The travel corridor between London and Paris is one of Europe’s busiest, with millions of passengers journeying between the two cities each year.
Hence there are many options when making the trip: rail, plane, bus, boat as well as using either a ferry service or the Channel Tunnel if you want to go by car.
Each option comes with its own advantages and disadvantages, providing flexibility in journey options for all types of passengers.
Those travelling in both directions should make themselves aware of new border security measures being introduced by both the UK and EU, which are set to impact journeys between the two cities.
Read more: Applications for UK ‘ETA’ to open: What does this change for people in France?
Read more: EES digital borders scheme: Launch date update
Below, we review the choices.
Bus: cheap and cheerful?
Whilst not the first vehicle that may come to mind, the bus is definitely the cheapest option.
Tickets can cost less than €20 one-way with companies such as Flixbus, even if booking only a week or so in advance.
Bus tickets are also flexible and can usually be exchanged as late as 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time, although the fee to do so could be high.
However, ticket prices can increase significantly during busy periods with plenty of public or school holidays, for example May, as the low prices attract younger travellers. During these times, tickets can reach above €100.
Some providers also charge extra for options such as choosing your seat, travelling next to an empty seat (having more space to yourself) or for additional luggage.
Flixbus provides over a dozen connections between the cities each day, providing flexible travel times.
Vehicles offer WiFi and plug sockets.
Connections are direct, with no stops except at Dover and Calais where the bus must embark on the ferry.
The caveat is of course long journey times, some nine and a half hours.
Traffic may make journey times longer and any teething problems during the introduction of the new border security measures may cause further delays.
There will be small breaks for the mandatory driver pauses and you should be able to get out of the vehicle on the ferry, but otherwise will need to remain seated for the duration of the journey.
Food is not provided.
Train: By far the quickest
The Eurostar train service provides 16 connections per day.
The advantage of the Eurostar is it is by far the quickest, with journeys taking passengers to / from the heart of the two cities in under two and a half hours.
Passengers need to arrive an hour in advance of the scheduled departure time to go through border controls, but even with this addition it is still the quickest way to travel.
This is also the most ecological way, emitting 1.4 kg of CO² for the 500-plus kilometre journey – ten times lower than using a car and 60 times less polluting than flying.
Eurostar trains offer free WiFi and plug sockets as standard.
Trains have a café on board serving hot and cold meals (and those with ‘Plus’ and ‘Premier’ tickets get food as part of their ticket).
However, waiting zones after passing through border control at the stations can be very full during busy travel periods.
Tickets can start from €44 one-way although are seemingly rarely available at this price.
They often rise significantly above this, reaching up to €300+ for a return journey at weekends, and even higher during holiday periods.
Unlike other travel options however, there are no hidden or additional fees for options such as baggage or seat selection, meaning the price shown at first on the website is the price you will pay.
Eurostar occasionally hosts ‘flash sales’ for cheaper tickets, but these have been criticised by UK authorities for being misleading.
Tickets cancelled less than seven days before travel face a cancellation fee, but exchanges are possible up to an hour before journeys in most cases and are free although if the new ticket is more expensive the difference in ticket price needs to be paid.
There is also the ‘Snap’ service the company has recently revitalised, which allows passengers to purchase discounted tickets for a day (as opposed to a certain train), only finding out the time they will travel 48 hours in advance.
Read more: Eurostar relaunches website that gives up to 50% off tickets
Train travel may get cheaper in the coming years, with a move to open up the rail line to competition.
Read more: More trains and routes linking UK to France (and other European countries) expected under new agreement
Plane: Watch out for hidden costs
The final public transport option between the two cities is via plane.
Several airlines fly between the main airports of each city, meaning flexibility in where you land or depart.
There are certainly more options to fly between the two cities than taking the bus or train, however this does not necessarily make journey times shorter.
Passengers will only be in the air for an hour or so, but are recommended to arrive at the airport at least two hours in advance to go through security and border control.
Major airports in both cities are located in the outskirts of the cities – or in the case of Paris Beauvais nearly 80km from central Paris – with journey times realistically needing to factor this in too.
There is also the cost of travel from the airport to city centre which is an additional amount to be factored in on top of ticket prices, between €10 and €25 using public transport or potentially triple this if using a taxi/ride-share.
Ticket prices can vary greatly between low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet, and flag carriers including British Airways and Air France.
The cheapest tickets cost around €30 one-way with options such as hold luggage, seat choice etc being an additional cost.
Flights with more expensive airlines cost around €120, with luggage often included.
Flights departing France also now face additional costs in the form of increased taxes on airline ticket sales, which are essentially being passed directly on to passengers.
Read more: Low-cost airline to charge passengers extra tax on already booked French flights
