Here’s a brief introduction to Eurostar Deals for those unfamiliar with the international high speed rail service.

What are eurostar deals?

The Eurostar fast train service under the English channel is one of the most famous railway journeys in the world, joining the world capital cities of London and Paris from city centre to city centre. Launched in 1994, the prestigious Eurostar trains have helped to make journeys quicker and more convenient for buisness and leisure passengers, when compared with the traditional ferry crossing or short haul air flights. Eurostar deals are best value travel packages with inclusive return tickets for the Eurostar train and an optional hotel stay for two or more people.

Air travel versus the Eurostar train

There are several advantages of the Eurostar over air routes

* city centre terminals
* fast check in and boarding
* less inconvenient security measures
* less environmental impact

Current deals

Eurostar Deals from London can include a central Paris Hotel with a return rail fare for a reasonable price provided two people are traveling and staying together and sometimes there is a stipulation that you have to stay over a Saturday night. So weekend eurostar deals are particularly worth looking out for.

Connecting to Other Mainline Stations in Paris

Arriving at Gare du Nord, the other mainline stations are all within easy reach but you should allow an hour to get to Montparnasse, forty minutes for Gare de Lyon and Orleans, a bit less for St Lazare and Gare de l’Est. The Paris metro is very frequent and efficient but if you are more used to the London Underground then it’s important to realise that the metro stations are closer together, so a journey of just a couple of miles will comprise of more stops, and therefore take a little longer than in London, but this is balanced out by the fact that the lines are not so deep underground, being mostly cut and cover tunnels, so there are not so many steps corridors and escalators to navigate except in the biggest interchange stations such as Montparnasse and Chatelet.

The RER metro service also runs from Gare du Nord providing a faster journey but to less destinations.

Non stopping Eurostar Deals to France bypassing Paris

Paris is wonderful to visit as often as possible and it’s great that you can get eurostar deals for short breaks weekends or even day trips but the eurostar can also be used for getting further into France quickly. It’s always been possible to combine a eurostar ticket to Paris with a TGV journey from one of the other Paris terminal stations to somewhere further down. I used to catch one to La Rochelle on the West coast, but this generally meant allowing a full day for the journey. Now there are some direct services such as to Avignon in the summer and Winter Ski Train Eurostar deals to Moutiers and Bourg Saint Maurice which is wonderful news for winter sports enthusiasts who want to get to the alps without all the fuss at the airports and difficult onward journeys.

Flickr: Discussing All Night Shoot to Paris

Originally uploaded by AndyRoberts

Paris is probably the most photogenic city in the world so any photographer would want to spend some free time in the Parisian streets, especially Londoners. Keen photographers who congregate on the Flickr photosharing site have formed into groups for arranging meetups and photoshoot events and the London Flickr group is one of the best organised. Now they’re even making arrangements to take a trip to Paris together, taking advantage of the special Eurostar deals for clubbers.

Instead of dancing the night away in some ‘boite de nuit’ they’ll be walking along the banks of the Seine in the middle of the night then catching the early Eurostar home in the morning. Perhaps some of them on the first visit will fall in love with the city, as many do, and want to return again and again for longer Paris breaks than just a quick overnighter.