eurostar and change at lille

[lee1]

booked eurostar tickets for our june trip but the journey going we have to change at lille at get sncf train has anyone ever done this and was it much of a problem?? also on the way back on the direct train we have got 4 separate seats which i am worrying about me and me wife can sit separatly but now our 4 qnd 10 year old....

 

[ema74]

Hiya,

We had one trip via Lille and I must say I don't want to ever do the same thing if I can avoid it. The change itself wasn't bad, but it was running around to find the right platform, nothing was well explained and there was noone to help. Luckily, my DH speaks French and managed to find the way to get to the platform. The train from Lille isn't an Eurostar one so it was a little different but not so bad. Sorry I may sound negative but really didn't like it (maybe I was too emotional as we travelled with a 4 year old and 3 month old in December)

As for the return journey, I'm sure you can swap places with some people esp if you go on the direct train. Everyone using Eurostar direct to DLRP is lovely and very helpful.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[sam_rogers]

i've travelled back from Disney and changed at Lille, I haven't done the journey to DLRP because me and my friend missed the eurostar despite getting to London Waterloo with an hour and a half to spare. I found that it was quite a rush from gettin off the SNCF to getting the eurostar as there isn't much time to spare. the only advice i can really give is to watch where other people are going.

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

My husband is from Lille and I'm telling you the trains there are not my idea of fun! We've taken the TGV many times to DLP without a problem. Last time we took the Eurostar back from Lille to Waterloo and I almost had heart failure, the train was running behind from Paris and they made an announcement that we'd have two minutes to load the train before it left. We had a months worth of luggage, three kids, and two pushchairs, we made it though.

Good luck!

 

[lizpat]

we went to dlrp via lille and our experience was probably more positive than others, as we didn't have a problem finding the platforms and the trains were all luckily running on time. The main issue as mentioned before is the amount of time given to get children/luggage/buggy onto the train (especially as we had seats upstairs on the return tgv)! However, for the issue of a £200 saving compared to the direct service at the time of booking, we thought it was worth it for a bit of stress!

 

[miamivice]

we went eurostar to lille and then onto dlp in december 2006

we had little problem finding the platform etc (but i would class myself as quite savvy)

i would advise getting to the platform early and waiting there if you are in doubt. we had 45 minutes from getting off eurostar. we located the platform without much trouble, had a quick look around, then went to the platform - better to be there early than miss it.

the train from lille was a "double-decker" and there were plenty of seats (as there was on the eurostar)

however, i would say that the eurostar check in on the way home does take slightly longer than it does in london (immigration control i suppose) so i would advise going into the eurostar lounge asap at lille (you don't want to miss the train home!!)

i think that we will be going via lille when we go at christmas this year.

it would be nice to go direct, but i think the savings are worth the limited amount of hassel

 

[Ware Bears]

Hi miamivice, welcome to the DIS!