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EUROSTAR TERMINAL
St. Pancras "Chunnel" High Speed London to Paris / Brussels
You
roll along smooth and breathlessly quiet past fields of green and yellow
squares of the now ubiquitous Rape weed as the world races past at
about 185 miles an hour. Then, the scenery goes dark and black for
about 20 minutes as you pass under the English Channel, then
more green fields, then the outlying streets of Paris.
You’ve just taken the Eurostar high speed “Chunnel” train
from London to Paris. The Eurostar high speed train began its trans-channel
service between London and Paris and Brussels in November from the newly
refurbished St. Pancras station international rail terminal. Located
on the north
side of London, St. Pancras was one of the grand old stations in Victorian
England, but had fallen into second class status as a terminal
as international rail travel arrived and departed from Waterloo Station. A
massive rebuilding effort has turned the minster-like façade
of St. Pancras into an International rail terminal with modern improvements
to the old
station. St Pancras's track platforms actually doubled for King’s
Cross Station in the Harry Potter movies, but a new glass arched ceiling
adds
light to the central
concourse with new upscale shops and restaurants.
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Travel time from London to Paris
is reduced by 15-20 minutes through the new dedicated tunnels under
the city to the “chunnel” trans-channel crossing. The Gare
du Nord remains the Paris terminal of the high speed line. A trip from
St. Pancras to the Gare du Nord will take about two and a quarter hours.
A trip from London to Brussels will take just under 2 hours.
Why
take the Eurostar instead of flying. Convenience and comfort. A chance
to chat with your friends, family and others on your journey. Check-in
for the high speed train is 30 minutes, a little more if you have a
lot of baggage.
You get on in one city and get off in the middle of the other, a short
cab or subway ride to your hotel. No need for airport transfer bus
or rail trips.
There are more seats available. The Eurostar has a 91% on-time performance.
And for those environmentally conscious "green" travelers the Eurostar
boasts that its "carbon neutral".
What about cost?
If budget travel is your main concern there are a few things to consider.
A restricted ticket is like an economy air ticket, a set travel date
and time. A Flexible ticket means you can change the time or date.
The exchange rate keeps adjusting, but costs for a Eurostar London
to Paris ticket in dollars ranges from about $130 for second
class
restricted to about $220 for restricted First Class and $430 for Premier First
Class Service. A Round Trip ticket is not much more than one way as
a lot
of passangers only
go one way. If you have a Eurail Pass for travel in Europe, without a
Rail Pass the normal price ranges from $170 to $400. If you are willing to be
flexible with your travel times, cheaper tickets are available for certain
less
popular
travel
times.
Having a Rail Pass reduces the regular ticket price by 50% (See How
Rail Passes Work). If you’re traveling for vacation and pleasure
look for a train outside of business rush hours for a cheaper ticket. Seating
is all reserved on the Eurostar so the more in advance you get a ticket the more
seats will be available. You can just show up and get a ticket at the ticket
window, but don’t expect the cheapest price. Holders of Eurail Pass get
a 50% discount on Eurostar tickets.
Though
St. Pancras may be a more convenient terminal for Eurostar international
trains to connect
to trains from
St. Pancras and Kings Cross stations
to points north of London, it is a little bit north of the central heart
of the city. Transportation to the tourist and business center of London
will take some time to settle in and a bit longer. The tube stop for
St Pancras is from the underground station at King’s Cross
Station next door and a few tube stops before arriving at the
heart of tourist London.
A grand new luxury hotel is
under construction in connection with the international rail terminal,
but with the old
St. Pancras and Kings Cross
stations combination being more prosaic in the past than its new incarnation,
there are a number of small budget private tourist class hotels in the
neighborhood, located in two streets to the south of Euston Road.
A Tourist Information booth is across the street with room vacancies
for a short stopover.
A Premier
Travel
Inn is
located
a few
blocks away on Euston Road and the
Novotel London Euston provides
a business class hotel environment two block west of Kings Cross.
Since it opened in 1994 the Eurostar “Chunnel” Train
has been whisking travelers underneath the English Channel between
London
and Paris or to Lille or Brussels. The romance of the train under
the channel is perhaps a little more than the experience. You never
actually
see the English Channel.
Compared to Flying
An airline ticket from London to Paris
on British Airways from Heathrow to Charles DeGaule will cost
between $90
and $180 for Economy, but there are baggage weight restrictions for
checked baggage at the lower economy price and it is non-refundable,
so if you have a lot of luggage add
more for the air ticket or if you want change dates, tough. The flight
is an hour, but getting to the airports on both ends and boarding times,
plan
about
4
hours,
and add transfer
costs of about $35-50. A discount flight from an airport like Stansted
add another 30 minutes, and with new airport fees the ticket price
will be about $70-110 but add more transfer costs and beware
of tighter baggage
restrictions. (See Discount
Airlines). © Bargain
Travel Europe
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articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe
and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
See Also:
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REAL "BIRTH" OF FRANKENSTEIN
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