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Outbound journey via Newhaven (Port) from London to Paris

Because I have left it too late – I leave on 3rd April – I cannot make a reservation on Eurostar to go to Paris. After doing my research, I have decided that my best route is to go from Victoria to Newhaven via Brighton, and then get the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe. From Dieppe I can then get the train to Paris. You would think this was a very simple matter to use this as my outward journey from my home country – but you would be wrong! I have spent literally the whole day on the interrail app, looking at endless related topics, FAQs, and various community websites trying to sort it out, with no success at all.

I have tried entering ‘Newhaven’, ‘Dieppe’, and ‘Paris’ as my destination, and all I am getting back is that I am being routed in a circle back round to London to take the Eurostar, which I cannot do because I cannot make a reservation! (Quite apart from the fact that the journey from London back to London takes 8 hours!!) And/or I am being told that this is not a valid route for my pass.

I tried writing to customer services and they say they will only reply in 2 days, so my deadline approaches and I am getting really anxious. I have got so many things to do before I leave, and this is really stressing me out about how I am going to cope with the mobile app once I have left. So I am beginning to wish that I had never bought an interrail pass in the 1st place.

16 replies

A
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You need to understand that limitations of the app.

It doesn’t have ferry times so searching for a route it will always route via Eurostar.

You must break the journey down and search the parts individually.

G

And I also meant to ask, what happens if I just buy regular tickets between London and Dieppe, and start my interrail pass from Dieppe? In that case I wouldn't have an outbound journey on my pass, so would it think that I was behaving outside the rules?

A
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April 3 ferries are 11am and 11 pm.

 

08.24 from Victoria changing in Lewes arr Newhaven Town 09.41 would be the connection, you can get a later train but it would be cutting it close for the ferry.

 

R
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You only need to enter London-Newhaven and Dieppe-Paris. You don’t need to enter the ferry in the app. You could enter it manually but there's no need. You don't even get a discount on the DFDS ferry.

I'm not sure what you mean by "my deadline approaches”. If you've booked the ferry, then you're good to go.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
A
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And I also meant to ask, what happens if I just buy regular tickets between London and Dieppe, and start my interrail pass from Dieppe? In that case I wouldn't have an outbound journey on my pass, so would it think that I was behaving outside the rules?

 

You can do that if you wish, if you would likely have better use for another 2 home country days later on it may be a good idea.

You have to pay for the ferry anyway so it would just be the cost of your starting point to Newhaven.

A
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If you haven’t already you need to book the ferry here https://www.dfds.com/en/passenger-ferries/booking/fares

It is £31 one way.

G

“You must break the journey down and search the parts individually”

@Al_G I thought that was what I was doing when I entered ‘Newhaven’, but it still sent me back to London. When I 1st entered Newhaven I didn’t know that I had to change at Brighton/Lewes. So does this mean that every time I am trying to book a journey through the app, I have to know in advance where I have to change and enter every one into it? I thought the app was supposed to make suggestions for how you get from A to B because there is an inbuilt timetable in it – is this not the case?

A
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“You must break the journey down and search the parts individually”

@Al_G I thought that was what I was doing when I entered ‘Newhaven’, but it still sent me back to London. When I 1st entered Newhaven I didn’t know that I had to change at Brighton/Lewes. So does this mean that every time I am trying to book a journey through the app, I have to know in advance where I have to change and enter every one into it? I thought the app was supposed to make suggestions for how you get from A to B because there is an inbuilt timetable in it – is this not the case?


What are you entering as your starting point? London - Newhaven Town will show up the correct connections from Victoria.

R
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“You must break the journey down and search the parts individually”

@Al_G I thought that was what I was doing when I entered ‘Newhaven’, but it still sent me back to London.

Works fine for me:

 

If you don't see this, then please update your app.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
A
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CORRECTION:

The DFDS website contradicts itself, one part says 45 mns latest check-in, another says the minimum check-in at Newhaven is 90 minutes (09.30).

 

The last train I would take would be 07.16 from Victoria, change in Lewes, arr Newhaven Town 08.38

Only if DFDS confirm 45 min check-in when you book (10.15) then the 08.24 from Victoria would be appropriate.

A
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Just to complete the schedule, the ferry arrive Dieppe at 16.00 local time, it is approx a 25-30 min walk (or get a taxi) to the railway station.

The train departs Dieppe at 17.15 to Rouen Rive, 45 minute wait there for connecting train to Paris at 19.01, arrive 20.23

The Rouen - Paris  is listed as needing a reservation, this is not something that you need book in advance, you can get it from the ticket office for €2.

If this is an issue there is a following train at 19.17 with no reservations required, arr in Paris at 20.48

R
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The train departs Dieppe at 17.15 to Rouen Rive, 45 minute wait there for connecting train to Paris at 19.01, arrive 20.23

The Rouen - Paris  is listed as needing a reservation, this is not something that you need book in advance, you can get it from the ticket office for €2.

Price is €1.50, also available from the white Grandes Lignes ticket machines.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.
G

@Al_G  @rvdborgt

Thank you so much for your help so far. I have solved some of my problems but unfortunately I now seem to have a whole new lot.

1. I believe the problem I was having with getting to Newhaven was that I entered ‘Newhaven Port’ instead of ‘Newhaven Town’. Because I am English I was able to work that out, but how do I cope if I am somewhere in the middle of Europe where there are 2 stations for one town and I don’t know which is which?

2. I decided I wanted to travel to Newhaven on Sunday night to stay with a friend so I wouldn’t have to get up too early, but then when I tried to enter the journey from Victoria to Newhaven it asked me if this was my outbound journey, and I said yes, but then it wouldn’t let me add it to my pass. I think this may be because I activated my pass for the 3rd and Sunday is the 2nd, but this doesn’t matter as it’s very cheap to pay for this journey separately. The good news is I have booked my ferry! :)

3. Because of the time I have to check-in to my hotel in Paris I might decide to break my journey in Rouen on Monday night, but I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, as I’m waiting to hear from the landlady. So now I have saved to ‘my trip’ both Dieppe to Paris and Dieppe to Rouen. If I add the wrong one to my pass, will I be able to delete it and then add the other one?

4. To try and add a journey to my trip without doing anything irrevocable, I looked for the button to add one of the journeys to my pass from my trip, and I couldn’t find the button!!

I hope you can help me some more, otherwise I will sink into total despair again.

Many thanks, Gail

BrendanDB
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@Al_G  @rvdborgt

Thank you so much for your help so far. I have solved some of my problems but unfortunately I now seem to have a whole new lot.

1. I believe the problem I was having with getting to Newhaven was that I entered ‘Newhaven Port’ instead of ‘Newhaven Town’. Because I am English I was able to work that out, but how do I cope if I am somewhere in the middle of Europe where there are 2 stations for one town and I don’t know which is which?

2. I decided I wanted to travel to Newhaven on Sunday night to stay with a friend so I wouldn’t have to get up too early, but then when I tried to enter the journey from Victoria to Newhaven it asked me if this was my outbound journey, and I said yes, but then it wouldn’t let me add it to my pass. I think this may be because I activated my pass for the 3rd and Sunday is the 2nd, but this doesn’t matter as it’s very cheap to pay for this journey separately. The good news is I have booked my ferry! :)

3. Because of the time I have to check-in to my hotel in Paris I might decide to break my journey in Rouen on Monday night, but I haven’t been able to confirm this yet, as I’m waiting to hear from the landlady. So now I have saved to ‘my trip’ both Dieppe to Paris and Dieppe to Rouen. If I add the wrong one to my pass, will I be able to delete it and then add the other one?

4. To try and add a journey to my trip without doing anything irrevocable, I looked for the button to add one of the journeys to my pass from my trip, and I couldn’t find the button!!

I hope you can help me some more, otherwise I will sink into total despair again.

Many thanks, Gail

  1. If you search your trip on the website of the national operator of that country, you can mostly select the major town, and it will detail the station by itself. Would look someting like this “PARIS (ALL STATIONS). Just be attentive. The national operators website, will also calculate enough transfer time between station A and B, whereas the rail planner app does that a bit tight. Then use that information to register the correct train from A to B in your pass.

    The best app is the one from Deutsche Bahn (DB navigator). It contains updated information for most of Europe. But I prefer to have the national apps on my phone, for every country I travel through. For the latest real time information, delays, track changes,... Which countries you will be travelling through?
     
  2. That seems to be an activation problem indeed. You can still de-activate a pass, and reactivate it on Sunday 2/04. But it’s wise to go for cheap advance ticket, as the price will be probably lower than a pass day.
     
  3. Absolutely, no problem at all. On a travel day, you can add (or delete) as many trips as you want. Most experienced railers only type in their destinations/trains a few minutes before boarding the train :). Our advice is usually to do the same. Same counts to activate travel days. Quite wise to break up your journey in Rouen, you never know with all the strikes in France.
     
  4. When your trip is connected to your pass, in the activation process, you can normally tap a grey ledger journey per journey. This transfers your journey/train to your pass, it will turn yellow when it did. If you check again under “My Pass”, you’ll see the QR code with the train details.

More info on how to use the pass: https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-passes/interrail-mobile-pass/getting-started

BrendanDB
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Quick explanation on how to add trains to your pass, I made for someone else some time ago

1. Find your train in the planner, example here is between Ghent and Brussels. Click on the trip you want to take. No single domestic Belgian train can be reserved. 

2. Save selected yourney, and add it to a trip, linked to your pass. Then save it to the trip. 

 

3. Go to the tab "My Trip" and select the trip you just saved your journey to. This example is recycled from my summer trip. I planned to take a train earlier, but I only took the one later. The first train to Brussels is not activated, see grey ledger circled in green. The one circled in red is activated, note the yellow ledger and qr code, and was added to my pass. The QR-code is generated. Now you have a valid ticket. 

4. Ready to board. Find a seat. When inspected, go to the tab "My Pass", select the pass you added it too. Tap in a pin code or fingerprint, and show the QR code for inspection.

That's all you have to do to take a train with non-reservable seats or optional reservations. (which are more than 90% of all the trains in Europe.) 

For trains with mandatory reservation, it works the same. But you need a seat reservation and you need to prove you have a valid ticket (=your pass) . But this is completely separate from the app and your pass. But without it, no possibility to board a train with mandatory seat reservations. 

5. Only do step 3 (and 4) just before boarding the train. You must be absolutely sure you're taking that train. You don't want to waste a travel day, should something uneforeseen occur. It's impossible to get a travel day back, once it's activated for the same day. 

R
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Userlevel 7
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The best would be to deactivate the pass now. Go to My Pass, tap on your pass, tap on the three dots at the top richt and then Cancel activation.

And then only activate it shortly before you board your first train for which you'll use your pass.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.

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