Grantham - London - Paris: ticket help please!

[ivrytwr3]

Hi all,

You all helped me out last year with a trip and i hoping you can maybe help me out again?

OK, we are looking at a trip to Paris via Eurostar. We live in Lincs, so Grantham to St Pancras for 2 adults departing 14 Nov 13 and returning 16 Nov 13.

We would like to leave morning on the 14th and late afternoon return on the 16th.

We wil be staying here:

http://www.hotellittreparis.com

No idea though how to get to the hotel from the Train station! (never done Paris before)

Any questions, please ask!

Thanks.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

No idea though how to get to the hotel from the Train station! (never done Paris before)

I suggest the bus.
Number 38 takes you from Gare du Nord through the east side of Montparnasse, leaving you about 1km to walk to your hotel, or when travelling with heavy luggage, you can change to the Number 96 which goes along Rue Littre.

 

[Oscar]

Eurostar sells combined Eurostar and National Rail tickets from Grantham to Paris. Alternatively, if you want to apply a Railcard discount or choose a connecting train to London different from the one suggested by Eurostar, you can buy connecting tickets to London - called London Intl (CIV) - from any station or to Lndon Estar (CIV) from Eurostar Domestic Sales (01233 617913), often cheaper.

 

[steamybrian]

In Paris my suggestion would be to use the Metro - line 4 runs direct from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse Bienvenue which would be about 1km from your hotel.
Purchase a "carnet" of 10 tickets which costs about 12 euros from the self service ticket machine (there is an option for instructions in English) at Gare du Nord station so if you share the carnet which not only gives you 2 tickets each for the return journey but return tickets for the two of you on the 15th to use for travel in the city centre.

 

[30907]

My inclination - and the RATP site - would suggest Metro 4 to St Placide, the stop before Montparnasse, from where you walk south down the right hand side of Rue de Rennes. I suspect that's easier than finding your way out of Montparnasse, though I've not been there.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Definitely agree that St Placide is preferable to Montparnasse Bienvenue metro station - the latter is a very complex maze of passageways and numerous exits. Even without luggage it can be a bit of a nightmare to use!

 

[Oscar]

A carnet of 10 tickets t+ is currently 13.30 €, though due to go up in January which seems to be causing a lot of complaints.

 

[bb21]

You can pay on the bus. The price is the same for a single journey as a ticket bought in advance (€1.70). Obviously carnet is cheaper. That said, I don't think a ticket bought from the bus driver allows you to make transfers as opposed to those bought in advance.

 

[30907]

That said, I don't think a ticket bought from the bus driver allows you to make transfers as opposed to those bought in advance.

No, it doesn't. One bought in advance is valid for unlimited transfers within 90 minutes on the bus network (but not to-from Metro), so you can take a reasonably scenic route!

 

[gordonthemoron]

the traffic in Paris is horrendous, why would anyone use the bus?

 

[Squaddie]

We wil be staying here:

http://www.hotellittreparis.com

No idea though how to get to the hotel from the Train station! (never done Paris before)

The hotel's website tells you that there are four metro stations within 2 minutes' walk of the hotel, and tells you how to get there from Gare du Nord (Line 4).

 

[DaveNewcastle]

the traffic in Paris is horrendous, why would anyone use the bus?

I much prefer travel on the bus in Paris over the Metro (as I do in London). Watching people and traffic from a bus can be quite entertaining! Conversely, I find underground travel in cities unpleasant.

I also expect that a first-time visitor would appreiate the cross-river views of the major landmark sites: Louvre, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame & the Ile, and the Tour Eiffel in the distance and the impressively wide boulevards.

Anyway, I also enjoy driving in Paris! (It reminds me of driving in London beore the Congestion Charge). I find a few crossings of the Arc de Triomphe followed by a couple of laps of the Peripherique sets me up nicely for engaging with Parisienne culture!

 

[gordonthemoron]

Arc de Triomphe roundabout scares the living daylights out of me

 

[ivrytwr3]

ok, i've booked the hotel - but a different one!!

Crown Plaza PARIS-REPUBLIQUE
10 PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE
PARIS 75011

We are definately doing Eurostar and so looking to leave Grantham around 8am on 14 Nov 13 and returning on 16 Nov 13 getting back into Grantham at the latest 10pm (but open to earlier timings).

We have never booked a journey like this before, can anyone help with this?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
OK, i looked at the eurostar website and it LOOKS straightforward! Before i click 'book' doe sthis look right to you experts?!

Grantham to London Kings Cross

East Coast

Departs 09:19 on Thu, 14 Nov

Arrives 10:36 on Thu, 14 Nov

Standard Class
Advance
Change station (55 mins)

London St Pancras Int'l to Paris Gare Du Nord

Eurostar

Departs 11:31 on Thu, 14 Nov

Arrives 14:47 on Thu, 14 Nov

Standard

Non Flexible

2 x adults (£104.50)

£209.00

Paris to Grantham

Paris Gare Du Nord to London St Pancras Int'l

Eurostar

Departs 17:13 on Sat, 16 Nov

Arrives 18:30 on Sat, 16 Nov

Standard
Non Flexible

Change station (60 mins)

London Kings Cross to Grantham

East Coast

Departs 19:30 on Sat, 16 Nov

Arrives 20:40 on Sat, 16 Nov

First Class
Advance

2 x adults (£100.00)

£200.00

Total: £409.00

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Looking to book tonight, Is this a good price or should I wait closer to the date?

 

[Oscar]

Given that the booking is for next week, I think the price is what would be expected. A journey by rail-sea-rail would be cheaper at this stage but would take much longer.

 

[ivrytwr3]

Thankyou, I will get it booked!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
We are booked!

Our trip will involve:

Eurostar - can walk to hotel (20mins)
Sacre Coeur - walk
Lourve - walk
Champs Elyse - walk
Eiffel Tower - too far to walk!
A restaurant - too far to walk

Looking at the RATP app, some of the locations are metro and bus - looking at our locations what would be the best way to get around?

Pay each time we want to use transport, buy tickets, hop on hop off bus (30 euros per person!!!!)

Thanks!

 

[30907]

I'd be very surprised if you couldn't get to where you wanted either bus-only or metro-only - does the RATP app not allow you to specify this?

A quick look at this: http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/cartebus.php suggests there's at least 3 routes from Republique to the Eiffel Tower using two buses...

A Carnet de Dix will allow you 5 journeys each so that's your best bet.

 

[ivrytwr3]

so the carnet allows you to travel by metro OR by bus?

 

[Romilly]

Yes. A carnet is simply a pile of 10 single-journey tickets. They cover the Metro, the RER lines within the central zone, and buses. On the Metro/RER each ticket is good for a normal single journey even if that includes changes. I have never tried to use one for a bus journey that involved changing buses, but I am sure I have seen references to restrictions on using one (or tickets issued by bus drivers) for changing buses. A carnet currently costs €13.30 whereas a single ticket would be €1.70.

 

[John @ home]

so the carnet allows you to travel by metro OR by bus?

Yes. A carnet is issued as ten separate tickets, which may be used by different people. Each ticket can be used for one bus journey (including a change of bus if necessary) or one RER and/or metro journey (including changes as long as you stay within the system and within the appropriate Zones). See http://www.paristoolkit.com/briefing/paris_metro.htm

 

[ivrytwr3]

thank you and thank you for the link too.

 

[bb21]

Yes. A carnet is simply a pile of 10 single-journey tickets. They cover the Metro, the RER lines within the central zone, and buses. On the Metro/RER each ticket is good for a normal single journey even if that includes changes. I have never tried to use one for a bus journey that involved changing buses, but I am sure I have seen references to restrictions on using one (or tickets issued by bus drivers) for changing buses. A carnet currently costs €13.30 whereas a single ticket would be €1.70.

Within the specified timescale, unlimited changes are permitted between buses and trams, or between Metro and RER, but not between bus/tram and Metro/RER.

 

[ivrytwr3]

Question time again!

I have booked through Eurostar, travel from Grantham to Paris, I have clicked 'print tickets' and all i see is

London St Pancras to Paris and then the return journey. On the ticket is a QR code which it says to hold firmly on the ticket gate.

The email shows the Grantham to Kings Cross and return, but when i board the train what is my proof of train ticket purchase?

Sorry for been a biff!

 

[button_boxer]

You should have been sent a ticket on departure code for the UK leg to let you pick up the tickets from the machine at Grantham.

 

[ivrytwr3]

the only reference to rail tickets are a 6 letter code for outbound and an 8 alpha and numerical code for inbound.

Is this the code? Why can't i just stick my payment card into a machine and it spits out my tickets??!!! lol

 

[button_boxer]

It'll be the 8 character alphanumeric one. Last time I booked a through journey on eurostar.com I got a booking confirmation email with two codes side by side at the top, a six letter one labelled "Eurostar" and an eight character alphanumeric labelled "TOC". You need this code and the card you used to pay for the booking in order to collect the UK tickets at the station - it's exactly the same system as when you book a normal UK journey and opt to collect your tickets on departure,