Nice Travel Forum

Has anyone travelled from St Pancras to Nice by Eurostar/TGV please. If so:-

Is it better to travel via Lille or Paris.

Is it better to book thru Eurostar Or RailEurope.

What would be the best day/days to travel Or NOT TO TRAVEL by these trains.

To buy food prior to journey to take to eat on the trains or eat on the train ie what the Train provides in the way of food.

any tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

It is widely believed by many VTers that RailEurope is a very expensive agency from which to purchase tickets. Why not got to St Pancras a day or two before you wish to travel and buy your ticket from there. I would think that it would be more direct to go to Paris Nord on the Eurostar and then transfer by metro Green Line D direction Banlieue or RER direction Melun to Gare de Lyon where you can take the TGV to Nice Ville. TGV with no changes leave Gare de Lyon at 1.39pm and 3.43pm and the duration of the trip is approx. 5 hrs 35min. Hope this helps.

London - Nice is most convenient via Lille, as this means you don't have to change stations, as you would have to if going via Paris. There are quite a few trains from Lille - Europe to Nice every day. Quite often this is even faster than going via Paris.

Best book through sncf.fr and the cheapest prices can be had if you book London - Lille separate from Lille - Nice. Just plan for half an hour to change trains in Lille, and make sure you buy tickets from Lille Europe, not Lille Flandres.

Many thanks to Maryimelda and K V B for your replies, I much appreciate your time and trouble.

If anyoone else has done the trip I would be pleased to hear of your experiences.

THanks again guys.

KVB, didn't think of that. Via Lille, would indeed make it easier to make the change from Eurostar to TGV. Makes perfect sense.

Thanks again and I agree. If it is only a case of swapping trains,I'd opt for that. As much as I would love to see Paris , avoiding that trip across it, at the time of going on holiday , ie the time taken etc etc would seem to be the best bet.

Thanks a trillion.

K.

I've done it once. It's better to switch trains in Lille as you remain in the same train station; in Paris, you had to change.
Just be aware that the train goes at TGV speed only to Marseille. After that, it takes 3 hours to go to Nice, very, very slowly, so don't be surprised.
I don't know if you're allowed to bring food on the Eurostar, so you'd better try and buy sandwiches in the station before boarding the TGV, as the prices are extortionate in the train. They do not have a trolley like in the UK, but a "wagon-restaurant".
Take a lot of liquids with you, the 3 hours slow drive in the summer are deadly.

You are permitted to take your own food on Eurostar.

We are doing this trip in 3 weeks, and will happily let you know how it went afterwards. We are going from Ebbsfleet via Lille, for the same reasons as others have posted - easier changeover at Lille.

Our train leaves Ebbsfleet at about 0715 and reaches Nice at about 1750. Considering the drive to the airport, check in times, baggage allowances, and Gestapo-like airport security, it seems to be a very civilised way of doing it. The other thing we found, was that first class travel on Eurostar is not much more expensive than cattle-class.

I have just thought of a website that may be helpful to anyone thinking of travelling throughout Europe and beyond by train:http://www.seat61.com/
It is a mine of information.

Thanks to stokesley and ange Famine for your responses. Apologies for the delay in acknowledging but I have only just managed to get back on line on this one.I appreciate your interest and input.