best place to buy rail from london to paris
Our family of 5 will be traveling to Europe for the first time this summer. Planning to take the rail from London to Paris(one way) then to Avignon. Our itinerary is to spend 1 wk in London then 1 wk in Paris then 1 wk around Avignon, then 2 wks in Sancerre, France for language school then back to Paris for another wk then fly back home.
After some research online about buying rail tickets from London to Paris, I am still puzzled where is the best place to buy the ticket. Should I go thru Raileurope.uk or thru eurostar? Can I purchase ticket from Raileurope.uk even though I am from the US?
If anyone else have suggestion about Paris to Avignon(round trip),please also comment. Thanks.
talent
maui, Hi usa 2/16/13
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You should buy those tickets frommthe actual train company,,Eurostar.com, not RailEurope. Eurostar offers a tiered price structure with the lowest prices for early purchase. I think it is 120 days in advance. They offer youth fares if any in your family fit the age req.
Go direct to Eurostar and then click USA for prices in $Dollars or UK for prices in £Pounds.
Don't use anywhere else for Eurostar tickets, and do it ASAP - cheapest is at 120 days before departure and they only go up.
Others will have ideas about TGV Europe for Paris Gare de Lyons to Avignon and how to avoid RailEurope which should be your last resort. Again early purchase yields discounts.
The cheapest tickets are like the airlines - no exchange, no refund. Be sure you can commit before you buy.
Hi talent. For Paris to Avignon, use tgv-europe.com. You can buy tix up to 90 days in advance for a big discount if willing to commit to an exact date and time. When you are entering your trip details, for ticket collection country, pcik France. You will get a code which you can use in any French station to retrieve your actual tix. No advantage to buy round trip. Enjoy your trip!
When you go to tgv-europe.com, first pick Great Britain as your country of residence to avoid being bumped to the US Rail Europe site. Then choose to stick with tgv-europe.com rather than being bumped to the UK Rail Europe site. Choose France as your ticket collection country. If you get a Prem's fare, you will be able to print your own tickets. Otherwise you will be able to pick them up at any SNCF station in France.
Just checked the rail booking company we use. On the Eurostar site it advises in summer months July-September you can book London/Paris/Avignon
Thank you everyone. Will follow advise.