to pay through the nose for "fast track" (ha!) check in. And even if you do have a Club ticket or status and you use Business Class checkin, there are plenty of times I have seen no queue on the economy side whilst the 1 or 2 agents managing business class check in have 4-5 people waiting.

As for "luxurious lounge" don't make me laugh... unless you are in the Concorde Room at LHR, BA's lounges - even at Heathrow - are basic and usually packed to the rafters, with mediocre food. The only thing they have going for them is the drink. And you can buy drinks anywhere in the airport for less money than they want for a business class ticket these days.

And the food on board... when exactly was the last time you flew short haul to Europe on BA? The "food" is a joke on most routes. Honestly, if food is in any way important to you, you are much better off buying something nice at the airport before you board.

Drink's on board? Whoopie-do.... and "as much as you can drink"?? Get serious... on a typical euro flight you have a drink thrown at you before you dine - and another with your meal... that's generally it. And you can get alcohol in economy.

Unless you have more money than sense or your work are paying - or you are drowning in Avios points, you'd be absolutely mad to pay for Club Europe on BA these days...seriously.

One benefit of going by train is you don't have to worry about the frequent French air traffic control strikes.

Never been to the south of France for a holiday. Can anyone recommend any resorts? We usually go to Cornwall/ Devon.

You can help by voting for politicians who want to renationalize. Otherwise they'll just keep doing it.

Can you let us know how you achieved this, I'm super interested. Cheers

Or you don't travel with checked baggage & just an Eticket with a carry on.
Cuts out 90mins of the check in desk, cuts out 30mins at baggage collection.
I travel a lot of hand luggage only & have been out of the airport within 10-15mins of the airplane door opening

Plus not the whole country lives in London - so extra time needed to get london.

Not everyone lives in London, not many want to.

Why don't they ever do deals from Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester etc?

£44 is a rubbish deal if it costs you £140 to get there in the first place.

That is true. I've never seen so much dog poo as there is on streets as in France (well, Paris).

So it costs less for me to travel to the south of France than it does for me to get home from uni :smirk:

I don't think it's as simple as re-nationalise; bit worried by strikes by train staff..like the 'good' old days.

It says it only runs on certain days but when I click going to Lyon on a Tuesday it gives me ticket options. Have they added more trains for Euro 2016 perhaps or will there be no train?

Anyone know how to get this to come up? I can't get it to be less than 179. Sister is in Lyon and it's her birthday next week.

Bahaha in your face he is right but not as fast as this guy

Dogs have NEVER been allowed on Eurostar trains (except assistance dogs) and this will be no different.

Don't see the deal here, am I missing something? This costs more than going by plane from London to Lyon and takes like 3/4 times as long.

Yes you are
but enjoy the airport and plane it will free up more space on the relatively luxurius train

This sounds great - especially compared to prices of train travel in this country.

Used to go by car every summer and usually spread the trip over 2 days. Find flying a pain as you also have to factor in having to arrive 2 hours before flight and also time going through customs etc. This sounds ideal for me..thanks OP

The train from Preston to London just cost me £14

If you book in advance there are loads of cheap fares from the north to London. I have friends in York and Leeds and Manchester who even come down for the day so you are really not that remote. Is this a round of "We ave it tuff up north" then!!

Yeah £14 really broke the bank.

The bit you are missing is that it doesn't have to cost more than flying and door to door it is absloutely not "like 3/4 as long" (whatever that actually means in English) as flying,it could sometimes be quicker.

The food is better on trains as is the alcohol,you can freely walk about and you will probably not be sat 2 inches from Malcolm who is off to Paris for a sales conference, is 57 stone overweight and smells of cheap aftershave.

In the current climate flying is a complete bore

Please let them take the Plane Ha ha !!!! (Its like the Old School Travel Club)
Here you have Electrical Power, Wifi, Miss Marple murder mysteries all thrown into the price) :smile:

absloutely?

I'd rather sit next to the overweight guy for less than 2 hours than wander/waste time for 5. Heck, you can even get a return for North Africa for like £60 and even that takes less time (3 and a half) :smile:. Not a bad deal, but not a great one either, still doesn't outshine air travel.

I heard getting home from Uni can be cheaper via Berlin:D

Good all the ignorant losers will be on the plane. makes the Train journey even more attractive.
Think its all about seeing the bigger picture. You obviously don't, but I respect your position :smile:

The other week norwegian cancelled my flights to spain when i arrived at airport due to french airsrikes..the next flight offerred was 2 days before i was due back. All other flights were either fully booked or now at least 300 each. .travelling as a family of five putting it out of my price range ...in a brainwave we got megabus to london then megabus to batcelona arriving 2 days after due date..was it exhausting ? Yes.. but tbh i was glad there was another way to save my childrens holiday. 5 hours on a train seems bliss compared! :confused:

Totally agree. Planning my cycling trip in my head now. Where do you ask to stop if you were heading to the Alps for a week on the mountain bike? With the cost of bike transfer on a plane this is a very interesting deal!

Worth it just to go soooooo fast on the French train system.

Good spend your time wandering about the airport departure lounge or stood around waiting to go through security . Maybe when you have passed through security you could go and get ripped off at every outlet for the simplest of things like a bottle of water and a packet of crisps . Meanwhile the rest of us on the train can take whatever the hell we want on because there are no silly security rules regarding 100ml of liquids .

...

ha ha..like this

For all of you out there that advocate air travel when there is a viable/cheap rail alternative;

London to Paris by Eurostar CO2 Emissions vs Air Travel;

Air - 3.5 hours, 244 Kg/CO2

Rail - 2.75 hours, 22 Kg/CO2 (= 91% less

If you have children, then there is no justifiable reason (aside from ignorance) to choose air travel over rail. If you do, then you are wilfully choosing to contribute in a significant way to climate change. You may not live long enough to see the true impacts of it, but it is selfish in the extreme to burden future generations with such a legacy when such simple changes in behaviour can mitigate the effect.

If there is a viable alternative to air travel, then there is simply no plausible reason for an educated human being to choose something as damaging as flying.

Crazy. I was looking at Newquay for the same travel time for 105 return with a bike

Think within a few years you will be made to take public transport if there is an option.

Unfortunately, politicians are weak....so the air travel industry will always get their way, in the same way the agricultural lobbyists have got their way to date.

People just need to start thinking with their children in mind. & if people are incapable of thinking about how their lives impact on future generations, then they really shouldn't have children.

Totally agree our supposedly old and wise generation have managed to siphon most of the pension pot and use it to regularly fly back and forwards further destroying the future for the young. (Dis-respect your elders I say)

Nice

Great deal but hardly new! First service ran on 1st May 2015

Kent Online

Summer books up very fast so a good heads up although I looked about a month ago for this summer and hardly any availability then. You need to get in very early

More the concept than the deal for me so much less hassle :smile:

Didnt know about this, so was really pleased to see this post.

I clicked on the link and my topcashback webalert messenger said that I could get 2.1% cashback too!!!

I thought London to Avignon has been around for a little bit already? Is this a new line/train?

Think you normally change in Paris for these trips to the south of France. This skips Paris since May 2015

Hurry! Before Brexit kicks in!

If you are sat in Lyon (or the rest of Europe come to that) now and the 5th Largest world Economy says its leaving Europe would you want us to take the train or not? I think the answer is a big YES. Cameron is a weak leader who doesn't appreciate that.

That sounds about right, costs me over £60 each time

Why? Who on earth wants to go there

How awful! :man:

The Eurostar page on taking bikes as luggage states:

I hate acronyms. WTF is SNCF. :smiley:

Well as you asked .....Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français




National Society of French Railways - French version of British Rail, but better, and still going!!

If you don't mind coach travel, and can travel/return on either a Tuesday or a Wednesday, then National Express is only £10 each way to anywhere in the UK (via O2 Priority).
I used it last year to go from London to Inverness....and then went cycling in the Highlands. £20 return was far and away the cheapest way to travel ☺

Sounds good to me. I don't have kids, enjoy your trains suckers. :smile:




But seriously this is a bargain, costs the same as me getting a train from Carmarthen to London which is less than half the distance and takes nearly the same time.

But you can't by definition get aeroplane food on a train, and that is one very compelling reason to choose air travel.

I really don't get the obsession with making unrealistic comparisons to defend train travel that so many fanatics make. There are so many 'optimistic' assumptions made here to try and make a case that rail travel to southern France is not massively slower but could just be slightly slower. Having travelled on Eurostar standard class (and others) and various budget airlines the point about 'cattle class' airlines almost comical; I remember the leg room on Eurostar being poor, which becomes an even bigger issue when you consider that you're spending so much longer in the seat.

What perplexes me, as someone who has used Eurostar around a dozen times, is why bother making misleading statements to other people. Travel Eurostar if you like, but lets make out that is something it isn't.

Fanatics?!

Train travel is a much more considerate way to travel (that is, if you give any kind of consideration for future generations).

We should support low impact travel wherever possible. Air travel shouldn't be so cheap (that is a fault of government)...and it certainly shouldn't be the go-to option for traveling to our nearest continental neighbour.

By all means fly if you wish....but just keep in mind that you can do the same journey by train TEN times for the same environmental cost.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/on-demand/63201-003

Yes Fanatics; the sort of people who would see someone highlighting flaws in an argument about the speed of train travel and feel compelled to make an unrelated post extolling their environmental virtues because god forbid any negative comment about trains be allowed to go unchallenged (even if it's true).

There is no reason to expect the actual train times to be slower than advertised. So what this really comes down to is a debate about the merits of air travel (with a slight saving of time), vs the benefits of rail travel (huge environmental benefits & an arguably more interesting/civilised way to reach a destination).

People will always find a good reason to do the wrong thing.

I have also been on the Eurostar journeys many times over the years and I simply don't agree with you at all with respect to comfort, facilities, lack of delays, less hassle so arriving refreshed at your destination. In airlines the Seating configuration means that 1/3 of the passenger have to squeeze past two people if they want to get out and move around.

In addition most of the budget airlines (the vast majority of these affordable flights to close Europe) are reducing their facilities and rip you off at any point even trying to get you to pay extra to sit next to the people you have come with and most charge you extra for luggage as well.

In contrast please read this when you get a moment I think things are really on the change to get even better at Eurostar.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/Eurostar-revamps-its-cramped-seating-and-introduces-free-wifi/

Going to the Euros. Flight to Lyon from Edinburgh 29th June 50 quid. Return from Paris 11th July 39 quid. Untouchable. ;-)

You've made an incorrect assumption. I don't give a damn how anyone chooses to travel and certainly would never base that decision on environmental factors. I was simply illustrating how, when you consider total journey time AND all the factors that would surround a traditional 'city break' journey, the difference isn't as much as you may think. No motives other than I was curious so did the math.

The cattle class comment is based on my own experience on airliners where not only is legroom wholly inadequate IMO. Trains might not be much better but at least you can get up and walk for a decent distance and you rarely get someone fully reclining a seat so you can barely move. Again, personal experience, yours might be different and I both appreciate and respect that. Shame that doesn't seem to go both ways really...

Is there a cheapest fare finder of any kind?

This has gone really hot but I still can't figure out how to get the deal? Can anyone help? Is it expired?

Ive been looking for years and never found anything. You try, Haltwhistle to London. If you can get a £14 return I will double it and give you the other half. It's impossible.

I think OP missed the most important thing - the baggage and booze allowance is far higher than flying. Travelling on the Eurostar to Paris was such a nice way to travel.

Totally agree :smile:

One of the best things about travelling with Eurostar is that there’s no weight restriction for your luggage, as long as you’re able to carry your own bags onto the train.
Luggage allowance on Eurostar
Adults
2 pieces of luggage (up to 85cm long)
1 small piece of hand luggage, e.g. handbag, laptop bag or briefcase
Fill them with cheap wine or anything else.

Compare this to any budget airline :confused: Its a No- brainer!!!!

How did you take your bike?

cheapest i can find is £87 one way. am i missing something ? :disappointed:

I did my Scotland cycle tour on a folding bike. However, I've also taken my mountain bike on National Express coaches before. I just asked my local bike shop for a box and packaged it well. Never had a problem.
The only time I did have an issue was when I took my folding bike without anything to protect it. The driver didn't want to put it on due to the potential for oil from the chain to go on other peoples stuff. So I just bungee corded my two army rocket packs to each side of the bike and then bungee corded the bike to one of the luggage hold struts. Driver was fine with that.

If it is a REALLY busy route, then there is of course a chance that the hold will be so full that your bike will then be a problem. But for a twenty pounds return, I have always considered it to be worth a punt :smiley:.

That's amazing. Always wanted to do a mountain bike tour of Hadrian's Wall with some camping gear.
Looked into this on the national express website rules - more or less what you say - there some youtube videos on dismantling and bagging a mt bike for coach travel (US greyhound) - looks like you don't need to go as far as dismantling the handbars etc.. can buy bike bags for the purpose (but about £30 odd). Thanks - Very valuable advice.

Great price nearly as cheap as my staff travel rate £30 heat added

We did Ashford to Avignon last year and it was good and a cheap way to get down there.

The problem is the trip back. The train stops at Lille, then everyone has to get off, with all bags. Then you queue up, go through passport control, queue up again until everyone is done, then get back on the train. This was latish at night, our two kids coped OK but many did not. There was not enough room to sit while you waited (holding all bags) and all the shops were closed. Spoiled the journey!

Sorry can someone can help me understand better....is the train the Eurostar or another company?

Same here.Lambo...are we talking about the Eurostar? TGV? or what sort of train? and were to book it?

Sunday June 19th to Wednesday 22nd June

​I got Eurostar on Thursday, got a meal and plenty of wine.

I just traveled in a wheelchair from Perpignan -Paris gate de Lyon-Gare De nord-St Pancras-Euston-Manchester on Thursday and although it took longer, it was an easy and pleasant alternative to [email protected]