Eurostar has laid on extra trains
between London and Paris in the days leading to the England v South Africa
game on Saturday and estimates that 25,000 people will use the rail service
to travel to Paris between Thursday lunchtime and Saturday afternoon.
However, a strike called by transport workers in France forced the rail
operator to cancel a number of London-Paris services on Thursday.
Passengers with tickets on the three affected services, which were due to
depart on 9.09am, 16.12pm and 17.40pm, were offered an alternative ticket,
and have all been accommodated according to Eurostar.
Those passengers whose Eurostar trains are not being cancelled on Thursday are
being advised to change their travel dates if possible because there will be
no serives on the Paris metro and limited services on the national TGV
network during the day.
A spokesman for the rail operator said he couldn’t accurately give an estimate
for ticket prices but said: “Our lead-in fare of £59 return sold out several
months ago and fares now will vary from train to train.”
On Wednesday morning the Eurostar website was still showing availability on a
handful of Saturday services at a cost of £150 one way, and £309 for a
return, coming back on Sunday or Monday. This drops to £229 return for
departures after 6pm on Monday.
If these tickets sell out, the Eurostar spokesman suggested that rugby fans
look into travelling directly from London to Lille, which takes one hour and
40 minutes, then transfer to a TGV train to Paris, which takes a further
hour. Bookings are increasing on this route already, the rail agency
RailEurope (call 08708 306050 to book travel in the next seven days) is
quoted £348 for a round trip ticket, going out on Saturday morning and
returning on Sunday afternoon. However, a number of Lille services have been
cancelled on Thursday and Friday due to the strike action and with limited
TGV services operating, it's advisable not to take this route on Thursday.
There is limited flight availability between London and Paris, but most do not
go direct, and fares are steep. Travelsupermarket.com, a price comparison
website, is returning searches for flights between London and Paris on
Friday. The cheapest is £162 with Alitalia, but there’s a catch: the flights
are via Milan and the total journey time is more than 11 hours. The next
cheapest fares flying on Friday are over £1,000, and are not direct, but the
journey time is around four hours.
Flybe has increased capacity on flights to
Paris this weekend by using larger aircraft, making 1,000 more tickets
available between Birmingham, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, and
Southampton and Paris. Flights from Birmingham to Paris are being quoted as
£449 going out Saturday morning, returning Monday evening (Sunday's flights
are fully booked), and from Southampton the return fare is £320, returning
on Monday, as Sunday flights are now fully booked.
On the whole, flights from regional airports to Paris are proving better
value. Expedia has dropped its fares
on direct Air France flights from Manchester to Paris from £646 to £514 in
the past two days. The flight arrives at 8.55am on Saturday and leaving on
Sunday at 6.15pm. The site has sold out of Paris hotels.
Hotel availability is promising. Travelsupermarket.com
is retrieving rates from £41 a night for two night stays in Paris on Friday
and Saturday night, but prices vary according to the hotel star rating and
location.
Another website, Hotel Club set up a dedicated
page for rugby supporters looking for accommodation in France at the
start of the World Cup competition. Since Saturday, Hotel Club has reported
a 32 per cent increase in UK customers seeking accommodation in Paris.
On Wednesday morning the site was displaying over 20 hotels available in the
city from £42 per night. Properties range from one to five star properties,
and if you select "Availability" as priority on the search, it
will return first only those hotels that can confirm instant availability
for the night of Saturday 20 September. A host of other properties are
listed that may have availability but will commit only to confirmation
within 48 hours.
For fans looking for more unusual accommodation, the luxury canal boat
operator, European Waterways has
moved one of its boats from Burgundy to the Seine, alongside the Eiffel
Tower, to offer accommodation over the weekend. There are still three double
cabins available in the Bonne Humeur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights,
at a cost of £250 per person including breakfast and a champagne welcome.
The message for rugby fans who want to get close to the action in Paris this
weekend is to investigate flights from regional airports to Paris, and to be
wary of hotel deals that look too good to be true. Most travel websites will
display the hotel location on a map, or in the case of Lastminute.com,
will list its distance from various Paris landmarks.
Try Newhaven to Dieppe -- 80quid and only 2.5 hours from Dieppe to Paris. LD lines.
JC, Swindon, UK