Southampton to Ashford Eurostar station

[Nakantia]

Looking for recommendations on traveling from the Southampton cruise port to the Ashford Kent Eurostar station. I found a taxi service that charges £350 -- is that a realistic price for a transfer service?

[John Bull]

£350???? That's gross :eek:

I'd be interested in knowing who quoted that sort of money.

At a guess, the going rate is around £175 - half of the figure you've been quoted.

 

And Ashford isn't really the way to go unless you have your own car & need to park it.

Eurostar's terminus at St Pancras station in London is closer (83 miles vs 125 miles) and - despite London's traffic - it's quicker too by 20 to 30 minutes. Also only a few Eurostars stop at Ashford each day - much much wider choice from St Pancras

 

www.westquaycars.com/ charge about £140 for central London, including the road charge.

www.smithsforairports.com/ will charge about the same.

You could ask both to quote for Ashford as well if you have some specific reason for choosing Ashford.

Both are used frequently by CC members.

 

Alternatively you could take the train from Southampton to London's Waterloo station for about £36 per person. 2 or 3 trains per hour, journey time about 90 minutes.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

Add about £7 for taxi from ship to Southampton Central rail station.

And £15 to £20 for a taxi across central London from Waterloo station to St Pancras station (there's cheaper ways but with luggage a taxi is the way to go). Total cost ship to Eurostar under £100 for two

 

National Express coach is even cheaper - total, including taxis both ends, £50 or less for two.

 

JB :)

[2irisheyes]

We travelled from Southampton to Kent by train via Ashford recently. You need to change trains at Brighton. It is an easy change as it is the end of the line. The change of platform at Brighton is all on the flat. They are slow trains but quite inexpensive. When searching this route you need to check 'avoid London'. JB is right in that there are only a few Eurostar trains which stop at Ashford.

[DorneyBoy]

How

[Nakantia]

Wow -- thanks! To my American eyes, it made more sense to catch the train in Kent, but if London is more logical, then that's what I'll do. It does give me a lot more options for catching the train to Paris.

 

And sorry for the typo -- it was £250 -- Speedy Connections was the company.

 

So the train from Southampton to London it will be! Thanks again ;)

[LHT28]

From the Port of Dover ... Ashford works but Southampton is further west & not easy to get between the two cheaply

 

You can also fly from SOU to France if that is the reason for getting the Eurostar

[John Bull]

Wow -- thanks! To my American eyes, it made more sense to catch the train in Kent, but if London is more logical, then that's what I'll do. It does give me a lot more options for catching the train to Paris.

 

And sorry for the typo -- it was £250 -- Speedy Connections was the company.

 

So the train from Southampton to London it will be! Thanks again ;)

 

Checked their website - A local family-run one-van band. in their first year. Seem to be putting heart-and-soul into it, not like some of the jokers around the airports. But even £250 is way too heavy, I suspect they concentrate on weddings & such.

 

 

Because you'll presumably be travelling into London in the morning there's no discounts on the train tickets, so no point in buying ahead. Just buy at the ticket office at Southampton station.

 

But do buy your Eurostar tickets soonest, prices do go up.

Best direct from www.eurostar.com/

Earliest train you can be sure of catching from Southampton is 08.30, arrives Waterloo 09.53, taxi will get you to St Pancras by 10.30. You need to check in at Eurostar 30 mins ahead so best not book a train for before 11.00.

 

Bon Voyage

 

JB :)

[Nakantia]

Thanks all.

 

We've never taken the Eurostar before so we must try it at least once! And we're fans of trains -- we don't get the chance to take them very often, so we'd rather take the train than fly.

 

Yes, we'll buy the Eurostar tickets in advance and we'll book an afternoon train, just in case there are any delays along the way ;)

 

Really appreciate the advice -- thanks again!

[Cotswold Eagle]

What you have to imagine when looking at the map is a whole lot of main railway lines radiating out from London - there are cross-country ones, such as the route via Brighton mentioned earlier, but very often in South-East England the quickest (and most expensive) point-to-point route is via London.

 

Looking at the timetables, looks like you could save around £40/pp, but you'd end up spending 4 or 5 hours at Ashford waiting for the only afternoon Eurostar that calls there....

[scottbee]

JB didn't mention it, but the easiest transfer across London from Waterloo Station (where the SW Main Line from Southampton terminates) to HS1 (London-Paris) is to ride the Jubilee line of the London Underground from Waterloo to Stratford, and join the Eurostar at Stratford rather than St Pancras

[John Bull]

JB didn't mention it, but the easiest transfer across London from Waterloo Station (where the SW Main Line from Southampton terminates) to HS1 (London-Paris) is to ride the Jubilee line of the London Underground from Waterloo to Stratford, and join the Eurostar at Stratford rather than St Pancras

 

 

Hi Scottbee,

 

Depends how good the OP is at jumping onto a moving train :D

 

Eurostar doesn't stop at Stratford (might have done during the Olympics).

So it'd be tube from Waterloo to Stratford, then train from Stratford to St Pancras or Ebbsfleet.

There are several quicker & cheaper options by tube but all involve a change.

With luggage, a taxi makes life easy. :cool:

 

Nice try, but no cigar ;)

 

JB :)

[Cotswold Eagle]

 

Eurostar doesn't stop at Stratford (might have done during the Olympics).

JB :)

 

Nope, never has. During the Olympics they increased the number of Javelin services using Stratford International (which was a great service).

 

It makes no sense for Eurostar to stop there, less than 10 minutes out of St Pancras. They could be forced to do so politically, to alleviate the embarrassment of having an "international" station without an international service. More likely is that if other operators (DBahn, for example) start services through the tunnel they might use it.

[scottbee]

Hi Scottbee,

 

Depends how good the OP is at jumping onto a moving train :D

 

Eurostar doesn't stop at Stratford (might have done during the Olympics).

So it'd be tube from Waterloo to Stratford, then train from Stratford to St Pancras or Ebbsfleet.

There are several quicker & cheaper options by tube but all involve a change.

With luggage, a taxi makes life easy. :cool:

 

Nice try, but no cigar ;)

 

JB :)

 

You're right, while the Eurostar goes THROUGH Stratford it doesn't stop. But it's same line service, so grabbing a train to Ebbsfleet or Ashford is pretty easy without having to change lines; and Jubilee line transfers all have lifts

[Cotswold Eagle]

You're right, while the Eurostar goes THROUGH Stratford it doesn't stop. But it's same line service, so grabbing a train to Ebbsfleet or Ashford is pretty easy without having to change lines; and Jubilee line transfers all have lifts

 

I'm sorry, but this still makes little sense :)

 

The Jubilee line terminates at Stratford, not Stratford International, so you have to walk across or get the DLR connection. You are adding on two (or three) extra trains, at a cost of probably more than the cab fare to St Pancras. And the only possible Eurostar service the OP can get at Ebbsfleet is exactly the same one they would get from St Pancras.

[Nakantia]

Thanks for everyone's help on this! Now I'm ready to book the Eurostar, and I'd like opinions -- am I ok booking the 1:30 departure from London if I'm arriving at 7 am in Southampton?