Scotland to France by rail

Hi all
I need to travel by rail and ferry to France in October as my wife is
terrified of flying-and-tunnels.
I thought overnight from Edinburgh to London and then on to Dover to catch
the ferry to Calais-but-now doubts creep in.
I remember last year endless delays on the train into London when I stayed
in Tumbridge Wells for a fortnight.
What London station would be best to avoid.
Tam

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 12:14:06 +0100, d4g4h4.uk (David Horne) wrote:

>Martin <me@address.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 12:02:56 +0100, d4g4h4.uk (David Horne) wrote:
>[]
>> >I can come up with some interesting routes all by train, but it will
>> >take longer and involve more changes!
>>
>> I thought you would offer a route involving Newcastle, DFDS, Bergen ...
>
>I hadn't thought of alternative ferry routes, I admit! :)
>
>I've travelled to London Bridge for a meeting from Manchester without
>using the underground- it was good fun, even if as a result of
>engineering works! :)

I don't see how they are going to get from Edinburgh to France without using
tunnels even via the flat rail route from A'dam
--

Martin

"tam" <tpsc12248@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:lKisi.15006$7c.12620@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.u k...
> Hi all
> I need to travel by rail and ferry to France in October as my wife is
> terrified of flying-and-tunnels.
> I thought overnight from Edinburgh to London and then on to Dover to catch
> the ferry to Calais-but-now doubts creep in.
> I remember last year endless delays on the train into London when I stayed
> in Tumbridge Wells for a fortnight.
> What London station would be best to avoid.

Don't go to London.

Train Hull.

Overnight ferry to Europort.

Catch the shuttle bus to Amsterdam

Train to Paris, just over 4 hours

You could get a ferry from Newcastle but I'm not sure how easy it is to get
to Amsterdam from the quayside in Holland.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:49:56 GMT, "William Black" <william.black@.uk>
wrote:

>
>"tam" <tpsc12248@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:lKisi.15006$7c.12620@fe2.news.blueyonder.co. uk...
>> Hi all
>> I need to travel by rail and ferry to France in October as my wife is
>> terrified of flying-and-tunnels.
>> I thought overnight from Edinburgh to London and then on to Dover to catch
>> the ferry to Calais-but-now doubts creep in.
>> I remember last year endless delays on the train into London when I stayed
>> in Tumbridge Wells for a fortnight.
>> What London station would be best to avoid.
>
>Don't go to London.
>
>Train Hull.
>
>Overnight ferry to Europort.
>
>Catch the shuttle bus to Amsterdam

To Rotterdam!

Thalys fares are
EUR 88,50 or EUR 66,50 each way.

>
>Train to Paris, just over 4 hours

3 hours and 8 minutes from R'dam

>
>You could get a ferry from Newcastle but I'm not sure how easy it is to get
>to Amsterdam from the quayside in Holland.

There is a frequent service hydrofoil connecting IJmuiden with A'dam
--

Martin

"Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:9pi3b3hd9dtpqvagfa8de0qe292rpdtiv8@...
> On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:49:56 GMT, "William Black"
> <william.black@.uk>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"tam" <tpsc12248@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
>>news:lKisi.15006$7c.12620@fe2.news.blueyonder.co .uk...
>>> Hi all
>>> I need to travel by rail and ferry to France in October as my wife is
>>> terrified of flying-and-tunnels.
>>> I thought overnight from Edinburgh to London and then on to Dover to
>>> catch
>>> the ferry to Calais-but-now doubts creep in.
>>> I remember last year endless delays on the train into London when I
>>> stayed
>>> in Tumbridge Wells for a fortnight.
>>> What London station would be best to avoid.
>>
>>Don't go to London.
>>
>>Train Hull.
>>
>>Overnight ferry to Europort.
>>
>>Catch the shuttle bus to Amsterdam
>
> To Rotterdam!
>
> Thalys fares are
> EUR 88,50 or EUR 66,50 each way.
>

I bow to your greater knowledge, although the R/dam ships aren't as
comfortable as the Europort ships...

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

"Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:3jr3b3dsm1t8qgrsjrd29jiql9khimjke3@...
> On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:35:09 GMT, "William Black"
> <william.black@.uk>
> wrote:

>>I meant Zeebrugge...
>
> Better food though?

About the same.

Same menu anyway.

The Europort ships are twice the size and so have more choice for some items
but it's the usual P&O food routine, 'stay away from the main courses'...

The cabins are nowhere near as good.



--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:57:25 GMT, "William Black" <william.black@.uk>
wrote:

>
>"Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message
>news:3jr3b3dsm1t8qgrsjrd29jiql9khimjke3@.. .
>> On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:35:09 GMT, "William Black"
>> <william.black@.uk>
>> wrote:
>
>>>I meant Zeebrugge...
>>
>> Better food though?
>
>About the same.
>
>Same menu anyway.
>
>The Europort ships are twice the size and so have more choice for some items
>but it's the usual P&O food routine, 'stay away from the main courses'...

There's always the pleasure of watching greedy gits putting all the main courses
on one plate and then adding salad on top.

>
>The cabins are nowhere near as good.

The Zeebrugge boats are the previous generation of Europoort boats, AKA Norsea
and Norwave before they became the Pride of anything. I remember the decoration
of the inside cabins being less claustrophobic than the current boats. Most
memorable is the feeling of unstable equilibrium in a storm.
--

Martin

"Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:qbs3b35ob1m46snrsp19nj9l5uruqi5tl0@...
> On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:57:25 GMT, "William Black"
> <william.black@.uk>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Martin" <me@address.invalid> wrote in message
>>news:3jr3b3dsm1t8qgrsjrd29jiql9khimjke3@. ..
>>> On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:35:09 GMT, "William Black"
>>> <william.black@.uk>
>>> wrote:
>>
>>>>I meant Zeebrugge...
>>>
>>> Better food though?
>>
>>About the same.
>>
>>Same menu anyway.
>>
>>The Europort ships are twice the size and so have more choice for some
>>items
>>but it's the usual P&O food routine, 'stay away from the main courses'...
>
> There's always the pleasure of watching greedy gits putting all the main
> courses
> on one plate and then adding salad on top.

I know.

You'd have thought they'd have worked out by now that they can actually go
around as many times as they like...

Mind you, even today, a lot of English people believe the definition of 'a
good meal' is one where there is more meat than they can comfortably eat.


--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.