EasyJet from London to Paris?

[jiminy14]

I am still trying to make travel arrangements from London to Paris and then onto DLP. I visited the EasyJet website and this seems like a viable option. A couple of questions though. The London airport is at Luton. I am flying into Gatwick and spending two days in London. Is this airport easy to get to?
I am also looking for any information on the weight allowance for luggage and the number of pieces you are allowed to check. On my flight from the USA, I am allowed two pieces of checked luggage with a weight allowance of 70 pounds each. Will this be allowed on EasyJet or will I have problems? I don't expect my bags to weigh that much but I am sure they will be in the 50 pound range. Any information or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Cyrano]

On checking easyjet website baggage allowance is 20Kg per person, so you would be allowed 40Lbs approx before paying excess.

Gatwick is south of London, while Luton is in the North. I guess you could take the gatwick express into London, then transfer rail station and onward train journey to Luton.

Hopefully someone might have a better idea on this but talking to my brother in London he did not think it would be a good journey - mind you he thinks any journey that you cross the Thames is a long journey

Reid

 

[Stitchy_Baby_626]

Why not take the Eurostar? It's probably cheaper

Donna
xxx

 

[jiminy14]

Donna...What is Eurostar? Can you give me any information on it? I priced out the fares on EasyJet and it will cost about 144 British pounds round trip for myself and DH. If Eurostar is cheaper than I definitely would be interested as I am concerned about the weight limit on EasyJet. My DH has business in Scotland and Orleans, so we are flying into London. I have convinced him to spend three days in DLP after he completes his business in Orleans.
Thanks also to Reid for baggage weight allowance. I think 20Kg might be a problem for us as we will be in Scotland and France for a two week period.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[Cyrano]

Eurostar is the direct rail link from London to Paris/DLP. unfortunately not much use in the North of Scotland but it has won a lot of converts since you can be right at the park - no taxi/shuttle from the airport.
www.eurostar.com hopefully this will help.

Reid

 

[MinnieYC]

I'm not sure you need to worry that much about the weight of your luggage. I think you may be overestimating the weight of your bags. I think you'll probably be fine. We once went on a 3.5 week trip where we had a 1 bag per person limit that was to be no more than 70 lbs. We needed a lot, since we were going to be in several climates during this trip (we needed winter and summer clothes, and casual and dressy). I was sure I was over, but when I weighed my bag the day before we left, it was well under 70 lbs (even under 50, I think). And to top it all off, I had overpacked.

 

[jiminy14]

Thanks again for the help. Reid...I checked a site that sells Eurostar tix in the USA and I priced out the round trip from London to Paris. The Eurostar site was not working for me and kept directing me to a page to call for info. Looks like the tix would cost $608 US for two. It seems like there are only first class tix available. EasyJet, on the other hand, would run about $287 US for the two of us. That's a big difference and would pay for a lot of DLP souvenirs. Do you know if I can check more than one bag on EasyJet? Do you have any idea what the charge would be for an overweight bag? Maybe we could take two smaller bags and split the weight. Any other suggestions as to how to get to DLP from London? I am open to any and all suggestions including a ferry.
Thanks MinnieYC...I do tend to overestimate. I'm sure that I will be under 50 pounds but I'm not sure about 40. My DD recently studied abroad in New Zealand for 5 months and she checked two bags that were just under 50 pounds each and she took a good amount of clothing and shoes.
Sorry for all the questions but I am trying to make this trip run as smooth as possible because my DH has been kind enough to let me tag along and take the side trip to DLP.

 

[Bexx]

It's too late - I must go to bed!! I've just posted some information on your other thread, without even realising it was you who had posted this thread, and most of it was stuff you'd been told already!!

Glad to see your making good progress though!

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Thanks again for the help. Reid...I checked a site that sells Eurostar tix in the USA and I priced out the round trip from London to Paris. The Eurostar site was not working for me and kept directing me to a page to call for info. Looks like the tix would cost $608 US for two. It seems like there are only first class tix available. EasyJet, on the other hand, would run about $287 US for the two of us. That's a big difference and would pay for a lot of DLP souvenirs.

Thanksgiving 2001, we took the Eurostar from London/Paris return (round-trip). I remember the prices from the US distributor seemed expensive and we ended up calling the London Eurostar office directly to reserve tickets. For the dates and class we were traveling, the US distributor was charging $158 pp and by ordering directly from the London Eurostar office, 14-day advance non-refundable, non-exchangeable tickets were $115 pp. The tickets were held for us at Waterloo station so no need to have them sent to us before we left. I don't know what the prices are now as this was almost five years ago, but I would suggest contacting Eurostar directly by telephone (08705 186 186) or contact a local travel agent who could place the reservation for you directly.

 

[jiminy14]

Thanks SeattleRedBear. My DH priced the tix again today through the US broker and the price is now over $1000 for the two of us. We are now seriously considering renting a car in London and taking the ferry over to France. My DH has business in Scotland and Orleans, France, and as of now the rental car seems to be the cheapest method of transport. I priced railroad tix from Paris to Orleans and this added another $200 to our costs(on top of the $1000 for the Eurostar tix). It is actually costing us less to fly to London then to travel in Europe.
Anyone have any info on the ferry from England to France? Thanks!

 

[chrismoo]

http://www.ferrysavers.com/ cheap for ferries.

Or http://www.eurotunnel.co.uk/ (thats the channel tunnel for cars)

You might be better off renting another car at calais as some rental companies won't let you take the car out of the UK.

Also you'll have the other benifit of not having to drive on the wrong side of the road.

Perhaps you could put your dates online, so I could have another look at the eurostar site?

 

[jiminy14]

Thanks chrismoo for the offer. My DH called the Eurostar office today and was able to book roundtrip tix for us for $170 US each. That sure was a lot better than the $600-1000 for first class. We have standard reserved seats so I'm not sure what that entails, but at least we have the tix. We arrive in London on the 20th of October for two nights. We are in France from October 22-28. From France, we go back to London and then on to Edinburgh, Scotland, from October 28-November 1. Then back to London and home.
We have booked DLP for three nights but I could use some suggestions as to where to stay in London. The train leaves from Waterloo Station, so ideally I guess we would want to be near there. If anyone has any recommendations for hotels in London and Edinburgh, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[chrismoo]

That price is much more like it, I was starting to think you might have wanted to travel next week or something to get the costs so high.

You will enjoy eurostar there is no better way to get to the resort from London.

 

[Miffy2003]

Jiminy, what is your budget for a London hotel?

I would also think about posting this on the UK Community Board, where you may have more people who know London and can give some ideas