Eurostar offers tickets to the South of France for £69 return

Eurostar today announced it is making return tickets for travel from London St Pancras International to Avignon, Marseille, Lyon and Aix-en-Provence between the 1st and 30th of June available at the bargain price of £69. The tickets will go on sale from today, 11 May.

The offer is being made to mark Eurostar's new 'code-share' arrangement with SNCF, the French rail operator. Under this arrangement, Eurostar passengers changing at Lille onto the French TGV network will benefit from specially designated carriages, as well as help and advice from staff upon arrival at Lille Europe station.

The announcement comes after a recent survey, commissioned by Eurostar, which showed that 84% of people would definitely or probably pick a high-speed train over a plane on their next journey to the continent, and in the aftermath of the disruption to flights caused by the Volcanic Ash Cloud. Mary Walsh, Eurostar's Director of Communications explained that “We want to encourage travellers to choose high speed rail and to give customers the opportunity to discover and explore destinations beyond our traditional routes. Our priority is to make that experience as easy and seamless as possible."

Journey times from London St Pancras to the selected destinations start at 5 hours 4 minutes to Lyon, 6 hours 13 minutes to Avignon, 6 hours 36 minutes to Aix-en-Provence and 6 hours 50 minutes to Marseille. Normal return prices start at £109 to Lyon and £119 to the other destinations.

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