London to Nantes

I'm thinking about a trip to Nantes for an event in the evening of Saturday 16th September

SNCF will sell me consolidated rail tickets (with a change of station in Paris) for an eye watering 439 euro

Departing Nantes mid morning would reduce the price by about 100 euro, but that's not appealing considering it's already a short trip

If I booked the tickets separately ... the Eurostar ticket would be £278 or approx 325 euro and the TGV would be 120 euro ... 6 euro more expensive than the consolidated ticket

Taking the train via Brussels would cost £223 for the Eurostar (approx 260 euro) and 324 euro for the Brussels to Nantes ticket ... so considerably more expensive!

So what about flights ...

Ryanair have an early afternoon flight from Stansted to Nantes for a very reasonable £50 ... with more tickets available for £58

On the way back to London the Ryanair afternoon flight is £184 or the evening Easyjet flight is £286 ... so a total of either £234 or £336 ... both options being cheaper than the train

Looking at alternative options flying back ...

Waiting until Monday evening - Ryanair have a bargain £18 late flight back to Stansted

or taking the TGV direct to Charles de Gaulles (95 euro) there are flights to London for £70 giving a total price of around £150 ... which is only a moderate saving compared to the £184 Ryanair flight

There's also the option of taking a train to La Rochelle (26 euro) and an evening flight from La Rochelle to London (£49) ... which is a saving of over £100 compared to the direct flight from Nantes

I think I'd choose to fly back from La Rochelle - a more interesting journey !

Take Two: Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London by Eurostar - direct

Back in February I wrote about the new direct Amsterdam to London service that was due to commence operation on 30th April 2020.  Unsurprisingly there was a delay, but happily it has a new start date of Monday 26th October, with booking opening on 1st September.

After being a bit disappointed with the April time savings, let's see if Eurostar has improved the October timetable.

For context, the London to Amsterdam service takes 4 hours 7 mins and the London to Rotterdam service 3 hrs 28 mins.  There's currently a single weekday departure at 11:04 from St Pancras International station.

The existing Amsterdam - Brussels (Thalys) - London (Eurostar) connecting service is timetabled from 4 hours 42 mins (some take a lot longer), which includes at least 45 mins to change trains and clear UK immigration in Brussels.

The direct Amsterdam to London service starts with an 07:47 departure on Monday 26th October that is due to take 4 hours 10 mins (and 3 hrs 29 mins from Rotterdam).

This is equivalent to duration in the other direction, although the 32 minute saving feels a bit light - but maybe that's down to the impressive 45 minute connection time for the existing service!  Obviously not having to change trains will make the journey much more comfortable.

Whilst the service officially starts on Monday 26th October, it looks like there is also a 18:47 departure from Amsterdam (19:28 from Rotterdam) on Sunday 25th October.  Although this may disappear when tickets go on sale on 1st September.

Rotterdam is currently showing a second weekday direct service departing at 17:28 - which again takes 3 hours 29 mins to get to London.  It seems odd that this train wouldn't start in Amsterdam - so it may not really exist.

In November from Monday 9th to Thursday 12th and again from Monday 16th to Wednesday 18th, the normal weekday 07:47 departure from Amsterdam is switched to a 15:47 service (16:28 from Rotterdam).  And this later departure takes 5 hours 10 mins from Amsterdam and 4 hrs 29 mins from Rotterdam. 

There's no direct weekend service until Saturday 21st November - 16:47 from Amsterdam and 17:28 from Rotterdam.  On Sunday 22nd November it's a later 18:47 departure from Amsterdam and 19:28 from Rotterdam.  After that the weekend departures disappear again - but hopefully they will be timetabled before booking opens on 1st September.

And if the new direct train doesn't appeal - there's always the Sail Rail option via Harwich and Hoek of Holland.

Amsterdam and Rotterdam to London by Eurostar - direct

Update:  This planned service never actually took off.  See my new post for new October 2020 start details.

If you want to travel from London to Amsterdam by Eurostar tomorrow - there are three direct services (at 07:16, 11:04 and 17:16) which take 3:55, 4:17 (with a stop in Lille) and 3:55 respectively.  Eurostar website will also offer you another four services which take between 4:40 and 4:49 and include a change of train in Brussels.

However if you want to travel from Amsterdam to London by Eurostar tomorrow there are no direct services - because there currently aren't any UK immigration desks at Amsterdam Central station.  So not only do you need to change train at Brussels, you also need to pass through immigration there - adding even more time to your journey.  This means that on a normal weekday the Amsterdam-Brussels-London trip will take 4:47, 4:51, 5:00, 5:18 or even 5:50 if you're unlucky.

That changes on Thursday 30th April - when the UK Border Force starts operating in Amsterdam, and the first direct train departs at 18:47 taking 4:10 to get to St Pancras International.  On Friday 1st May they open their desks twice - for an 07:47 departure, and then again for the 18:47 service - both of which take 4:10 to get to London.

Exhausted after those three shifts, the take the weekend off - so you're back to clearing immigration in Brussels.  The connections on the four services that Eurostar offer aren't as good as during weekdays - so the journey times are between 5:22 and 6:25 (which includes 104 minutes in Brussels).

But from the following weekend they do a shift every Saturday morning for the 07:47 departure, and another every Sunday evening for the 18:47 service to London.

Rotterdam also gets a UK border post from Monday 18th May.  Up until then the journey time on the Thalys to Brussels, clearing immigration there, and then the Eurostar to London is between 3:59 and 5:07 on a weekday.  At weekends it's quite similar, ranging from 4:04 to 5:07

The 07:47 service from Amsterdam will depart Rotterdam at 08:28 (and the 18:47 Amsterdam service at 19:28) and the total journey time for these direct trains will be 3:29

The UK Border Force staff get the first weekend off.  But from Saturday 30th May the once daily Eurostar weekend service from Amsterdam is available to catch from Rotterdam.

The 3:29 journey time for the direct service compares with 3:16 for the early morning and evening London to Rotterdam trains, and 3:28 for the late morning direct service.

Whilst it's obviously a much more relaxing (and productive) trip not to have to change trains and clear immigration half way through your journey - the actual time savings aren't as large as you might imagine.  For Amsterdam departures the direct services takes a minimum of 37 minutes off your journey (although more typically 50 minutes).  And for Rotterdam departures it reduces your journey time by at least 30 minutes.

Part of the reason why the time savings aren't greater is that the direct services from Amsterdam take 15 minutes longer than the two faster services in the opposite direction.  And from Rotterdam the trip to London takes 13 minutes longer than vice versa.

Maybe Eurostar will be able to squeeze these minutes out of a future timetable - but for now you're left with a 30 - 50 minute saving, and a more comfortable journey.