London Travel Forum

My friends and I are going to London, Paris and Dublin for 2 weeks. I wanted to know whats the best way to get from London to Paris. And whats the best way to get around the city? We want to go to Oxford then around London but we're also on a budget.

Thanks in advice!

I think the best way from London to Paris is via Eurostar, it takes about 2 1/4 hours, the trains leave and arrive from the center of Paris and London so you don't have travel to/from the airports and can avoid the long security check ins. The cheaper tickets do sell out so try and book in advance. I thought the overnight bus was terrible but it is cheaper if cost is a huge concern. Flying might also be cheaper with Ryan Air, Easy Jet, etc but don't forget to factor in transport to the airports.

The best way by far is by Eurostar train from city centre to city centre.

The journey is comfortable and fast: faster than flying once you have factored in transport to/from the airport,check-in and baggage reclaim.

You have to check-in at least 30 minutes before the train leaves, and go through immigration and security, but queues are very much shorter with Eurostar than airports (if queues occur at all....there were none when I used it last July).

As with budget airlines, cheapest fares are available well in advance. The Eurostar 'booking window' is open 120 days in advance of travel and cheap fares are limited in availability. You will not find cheaper fares on any other website. www.eurostar.com

If you do decide to fly then look at www.whichbudget.com to find budget cariers. Remember hold baggage limit of 20kg for most, 15kg for Ryanair.

The best way to get around London is on foot, as with all cities. You will see much more that way. Howeer, London is a vast city and its attractions really quite spread out so you will want to use public transport as well.

The Tube (underground)is efficient, although can be crowded and stuffy at peak times). Tube map here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/downloads/tube_map.html

There are plenty of buses too, although these are slower than the Tube.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2605.aspx will tell you everything you need to know about Tube, buses and DFL, and ticket types. It includes a useful journeyplanner.

Depending on the length of your stay and what you want to do you may decide to buy a travelcard or an Oyster card.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/briefing/travelcard_oyster.htm sets out the pros and cons of each very well.

Visiting Oxford is simple. You can take a bus or train. Journey time for each is around an hour (although buses can get caught up in traffic). Look at www.nationalexpress.com www.megabus.com and www.oxfordtube.com for bus times and fares, www.nationalrail.co.uk for train times and fares.

Regarding London to Dublin, check out flights with aer lingus and ryanair. They have had a price war between them on that route for the last couple of years, meaning great price for people using the route. Sometimes it is cheaper to fly one way with one carrier and back with the other. There should be at least one flight an hour between the cities.

Factoring in transport costs to the airports I agree with the other posters about taking the Eurostar to Paris.

As said, the best way to Paris from London is by Eurostar. The best fares are available 120 days in advance. You leave from St Pancras and arrive at Gare du Nord, both stations in the centre of the cities, so you avoid a) the time to reach airports, b) check-in/security time and c) transfer costs. Check-in at St Pancras is easy and very quick - we went through last week and there was absolutely no delay. Regarding Oxford, I should imagine the best way is by bus/coach. I believe there is a non-stop bus to Oxford - I have seen it around Hyde Park and Marylebone - but I leave it up to those who know to supply definite info!!

The cheapest and fastest way that I found to Oxford was the train but you had to purchase the tickets in advance. More convenient was the two competing bus companies, Oxford Espress and Oxford tube, we just went and stood at the Marble Arch bus stop where they both pick up passengers and went with the 1st one that came. Check the two websites below for cost and location of bus stops, we went over a year ago and I'm sure my info is out of date. You might also check Mega Bus, I can't remember if they go to Oxford but if you bought tickets in advance, they would likely be the cheapest although also the slowest.

http://www.oxfordtube.com/

http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/main.php?page_id=27

The fastest-guaranteed way to Oxford is indeed by train (because that avoids the possibility of traffic congestion slowing you down). You can buy advance fares up to 6pm the night before at the station..no need to buy online (UK trains do not get sold-out).

Megabus do travel this route. Their journey won't be much slower than National Express or Oxfordtube buses, if at all, but all three services will get caught up in any traffic congestion which occurs (and there is plenty of that in the UK).