Hi. I am looking at visitng London and Paris in the fall. I'm not sure if it's better to fly or take the train between the two cities.

I am planning to use my miles for the plane ticket and could get an open jaw ticket where I fly into one city (eg. London) and out of the other city (eg. Paris). The other option would be to take the train between the two cities. Knowing that Europe is quite expensive to visit at this time, I'm trying to save as much money as possible wherever I can and trying to figure out the best way to get around.

I will be staying with a friend who lives in North London, near Highgate. I have never been to London so I am pretty unfamiliar with the layout of the city. I've tried looking up the city on the internet to get a better feel, but still find it confusing so I'm hoping someone can share their experience with me. So, factoring in the cost and time spent traveling to/from the airports (in London and Paris) for the "free" flight vs. traveling to the train station from North London and purchasing the train ticket, which would be a better way to go?

Thanks in advance for your tips!

Getting from north London (depending on exactly where in North London) to Paris by train appears to be a doddle, since Eurostar leaves from St Pancras. But it's really up to you how you balance a "free" (you'd still have to pay taxes surely?) flight against the time and general hassle factor of getting to and from airports, waiting for luggage, and so on. Bear in mind that Eurostar tickets are sold like airline tickets - the earlier you book and the less flexibility you're prepared to accept, the cheaper it will be (get a cheap return at around £60, even if you only plan to travel one way). Leave it until you think you might walk up to the station to buy a ticket, and you'll break the bank.

But a crucial question could be, exactly where in North London?

Patrick's right that you need to know where your friend lives, but probably the most useful bit of information is which underground station is closest. If it's near Highgate on the Northern Line, then provided you can get a cheap Eurostar ticket, the journey will be much more straightforward if you go by train to St. Pancras and then Northern Line to Highgate.

By contrast, if you get a cheap flight you will probably fly into Stansted, Luton or Gatwick and you would then have get from the airport to a point in the centre or on the Northern line which will probably cost you somewhere in the region of £20 (and you may also have a similar cost getting to the airport from the centre of Paris). Once you've factored all the travel costs into the equation, the price of the cheap flight can end up being quite similar to the cost of travelling cheaply by rail.

The other advantage of going by rail is that you won't have to pack with the low cost airline luggage rules in mind.

BUT if you friend were to live on a different branch of the Northern Line, there might be a case for trying to fly into Luton.

I'd do the train, just to check out the countryside; and it's advertised as 2 hours and 15 minutes from St. Pancras to Gare du Nord in Paris, which a lot closer to centre ville than the airport. We enjoyed the one way trip for about $40 back in 2001. I think it's more like $60 now.

The train is roomier and a more "social" environment (if you're into that kinda thing). We had "table-style seating" which meant we could talk to the two others who were seated across from us just like we would at dinner - far more relaxed. And if you get a local, they'll point out a few landmarks along the way.

We used the train - one of the clinchers for us was arriving at Gare du Nord. We didn't have to spend as much time (or money) to get in from the airport.

Enjoy!

Thank you so much for your helpful replies. The train sounds like a much better option when everything gets factored in -- thanks!!