Eurostar London to Paris: have you used it lately?

[Couchto5ktowine]

Girls trip to Paris planned for July and it’s been a long while since I’ve done Eurostar so a couple of practical questions I’m struggling to find online.

1. what’s the exit process like at Gare du Nord? Is there “customs”? Basically we get in at 6pm and are staying 4 stops on the metro. Will a dinner reservation at 8pm be manageable or feel rushed?
2. is the Metro contactless (like London Underground) or do I need to allow time to buy tickets?
3. the one thing we know we want to do is a boat trip down the Seine. All recommendations welcome!

You do passport contriol the UK end, You go through UK passport control then straight on the French passport control, it works the same in reverse on the way home, so when you get off the train you walk straight out into the station.
No not contactless, you can buy a pass i believe and top up, when I was there recently we brought packs of 10 tickets or individual (a bit cheaper buying in packs of 10).

You can buy metro tickets on the Eurostar if you're in a rush, but it's cheaper to buy them from the actual metro, either a machine or a person. And yes a carnet of ten is cheaper. And you can use them the next time you go if you have any left over - I have some from the last time I travelled through Paris (2019) and I fully expect them to work this summer.

Really helpful, thank you both!

Apparently, can't buy a carnet of 10 tickets any more: you need to buy a Navigo Easy pass - bit like an Oyster card - from a window at any metro station and can then top it up as you go. Cheapest option is to buy a pass with a carnet of 10 tickets pre-loaded onto it. We're going to Paris next week and this is what we plan to do for metro.

We bought a week long pass for around 20 euros and it was contactless for the metro, buses and the funicular for sacre couer! It was really good value

Straight out of Gare du Nord.

We bought tickets using the machine, not contactless.

Watch your bag on the Metro.

You can buy a week long Navigo pass for different zones, but I think they are only valid Mon - Sun, so if you're arriving in time for a weekend, they're not such good value. I think you need a photo as well? The Navigo easy is the one aimed at tourists. Or just buy single tickets if you're not planning on using public transport much. This website has info: www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et-tarifs/navigo-monthly-and-weekly-travel-passes

How long is it taking to go through immigration at both ends? Used to be so quick when we were going through the Euro passport channel.

Bear in mind your passport will now be stamped on entry and exit - well, ours were at the Eurotunnel terminal at Easter - so possibly this will make the whole process longer.

I went last month and the queues were huge. It was easily an hour - they were pulling people forward in the queue who were due on the next train, so we kept getting pushed back.

Like airports, they’ve not got back enough staff or facilities yet to cope with new demand.

As of June next year, you will no longer be bake tot get a direct Eurostar from London to Disneyland Paris.
You will have to change at Paris and go through an immigration process.

This is such a shame. Before , we travelled from Ebbsfleet and Ashford. We parked our cars, went to the station and went straight into Disneyland Paris.

Its going to be such a ball ache . Not only will I have to travel into central London, I’d now have to change in Paris. Not ideal.

And annoyingly, the train will drive through the stations I could have travelled from.

But the immigration process is in London. I wonder why you can't travel straight to Disneyland.