TRAVELLING TO THE ALPS BY TRAIN
Trains within the UK
If you’re getting the train to London, buy a ticket to “London International CIV”. This is better than tickets to specific London stations because it includes the underground journey across London and you can travel during peak times. It also means that you are covered by European conditions of carriage, rather than the UK ones. This means that if you miss your Eurostar because your UK train was late, Eurostar are obliged to let you on to the next train without charging you extra. Unfortunately, you can’t buy these tickets online, you need to go to a train station (and you need to show your Eurostar tickets).
Eurostar
London (St Pancras) to Paris on the Eurostar takes 2 hrs 15 minutes. You need to leave 30 minutes before departure time to check in and clear passport control. There are trains every half an hour or so. Trains arrive into Paris at Gare du Nord. There are reductions on fares for under 26’s (you don’t need a rail card).
Transfer in Paris
From Paris Gare du Nord you need to take the RER (French metro/underground) 2 stops South to Gare de Lyon on line D (towards Melun/Malesherbes). Metro tickets are not dated, so you can buy one for the way back as well. There are automatic ticket machines with instructions in English as well as the ticket office. You can also get Metro tickets at the Eurostar terminal in London.
Working out the ticket machines and getting from one Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon takes about half an hour, but recommended minimum time is an hour. When you’re coming back again, remember that you need to leave longer to get through the airport style Eurostar check in.
Paris to Geneva
Paris to Geneva takes 3.5 hours and is a very scenic trip. There are direct trains every 2 hours or so. French trains are much faster and more efficient than English ones. There is passport control at both ends, but very low key.
Bringing your bike on the train
It has to be said that bringing your bike if you’re coming by train is quite a hassle. On Eurostar, you can bring your bike in a bag as long as its regulation sized (120cm by 90cm). The same applies to the Paris-Geneva trip. This size is smaller than a standard bike bag, but Parkers of Bolton do a bike bag small enough (and it rolls up for storage). Carrying bike bags on the London Underground and Paris Metro is not fun and you need arms of steel. Taxi’s are another option.
If you’re willing to send your bike 24 hours in advance of you on the Eurostar, then you don’t need to pack it, just drop it off at St Pancras the day before you’re travelling. You can then pedal across Paris. If its not in a bag, bikes need booking onto the TGV from Paris to Geneva, but the French are much better about bikes on trains than we are in the UK and still have guards vans, so its straightforward.
|
