Eurostar direct service to Avignon - booking open

andymiller

If anyone is thinking about taking the eurostar service direct to Avignon booking has already opened - so you might want to book sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment:

The direct Eurostar service to Avignon is now open for sale and will run every Saturday from the 09th of July 2011 until the 10th of September 2011.

Departing from London St Pancras at 07:17, departing Ashford International at 07.55 and arriving at Avignon city centre station by 14:08.

The return journey leaves Avignon city centre station at 16:24 arriving at Ashford International at 20.33 and arriving at London St Pancras at 21:09.

This service will run on Saturdays only with the first inbound train from Avignon on the 16th of July 2011 and the last outbound train from London St Pancras on the 03rd of September 2011.

Please note:
When making a booking please imput the times on the search as 07:00 departing from London and 16:00 departing from Avignon. You will then be offered fares on the direct service.

http://eurostar-en.custhelp.com/app/ans ... lpUkxmWFBr

PS So far as i know this train has no bike carriage facilities so you would need to put your bike in a bag.

PPS European Bike Express also offer services to the south of France. These have a very good reputation and have lots of fans - I am only passing on some information which might be useful, rather than opening a discussion on the pros and cons of the different options.

bobinski

Been waiting for this.
Anyone recommend a family orientated hotel, with swimming pool and other facilities to keep partner and a 13y and 6y old happy while i am off on the bike? Have stayed at the Belvedere in Rimini so have high expectations. Likely to book Club Pollentia in Majorca but really would prefer to travel by train so Avignon very enticing...

many thanks
Bob

dilemna

Thanks for this, but the cost?

andymiller

Probably not cheap, and I don't know whether there are any early booking deals. For prices you'll have to consult the eurostar website (www.eurostar.com) - NB following the instructions in the quote from them.

BTW there is another option for getting to Avignon without having to change in Paris - take the 10:17 to Chesssy-Marne-La-Vallée (AKA 'Disneyland Resort') and from there take the TGV on to Avignon TGV.

craigenty

That's an old link Andy, last year. You can only book Eurostar 120 days in advance.
If you go to the Eurostar page it only lets you book up to the end of May.
It's a cracking service though.

andymiller

craigenty wrote:

That's an old link Andy, last year. You can only book Eurostar 120 days in advance.
If you go to the Eurostar page it only lets you book up to the end of May.
It's a cracking service though.

I hadn't noticed the references to 2011. But I have just rechecked, I'm uploading a screengrab from the eurostar website taken a few minutes ago.

The single fare I was quoted for London-Avignon on the 14 July was £123.

The booking window for eurostar tickets is normally 120 days as you say - but this is an exception (booking opened before Christmas) - that was my reason for posting this heads-up.

craigenty

Cheers Andy - Typical French!!! Got it sussed now.
I'm trying to book for a client but the French website only lets you book up to May without the direct option.
Firefox keeps directing me to the French eurostar website by default.
What a PITA.

Cheers again.

andymiller

craigenty wrote:

Cheers Andy - Typical French!!! Got it sussed now.
I'm trying to book for a client but the French website only lets you book up to May without the direct option.
Firefox keeps directing me to the French eurostar website by default.
What a PITA.

I sometimes have the opposite problem and I get round it by going to eurostar.fr so maybe going to eurostar.co.uk (as opposed to eurostar.com) might put you through to the English bit.

raileurope.co.uk might might also be an option.

(And in fairness to the French, so far as I can see eurostar is mainly run from Kent - although it is part-owned by SNCF).

craigenty

I've just sussed out (with help from a techie friend) how to direct my Firefox browser to any website I want and not to a default French site.
Cheers