Any advice please? Best way to get to Paris?

[Mousehunter]

I'm taking my Mum to Paris for her 80th Birthday in May 16. The hotel is booked, all I need now is to arrange how to get there.

I'm in a dilemma though. To fly or try the channel tunnel?

Can anyone tell me what their experiences have been with either transport please?

[lulu bear]

We have flown a couple of times now. Once from Luton and once from Gatwick. They both take less than an hour. We flew to Charles De Gaulle in order to get to Disney so pre ordered a private transfer with prestige transfers. They also do central paris drop offs so it may be worth looking into that. We had a lovely air conditioned mercedes 7 seater and the driver was waiting in the terminal with our name on an ipad. We would probably always choose to fly to Paris rather than use the Eurostar now.

[Disneyphile]

I would always choose Eurostar over flying. I find it so much less stressful and comfortable.

[skalexander]

I would use the Eurostar if possible. Flying is so stressful but the Eurostar is quite relaxing.

[Clamshell]

We flew - it was dead easy 😃

We are from devon though to flew from Exeter - getting to Eurostar would have taken ages

[tiggertastic]

I've used both.

I suppose it depends on where you are based and budget. Personally i would fly given the choice, my preference. But consider travel time to airport/london then time to france and see which quicker/easier/cheaper?

Its expensive on the east coast line to get to London and by the time I've traveled there and then to Paris via eurostar and then onto the hotel it can be as quick to fly.

[Guest]

We went by the ferry.

It was a three hour drive in the snow! But The roads were clear and we really enjoyed the drive.

[Mousehunter]

Thank you all for your advice and comments. 😊😊

[WendyBelle]

We've done the journey 3 ways. We've flown (most expensive) we've gone by ferry (most leisurely) and gone by Eurotunnel (quickest and most convenient) I'd choose Eurotunnel everytime now.

[Floridafan]

We've only ever driven to Paris so can't comment on other ways. I did fly once with Air France but that was a company "jolly" and we didn't really go to the centre - but I did notice that Charles de Gaulle airport was massive - and just getting from the plane to the street involved a lot of walking.

Driving was great except that our sat nav stopped working when we went on the Peripherique as it's underground for a lot of it. So make sure you print out maps just in case. Also - if you do drive - it's worth asking the hotel for a guaranteed parking place. Where are you staying?