Views and Reviews Part 2 – Transportation

Virgin Atlantic, the Elizabeth Line, Eurostar, The Tube, and the Paris Metro

We rode a lot of different sorts of transportation on our recent trip to London and Paris. Let me give you an idea of what we loved, and we were not very fond of.

Virgin Atlantic Airlines

We’ve never flown internationally before, so I wasn’t sure what the best way to get to London was. I happened to watch a vlog from Paging Mr. Morrow where he flew to London on Virgin Atlantic, and I saw how good it was. Virgin Atlantic is an England based airline, and I loved the fact that I could fly non-stop from Orlando MCO to Heathrow Airport in London. It seemed so much easier for our first International trip. In my opinion, Virgin Atlantic did a wonderful job on both our flights to and from London.

My views on Virgin Atlantic Airlines at MCO and LHR

The airports

Orlando MCO

We checked in on the Virgin Atlantic App before we got to the airport, but we still had to check in at the airport kiosk to get our tickets, then we to security screening. First of all, we did make reservations at MCO for our security screening, which was a really good idea. It only took us about 10 minutes from start to finish. I forgot to take off my shoes, and they never said anything about it. It was a seamless experience.

We got to the airport three hours early, as advised, but we probably didn’t need all of that time. Better early than late though. Virgin uses Terminal A at MCO. You have to take a peoplemover from the main terminal to terminal A. I’d advise doing any shopping or having lunch in the main airport before you go to the terminal. There are some eating places there, but when we were there in the late afternoon, it was very crowded and not many empty seats. We ended up moving closer to our departing terminal and finding chairs there. Departure was very organized. After the Disabled and Premium passengers boarded, passengers were called by their rows, back to front. I think that this made it much easier to board since not many people had to get around you.

We had seats in the center of the plane in row 62 each way. We booked one on each side of the center row. And luckily, no one booked the center seat. This made it easier to get out for bathroom trips and left us a little room. Last trip I had a drunk guy beside me and it was very hard to get out of the center seat in a window lane. Never again.

But getting back to MCO after our trip was a different story. We got back on time (7:30 pm), but it took forever to get through Passport Control and Customs. There was one line for US citizens, and another for visitors. There were only a few Customs officers in each area and the line was very long. By the time we got back to the peoplemover so we could get to Terminal A and pickup, it was already dark.

We parked our car at Trust Airport Parking near MCO while we were gone. It’s much less expensive than parking at the airport, and it was a good experience. Not far from the airport. When we got back from London and through Customs, we texted Trust, and they picked us up in about 15 minutes because he had just left the airport with some other customers. The drivers were great too. The car was waiting for us when we got back to the lot. Didn’t take much more time than getting the shuttle to the expensive economy lot at MCO.

London Heathrow LHR

Upon arrival at Heathrow from MCO we had to walk a very long way to finally get to Passport Control. It seemed like at least a mile. Once at Passport Control it wasn’t hard. LHR uses the E passport system. You just walk in, put your passport on the screen, smile at the camera, and wait till the door opens. It worked well for us, and there are agents there to help you. I hear that it doesn’t always work, though. Then we walked through the Customs area, but no one stopped us. Guess we look pretty honest. We only had carry on luggage, so we didn’t have to go to the baggage pickup area. Then we had to follow the blue train signs to get to the Heathrow Express. Once you get off of the plane, there didn’t seem to be many places to eat. There was a grocery type store, I believe it was an M&S.

Leaving from LHR for home however, wasn’t quite as easy. Once again you still have to check in at a kiosk at terminal 3 to get your tickets. You can’t miss the terminal, there is a huge Virgin Atlantic sign on front. Then, I hadn’t found a way to make reservations for security screening at Heathrow, so it took much longer there than in Orlando. We had a much longer line and it took awhile. No one was taking their shoes off, so I didn’t either, and no one said anything. Everything else went into the bins. After we got through security we finally went through to Terminal 3. This is a pretty large fancy terminal with plenty of places to eat and shop. Some very fancy names like Bulgari and Burberry. Plus, some places like Pret A Manger and M&S to get food or drink to take with you onto the plane, or to eat there. And there is a London souvenir shop. Nice dining establishments also.

You have to wait in the main terminal until they give you your boarding gate about an hour before the flight. Then you walk what seems like a mile to your boarding gate. There, you will sit and wait for boarding, but it didn’t take long. Boarding was quick, but they used the Boarding group to load instead of seat numbers. That made it harder because you were trying to get your luggage up above into the bin, and people were waiting behind you to get to their seats. Less efficient than Orlando.

The Plane

We flew with Virgin Atlantic Airlines out of Orlando MCO non-stop to London Heathrow. I was very impressed with Virgin Atlantic. This was one of the largest planes I’ve ever flown in, we flew basic economy. Going to London, we were given a snack about an hour after we left Orlando, which consisted of a drink, and a bag of pretzels. Then soon after that we had our dinner. We had a choice of an Indian chicken dish, or Rotini. I got the chicken, but I didn’t like it. If you like Indian food you’ll probably like it, but I didn’t like the spices. It came with a roll, a salad, some crackers, and a dessert. Breakfast was yogurt, and a couple of pastries. The flight did encounter quite a bit of turbulence but we still go to London early. The plane was comfortable, and has a good selection of movies and tv shows on the screen on the seat in front of you. Virgin provides a blanket, a small baby sized pillow, and headphones. There are plugs for charging. Also, they dim the lights if you’re doing the redeye so you can possible get some sleep. I got no sleep due to a crying baby and much turbulence. Can’t blame the poor baby, he didn’t like the turbulence either. Poor mom and dad.

Coming back to Orlando we left about half an hour late from Heathrow. Being that this was a 9 hour + flight, we got fed much more often. It seemed like they were coming down the aisle every hour with something. We got a snack, a meal, drinks, a popsicle, and an afternoon tea service. The food was actually better on the flight back, I got BBQ chicken. You can get a can of wine, too. But it was very strong.

The Trains

Elizabeth line

We took the Elizabeth line train, which is the purple line, from the London airport to Paddington Station. Heathrow Express is faster, but costs more money. The Elizabeth line cost half as much and takes about 35 minutes to get to Paddington Station. Just follow the blue train signs at LHR to get to the trains. There are people there that will show you the right way if you need help. I found the Elizabeth line to be a nice, comfortable, and clean train, with plenty of room to bring on your luggage. It makes other stops besides Paddington Station, but since we were staying in the area, it was very convenient for us.

We also took the Elizabeth line from Paddington to Tottenham Court Rd when we went to the British Museum, and back to the airport. The trains come around every 15 minutes. We did manage to get on the wrong train when going back to the airport. We only had to get off and wait for the airport train, but be sure to read the signs on the train to see where it is going. The airport train is clearly marked.

Paddington Station is open air but has restrooms in two places, and places to eat. No tables though. Pret A Manger was my favorite, and there is a Cornish Pasty shop that was good. We ended up getting Burger King breakfast sandwiches and coffee the day we were headed to St. Pancras and the Eurostar, and found some benches.

Eurostar

We took the Eurostar from St. Pancras Station to the Gare du Nord in Paris and back. Each way takes approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes. We got the basic economy tickets. The sooner you get your tickets the better because prices go up closer to the trip.

They suggest that you get to the station 90 minutes before your train leaves, and that amount of time was adequate. They don’t even let you into the security area till 90 minutes before. You have to go through England and France passport control and security on each end before you get onto the train, but they don’t care about the liquids rule. You can buy food, snacks, or drinks before you get onto the train and take them onto the train. They also sell food on the train in a couple of cars. They will announce where. In St. Pancras Security is on the first level, in Gare du Nord security is on the second floor, where you see the England flag. There are very few seats in Gare du Nord, we ended up sitting on our luggage to have lunch and wait to go through security. Gare du Nord has restaurants, even a 5 Guys, and a store to buy drinks and food.

You have to carry your own bags onto the train, so be sure you can lift them. Once on the train you can put them in an area at the door of your car, or overhead your seat. The seats were comfortable and have a fold down tray table. Be aware that some of the seats are backwards, and some have backwards and forwards with a table between them. Great for four person groups. Wifi is included in the price of your ticket.

The Subways

The Tube

London has the Tube, their version of the subway. The Tube is much easier and less crowded than the Paris Metro, at least for English speaking people. I think that we only had to stand once, and that was during rush hour. Plus, a very polite young man gave me his seat that time, and another man gave my husband his seat. The tube definitely wins.

The stations were really not very crowded ever, and the signage was very clear so you knew where you were going. We used the Tube quite a bit, but be aware that there are not always elevators or escalators to get you to and from the street above. And some of the tracks are very far underground. There is a Transport for London app, which is a great help in figuring out how to get to where you want to be. We used the Circle line a lot, but there are quite a few lines. To pay, we used a contactless credit card to tap in and out of the stations. You do need to tap in and also out. You can also buy single tickets or an Oyster card which you can refill. There is a cap on how much you pay for a day, but it depends on where you travel. They don’t seem to have a day or week pass. I had a problem tapping in and out at times though. I kept having to change credit cards because one or the other stopped working. I do not know why. So, take at least two cards if you have them, or use the Oyster card or tickets.

Some of the stations are very historic and beautiful. I did enjoy my time on the Tube, and it sure made it so much easier to get around without having to walk everywhere. They also have double decker busses and Uber boats, but we never had time for those.

The Metro

Paris has the Metro, which is similar to the Tube. I was really not a fan of the Metro. For one thing, I don’t speak much French at all, so it was hard to figure out where we were going. Most of the attendants did speak English, which helped, but we still managed to get lost. The CityMapper app and Google Maps were helpful apps to find out which train you needed to use, although the CityMapper app did go out on me a number of times. What I did like about it was that when it was working, you could see if you were walking in the right direction.

We bought Navigo Jour passes, which was the cheapest option for an entire day of using the metro. They worked well. You can also buy individual tickets, or groups of 10. Les Frenchies are YouTubers who have lots of good videos on the Metro and other parts of Paris.

Another reason that I did not like the Metro was that it seemed to be always very crowded. Almost every time we rode it, we were standing in a crowd like sardines. Not once did anyone offer us a seat, like in London. That made it easier for someone to pickpocket us. We were prepared, and wore Travelon locking bags, plus we used safety pins to lock our backpacks and make it harder for thieves to target us. But still, it was uncomfortable. I did wear my backpack in front on the worst trains.

Plus, some of the stations we were in were very confusing. We had to walk forever in one station to find the train we wanted. Some we had to walk up and down the steps.

The exception was the Double Decker RER train. I think that we rode that near the Eiffel Tower. It was the best train that we were on.

If you have any questions about transportation, please let me know in the comments below.

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