Is it necessary to purchase tickets for the Eurostar in advance, or can we get them at the station on short notice? We are considering a side-trip to Paris while in England in November. We can't pin down the date we might be able to go until it is nearly time to do so. Another question. I have been able to find the fare rates, but not for the second half of November. Do the fares change much at that time of year from the ones currently posted? Thanks
From what i've seen of the fare structure it will not be likely to increase much from Sep to Nov and might even go down, it's quite closely based on airline models so is higher during the summer holiday seasons. Ref getting tickets at short notice, I believe you can buy tickets at fairly short notice (haven't tried it myself) but something to note is that you will be paying full cost that way, there is usually a lower price ticket available if you have booked in advance (again airline style). If you do want to go with no notice, my suggestion would be to get tickets the day before at the latest, as I have heard of folk missing trips being stuck in ticket office queues at times, and I guess that could ruin your day!
Thanks, Martyn. That info will be very helpful. I found that I should be able to book Eurostar tickets on line even before leaving the US. This brings up my next question. I am also going to need info on trains between Birmingham and London. Could you lead me to a web site where I might find that schedule and prices? Speaking of airline methods. I found this strange when checking on flights to the UK. Round trip to London from New York/Newark was listed at slightly over 2600 dollars (US). If I fly into Birmingham and return out of London, the prices drops a good 1000 dollars. Strange price structuring.
Very strange, but if it saves you that much money it sounds worth doing! There is a very frequent service (train every 30 minutes, journey time 1 hour 30 minutes) of fast trains from Birmingham International (Birmingham Airport is connected to it) to London Euston run by Virgin. One thing to watch is that there is lots of engineering work taking place on this line and they are doing complete blockades on some weekends (there will be alternative routes but they will take longer), so Birmingham-London is a better option on weekdays than weekends till the end of the year. For online ticket purchase and train times in the UK try these: www.thetrainline.com (owned by Virgin) www.qjump.co.uk (owned by National Express) Both of which do online booking, to confirm times then Railtrack has a full online timetable at www.railtrack.com, but cannot provide online booking as it must remain impartial between operators. Hope that helps.
Another big thanks to you, Marty. I feel I am now really on the right track Our plans are to fly out of Newark/NY on Saturday, November 9th, arriving in Birmingham the next morning. Then on Monday go by train from Birmingham to London to Paris. We will do the reverse of that plan on November 14th. On the 15th, we are meeting a group of about 50 people who will be making their way to London by bus, with several stops along the way. We will be in London for the premier of the new James Bond movie, "Die Another Day."
