France Travel Guide

Posts Tagged ‘railway’

Eurostar is one of the fastest and most comfortable ways to travel across Europe, with 3 different travel classes. In Business Premier and Leisure select classes, travellers enjoy on-board meals served at their seats and a variety of dishes and drinks available at the bar-buffet. Premier travellers also benefit from numerous advantages, such as shorter check-ins, wireless internet or lounge access before departure. With a wide service offer and great efficiency (96% of the trains arrived on time in 2009), Eurostar is growing more successful each year, welcoming more than 100 million customers on board in August 2009, with about 50 trains taking the tunnel every day. Within 16 years of existence, Eurostar’s customer number has risen from 3 to 9.2 million.

Since November 2007, Eurostar’s network has undergone several modifications aiming at increasing the speed of trips. Thanks to these works, who have tremendously boosted tourism on the European scale, it now only takes 2 hours and 15 minutes to go from central London to central Paris, faster and cheaper than air travel, with an average speed of 186.4 miles per hour.

Assuming your destination is the sunny city of Nice, the Eurostar service will take you to Lille in 1 hour and 20 minutes, and you can take a high-speed train (TGV) nonstop from Lille to Nice, with a trip of about 7 hours and 22 minutes. Therefore, within less than 9 hours you can go from London to Nice with only one stop at Lille and for less than £160. For seasoned travellers, who aren’t afraid of changing stations, it is possible to go from London to Nice within 8 hours and 50 minutes with a railway station in Paris, Lyon or Marseille.

According to route-planning site Mappy.com, it takes about 13 hours and a half to drive from central London to central Nice, with costs reaching up to £240. Is it really necessary to point out how exhausting and expensive undertaking such a journey might be?

As for air travel, prices can be matched if the booking is done weeks in advance, but the trip is shorter and more convenient with Eurostar, as trains take you directly in city centres, whereas travelling through busy airports often requires long check-ins and commuting to finally reach the final destination. For example, it takes 50 minutes to go from central Paris to Charles de Gaulle airport, and 75 minutes to go from Stansted airport to Victoria station in London.  Here’s another example: a flight to Nice from London’s Luton airport takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes. If you take commuting and then checking-in into account, with almost 50 minutes on the bus on your way to Luton, 120 minutes waiting to checking, 2 hours and 30 minutes flying, and then 20 minutes to go from Nice airport to the city centre, you can spend about 5 hours and 40 minutes sitting around, or walking from one platform to another.

Let’s not also forget one crucial upside when taking Eurostar trains, which is unlimited luggage. Indeed, although your belongings on Eurostar services are searched, you can take as many suitcases as you like with you, which is rather convenient for long holidays abroad. Families and couples won’t have the trouble of counting how many clothes everybody’s allowed to bring, and how many times it is necessary to hop on and off trains, buses and planes. Eurostar is therefore a fast, comfortable and convenient way to travel, which will take you to Paris for a planned holiday or on a whim, for a day or two.

About the city

The crowd is attracted to sparkling ski slopes of the Alps, sunlit vineyards and sun-baked beaches of this beautiful country. France is a country which draws more tourists than any other country. It is easy to see why this is the case given France’s great reputation for fine wines, good food, high fashion and relaxed lifestyle. But while France is undoubtedly a place to eat and drink till your heart is content, there’s much more to this fascinating country than only cutting-edge cuisines. Spring is the best time to be here, and those interested in winter sports can drop at the Alps and Pyrenees with some polar gear. The summers are very hot and winters are moderate. An all-weather coat and pair of comfortable shoes are a must. Women, especially, should carry cocktail dresses as some of the restaurants ask for it. When visiting any religious site, refrain from wearing sleeveless shirt and shorts, as they are disliked at such places. 

Culture

English is widely spoken here, although French is the official language. Handshaking is
customary greeting and women should be kissed on both cheeks and should be addressed
as Monsieur or Madame. French people are popularly known for their like for stylish sportswear and of course perfumes. Nudism is allowed on some beaches only. Social functions, fine restaurants, and clubs call for more formal dressing. When at a formal dinner, wait till the host gestures to start the dinner. Smoking is banned in public places.
Site Seeing

Paris, the city of love, is a massive city with many attractions in reachable distance thanks to thehighly efficient public transport system. It boasts of more than 80 museums and 200 arts
galleries. A trip to Disney land and the magnificent Eiffel tower will make the trip worthwhile.
The attractive tourists spots are the Arc de triomphe which spans over the tomb of an
unknown soldier, the forbidding gothic architecture of the Notre Dame cathedral, the picturesque Sacre Coeur, to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Moulin Rouge and boat tours along the Seine. Get the Carte Musees-Monuments pass, which gives access to 70 monuments and museums.Shopping

Although service tax is included in the bill, a humble tip won’t cost much. An extra dollar can be given as tip to the waiter. A tip of $2 can be left for the bus rivers.                                 
Electricity 220-volt, 50-cycle AC current.

Getting There

The national airline that operates here is Air France. Many low-cost airlines, too, provide services from UK. Paris-Charles de Gaulle also known as Roissy-Charles de Gaulle is the major airport of France, which is 23km away from the city. Coaches, taxis, limousines services are provided at the airport. The railway facility provided by the airport, claims to reach all the terminals within eight minutes. These trains run 24 hours. The other airports that offer flight services are Paris-Orly, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, Lyon and Toulouse.
Ferry and cruise trips can be made from ports such as Atlantic, North Sea, Mediterranean, and Havre.

Duty Free Items

1. 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 100 cigarillos or 250g of tobacco
2. 1liter of spirits over 22 per cent or 2liter of alcoholic beverage up to 22 per cent
3. 2liter of wine
4. 50g of perfume and 250ml of eau de toilette
5. 500g of coffee or 200g of coffee extract
6. 100g of tea or 40g of tea extract
Food and agricultural products should be avoided.

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