Eurostar

...market. We had booked our Eurostar tickets way back in September. I had voted for Brussels in December rather than Paris for my birthday in October (mainly due to the fact that I cannot stand Paris - well, Paris is kind of alright, it's the Parisians I have a problem with). Living just inside the M25 motorway in the north, I was highly delighted when in November the Eurostar terminal changed from Waterloo International to St Pancras International. ...
...== Booking Eurostar Tickets == There are a number of ways to book tickets for the Eurostar service. We had opted for the official Eurostar website where we scoured the 'special offers' for weeks until we found a day and time we liked. The day trip to Brussels cost £59.00 per person (£29.50 each way) and after paying securely online, the tickets arrived within a couple of days. We had opted for normal delivery which was free but if you want to make ...

Tempus_Fugit 23.12.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...taking the train. The Eurostar is not a cheap option, I searched high and low on the internet and found that the lowest priced tickets demand the organisational skills to book months in advance. Without time on our side and only a couple of days before our holiday, the most economical seats were still £122.00. In the end I booked them in conjunction with the hotel, through the Trainhols.com site, hoping that at least the package would save us a ...
...discovered that Eurostar prefer to leave seats empty rather than sell the tickets at a lower price on the day – not exactly business minded of them, but reassuring when you have had to pay full whack. While we were away, the news story broke that it is far cheaper for those living outside the UK to buy tickets. You’ve probably seen this, but it’s as simple as selecting an alternative nationality when booking online, pretending to be American for ...

Malibu_jenny 13.05.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...months, I've travelled extensively on Eurostar between London and Paris (minimum weekly), as well as completed the odd trip to Brussels and Lille. Generally, I'd always aim to travel Eurostar rather than fly, because I live in central London, and instead of 40 mins to get to Heathrow, I can make it to Waterloo in 10 mins instead. My first comments relate to ticket pricing. Even in advance of the pricing structure changes in 2003, the amount charged ...
...in standard class on the Eurostar for half the price. But there's a nice way around this for people regularly travelling to France over a prolonged period. Those booking leisure tickets over the weekends have this option anyway. The trick is to book your tickets in reverse to take advantage of leisure fares coming in from the French side. So instead of booking London to Paris Monday to Friday, book Paris to London Friday to Monday. Makes a massive ...

chunkieuk 04.01.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...that is the Channel Tunnel Eurostar service to show us, in its chic and efficient manner, just how easy it is to do the continental. Now, the Eurostar service has I think copped a fair amount of flak from problems with the tunnel in general. As far as I can tell, this is pretty unjustified. With the exception of one horrible journey home when storms flooded the whole of Northern France (not something even the railway services can really be held ...
...with here is that the Eurostar is extortionately expensive. Not true. Ticket start at £70 for a return - considering the alternatives, very reasonable. Of course you can fly for less, about half that price - if you just include the ticket. But add on airport taxes, the cost of getting out to Heathrow and then finding your way into Paris from Charles de Gaulle airport and all the drinky snacky things you'll buy on the way, and I think you'd be hard ...

ImogenW 02.04.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...of my trips on the Eurostar have been in 2nd class, usually as part of some two-for-one offer, resulting in paying about £49 return. The Lille trips were a treat though and we pushed ‘le bateau’ out and paid double for the 1st class upgrade. To be honest, the major benefit is the increase in elbowroom that comes from having only three seats across ways. Seats WILL recline but only by reducing legroom. Food in first class is an enigma. Yes, it’s better ...
...‘take yer own tucker’. The Eurostar buffet cars would not be out of place on one of our own expresses, with ALL that that implies, and they’re pricey too. All train staff have to be at least tri-lingual, i.e. in English, French and Flemish/Dutch. This tends to be variable, with the French-speaking crew taking the middle ground. Yes, they sound like Maurice Chevalier but fluent nonetheless. The Flemish speakers seem to be able to speak all three ...

BNibbles 30.08.2003 (19.10.2003) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...to confirm the impression of Eurostar I built up during my brief encounter with the company. Their task seemed simple: to transport my family and me from Ashford in Kent to Lille so that we could transfer to a TGV service to Disneyland Paris, and to do the reverse three days later on our return. That this experience managed to combine delays, malfunctions, inconvenience and questionable customer care does not bode well for a company which is marketing ...
...To further speed your check-in, Eurostar offer a “Ticket Direct” service. Just enter your booking reference and these machines, next to the check-in gates, print out your tickets. When we arrived, one of the two machines was out of order. After putting my details and credit card into the other and confirmed my identity, the machine then told me that it could not print out my tickets and to go to the desk down in the booking hall. There, after queuing, ...

Silverback 08.11.2003 (10.11.2003) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

Eurotunnel is a brilliant way to take your car across the Channel. Book On-Line - www.eurotunnel.co.uk - and you can book a car + 5 passengers from £11.50 return . Day-trips are very cheap but longer stay crossings are expensive. When booking on-line at read the promotional fares and consider the value of joining the Points Plus scheme. A £10 enrolement fee entitles you to 10% discount on fares. Checking-in is quick and simple. The cheapest crossings ...
...be shepherded on to the next available crossing. Since the recent H.M. Customs purge on bootleggers, the Folkestone Terminal is like a ghost town. Pre Xmas will be busy, so expect delays then. The crossing is simplicity itself. You self-drive your car onto the train, a marshal guides you where to park, kill the engine, handbrake on and you're soon on you're way. The crossing is smooth and quiet and usually takes 45 mins. Compare this to slow, smelly ...

brian27mpv 09.10.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

The Eurostar is a high speed railway passenger service connecting London with France and Belgium. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the channel tunnel, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel. The official opening took place in May 1994. In England the train has stops in Ashford, Kent and St Pancras London, in France, Pairs and Lille with some stops at EuroDisney and in Belgium, Brussels. To me, this train is just a fantastic ...
...actually only been on the Eurostar once but am going on it again to Paris at the weekend. My first and only experience so far was a very good one. Firstly I found booking on the Eurostar very easy. I used their website at Eurostar.com which is easy to use and gives you all the choices you need in terms of train times, schedule etc. I was lucky that I booked early enough to get their £59 per person return to Brussels. I also paid £59 return for my ...

Spottydog11 08.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...I am travelling on the Eurostar to Paris. For work reasons, I do this trip very often (several times a month) I am sitting in first class, the carriage is very quiet, almost empty and I can relax or do some work. Getting to Waterloo was the hardest bit of the journey. Checking closes 20 min before departure, the waiting lounge has got a few seats and shops, nothing really interesting (though better than outside) Boarding was quick and I was offered ...
...me, please) and my meal arrived in a few minutes. This is airplane food but some days quite edible. I had a choice of meat(chicken) or fish(escalop mousse) but this is not always guaranteed, especially if you are seating at the end of the coach. You could book a vegetarian or other special meal. After this, came coffee (the English sort) or tea (better) and lovely chocolates. A convenient hot towel and back to work. Staff are helpful and you may ...

carmen999 23.09.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...the Eurostar, I used the Eurostar from London Waterloo to Lille, as a connection from the fantastic French TGV, to the not so great but still all right GNER service. Travel time was MEANT to be 2 hours 10 minutes, but we were 3 quarters of an hour late due to a 10 minute delay in Calais. When in France the Eurostar can hit speeds of up to 300kmph, but only around 100kmph in Kent. This is because in France they have a special line for the Eurostars, ...
...- Some background information on Eurostar - Eurostar opened in 1994 with foot passenger only rail connections between London Waterloo, Paris and Brussels. It also stops in Ashford, Calais and Lille. In England Eurostars share the line with local trains, so if it loses its slot it has to be stuck behind a slow train. A new, Eurostar only line is being built that will go to St. Pancras station in London. While sleek and modern looking on the outside, ...

monkfeesh 05.11.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...husband and I on a eurostar holiday to Paris. Instead of booking for the train tickets and accommodation separately on my own, I decided to try out Eurostar's holiday package. I had two reasons for doing so; first, I felt it would be a good deal and second, that it would save me time and effort searching for a reasonable hotel. I made two calls to Eurostar holdays direct. First for a quotation and then the second to book it. The operator on the ...
...pounds, a different operator from Eurostar holiday was able to pinpoint the same hotel for me very quickly. She also informed me that, because its the low season, we were upgraded from standard class to first class. And she asked whether we wanted just two seats to ourselves or be seated in two longer rows. Beauty! Within a week of booking the holiday, I received my tickets and (wait for this) a Eurostar holiday Brussels City pack. This included ...

petitesquirt 12.03.2003 (14.03.2003) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

I have used the Eurostar service from London Waterloo-Brussels Gare du Midi quite frequently, having spent two summers living in Brussels. I was able to get very reasonable tickets as a student (£69 return) and this works out as a similar price as a London-Brussels return plane ticket, and also a lot less hassle. Admittedly this is not as cheap as with Ryanair, but with them you fly from an inconvenient airport to another incovenient airport (Brussels ...
...Zaventem's notorious bad luggage handling, Eurostar is a much better idea than flying Heathrow/London City-Brussels, as Zaventem is far from central although a train will take you into the centre of Brussels. The check-in process is very simple as you can walk through with your baggage and check-in yourself about half an hour in advance. The trains are usually ready to board twenty minutes before departure time, and are an impressive sight. The ...

Morgenhund 29.01.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

I travelled on the Eurostar back in 1995 after spending a wonderful 10-day holiday with some friends in Bielefeld, Germany. We were driving back from Germany rather than flying so had decided to travel on Eurostar because of the supposed speed and out of curiosity. Before actually getting there I had been very nervous about going through because I could not understand how a tunnel could withstand the immense weight above it and was convinced that ...
...I would recommend travelling on Eurostar but if I were to travel on it again I would definitely go on the passenger train as I have heard that it is much better that way. Despite my recommendation I am a big fan of the ferry and a lover of the sea so I would probably be more likely to cross the channel via that route even if it does take longer. The current cost of travelling on Eurostar to Paris is £290 return adult fare for a flexi ticket and ...

cherryfalls 08.02.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

I’ve travelled on Eurostar several times now, to Paris, Brussels and, more recently, Lille. For anyone who lives in or near London, any other form of car-free transport to these places is pointless – the only problem is that it now takes me almost as long to reach London as it does to get from London to Lille! The advantages are that you get airline speed with less hassle …. and for those who claim that it doesn’t take 3 hours ...
...city-centre including check-in! You can also get some good deals if you look carefully and even if you don’t, the option to ‘turn up and go’ still isn’t a reality by air. The disadvantages? Well, the trains are now starting to look a bit tatty, the speed restrictions this side of the channel make the journey a little more tedious (London-Ashford in an hour is hardly high-speed!) and Waterloo isn’t the best London terminal ...

Andy_W 19.06.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar

...booked direct with Eurostar online at www.eurostar.co.uk. Our return trip from London to Pairs cost £120 each (14 days in advance). This is double the standard class fare, but in terms of luxury and comfort, worth every penny, and a reasonable price for first class travel. ...

maryjo 27.08.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Eurostar