Things I Wish I Had Known: Eurostar London to Paris

So we just took the Eurostar for the very first time from London to Paris and if you're watching this video chances are you are planning to take the Eurostar yourself and so we thought we would share our experience of taking the Eurostar and everything that you need to know and also what not to do when taking the Eurostar. So you're in Saint Pancras station and you're wondering Jay how do we get to the Eurostar terminal? Well you would have come through one of the two main entrances and as you enter into the station you want to be looking for this like brick entrance. It's a very kind of iconic English brick that you'll see on many of the houses around the UK and as you enter this entrance you'll come into the very glorious Saint Pancras station which is very bright there's a lot of light coming in and on either side you'll see these shops and restaurants with these kind of glass storefronts. So what you want to do is it splits into two lanes you want to go either lane just carry on for maybe two or three minutes you'll pass a piano and then when you pass the piano you want to be looking on the right hand side and you'll see the Eurostar terminal you can't miss it you'll see a sign saying the Eurostar. You can also access the Saint Pancras station from the underground so when you take the tube you want to make your way up you want to pass the gates where you tap off and then you want to turn left you'll see all of the ticket machines on your left hand side and be warned it can get extremely busy in this area because I think everyone's trying to buy tickets in that area there's a lot of people and so you still want to do the same thing as I explained before you just want to get off the steps and then look for that brick entrance. And the next question is Carolina should you bring your own food to the Eurostar or should you buy something at the station? So actually it's up to you but what we would recommend is to look for a nice place which is selling some easy options at the station. We went for Paul. Yeah that's what we would definitely recommend because we went for some baguettes to get into this Parisian vibe. French mood you know like I think Paul is French yeah but there is like currently said M&S so you can go into there it's like our like a very kind of posh version of like a supermarket but as currently said you can bring your own food which will save you money and you have your own whatever you want. But what's really important is that you need to actually sort yourself out before heading to security because we'll talk about that later but then the options are very limited. Yeah so when you enter the security you'll be in this waiting area and there are more limited options there so our recommendation is to have it from St. Pancras. I think for it's a little bit more pricey let's say in the St. Pancras station but the options and the quality you get is definitely well worth it. One thing to mention there's also toilets so if you need to sort yourself out this is the area. Do that before you get to security because as you will find later in this video when we got through security to the meeting to the meeting area to the waiting area it was absolutely chaotic. Another option is on the Eurostar so they have the Eurostar cafe. What did you think about the Eurostar cafe? I really liked the fact that I could grab myself a freshly brewed coffee because I'm a coffee lover but of course Karolina's gonna have a coffee at any opportunity. Obviously but I would say most of the options were quite overpriced and there was a limited selection. You could buy actually some alcohol even like some champagne or some wine. I think the prices weren't too bad I just think that the options and the quality you're gonna get on the Eurostar is not the best and so it's best to to probably buy things before you get onto the Eurostar and actually at the Eurostar cafe you can buy a Navigo card which we're going to be talking about the options for getting public transport later on in the video. We have a whole section for that but you can buy it at the Eurostar cafe but actually the lady told us it's cheaper to get it from the station at Noordugaard or I always get mixed up, Gaard du Noord. It's cheaper there we'll talk about that later but you can buy that on the Eurostar but it's more expensive. So you're at the entrance to the Eurostar terminal you've probably been to the toilet you probably purchased some food you've got your luggage and hopefully for this next part you're going to need your passport and that's because you're going to be going through security and immigration. So at the entrance you'll see this electronic board that displays the times of all the trains and you also see someone holding up a sign probably for your train with the time on it and then you want to make your way into these kind of queues. It's actually a really big area and it was quite surprising for us because we've seen some videos and that area is completely packed there's lines backed up that's why it's like kind of a maze because there's so many people they're expecting to go through there. And actually Eurostar officially says to be there 90 minutes before your train departs because it can get extremely busy. For us it took about 15 minutes but definitely take Carolina's advice and Eurostar's advice come 90 minutes before just in case it's not the same experience as ours. So make your way through security and immigration and this is where we actually think the reason why there wasn't any queues is because they let everyone in for the trains because the waiting area was it was uncomfortably crowded it was just like mass crowds everywhere all the seats were taken it felt a little bit kind of I don't know you felt a little bit claustrophobic. I would say overwhelming and it was even difficult to move of your suitcase that's how busy it was. It was we managed to find a seat eventually but there are some options Carolina for food. So actually there was I think three different options there was Pret a manger and even we checked the prices and they were all right. Yeah Pret's like very popular in the UK it's affordable I would say it's cheaper than the prices in St Pancras station but the quality you're going to get from Pret is not as high as let's say Paul but it's a good option I would say it's actually not too bad and you can grab like you know coffees and hot drinks from there as well as like sandwiches and baguettes but also what's interesting it was the duty-free area there so like it felt a little bit like airport vibes. Yeah so you had like the Pret a manger you had next to it the duty-free and then next to it I forgot the name of it but it was more like a drinking place. It was actually so interesting because people were buying like beers. Yeah people were getting into the mood heading to Paris grabbing some beer so that's probably where you want to go but again options are more limited once you get through security. And one thing that we highly recommend you do when you're traveling to Europe is to get yourself an eSIM. This will make your life so much easier on your travels. The one we recommend is from Alicim the sponsor of today's video. So with Alicim they have a Europe eSIM that covers you for 35 countries so that includes the likes of the UK, France, Spain, Italy and many more countries in Europe. So if you're coming to Europe you don't need to worry about getting a physical SIM card because an eSIM is a digital SIM card and it covers you for so many countries so it just makes your life so much more convenient, makes life easier because you don't need to keep finding a SIM card shop every time you come into a new country. So when you're Eurostar when you arrive into Paris it's very nice for us because when we crossed into France from the UK we had internet and that's just going to make your life so much easier when you actually arrive into Paris because as we're going to explain later on the video taking public transportation, getting to your hotel, having an eSIM, having access to internet is going to make your life so much easier. And so the one we recommend is from Alicim we'll put a link in the description or you can scan the QR code on screen. You can use our code at checkout jcarolinatravel to get three dollars off your first eSIM. So now you've been waiting enough and it's time to board your train and on the screen they will put the notification 20 minutes before so you will follow all of the people right to the escalator that will take you to the platform and what's really important is that you need to make your way to the train as early as possible because it gets very busy and you get the notification to board the train the escalators everyone starts queuing up because everyone wants to get onto the train first so that they can take advantage of the luggage storage and also the overhead storage above your seats. And so you make your way onto the train and we were taking some photos from the nose of the train and so one of the last ones to board and that was a slight mistake because when we came in it was kind of a struggle to find some space in the luggage storage to put our suitcases and we had like small carry-ons and we had to reshuffle the storage there was a baby stroller there there was also a lady there that were helping her to put her luggage in but we did find some space and actually later on there was actually at the other side of the carriage a half empty luggage storage. What about the seats? What did you think about the seats? So we made our way to the seats and my first impression was that they were quite elegant and nice but I think that they elegant I mean I'm not sure if I use elegant I think you like the word elegant but I would say they were just you know nice and comfortable but they're quite used I think you know I don't know how many thousands of people travel on the Eurostar every day but they were they did the job like and you're paying for the standard ticket it's not like you're in like the business seat and so the seats were nice they had trays for you to have the food that you've probably purchased or taking yourself onto the train. Yeah literally everyone had the food with themselves but also the leg space like it was enough to sit comfortably but because of our rucksacks like we needed to put them in front of us. So one of the reasons why everyone wants to go onto the train as soon as possible is above your seats the overhead storage is the first thing to get full and so everyone's putting their rucksacks people also putting suitcases up there and so for us we have these kind of large rucksacks and the space in front of us we had to put them there and that kind of limited our leg space and so it was slightly uncomfortable because we didn't have anywhere to put our rucksacks so that's just why you want to be coming onto the train as soon as possible but actually it was a very pleasant journey on the Eurostar so it took around two hours. Two hours 15 minutes to be exact. I think it's like an hour out of the UK. Literally after the hour we left we crossed the border with France. Literally on the dot like an hour. On the dot yeah. The Channel Tunnel which you're going under the tunnel that took around 30 minutes and then you arrive into France and then you can start seeing the beautiful countryside. We actually saw a very nice countryside departing from the UK and then also arriving into Paris. Now what's really interesting about the Channel Tunnel is that it's the longest underwater rail tunnel in the world so it stretches from London to Paris. It's 50 kilometers long and 37 of them kilometers are literally underneath the English Channel and so as deepest point you're literally 60 meters below sea level and you have no idea because you're literally in this tunnel and now you might think oh you're in underwater tunnel you'll see like the ocean and the fishes going by it's not quite like that that would be pretty cool but how cool is it that you're literally traveling underneath the water underneath the sea. So the question is Carolina how much do we pay for our Eurostar tickets? So we actually booked our tickets two weeks in advance and we paid 198 euros per person which is actually quite expensive when you think about this. Quite expensive 400 euros in total but I must say we must say that the Eurostar experience taking that I think is superior to taking a flight because the flight would be most likely cheaper but you have to deal with the airport getting through security it was just a lot more smoother and more convenient taking Eurostar and taking a train personally I think we prefer taking trains than flights. Yeah it feels like the adventure. Especially when flights you have turbulence and you don't like landing you find that the most terrifying part of the the journey and so it is worth I would say the experience of taking Eurostar. Now we we booked it like two weeks in advance but if you actually booked it way more in advance the chances of you finding cheaper tickets are much higher. We did look like far into the year like later in the year we went in May and you could find tickets for like 65 euros as opposed to 198 euros per person and so we would highly recommend booking as early as possible not two weeks in advance maybe even a month in advance two months in advance that's the best way you're going to find the cheapest tickets although Eurostar know that a lot of people can be traveling during the peak times especially during the summer time and so the chances of you finding you know big discounts probably not as likely but it's still worth booking more in advance. And what about the times of the day? So actually it was also very interesting because obviously the majority of people would like to take the morning train to get into the Paris as early as possible but we kind of falls in line with checking into the hotel at a nice time exactly but we found that actually the evening tickets were the least expensive ones. Yeah it was I would say much cheaper but that's the case of people not wanting to arrive into Paris like you're losing the day yeah exactly it's a great point and the afternoon tickets were a little bit cheaper for some of them but they weren't there wasn't too much difference yeah so now the question is which class should you go for so there's three classes so there's yeah we went for the standard one which is Eurostar standard yeah yeah and then there's Eurostar plus which is just a little bit more extra like extra space for the legs and the meals are also included and then Eurostar premier and so Eurostar premier is like kind of business class I would say you get lounger access you get probably nicer meals and more like nicer seating and space like leg space but what we found when we were booking it that it was 200 euros more per person to book premier which is crazy and it was 100 euros more to book the plus and so for a two-hour journey we were actually very comfortable being in the standard and we didn't have any problems with being in that in that kind of seating it just did the job like you're gonna take it for two hours you don't really need the luxuries although if you did book it in advance and if someone said to us that it would be an extra let's say 50 euros because it can be sometimes 50 euros more for the plus and it can be maybe even like 100 or 150 euros more for the premier having to like go between all the classes in my mind but basically for us standard was the way that I think most people would like to travel on the Eurostar so I can save you some money right now when booking your tickets now you can book your Eurostar tickets on the main official website that is no problem but I have a way to save you some money and I'm sure your ears are perking up right now so if you actually booked your Eurostar tickets on Klook the price of the tickets of the Eurostar are exactly the same as the main official website but here is where the magic comes at checkout if you use our code JCAROLINAKLOOK you'll get some discount on your Eurostar tickets so you actually save money rather than using the main official website and we highly recommend Klook is a great place to not only book transport but also to book your activities your attractions and experiences in Paris and also in Europe and right now they're running a deal that can get you up to 25 percent off Euro summer deals and so you'll have this hub where you can have your Eurostar tickets you can have all of your attractions experiences everything you need in Europe I will put a link in the description or you can scan the QR code on screen don't forget to use our code JCAROLINAKLOOK at checkout so you've arrived into Paris at Gare du Nord yes I got it right and so your next thing is is that you're going to arrive into the station and you're probably wondering how do I take public transport to our hotel in Paris now the area that we recommend if you're doing your planning is La Marais and we'll put a link to the vlog we did on Paris and you'll see there why we recommend La Marais but to take the public transport you need to make your way down to the metro so you'll see the sign for the metro with these kind of colored numbers make your way down there and then when you go down into the metro area you'll see a blue banner that says tickets you won't be able to miss it it'll be it's quite a large section and here you can purchase the Navigo card which is the public transportation card that you can use across France now here's where you have some options so you have the physical card but if you're more digitally inclined you do not need the card you can actually have it all from your iPhone or Android so let's talk about the digital version first so the app that we recommend that you download is Bonjour RATP and we'll put a link to this one for both iOS and Android in the description you want to download that because you can actually purchase the digital Navigo card straight onto your phone and then you can just purchase tickets as and when you please you can literally purchase a ticket at a time and that means that you're not going to be wasting money on purchasing too many tickets now the other option is a physical card which is the Navigo card as I explained at that ticket area you can purchase it at the machine or you can go to one of the very helpful staff there who are just outside of the area where you queue and they can help you purchase a card as well it's that same price as the machine and if there is a lot of people queuing up actually it's quite nice that they have an option to to kind of help you out and actually you can ask them questions they're very good English and so they will help you to buy the physical card and also they'll ask you how many tickets you want to load onto there now we recommend around maybe for the the typical person coming to Paris and taking the metro we love to walk so we only used it I think maybe a couple of times maybe four times but we were walking a lot like doing 25-30,000 steps a day so you probably want around eight to ten on your card you can actually buy the paper tickets but one thing that happened was when we were coming back from the Eiffel Tower we were going to the what's it called the Trocadero but at the Trocadero the station there were so many people queuing up for paper tickets and we just went through digitally so definitely recommend getting the Navigo card and also you might be confused because there's the I don't know how to say it in French you know the app IDF yeah there's a the French name for it that is literally the same app as the Bonjour RATP app and so you don't need to worry about getting the app get the Bonjour one because that's actually really useful also for finding out when trams and when buses are coming when to use the metro like what times are all the transport around France if you found this video useful don't forget to give us a thumbs up and in the comment section you can ask us questions about the Eurostar and we'll happily answer them for you and don't forget in the description we have links to everything we mentioned in this video very useful stuff in the description and so thank you so much for watching and we'll see you guys in the next video it's been a while since you said that oh my god