Review: from London to Paris by train
I went from London to Paris by train on a Golden Tours’ tour to review this product . I am very happy to have had such an opportunity! Especially in a place like Paris – you will find that I loved this city!
The trip I went on is called “escorted day trip to Paris on the Eurostar with inclusions of Eiffel Tower, river cruise and the Louvre Museum” offered by Golden Tours.
I’m writing my honest review here so whoever is reading this knows what to expect. I have provided all the feedback below to the company that offered me this trip. I must admit that I sometimes offer very detailed reviews, and I can be a bit critical sometimes – I think it is the Virgo ascendant in me!
Overall 4.9/5 🙂
Price vs product: this trip starts at £269 I believe, so I think it was quite good value for the money, however obviously it gets more expensive with the add-ons of attractions. I travelled with Eurostar on the English Channel, and the Eurostar can be pricey throughout the summer/peak days, so in general, the rate offered by Golden Tours is actually not bad at all.
Getting to St Pancras:
I arrived at 5:15 am to St Pancras station. On my ticket, it said to meet a representative of Golden Tours at the Paul Express. I asked around where the “Paul Express” was, and to be fair, I got a little bit lost because of my assumption of what the Paul Express actually was. I thought it was a kind of waiting area, but then I understood straight away that it was the café Paul Express. I think it would be great to add “Café Paul Express” to the meeting point (a complete minor). The representative, named Bonny, was there, and he is very helpful, even to other people with general questions asking for directions and so on.
The rep took us to the line to check in, and we were there for about 30 minutes in this long queue. It was quite amusing to see so many people taking the first Eurostar to Paris, and the number of kids with their Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse bags and bracelets. I concluded right away that they were going to Disneyland. Definitely a great way to travel from London to Disneyland.
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Train journey by Eurostar:
After queuing and having your bags checked, passport control (just like in an airport totally!), I then had some time before getting to my coach. I met an American couple who were on the same trip, and we just became travel buddies.
The trip was very pleasant. In just over 2 hours, I went from central London to central Paris! Insane! There was Wi-Fi on the train, and it worked too. I was able to charge my phone. At first, I thought I was in trouble. I only had 33% battery and a UK plug, and I was about to go to Europe.
Just an overview: The UK and Europe have different charging plugs (pictured below), so if you are travelling from London to Paris, make sure you pack a European plug. Also, be aware that since Brexit, not all phone networks allow you to use your phone in Europe. My phone network definitely doesn’t unless I pay £5 per day – can you believe it?!
Never mind, for my peace of mind, every two seats have UK and European plugs. You just need to be aware that the person next to you might want to charge their phone with the same plug as you unless you bring both plugs!
Arriving to Paris
I was told that a guide would be waiting for us at the arrivals. When we arrived in Paris, I couldn’t find the guide at first. I was expecting the guide to be holding a flag or wearing something that said “Golden Tours”, like a blue color, which is the color of Golden Tours. We walked around inside the station and returned to the front of the arrival platform. That’s when I spotted a person with a lanyard that said “guide”. I asked if he was the guide for Golden Tours, and he confirmed that he was. Great! I informed the other couple that was with me, and we were all happy. But the story doesn’t end here!
Then, myself and another lady weren’t on the guide’s list, so he told us to call a French number. Remember above when I told you that with Brexit I wasn’t able to make calls outside the UK? Yup, this happened. As the UK is no longer in Europe, I don’t have a way of calling when I am outside the country. I was glad that there was internet in the station. I arranged to meet another guide outside McDonald’s. We then joined the tour with the same guide that we met in the station. It was a bit confusing, I’m not going to lie. There was some miscommunication between the organizer and the guide, I think, but all’s well.
The trip was great, our guide was very lovely, however, he wasn’t always guiding us, for example, the first 30 min we were just being driven around Paris, we could have been in any other city, and we wouldn’t know. I started to add prompt questions about the area we were and he started to tell us about the Paris neighbourhoods, which was great! My point is that we shouldn’t have to ask questions. Nevertheless, the guide was very very nice, but he could have explained more things in detail sometimes.
First stop: Eiffel Tower
My first stop was the Eiffel tower. It’s been my dream of visiting the Eiffel Tower since ever. I used to imagine having a twin sister in Paris – so you see!
The Eiffel Tower is so tall! It’s about 300m and it really makes you feel a mixture of special for being there and small in the universe. It is a symbol of grandiosity, however, interestingly not always been like this. Apparently, this tower was meant to be temporary and for 80 years the aim was to get rid of it. Funny thing! Nowadays, if you go to Paris and see Eiffel Tower, you are most likely either not in Paris or you have to come back!
Check Eiffel Tower prices here.
Eiffel Tower is where we could have had time to eat (in fact I ate then). But because the meeting point is under the Eiffel Tower, there were few options to eat there. There are a cafe and a restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower itself but if you wanted to eat elsewhere, you needed to leave the Tower Eiffel perimeter and you weren’t able to come back. The American couple and I left and contacted the guide explaining where we were, and it was fine because the next part of the trip was actually where we were. When we were waiting for the guide, it started to rain so much we had to hide under the bridge, I was speechless with the changes of whether through the day. We managed to meet the guide after but if I was alone without a way of talking to the guide, I would probably not be able to do it.
Lunchtime: I knew this trip did not include lunch, but there was not much given time to eat. After the Eiffel Tower is where we could have had time to eat (in fact I ate then). But because the meeting point is under the Eiffel Tower, there were few options to eat there. There are a cafe and a restaurant inside the Eiffel Tower itself but if you wanted to eat elsewhere, you needed to leave the Tower Eiffel perimeter and you weren’t able to come back. The American couple and I left and contacted the guide explaining where we were, and it was fine because the next part of the trip was actually where we were. When we were waiting for the guide, it started to rain so much we had to hide under the bridge, I was speechless with the changes of whether through the day. We managed to meet the guide after but if I was alone without a way of talking to the guide, I would probably not be able to do it.
Cruise trip:
The next part of this trip was to embark on the Seine Cruise. It was not my favourite part but it was very much needed. The cruise had an audio guide going in 3 languages, French, English and Spanish. I was a bit shocked at how a lot of things were translated into Spanish as well as English. Even in the Eiffel Tower, everyone kind of knew Spanish – so you know, if you speak Spanish for this trip you are covered! The cruise lasted 90 minutes more a less, and we passed by Eiffel Tower, Louvre, famous bridges, the Latino quarter, and Notre Dame and came back.
After the cruise, we walked by a souvenir shop which seemed to belong to the touring company and we were able to use the loos. Maybe too much information, but it was actually a good touch. I also crossed the street to buy a quick bite in this amazing boulangerie called Les gourmandises d’Eiffel. Very good noisette (cafe expresso with a dash of milk – my favourite!!) – I was actually quite impressed with parisiense coffee ☕️🥐
The Louvre:
I then went to the Louvre, where the guide took us inside via the back of the museum – super quick entrance, and no queue at all! Very nice! Highly recommended!
Inside the Louvre, he gave me the map, explained how to navigate around the Louvre and the way to the famous Mona Lisa as well as where to meet after (next to the inverted pyramid), he didn’t take me to the Mona Lisa, but I think it was nice like that as it gave me freedom to look for other things. There are signs everywhere on how to get to the Mona Lisa anyways.
For example, Mona Lisa is located on Level 1. Another thing that I was impressed with was Mona Lisa. Well, the line to actually take a picture of the painting was insane! People were from queuing for a good 30 minutes. But the size of the painting wasn’t as small as I was expecting. I’ve always heard that it is tiny. But it was a good 70cm by 50cm or something like that. I thought it would be almost like a photo size 😅
After the Mona Lisa, I made my way to the Egyptian artefacts. Let’s put it like this, the Louvre must be on your list when you go to Paris. I know it is a museum, but it is an incredible place. What you see inside is a gigantic collection of art, and artefacts, from a lot of the countries in the world. I felt a bit confused sometimes because technically this art does not belong there but nevertheless, it was amazing and a blessing to be able to see these.
The Louvre as a museum is huge, with about 5 floors of art across 1 mile of land. It is very well organised and you really feel like wanting to stay at the Louvre more.
Louvre is for sure my favourite museum in the world. If you are interested in visiting and need tickets only check prices here.
The trip back was quick, the guide was rapid at saying goodbye and people were asking me who to give the tips to ah! But that was it 😊
Further feedback :
After the Cruise, we went around to pass by the Arch de Triumph which was a very nice touch from the guide and driver. They advised that normally they wouldn’t do this.
The general feedback was that this should be included on the trip as well as a photo stop on the back street around the arch. However, I also understand that not always is possible as the several tours with inclusions/without inclusions travel together.
I hope this is helpful 😊 and let me know where you want me to go next – there’s an Instagram reel coming up soon and if you want pictures I am happy to share them all.
Safe travels
M x
