Hampshire - Paris, Eurostar or Car?

[.Mark]

Interesting cars are not an option so it'll be the boring car, which would you choose?

I won't be driving anywhere when I get there, so dump car in hotel car park. Arrive Monday Lunchtime, depart Wednesday evening.

Train seems like a change, get on at Havant to Waterloo, cab to Eurostar, sit on my arse til Paris and same for return.
Car seems smarter, drive to Paris via Tunnel, leave car for a couple of days, fill boot with 'stuff', drive home.

anyone done similar? Thoughts?

[Puggit]

Flybe from Southampton!

[.Mark]

Yeah, but it's Flybe.

[.Mark]

Suppose I should qualify that.

Apart from it being Flybe. Over the next 2 weeks or so we may well be flying to the Channel Islands (twice) and A.N.Other Euro destination.

[Grey Ghost]

For what it is going to cost you to get from Havant to St Pancras return including taxi fares across London perhaps you should drive to Ebbsfleet station, park the car and get the Eurostar from there. When you get back you are south of the Thames and should have an easy drive home.

Ebbsfleet is not a busy Eurostar station and you will be able to get any purchases to the car easy enough as the car park is close to the terminal entrance.

[.Mark]

Grey Ghost said:

For what it is going to cost you to get from Havant to St Pancras return including taxi fares across London perhaps you should drive to Ebbsfleet station, park the car and get the Eurostar from there. When you get back you are south of the Thames and should have an easy drive home.

Ebbsfleet is not a busy Eurostar station and you will be able to get any purchases to the car easy enough as the car park is close to the terminal entrance.

Ah-ha! Not thought of that as an idea. Thanks. Looking in to it.

[Mojooo]

I might have to do a similar journey soon and my options are either southampton central to eurostar train

or southampton airport to paris with flybe

the question is with the flybe flight will there be a lot of hanging around before and after the flight? its a short flight but will all the checking in etc just make it as long a journey as going via train?

i also want to go straight into central paris so i guess the train station you end up in is much closer to where i wanan be?

is it much hassle going from airport to central in paris?

[llewop]

Mojooo said:

is it much hassle going from airport to central in paris?

No. there is train/metro station in CDG terminal building.

Or plenty of taxi's, buses etc.

For a while I was flying Southampton - Paris every week, but because I working round near to Versailles, used a hire car most of the time (also dead easy there) and drove round. So (in my experience) even the infamous Peripherique isn't actually a major problem - yes, it gets busy, especially on Friday afternoons, but no worse than M25 etc round London.

[Puggit]

Southampton Airport is a breeze. Last time I flew from there it was 40 mins from leaving home in Tadley to being at the departure gate (driving and parking my car there).

[.Mark]

Don't get me wrong, Southampton airport is fine, I'm just not particularly a fan of Flybe (too inconsistent), and I fancy a different way to travel.
I'm leaning towards the train, just for something different to try, I looked at Ebbsfleet but Google maps says about 2:45 mins, even bettering that to say 2:30 I could have got train to Waterloo and be on my way on the Eurostar - and probably be on the same train.

I need to price up the difference between the two really. Pity the moved from Waterloo, would have been a no brainer.

[Mojooo]

i priced up eurostar and flybee they are both within £1 at 118 and 119!

[Bluebarge]

Train will be a lot quicker. A taxi across central London will only be about £15. If your hotel in Paris has parking, it will often be at extra cost, and stocking up on booze no longer makes so much sense given the exchange rate - you'll find more bargains at a decent wine merchant over here. So, train for me.

[Justin French]

I have the same type of dilemma. At the beginning of October I am taking my girlfriend to Paris (for 3 nights) for her birthday. I am a member of a Car Club and am wondering if it’s worth taking a car i.e. Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais and then driving to Paris, or just taking the Euro Star (?)

The Car Club I am with has some decent cars. Cars available are like: Ferrari 599, Porsche 911 Turbo PDK, Aston Martin V12 Vantage & Audi R8 Spyder etc.

Re: Car option - I assume it’s a fairly boring drive from Calais to Paris? I suppose the other thing is how much driving I’ll get in Paris. I keep wondering if I should just take the Euro Star to Paris and save the cars for a decent thrash! Hmmmm!

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Justin

[blueg33]

Justin French said:

I have the same type of dilemma. At the beginning of October I am taking my girlfriend to Paris (for 3 nights) for her birthday. I am a member of a Car Club and am wondering if it’s worth taking a car i.e. Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais and then driving to Paris, or just taking the Euro Star (?)

The Car Club I am with has some decent cars. Cars available are like: Ferrari 599, Porsche 911 Turbo PDK, Aston Martin V12 Vantage & Audi R8 Spyder etc.

Re: Car option - I assume it’s a fairly boring drive from Calais to Paris? I suppose the other thing is how much driving I’ll get in Paris. I keep wondering if I should just take the Euro Star to Paris and save the cars for a decent thrash! Hmmmm!

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Justin

Supercare and Paris are not a good mix IMO. I have driven a relatives Rolls around Paris and it was one of the scariest things I have done!

[.Mark]

Bluebarge said:

Train will be a lot quicker. A taxi across central London will only be about £15. If your hotel in Paris has parking, it will often be at extra cost, and stocking up on booze no longer makes so much sense given the exchange rate - you'll find more bargains at a decent wine merchant over here. So, train for me.

Yes, it's looking more like this option. I have no plans to stock up on stuff, as you say exchange rate is not much use.
Thing is the wife is a bit "Oh! Sparkly Things!" and handbags so God knows what we may come back with

[SeeFive]

I did a lot of this last 18months. I've tried Eurostar to Gare du Nord and Flybe to CDG, and frankly it will be Flybe every time from now.

Compared to a cab/lift to the station, and a 50 min rail trip to Waterloo, then a nasty tube journey with luggage to St P, and then a check in procedure, and still an expensive cab the other end from GdN, it's better - especially when coming home tired and reversing the process.

From Basingrad, I can be at Eastleigh and airside within 35 mins. Then all I have is the flight and a train from CDG and Metro the other end which is very well integrated.

The beauty of it is really coming home. All the poxy train and tube journeys this end are replaced as I just get off the plane and make a short car journey to my door. Much better, and I have had no problems with Flybe on that route - with the exception of a strike at CDG that shut the whole airport down once, and a plane that went tech once - out of about 60 journeys.

[TuxRacer]

Ebbsfleet looks ideal to me - cross the country by car, park outside London and then get on a passable train service to Paris. Except for 90% of us it's on the wrong side of the city.

[Amateurish]

.Mark said:

Bluebarge said:

Train will be a lot quicker. A taxi across central London will only be about £15. If your hotel in Paris has parking, it will often be at extra cost, and stocking up on booze no longer makes so much sense given the exchange rate - you'll find more bargains at a decent wine merchant over here. So, train for me.

Yes, it's looking more like this option. I have no plans to stock up on stuff, as you say exchange rate is not much use.
Thing is the wife is a bit "Oh! Sparkly Things!" and handbags so God knows what we may come back with

You could avoid the taxi by changing trains at East Croydon and then going direct to St Pancras on FCC.

[.Mark]

Amateurish said:

You could avoid the taxi by changing trains at East Croydon and then going direct to St Pancras on FCC.

That would mean using the Brighton line from Havant, that stops at every station on the way, it'd be quicker to walk to Paris

[Amateurish]

.Mark said:

Amateurish said:

You could avoid the taxi by changing trains at East Croydon and then going direct to St Pancras on FCC.

That would mean using the Brighton line from Havant, that stops at every station on the way, it'd be quicker to walk to Paris

Maybe more scenic? Anyway, should take 2 hours this way rather than 1h15 to Waterloo then taxi.