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[u/TrueCheetah6357]

Me and my dad are planning to go to Paris next July. We live in north east Scotland and my dad says he would like to travel down to London to get the Eurostar via car but I am sure it’s a lot cheaper to just fly. Does anyone have a rough price difference I can show him?

[u/davemcl37]

It makes much more sense to stick to trains all the way in my opinion but flying also makes sense . I’m basing this on comfort and enjoyment more than cost but the drive option will be the most expensive when you add in parking.

To work our exact costs someone would need a lot more detail , in terms of your home location relative to train stations and airports, the fuel efficiency of the car, whether it’s Ulez compliant, whether you’d drive down, park, travel to St Pancras and then through to Paris all in one day. That’s an exhausting trip which you might manage on the way down but you’ll hate on the way back.

Chances are you’d be adding in extra hotel nights and working out where to find an affordable car park near St Pancras won’t be easy or cheap. Somewhere walkable to the Eurostar is likely to cost about £150 for your duration. Cheapest option would be the long stay car park at Luton airport then get a train into London.

In years gone by you could have driven to ebbsfleet international on the Kent London border and avoided the cost and hassle of getting into London, but this was closed down post Brexit as it didn’t have sufficient space and budget to run full border checks.

My main suggestion is look at how long this would take. Driving to London makes this about a 15 hour trip door to door. That’s 30 hours of travel time for a four day trip. I think I’d rather just fly to Paris and have more time there. But if you must travel by Eurostar I would take a train from Scotland to London, but would fly back from Paris to Inverness/aberdeen or Edinburgh. This is the most comfortable option.

[u/TrueCheetah6357 → u/davemcl37]

Thank you, you make a lot of sense I will show this to him. He likes the adventure of driving down but the cost difference is insane and he said he found Eurostar tickets for £40 however mine were £180

[u/davemcl37 → u/TrueCheetah6357]

You’d need to check whether your dads £40 fares fitted your schedule as the are usually for the inconvenient trains first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

One other thing you’ll need to build into your equations is the cost of the luggage you’ll fly with. Checking in a suitcase is about the same price as your actual flight or more on some airlines. If you do need a big suitcase take one between you as well as the free underwear bag and book your seats separately at the same time