I’m getting better at the whole traveling thing, yes I know I’m a travel blogger so the actual journey between amazing places should be a piece of cake for me by now but I still sometimes struggle with the whole getting from A to B part.
I’m a typical Aries – impatient, headstrong and ahem passionate - meaning I don’t like to wait, I can’t deal with delays and if I want to be somewhere then it really should have happened like 10 minutes ago. This means my personality isn’t well suited to the travelling part. I am getting better as I explained here but I’m still hoping for the day when teleporters come into existence – surely Apple should be cracking on with this by now?
However, being a thrifty traveller when I noticed a recent Eurostar deal I nabbed a seat faster than you can say where’s my passport, so I could travel to the UK for the Cosmo Blog Awards (more on this soon). For £33 one way I got myself from the centre of Paris to the centre of London in just over two hours and it wasn’t just the price that was right. The whole journey felt almost stress free (minus the anxious rush on the Parisian metro) and really made me wonder why I hadn’t opted to take the locomotive much earlier.
Taking a flight tends to eat into a large chunk of your day what with the checking in, getting to the airport on time, being there at least an hour before, making sure your liquids are all in a fiddly plastic bag, adhering to the weight and baggage allowance, being felt up through security, waiting in the departure lounge using every ounce of willpower not to go berserk in the duty free then waiting for your case and going through immigration at the other end. Phew. No wonder air rage is a thing!
With the Eurostar you don’t have to worry about separating your liquids, you only need to check-in 30 -45 minutes before you board and you’ve got your own reserved seat so no mad rush when you get on-board plus the carriages are easily numbered allowing you to find your spot. You can take two bags with no restriction on weight allowance (just what you can feasibly carry), children under four travel for free and much more legroom than you would on a flight.
If you need to be in the centre of London or Paris (they also have trains to Brussels, Lille and other seasonal destinations) then it couldn’t be simpler. Simply hop off, whizz through immigrations and jump on the tube at Kings Cross St Pancras or the metro at Gare Du Nord Magenta in Paris.
The main downside for me was the lack of connectivity. Ok, so I know that Wi-Fi hasn’t quite made it up to the skies on most flights but I really did expect it to be available on the train especially as I was surrounded by intimidating looking businessmen and women. With Wi-Fi on most mainline UK trains surely it can’t be long before this is introduced? Also only some carriages have power sockets which again seems strange considering how many people I saw tapping away at their laptops.
Like any form of transport there may be delays, there may be queues at immigration and there is no way of knowing if your fellow travel partner will be a joy to share the journey with or not but if you’re going for a short break and can nab a ticket at the right price then I would definitely give the Eurostar a go.
FYI – I’ve not been sponsored or paid for my views I just really wanted to share my experiences! Have you ever taken the Eurostar?
