By Rebecca Davison for MailOnline

Published: 05:57 EST, March 7, 2024 | Updated: 06:01 EST, March 7, 2024

EUROSTAR has launched its cheapest fares ever, with one-way tickets starting from just £35.

But if you want to grab a bargain, you’ll have to be quick, as the offer is only valid until March 7.

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The flash sale has reduced fares to £35, meaning you can get a £70 return ticket to Paris, Lille or Brussels from London St Pancras.

This is the cheapest price since February 2022.

Plus, money-saving expert Martin Lewis has a code to get an extra 8 percent off, so Brits can book a trip for just £64.40.

If you’re wondering how to book, we have the answers for you.

Book directly through Eurostar

Money-saving expert Martin Lewis has told Brits they can go straight to Eurostar’s website for the cheap fares.

Although the cheapest fare is £35 one-way, you’ll need to book a return journey to access the prize.

Book via Trainpal

However, if you want to get a further 8 percent discount on your train ticket, you will need to book through the third-party site Trainpal.

Once you have registered, locate your tickets and enter the code MSE555 as you proceed to the box office.

New Trainpal users can get 5 percent off their order with the code – which will automatically be combined with the site’s current 3 percent discount.

This makes the cheapest return journey on the Eurostar £64.40.

But don’t worry if you’ve used Trainpal before: you’ll still get 2 percent off the same code.

Combine that with the existing 3 percent discount and you’ll find rates from £66.50.

There are no fees for booking through the site and you will receive the same tickets as if you had booked directly.

Be flexible about travel times

Martin Lewis added that it has not been made clear when the £35 seats will be available.

All that is known is that the cheap rates apply to travel from March 13 to May 23, 2024.

But seats appear to be randomly distributed across those dates on both peak and off-peak trains.

He warns that there can be a lot of trial and error in finding the cheaper seats – so be as flexible as possible.

Brits will have a better chance of securing the sale if they can be flexible about their travel dates and times.

Eurostar previously offered group tickets to its destinations from £25 per person.

Many people, including myself, were completely wrong about Rouen. I always thought, coming off the ferry, that it was a useful stopover while rushing to the south of France. All too often the annoying phrase 'seen it, done it' is applied to what is actually one of the most interesting and enchanting French cities.

My first short visit, many years ago, did not go well, mainly due to an absurd attempt by the French authorities to be more hospitable to foreigners. We were given tokens called 'cheques-sourire' (smile cheques) to give to those who provided friendly service, allowing them to be entered into a prize draw. I can still remember the looks of horror after I handed them over to the shop owners… I had never heard 'merde' pronounced so bitterly.

This time all was forgiven. The smiles were genuine and despite it being January, the weather was mild, almost all the restaurants were open and Rouen was achieving its year-round status as a major tourist hub.

My wife, Mary, and I were in good spirits. We celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary and wondered again why we decided to get married in January.

Nostalgia decided that we would travel from Newhaven to Dieppe by ferry, as we had done on our honeymoon all those years ago. Eurostar was then just a twinkle in the eye of those who dreamed of a Channel Tunnel.

The four-hour crossing, in strong winds, did not dampen our spirits, and a smiling taxi driver with a large car got us to Rouen in no time. Our hotel, the four-star Hotel De Bourgtheroulde, can, like so much of the old city, trace its origins back several hundred years. It was badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War, but has been expertly restored, incorporating parts of the old building into the modern structure.

On our first night we found ourselves in the old market square and enjoyed the impression of Rouen as it was in the Middle Ages. Narrow, winding streets offer views of half-timbered houses that look like a Hollywood set for a Robin Hood movie. Real history in this capital of Normandy is never far away.

We visited a traditional restaurant conveniently located on a street named after William the Conqueror. He died here, as King of England, 21 years after the Battle of Hastings.

And that's not the end of the British connection. As I unashamedly feasted on the traditional dish of calf's head, I was reminded that long after the Norman Conquest, the fair maiden of France, the great Joan of Arc, was burned at the stake by English forces in this square. But it would have been a terrible mistake to let history ruin a good dinner. And Rouen is one of the largest foodie centers in France.

I always want to enjoy the local dishes and cannot resist the temptation of steak tartare or kidneys in mustard sauce. Mary is more reserved, but is easily tempted by escargots in cream sauce or herb butter.

We are also both interested in architecture and art, which this city has in abundance. So the next day we walked to Rouen Cathedral – a Gothic masterpiece. The towering nave defies gravity and reminds us that it was French architects who first gave the world these tall, sharp, pointed windows that let in light through painted glass.

Rouen also has another permanent place in art history. When trains first started running the relatively short distance from Paris, artists with their new portable equipment, easels and tubes of paint soon followed the River Seine to Rouen.

Claude Monet was the one who made the biggest impact with his famous series depicting the west door of the cathedral.

One of these can be seen in the Musee des Beaux Arts, next to a beautiful collection of impressionist paintings.

The last day we walked along the Seine. Upstream lies Paris and Rouen is the last deep port before the capital. It is here that for many summers the large sailing ships from all over Europe are moored for the Armada festival.

And when we left the next day, we looked back at our nearest bridge, and who is it named after? Oh yes, of course, William the Conqueror.

Train services from London to Europe could be massively expanded over the decade, amid plans for new direct rail lines to Germany and Switzerland.

The Swiss National Railways (SBB) is working on a new five-hour service between St. Pancras and Basel via the Channel Tunnel using Eurostar trains; while the Spanish company Evolyn wants to open a direct connection with Frankfurt, Cologne, Zurich and Geneva.

These come amid a range of possible rival services to the Eurostar being planned, with Sir Richard Branson reportedly investigating Virgin operating the current route – and Dutch train start-up Heuro hoping to launch a rival service within the next five years .

Train passengers traveling from London to Basel currently have to make an arduous journey on three trains, which usually takes around six and a half to seven hours.

They will need to take a Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord and then travel on the RER metro to Gare de Lyon, from where they can catch a TGV service to Basel.

But Swiss rail bosses hope the new route will include just one train, as well as a single check through security and passport control at the departing station. Although there is no timetable for the project, SBB has confirmed that the direct link is ‘possible’.

Plans for the London-Basel link were confirmed by SBB head of international passenger transport Philipp Mader at the Swiss Travel Association conference.

Speaking at the event in November, Mr Mader said: ‘As a long-haul destination, we are exploring a direct train from Switzerland to London, the most flown city in Europe. Basel to London in about five hours, that’s possible.’

But he added that implementation would be difficult, saying: ‘Infrastructure is expensive on this route – partly because of the journey through the Eurotunnel.’

SBB hopes to offer passengers a viable alternative to flying between Britain and Switzerland, as there are dozens of daily flights between London and Swiss airports every day.

The idea of ​​a train link between London and Basel has gained momentum after it was proposed in March by Swiss politician Matthias Aebischer, who pointed out it was important for travelers concerned about climate change.

He said at the time: ‘Many people nowadays want to travel climate neutrally. But if they have to change several times for a train journey in Europe, they still take the plane.’

However, a major issue before the direct trains could run would be a redevelopment of Basel station, as security and passport control for travelers heading to London would now be similar to what is required at airports.

Mr Aebische has asked the Swiss Federal Council to work with France, Britain and Eurostar to determine whether the route is feasible.

Rail expert Mark Smith, founder of the international train guide Seat61.comtold MailOnline: ‘This would be a great service and would quickly become popular, connecting the UK to Switzerland by land.

‘However, the context is that Eurostar is concentrating on its core routes due to Brexit, reducing passenger handling capacity at St Pancras.’

He also pointed out that the planned introduction in 2025 of the new Electronic Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), which will require British citizens to register before traveling to the European Union, ‘poses another risk’.

Mr Smith continued: ‘This year the Eurostar ski train is a link from the normal London to Lille service, and not a direct train as in previous years, despite pressure from ski-related companies in the French Alps.

‘The direct Eurostar from London to Marseille did not resume after the pandemic and the direct Eurostar to Disneyland Paris stopped in June this year.

‘So Eurostar itself is unlikely to be interested in another non-core route, even if SBB is.

‘The logistical problems are significant: they need to find customs-secure storage for the Eurostar train and a platform that can be cordoned off with covered space to check in passengers with security checks and border checks. I would love it if this happened, but I’m not holding my breath.’

There is plenty of capacity to expand services through the Channel Tunnel, with the tunnel’s owner and operator Getlink saying it could double the number of daily services between Britain and Europe.

But Eurostar currently appears to be focusing on its core routes to France, Belgium and the Netherlands – with just one remaining stop in the UK, at St Pancras, after it stopped using Kent stations at Ebbsfleet and Ashford during the pandemic .

A Eurostar spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘It is encouraging to see interest from the Swiss National Railways in expanding their international train route network.

‘We always monitor the potential for new routes, but our current focus is on our extensive network of European destinations following our union with Thalys.’

MailOnline has contacted SBB for comment.

Meanwhile, Evolyn is buying 12 trains from French manufacturer Alstom, maker of France’s iconic TGV train, for its planned high-speed rail service.

The company’s £1 billion investment in the project to run trains under the English Channel aims to challenge Eurostar’s monopoly on the route that it has held since 1994.

Evolyn hopes to start trains from London to Paris from 2025 before being fully operational in 2026 – and later expand direct services from Britain to other countries.

Although these other destinations have not yet been confirmed, it is believed they could include direct trains from London to Frankfurt, Cologne, Zurich and Geneva.

The move would make it much easier for Brits to travel to Europe by rail beyond Belgium and Paris, eliminating the need to change trains if going to Germany or Switzerland.

Eurostar currently runs trains from London to Paris, Lille, Brussels, Amsterdam and Rotterdam – although services from the Netherlands to St Pancras will be suspended for six months from June next year.

The decision was announced in November by the Dutch Railways, which said Amsterdam Centraal would not be able to handle cross-Channel passengers during a major renovation of the station.

The Eurostar trains will therefore have to run empty on the route from Amsterdam via Rotterdam before they can pick up travelers bound for London in Brussels. Initially, it was feared that direct services from the Netherlands would be suspended for almost a year.

Passengers wishing to travel by rail from Amsterdam or Rotterdam to London must take the train to Brussels and then transfer to a Eurostar service.

Direct Eurostar trains from London to the Netherlands will continue to operate.

There are currently four daily return services between London and Amsterdam via Brussels and Rotterdam. It is an important route for the operator as it challenges one of the busiest European markets for airlines.

But passenger numbers for services from Amsterdam are currently limited due to restrictions on the number of passengers who can pass through passport and security checks at the station.

Dutch Railways said that organizations involved in the renovation project investigated how services could continue from Amsterdam, but found that this would not be possible ‘despite all efforts’.

In 2011 there were reports that Deutsche Bahn wanted to operate services between London St Pancras and Brussels from 2013, which would then split – with one half going via Rotterdam to Amsterdam and the other via Cologne to Frankfurt.

While direct trains from London to Amsterdam via Rotterdam were eventually launched by Eurostar in April 2018, Deutsche Bahn has still not operated services to London – and there are still no direct trains from London to Germany.

Sources at Eurostar confirmed to MailOnline earlier this year that there are currently no plans to provide direct services from London to Germany or Switzerland.

However, the situation has changed somewhat since Thalys merged with Eurostar in May 2022 – with the red and white Thalys-branded trains now disappearing from October and being rebranded as Eurostar across the extensive network in Europe.

As part of this, Eurostar has aimed to make it easier for its customers to book to 28 locations now branded as ‘Eurostar’ destinations on the new website, including several German cities via Brussels.

Eurostar operates a lucrative business connecting London and mainland Europe via high-speed trains, and has made record profits of €332m (£288m) in 2022.

The company said in June that passenger volumes on the London-Netherlands route have more than doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels.

By Carlton Reid for Mailonline

Published: 04:25 EST, December 21, 2023 | Updated: 04:25 EST, December 21, 2023

Near the coast of Nice there is a small shop that sells vintage postcards. Most feature sunbathing beauties, but the older, black and white examples show over-coated figures looking out at an empty beach.

These are the winter visitors, the hivernants – after ‘hiver’, the French word for winter – and many of them were British, hence the name of Nice beach: the Promenade des Anglais.

From the 1860s to the 1930s, the high season on the Riviera was from November to April. It was thought that various physical and psychological ailments could be alleviated by the mild winter climate, the bracing sea air and the high blue sky. This was the ideal antidote to the ‘dark satanic mills’ of Victorian British cities.

After visiting Nice in the summer, I thought it was time to get a taste of the winter experience. Of course the hivernants went by train, the most famous being the Train Bleu sleeping car from Paris, which was so widely used by the British that breakfast in the dining car consisted of eggs and bacon.

Today, the sleek Eurostar lives up to expectations and upon arrival in Paris, the metro (much more glamorous than the metro) is great for the transfer from Gare du Nord to the south-facing Gare de Lyon. Although the train has long since stopped running, the gilded Train Bleu restaurant in the station beckons, with its frescoes depicting heavenly scenes from the Riviera.

Then it’s the TGV for a quick transfer to Nice. Even in standard class you have a spacious seat and there is a buffet car where you can eat a croque monsieur, drink wine and gaze out of the cinema windows. You only realize the speed of the train as it travels along a road – twice as fast as the cars. But they slow down as they reach the Riviera coast, and you approach Nice just as the sky turns pink over the Mediterranean.

My hotel, the three-star Villa Rivoli, was built especially for the hivernants in the 1890s. It is located a minute from the sea, cozy and quiet, with rooms with marble fireplaces and retro fabric wallpaper.

Before dinner there was time for a walk. In winter, the palm trees along the Promenade are shrouded in fairytale lights that contrast beautifully with the dark blue night sky. The waves foam more than in summer, and the sea seems louder – perhaps because there are only a few dozen people at the Prom, rather than thousands.

I sat down on a bench overlooking the sea to smoke a cigar. Nearby, a Frenchman did the same. When he discovered my nationality, he said, “Ten today – better tomorrow.” I thought he was telling me how many cigars he had smoked, but it turned out he was talking about the temperature. We started talking and I said I would like to retire in Nice. “Oh, but you’re clearly not old enough,” he said. Charming guy.

It was a novelty to walk through the pastel-colored labyrinth of the old city without constantly having to step aside from people. In winter you have an entire alley or a small square to yourself. On the main square, Cours Saleya, the restaurant terraces are full in summer, but hardy types still dine outside in winter, when prices are lower (although the big winter savings are on accommodation). In the unpretentious, blue-painted interior of La Cambuse, one of the smallest and oldest restaurants, I ate mussels and spaghetti – which seemed appropriate, since Nice was part of Italy until 1860.

The next morning was bright blue. During my walk I came across the cigar smoker again. He gestured to a lighted display outside a pharmacy. It gave the temperature: 11C.

You realize, in the quiet of winter, that Nice is an inherently old-fashioned place, with all the palaces and villas in the flamboyant Belle Epoque style of the late 19th century, the sleepy antique shops, the soft sound of the tram bells.

As you climb the steps of Castle Hill, on the west side of the Bay of Nice, the city lies beneath you.

Even in winter it looks warm: after all, the palms are evergreen, the sky and the sea are just as blue as in summer – and the orange trees in the streets bear their fruit in winter.

There are also orange trees in the winter garden of the Musee Massena on the Promenade, whose marble rooms contain posters and photographs from the hivernant era. Those days are also evoked in the Musee des Beaux Arts, a little way inland. I recommend the rooms with the paintings of Raoul Dufy, who lived in Nice. In wintry blues he obsessively painted the domed Casino, which stood on a short pier from 1891 to 1942 and was a social center for the hivernants.

I encountered one other person in those rooms. “Bonnejournee,” he said before leaving. Such small, civilized exchanges are a regular feature of Nice in winter.

That evening I repeated the seafood and pasta theme – this time with squid at Le Bistrot d’Antoine, a cozy, rustic-looking spot in the old town. It was packed, even though the surrounding streets were quiet. This meal, like the previous evening’s, was excellent – ​​both were around £30, with wine.

No winter visit to Nice would be complete without a walk north uphill from the train station towards the Cimiez district.

Here you can see the former hotels where the hivers lived. On a sunny winter day, their graceful white plasterwork still sparkles against the blue sky. But they are now luxury apartments with hair salons, pharmacies and banks on the ground floor.

Their older, well-preserved residents, in their custom-made cashmere coats, live a life in the heat. It doesn’t seem to hurt them.

A flightless travel enthusiast has revealed the three ‘best sleeper trains to take in winter’ for Brits looking for a low-emission getaway in the coming months.

Sarah BM, passing by @sarahbmarks on TikTok said the routes offered the opportunity to visit destinations that would have been completely missed on a direct flight.

However, the fares for two of her trips were more expensive than flying once Overnight stays were taken into account for each sleeper train ticket.

All three of Sarah’s suggestions start with taking the Eurostar to Amsterdam – with the return flight costing around £80 to £120 if you book a few months in advance – before switching to a sleeper.

The first of the three destinations at the time of publication was Innsbruck, Austria, although prices are constantly changing.

“You can sit cozy in your cabin and enjoy traditional Viennese pastries for breakfast as you pass by snow-capped mountains,” Sarah said.

Once you get there, you’ll be blessed with an array of options.

You can choose to stroll around and admire the beautiful 12th century town, or you can take advantage of the seasonal pleasures of skiing or tobogganing in the surrounding mountains.

A bunk bed on the 14-hour train will set you back around £70 each way, but if you’re on a budget and are confident you’ll get some kip while sitting up, a seat in a six-berth cabin can cost as little as £25. .

In contrast, a return flight from London to Innsbruck costs between £50 and £70, with two extra nights to compensate for the nights otherwise spent on the train, each costing around £40 in a budget hotel – meaning the total journey with the sleeper train will be around £70 more expensive.

Sarah’s second offer involved taking two standard trains from Amsterdam after an overnight stay to get to Hamburg – at a cost of just under £30 each way – before taking a sleeper train from there to Stockholm, Sweden.

Depending on when you book, a sleeper cabin costs just £50 for a bunk bed, or you can enjoy a cabin with two luxury double beds and an en suite bathroom.

If you choose the cheapest of these options, plus the connecting trains, a return flight from London to Stockholm – plus booking the extra nights you save – is almost £100 cheaper, although you may think the extra cost is worth it for some extra sightseeing and emissions savings along the way.

This train also has the appeal of an onboard bistro from which you can watch the snowy landscape fade by as you enter Sweden.

Stockholm has a classic Christmas market in November and December, but if you’re too late for that, you can still enjoy the old town or try your hand at ice skating.

The last and cheapest suggestion was to take you again towards Austria, but stop in Zurich, Switzerland.

The sleeper train from Amsterdam to Zurich can be as cheap as £45 and the times can be so consistent that you can leave the Netherlands on the same day you arrive from London.

And on the other hand, flights to Zurich are the most expensive of all these destinations, with a return journey this winter likely to cost more than £100, and ‘budget’ nights there setting you back around £70.

This means that if you fancy a trip to Zurich, taking the sleeper train could save you up to £70.

Sarah suggested that once there, you can “take an ice-cold dip in the lake, or board one of their incredible local trains to the Swiss mountains.”

The best value European Christmas market holidays for Brits have been revealed in an annual report – and Riga comes in at number one.

The British will see their pound rise the furthest in the Latvian capital, followed by Stockholm, Sweden, in second place and Zagreb, Croatia, in third.

Vienna in Austria has emerged as Europe’s most expensive holiday destination for Brits.

This is evident from the Post Office Travel Money Christmas Markets Barometer 2023, which compared the price of a two-night B&B stay for two in twelve European cities plus flights (or Eurostar) and five daily costs.

The basket of goods included two three-course meals with wine for two, four festive snacks and four glasses of mulled wine or punch from the Christmas market.

Riga, which takes the crown for the fifth year in a row, is 46 percent cheaper than Vienna, the results show.

The price tag of £506 in Riga is marginally lower than last year (down one per cent) and almost 10 per cent cheaper than Stockholm (£559.50) and Zagreb (£559.60), its closest competitors, the Post Office said.

The city’s victory is “the result of cheap flights and competitively priced accommodation and not local prices, as the city only ranks sixth cheapest for meals and drinks,” the study points out.

By comparison, Krakow (eight, £756) is much cheaper locally, with meals and drinks for two days costing just £144, compared to £199 in Riga.

However, the report shows that the scarcity of flights before Christmas has made travel costs much more expensive this year.

As a result, barometer costs have increased by almost 16 percent and the Polish city has fallen five places in the barometer table this year, after being in third place in 2022.

Stockholm is ‘surprisingly second’ in this year’s barometer, the post office said.

“While meals and drinks remain expensive compared to Eastern European competitors, a 9.4 percent increase in the value of the pound sterling against the Swedish krona has helped drive down prices for these products,” the report said .

‘More importantly, good hotel availability and a drop in flight costs due to strong competition on the London-Stockholm route explain why the city is an excellent choice for bargain hunters.’

The research shows that the total costs of a two-night stay are more than 25 percent lower than last year.

Just 10 cents behind Stockholm is the Croatian capital Zagreb, where prices “do not appear to have been affected by the change of the country’s currency from the kuna to the euro,” the report suggests.

Prices for meals and drinks are only 0.6 percent higher than a year ago and a two-night Christmas market break costs a total of 2.8 percent more than last year.

Prague (fourth, £640) climbed two places this year, helped by a big drop (21 per cent) in the cost of flights and accommodation, the Post Office said. With an overall price drop of 13 percent, it is one of six cities where barometer costs have fallen over the past year.

Riga, Stockholm, Berlin, Budapest and Tallinn are the other five.

Pricey Vienna (£933) is just ahead of Copenhagen in the table (second, £902).

At £344 and £375 respectively, the cost of meals and drinks for two days in both cities is around £150 more than Riga (£199).

However, flight and accommodation costs have fallen in both countries, meaning that overall price increases for a two-night stay have been minimal: 1.6 percent in Copenhagen and 0.8 percent in Vienna.

Those planning to visit the Christmas markets in Salzburg may also want to watch their wallets. The Austrian city is the third most expensive (£846) on the barometer.

Laura Plunkett, Head of travel money at the post officesaid this year’s barometer is “the best possible proof” that it always pays to add up all the holiday costs before booking a trip abroad.

“As the research shows, a scarcity of flights before Christmas has resulted in higher travel costs to Krakow, typically one of the most affordable cities in our price surveys,” she added. ‘While the good availability of flights has reduced the costs of city trips to Riga and Stockholm.

‘However, low costs for meals and drinks can also have a big impact on the overall price of a short break, and this explains why Zagreb, Prague and Budapest are cities to consider for holidaymakers planning a Christmas market holiday.’