Eurostar fare to London

My husband and I will be spending 6 days in Paris late September. We were thinking about taking the chunnel via Eurostar to London for one day. We were going to do the hop on/hop off bus in London to see as much as we can. My husband wants to be able to say he was on the chunnel.

OK, here%26#39;s my question. I can get tickets for $112/each for fare from Paris to London but they are non-refundable. I would like to wait until we get to Paris to book this since I%26#39;m still not sure if it is a good idea, approximatley how much will the fare increase if I book at the last minute?

|||

enter a travel date close to today%26#39;s date see what comes up. It can easily double or more as the cheapest fares usually sell out...

|||

Thanks Eastcoasttim. I didn%26#39;t think to do that. When I tried it, the fare went up $22/person. I have some thinking to do. Thanks again.

|||

Eurostar fares are much like air fares. The longer you wait, the higher the fares, with last minute fares being the very highest.

Round trip for $112 each seems very cheap.

|||

We did the day trip to London you are planning - it was GREAT. We bought a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket for transport in London. Have fun! BTW, check first class tickets; our were not much more expensive (maybe $30?) and it was worth it. One more hint; we made a %26quot;trial run%26quot; to Gare du Nord the night before our trip so we new what we were doing the next morning.

|||

Usually the lowest round-trip EUROSTAR Paris-Gare du Nord/London-Saint Pancras fare is 72€. This fare is usually only for a change/refund restricted, same-day return and available only available for purchase on-line, well in advance of your date(s) of travel.

So if you got a $112 round-trip fare, then that%26#39;s probably as good as it gets. If you choose to wait until you actually arrive in Paris to purchase your tickets, hoping to maintain your itinerary flexibility up until the very last minute, then you can be certain that the fare will be SUBSTANTIVELY (2x, 3x or more) higher. %26#39;Flexibility%26#39; usually carries a much higher price.

|||

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;When I tried it, the fare went up $22/person. I have some thinking to do.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

Well...it would be a good idea to think fast. It would also be a good idea to spend some time %26#39;..tinkering..%26#39; with the BOTH the EUROSTAR and SNCF (French National Railways) booking sites, %26#39;trying out%26#39; different travel dates (days-of-the-week) and times-of-the-day...to see if you can find a combination/compromise of best fare/best schedule.

SNCF--

http://tinyurl.com/58eyz8

|||

The Eurostar website will let you search around a set of dates showing the cheapest fare each day, so that would sort that out.

As I very much doubt you will find a cheaper fare the longer you wait, for all the reasons above, I would get on and book unless your worry is that you might not make the trip at all.

Of the two ho-ho buses in London the Original Bus Tour is the one with the %26#39;live%26#39; guides and the Big London Bus Tour uses taped commentary.

Have a great day.

ebabe

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 4:20 pm, October 08, 2009