New to Euro Train Travel from London to Paris and Versailles

[ddschur]

We may have to take train from London to Paris and onwards.

I have a couple of questions:

How much time should I plan on to go from London/Heathrow to San Pancras Train Station?

Options for transporation from LHR to San Pancras Station?

Should we use Eurorail or some other train option to purchase tix?

We would then board train to go from London to Paris Nord.

We then need to know options from Paris Nord to Versailles (Hotel Trianon very close to Versailles).

Can anyone provide any insights on best options given several pieces of luggage, mid-late 60's couple, and costs?

I would like to thank anyone who helps in advance!

[AAL]

Book your tickets directly on the Eurostar website.

Can't help with the LHR questions.

You could take the RER to Versailles, but with luggage I always opt for a taxi. According to world taxi meter, the fare is about 30€, but that may be a bit low. Also, there's an added charge for extra luggage.

[Ryvyan]

From Heathrow, just take the Piccadilly Line tube all the way to King's Cross/St Pancras station and walk to the international railway line. I'm not sure how much taxis cost, but it might be better if you are unable to handle all the bags on hand.

I don't like the Eurorail pass because it is expensive. I don't rush around as much to make the initial cost of the pass worth the money. I bought the Eurostar London-Paris ticket online, which was not difficult to do.

[KQ321]

Originally Posted by ddschur

We may have to take train from London to Paris and onwards.

Firstly, I assume there is a good reason why you are flying into LHR, and not directly into Paris. (Or, if you have to fly into London, then all else being equal, LCY is a better option for reaching St Pancras than LHR...)

Originally Posted by ddschur

How much time should I plan on to go from London/Heathrow to San Pancras Train Station?

At the risk of being unhelpful, this depends on:
- What time of day are you arriving? This affects most of the other questions...
- Where you are flying in from, and what is the likelihood of your flight arriving late?
- Which passport are you are travelling on? (ie: EU / non-EU, which affects how long it may take to clear Immigration)
- Whether you have checked baggage? (Hence how long you may need to wait for that)
- Which terminal are you arriving at? This affects:
- How do you plan to travel from LHR to St Pancras? (see below)
- How flexible is your Eurostar ticket, and can you live with the consequences of missing the train?

Anyhow, the published minimum connection time from LHR to QQS (St Pancras) is 4hrs. Allowing ~1hr to clear systems at LHR, ~1hr from LHR to QQS, and 1/2hr check-in time for Eurostar, 2.5hrs is probably the absolute fastest you could do it - and personally, I'd want to allow at least the extra 1.5hrs (and probably significantly more) to allow for the risk of delays (in the flight, at Immigration or baggage hall, or getting across London).

Originally Posted by ddschur

Options for transporation from LHR to San Pancras Station?

See London Airports on the Transport for London site.

Heathrow Express runs every 15 minutes, and gets you from Heathrow Central (ie: Terminals 1 and 3) to Paddington in 15 minutes (longer if coming from Terminal 5 or, worse, Terminal 4), at a cost of £18/person one-way, if booked online. You then need to take the Hammersmith & City or Circle line tube train from Paddington to St Pancras, journey time ~20 mins, £4.30/person one-way, if paid in cash (£2 if you have an Oyster card).

Heathrow Connect runs every 30 minutes and takes 25 mins from Heathrow Central to Paddington, at a cost of £9.10/person one-way. You then need to continue to St Pancras by tube, as above.

The Piccadilly tube line goes from all LHR terminals direct to St Pancras, and takes around 60 minutes, at a cost of £5.30/person one-way in cash (£2.90 or £4.80 with Oyster card, depending on time of travel).

Originally Posted by Ryvyan

From Heathrow, just take the Piccadilly Line tube all the way to King's Cross/St Pancras station and walk to the international railway line. I'm not sure how much taxis cost, but it might be better if you are unable to handle all the bags on hand.

I'd agree that the tube is probably the best option for this route (especially if you have bags, and don't know your way around London). Taking the Heathrow Express might be slightly quicker, but is a lot more expensive, and requires a change at Paddington.

However, if you can't handle all your bags, then you'll presumably need a taxi - I don't know the price for this, but I assume it is expensive (and not necessarily any quicker than the other options given here, due to traffic).

Note that it is quite a walk (with escalators) from Kings Cross underground (where all the above-mentioned tube trains arrive) to the Eurostar departures at St Pancras. It can also be quite a walk (with lifts, etc) from arrivals at LHR to the Heathrow underground/train stations.

Originally Posted by ddschur

Should we use Eurorail or some other train option to purchase tix?

www.eurostar.com

See also the Eurostar trains from London to Paris page on Seat61 for more information about the Eurostar journey.

[nrr]

Originally Posted by ddschur

We may have to take train from London to Paris and onwards.

I have a couple of questions:

How much time should I plan on to go from London/Heathrow to San Pancras Train Station?

Options for transporation from LHR to San Pancras Station?

Should we use Eurorail or some other train option to purchase tix?

We would then board train to go from London to Paris Nord.

We then need to know options from Paris Nord to Versailles (Hotel Trianon very close to Versailles).

Can anyone provide any insights on best options given several pieces of luggage, mid-late 60's couple, and costs?

I would like to thank anyone who helps in advance!

The RER maps can be misleading, it looks like Gare du Nord, south on line B and connecting at St. Michel to line C to Versailles RG is the way to go--but there is lots of walking to make this connection.
Using only the metro, requires lots of walking if you use Metro line 4 to St. Michel for the correspondance to C.
Using buses also requires walking and a few changes.
Since you have luggage, a taxi would be the best way.

[ddschur]

Thanx to each of you!

The information has been extremely helpful and much appreciated for my planning purposes.

As to the question of why fly to LHR and train to CDG instead of CDG direct, answer is BA flight availability to CDG using award points with our date restrictions...hope that makes sense!

Again, thanks!!!

[stut]

Have you checked ORY as well as CDG for availability? It has the additional advantage of being the right side of Paris for Versailles.

[ddschur]

Originally Posted by stut

Have you checked ORY as well as CDG for availability? It has the additional advantage of being the right side of Paris for Versailles.

I haven't...but I will!

Thanx