Am I mad to attempt a 5am start?

[allmytimeonmumsnet]

Right finally getting somewhere with our trip to Paris now. Hopefully get the apartment booked this evening so am now choosing trains. Because we are only going for 3 nights I want to get the most time possible. The cheapest train tickets to get us to London are either 5.30 arrives 8.30 or 7.36 gets us there at 9.43. If we get the early one we will have almost 2 hrs before the Paris train at 10.10. If we get the later one we will have 1 hr before the 10.40 train. I like the idea of the early one as it means longer in London to allow for delays and hopefully the kids will have at least an hour to run around the South Bank area before getting back on the train (they are 8,7, & 3). But I don't like the idea of trying to leave home at 5am! Am I barmy. Should I go for the later train?

yes totally barmy- you'll all be knackered

definately. book a £26 room at a london travelodge the night before

DH seems OK with the idea. If we go down the night before then the kids will end up really late anyway so will still have the grumpy factor to deal with. Plus DS doesn't want to miss cubs.

Won't the kids just fall asleep again on the train. At least at that time it should be nice and quiet.

If we were flying we would have to be leaving at this time so I thought more people would have attempted it.

YOu'll be grand - get the early train and bring some snacks for the kids.

I wouldn't be too ambitious for what you'll do in London in two hours, mind you, but the kids will get to see the place, and you can have a long breakfast before getting your Paris train

I guess it depends on your kids. Early starts always work well for us, better than late ones, as our kids sleep

enjoy

Wasn't planning to try to sightsee in London but it would mean we could walk between the stations so the kids get to move around a bit and then maybe get a good breakfast somewhere. Thanks Skill.

I will look into to Thurday night travel though. It would mean we could get an earlier eurostar train which would bring the price down by up to £50 which could pay for the hotel but then maybe the travel to london would be cheaper. The ticket from Macclesfield to Euston at 5.30 is only costing £22 for 4 of us with a railcard!!!!!!

right looked into travel the night before. It would make no difference to our train costs down to London but we would be restricted to one of 2 trains. One doesn't get in until 11pm. The other leaves at 6.10 and we don't get back from swimming until 5.30 so would have to go stragiht there which all seems a bit of a rush. DH would have to leave work early and DS would miss cubs.

The only way I could justify the cost of the hotel is if we get an earlier eurostar which would be cheaper. However this would mean getting to waterloo for 6.30 so still an early start as well.

The only travellodges avaiable are docklands @ £49 or Battersea @ £26 for family rooms. However then we've got the hassle of getting there at night and getting back to waterloo in the morning.

All in all I can't see much benefit to the night before apart from the fact that it makes our holiday that little bit longer
Still can't quite bring myself to actually book the 5.30 train though.

Go for the early one - it's a temporary PITA but as you say the kids can always sleep on the train. I'm a bit neurotic travelling anyway and would always choose the option that allowed for something going wrong. A few years back the only cheap airline that flew between Gatwick and Cork where I have family had a really early flight and we used to do it with the kids regularly. Nobody would say it was ideal but you just deal with it.

we`ve often done early starts and tbh the excitement factor soon kicks in and the kids wake up fine and are raring to go ..it s us adults that don t like the early start really ..you can have a late leisurely breakfast in london even ..

I regularly get a 7.10 flight with dd to visit my family, which means leaving home at 5am. I always think dd will sleep in the car on the way there (about 1 1/4 hours) but she never does even when I get dressed and pack the car really quietly then carry her out in her pyjamas- she ALWAYS wakes up! However, she often sleeps on the way to my mum's from the airport or has a quick snooze in the afternoon. It doesn't mess up our break as she catches up at some point. Basically, you should go for it! (dd is only 3 so maybe not relevant y=to you with olser kids)