Andoreasu

Again +1!!! For me this is not even a question. I'd take Eurostar without thinking!!! The train is so fast and so much more comfortable than all the hassle of the airport. I don't know LHR so well (even though I know it's a mess) but the connection between Paris (center) & CDG is so awful that the choice between Train/Plane is simply a no-brainer. To me it's like Brussels-Paris, I'd never ever think about flying* (even though there is actually an SN flight, which is regularly cheaper than Thalys tickets bought last minute)

*edit: except for a mileage run of course

NapaPatTours

^ Exactly! Depending on your gate/terminal, you could spend an hour just getting out of the airport.

fcgoal

Yep, city centre to city centre is hard to beat. Eurostar has a bit of security to go through. Upon approach it similar to airport security then you're straight through in about half a minute, with your shoes still on. I always think "wow, that was it? Great!". Then off you to to a comfy relaxing train or if you're lucky and it's the off season you've scored a cheap upgrade to the leisure plus (or whatever they call the pseudo-first class) which is even better. Hop off at gare du nord, buy your carnet and your vacation is in full relaxing swing.
I'd only fly if I was connecting on a transatlantic, rather than starting in the uk.

:D!

Some people have hinted at this already but another advantage of Eurostar is that you go through immigration before boarding rather than queueing up after you land... never flown into CDG/ORY so don't know but LHR queues can be bad.

Also if you need to take a (domestic) train to London, unless you're coming from the west you'll need to go through central London to get to LHR anyway. West Coast and East Coast main lines all end up near to or in St Pancras (as do Brighton and Kent main lines if you get a Thameslink service)

RussianTexan

I enjoyed the Eurostar the one time I took it, but while going out of England, we passed through waaaaay too many tunnels that just wreaked havoc on my ears. The air pressure changes at speed really hurt! Enough to make me want to fly next time instead.

Guess I just have some pretty sensitive eardrums.

MichaelBrighton

Don't airplanes have pressure changes during takeoff and landing, as well as possibly climbing or lowering?

nkedel

During takeoff and landing, certainly, and much greater changes than any of the tunnels (perhaps barring the chunnel itself)... I've never noticed a perceptible change during in flight altitude changes, as once you're over ~8000 ft it is all a matter of the plane's internal pressurization and not altitude.

That said, while I was not bothered at all by the air pressure changes on the Eurostar, the train/tunnel related air pressure changes are much more abrupt (if smaller) than the larger changes in flying, and I could see where some people would find that more uncomfortable.

rfrost

Much prefer Eurostar to flying for the reasons discussed above, as well as the far greater likelihood of delays (especially on AF) when flying. I would generally fly only when connecting, or when wanting a cheap Pl night at a LHR hotel (for example, if coming in late, or just coming in for one night and flying home the next morning).

stut

As it's had a good run here, I'm going to move it over to our European Rail forum, to join other Eurostar discussions.

stut
Co-Moderator
Europe Forum

BAAZ

+1 to everyone above. Eurostar has about 70% of the total London-Paris market. Flying only really makes sense to people who happen to live relatively close to an airport compared to central London, which is a minority, compared to all the various tourists and anyone who lives in inner London or inner Paris.

Christopher

Lots of reasons for using Eurostar over flying between London and Paris or Brussels:

• it takes you from city centre to city centre (more or less), which is advantageous for most travellers at at least one end of the journey
• check-in, security controls and so on are much quicker on the train
• passport control takes place before departure
• luggage does not have to surrendered, and so at the end of the journey the traveller just leaves the train and doesn't have to wait for luggage and (from the point above) doesn't have to go through passport control
• all of the above points mean that for many journeys it is no slower (and sometimes quicker) to make the journey by train than it is by plane
• there are no, or fewer, irritating restrictions on liquids and other items that one might want to carry on one's person
• Even for people not in the centre of the cities, St Pancras, Gare du Nord and Brussels Midi are all convenient for many places in their respective countries, often more so than the corresponding airport(s)
• the train trip itself is markedly more pleasant than an aeroplane journey, whether one wants to work or just relax

djplong

I don't have enough "+1" cards to hand out as many as I'd like to everything said before..

While I have limited experiences (only having gone transatlantic a couple of times) I can say that the Eurostar wins.

CDG was depressing and a LONG walk from the RER station. Gare du Nord was right smack dab in the middle of everything.

Heathrow was a LONG drive from everywhere (and we had a 'local' pick us up who knew the area). St. Pancras was a couple of stops on the Picadilly line from our B&B.

We got through customs at St. Pancras in NO time. Never got through that fast at ANY airport.

...and in the middle of the journey, I could go to the cafe car and get some food. (To say nothing of the comfort on the train versus the plane).

JOUY31

Well, I'll be the odd one out .

90% of my travel between PAR & LON is by air. My two work destinations, Uxbridge and Canary Wharf, are more conveniently reached by air travel than going through St Pancras, and as I live outside Paris, getting to Orly is easier than going to Gare du Nord, and getting to CDG is not worse than working my way through the traffic on Bd. de Sébastopol.

Having tickets that allow me to switch seamlessly between LCY and LHR also helps.

Stgermainparis

I'm going to resurrect this thread to ask for opinions on flying vs Eurostar from central Paris to Heathrow. I will be in central Paris and need to meet my son at Heathrow around 8:30 AM so intended to get there the night before and stay in the Hilton at Terminal 4. I have only a carryon size bag. US passport.

Eurostar cheapest evening trip arrives 9:40 PM for $65 (earlier one arr 7:40 PM for $78) plus $10 for Tube from Kings Cross to LHR. Total time I estimate to be around 5 hours (train to Gare du Nord, check in, Eurostar, walk to KC, train to LHR). So ~ $80 and 5 hours.

British Airways CDG-LHR nonstop arr 9:15 PM is $60 (or use 4500 BA points) plus $10 for RER to CDG. Est 4 hours (staying within a block of RER blue line).

Typing it out, I'm thinking fly, but am curious if I'm missing something.

Airvan00

I think you have worked it out correctly, but most people who use Eurostar are not going to or from an airport in either London or Paris. For example I usually travel from central London (walking distance from STP) to central Paris (and vv). I think the answer is in the annual traffic figures, all those thousands of people have made the individual calculations and voted with their feet.