# London to Paris on the cheap



## Lucasmik (6 Jul 2011)

Is anybody doing or has done the London to Paris ride, and is their a way to do it without having to raise thousands in sponsorship money. As I would love to give it a go but do not think I could raise the required amount of money.


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## Herzog (6 Jul 2011)

Easy.

Get a tent and a rack. Campsites are around 8 to 15 quid a night. Foot passenger on the ferry is around £20. It's around 450km, so 100 km a day (so 5 nights max). Plus food and all the rest.

I usually spend about £20 a day when touring.


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## arallsopp (6 Jul 2011)

Or go credit card touring, as I did a few summers back with a mate.
Day 1: 
0800 start
London to Newhaven (follow the FNRttC route).
Newhaven > Dieppe (let the ferry do the work).

Night 1:
Any one of a hundred hotels in Dieppe harbour.

Day 2:
Exit Dieppe on the Avenue Verte, aiming towards Beauvais

Night 2:
Either Beauvais, or the first decent looking place after your legs get tired.

Day 3:
Beauvais (or thereabouts) to Paris. There are a few nice approaches. We went via Chantilly (which was beautiful, but cobbled and considerably off route).

Night 3:
A bar in Paris, with the bike stuffed into your hotel room. Join it after midnight.

Day 4:
Paris hotel to Eurostar, and back to London by early afternoon.

With two sharing, I think it all came in under £200 each, incl. food, drinks, ferries, trains, accommodation, etc.

Andy.


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## yello (6 Jul 2011)

It's easy enough to do, as the above posts point out. I guess it really depends on how you want to do it. If you're looking for supported (i.e. carrying no luggage) then that will obviously take more arranging (a friend in a vehicle of some kind) and be more costly. Maybe with a club? Or maybe try the Friday's ride to Paris.

Those charity ride things are big business these days. Whilst there used to be a London-Paris ride that didn't have the sponsorship aspect (at least, I think there did???) I'm not sure it exists today - but I'd like to be wrong!

Edit: link added


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## martint235 (6 Jul 2011)

How far is it? Should be possible to do it without all the kit. Overnight to Newhaven, sleep on the ferry, Dieppe to Paris during the day and sleep on the Eurostar on the way back.

I think Andy's tips are likely to be more scenic and a lot more fun though!!! Now Andy, about next year's charity cycle ride.......


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## philk56 (6 Jul 2011)

Hi

I did the standard ride last year, via Dover, following the same route that my wife did a few years ago on a charity ride. Although we had the advantage of still having the route maps it's not too difficult working out a route via Abbeville and Beauvais. In fact because there are so many charity rides you will encounter many of the direction arrows, of various colours, that have been left in place.

This year I'm going across again but this time on the Newhaven/Dieppe route. We've found this very useful in planning the ride: Dieppe-Paris. Hopefully it will work out ok - we leave next Monday.


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## Jezston (6 Jul 2011)

You shouldn't be using sponsorship money to pay for the trip. All money raised should go to charity.

Pisses me off when friends and colleagues email me saying "I'm going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity! Need to raise £4000!". I'm not paying for someone's bloody holiday.


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## Angelfishsolo (6 Jul 2011)

Jezston said:


> You shouldn't be using sponsorship money to pay for the trip. All money raised should go to charity.
> 
> Pisses me off when friends and colleagues email me saying "I'm going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity! Need to raise £4000!". I'm not paying for someone's bloody holiday.


Did the OP mean that or did he mean he would need to raise £1000's of pounds to be included in the ride?


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## Jezston (6 Jul 2011)

Angelfishsolo said:


> Did the OP mean that or did he mean he would need to raise £1000's of pounds to be included in the ride?



Dunno, concerned it may be, but next sentence was more of a ot rant.

EDIT

Googling about seems there are quite a few organised London to Paris bike rides each year. This appears to be one of the biggest:

http://events.breastcancercare.org.uk/server/show/nav.139?gclid=CIajnInk7KkCFVJTfAod7RbCZw



> You will spend four nights in four star hotels during this challenge.
> ...
> the tour cost is £620; these costs are paid from your minimum fundraising.





To me, that's just wrong.


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## Angelfishsolo (6 Jul 2011)

Jezston said:


> Dunno, concerned it may be, but next sentence was more of a ot rant.


A valid concern I guess.


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## Lucasmik (6 Jul 2011)

Hi, unfortunately with all the sponsored rides you have to raise a minimum in sponsorship before you are allowed to take part, for example one ride is a minimum of 1400 each, and yes I do believe that covers you accommodation whilst away, does seem wrong to me as well but if you want to take part they have you over a barrel. I was trying to find out if there were any honest rides out there that were not conning both the rider and the charity? There should not be a minimum amount to raise for a charity but what they should do is tell you the cost of the trip and you pay that then they should let you get on with collecting sponsors and it should be none of their business.


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## Jezston (6 Jul 2011)

Lucasmik said:


> Hi, unfortunately with all the sponsored rides you have to raise a minimum in sponsorship before you are allowed to take part, for example one ride is a minimum of 1400 each, and yes I do believe that covers you accommodation whilst away, does seem wrong to me as well but if you want to take part they have you over a barrel. I was trying to find out if there were any honest rides out there that were not conning both the rider and the charity? There should not be a minimum amount to raise for a charity but what they should do is tell you the cost of the trip and you pay that then they should let you get on with collecting sponsors and it should be none of their business.



Fair enough, don't understand why they work that way - makes me feel like something dodgy is going on and people are getting kickbacks from the sponsorship that isn't going to charity. Or maybe they just find it easier to raise more money by encouraging people to join in with the promise of a free holiday attached. The costs mentioned in the event I linked to above seemed quite ridiculously high.

Take it you'd rather do it as part of a big group? Otherwise, there's no reason with all the advice above you couldn't just do it yourself.

I did a coast to coast bike ride a month or so back (see sig) - the first day I followed the Sustrans C2C route and there were a TON of people doing it at the same time so you're never alone!


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## tiredlegs (6 Jul 2011)

Think you`d find a lot less people doing these rides if they had to pay the £500-£600 out of their own pocket. I did London2Paris last year in aid of kidney research and raised £3200, so roughly £2600 going to the charity. I would not have been able to afford to pay the £500 myself. I think the idea is not to settle on the minimum fundraising amount but to raise as much as you can.


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## martint235 (6 Jul 2011)

Lucasmik said:


> Hi, unfortunately with all the sponsored rides you have to raise a minimum in sponsorship before you are allowed to take part, for example one ride is a minimum of 1400 each, and yes I do believe that covers you accommodation whilst away, does seem wrong to me as well but if you want to take part they have you over a barrel. I was trying to find out if there were any honest rides out there that were not conning both the rider and the charity? There should not be a minimum amount to raise for a charity but what they should do is tell you the cost of the trip and you pay that then they should let you get on with collecting sponsors and it should be none of their business.



Does it have to be London to Paris? I was asked to set up a charity ride by my brother and asked the esteemed people of this parish to come up with suggestions. The winner was a ride from London - Stonehenge - Royal Wootton Bassett - London which 5 of us completed in June. I managed to raise around about £950 (not sure of full total yet), all of which goes to Help for Heroes. I think I'm safe to say that all 5 participants enjoyed the ride.

IIRC on some of the rides, if you don't raise the sponsorship, you lose your payment too which I think is a bit of a con.


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## Willo (6 Jul 2011)

I keep flirting with the idea but never take the plunge. On the sponsorship issue for the organised charity trips, some I looked at offered a self finance option re the costs so that all money from sponsorship goes to the nominated charity.

I'd like to do something informally / relaxed with a groupb sharing the cost of a support driver. Fella at work said his trip was fairly cheap where about 7 of them shared fuels and ferry costs for a friend willing to drive.


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## Paladin - York (6 Jul 2011)

I actually received London - Paris sponsorship details in December 2010 leaving June 2011. Then I joined CC and saw that quite a few CCers just seem to go out & do it anyway. I've been doing this for years in the UK but never in France. So September it is, I've got my maps let's see where I end up.

Thanks for the inspiration all.


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## funnymummy (6 Jul 2011)

Jezston said:


> You shouldn't be using sponsorship money to pay for the trip. All money raised should go to charity.
> 
> Pisses me off when friends and colleagues email me saying "I'm going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity! Need to raise £4000!". I'm not paying for someone's bloody holiday.



I've got a friend doing a sky dive for Diabetes charity, another doing an absail down some bloody tall building for Leukemia charity, a group of friends doing a Mountain challenge for RNIB, I've told all of them I won't sponser them - They've all got the hump over it!!
I'm sorry but i'm not going to pay out money when over half of it goes towrad the cost of the event itself - If you want to raise money then raise money, If you want to get an adrenalin rush, then pay for it out your own pocket - Do it not use a charity as a way of getting it for 'free' 

I'm doing a 1000 mile cycle challenge, as proof that i've done the miles i've been using organised sportives as a way of recording the miles & my times - I've paid my entry fees out my own pocket & anything i've raised goes directly to the activity club for children with special needs that my son goes to.


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## Angelfishsolo (6 Jul 2011)

funnymummy said:


> I've got a friend doing a sky dive for Diabetes charity, another doing an absail down some bloody tall building for Leukemia charity, a group of friends doing a Mountain challenge for RNIB, I've told all of them I won't sponser them - They've all got the hump over it!!
> I'm sorry but i'm not going to pay out money when over half of it goes towrad the cost of the event itself - If you want to raise money then raise money, If you want to get an adrenalin rush, then pay for it out your own pocket - Do it not use a charity as a way of getting it for 'free'
> 
> I'm doing a 1000 mile cycle challenge, as proof that i've done the miles i've been using organised sportives as a way of recording the miles & my times - I've paid my entry fees out my own pocket & anything i've raised goes directly to the activity club for children with special needs that my son goes to.


Good on you. After I did the Lon Las ride I was appauled to find out that the campsites, fuel and sundries were paid for from the charity money. I was under the impression the sites had given the pitches to us for free and the support drivers funded the 440Mile journey themselves.


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## johnnyh (6 Jul 2011)

Day 1: London to Calais (stop in the F1 motel)
Day 2: Calais to Amiens
Day 3: Amiens to Paris.


approx 100 miles per day, and not a bad ride.


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## johnnyh (6 Jul 2011)

as an aside, I wouldn't go too harsh on those who do events where they raise money but part of it is the costs are covered.

do you think the staff of any charity work for free? 

it is a competitive market place and they will do whatever they can to make sure they get your £'s. 
they employ top marketing execs and pay them handsomely

they would argue that by covering costs they entice more people to take part, and in doing so raise more money than if they didn't.
they are probably correct, and they take home their salary.

doesn't make it a perfect world though.


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## apollo179 (6 Jul 2011)

funnymummy said:


> I've got a friend doing a sky dive for Diabetes charity, another doing an absail down some bloody tall building for Leukemia charity, a group of friends doing a Mountain challenge for RNIB, I've told all of them I won't sponser them - They've all got the hump over it!!
> I'm sorry but i'm not going to pay out money when over half of it goes towrad the cost of the event itself - If you want to raise money then raise money, If you want to get an adrenalin rush, then pay for it out your own pocket - Do it not use a charity as a way of getting it for 'free'
> 
> I'm doing a 1000 mile cycle challenge, as proof that i've done the miles i've been using organised sportives as a way of recording the miles & my times - I've paid my entry fees out my own pocket & anything i've raised goes directly to the activity club for children with special needs that my son goes to.


I agree.
It would never even occur to me that anyone would use sponsorship money to pay for the event. For private individuals to raise sponsorship and use any of the money raised to pay for there holiday is outrageous. The only person i get cornered into sponsoring is my sister - she can pay for her own holidays in future !


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## funnymummy (6 Jul 2011)

johnnyh said:


> as an aside, I wouldn't go too harsh on those who do events where they raise money but part of it is the costs are covered.
> 
> do you think the staff of any charity work for free?



I realise that these events cost money to put on & that staff/equipment/facilities etc have to be paid for. 
I'm doing the Capitol to Coast this Sunday, min sponsership is £250, but the entry fee's are paid by the riders, that is what covers the cost of the event, the sponsermonies raised will go directly to the three charities.

What I object to is people who choose to do 'Exotic' events, something that can cost a hell of a lot of money to do & therefore not somthing they would fork out of their own pocket to do at their own expense, so they get to do it using the guise of charity.

My eldest son is in the AirCadets, i'm treasurer of the local Sqd. He has been parachuting, absailing, mountaineering countless times over the last 6 years - I know exactly how much these events cost, I collcet weekly payments from the parents & then write the cheques for 20 cadets to leap out of a plane.


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## johnnyh (6 Jul 2011)

funnymummy said:


> I realise that these events cost money to put on & that staff/equipment/facilities etc have to be paid for.
> I'm doing the Capitol to Coast this Sunday, min sponsership is £250, but the entry fee's are paid by the riders, that is what covers the cost of the event, the sponsermonies raised will go directly to the three charities.
> 
> What I object to is people who choose to do 'Exotic' events, something that can cost a hell of a lot of money to do & therefore not somthing they would fork out of their own pocket to do at their own expense, so they get to do it using the guise of charity.
> ...



indeed

I am not disagreeing with you, but do realise that the charities run these kind of events in that way to entice people into events (people who might not do anything if it wasnt covered), and in doing so raise more revenues.
The fact there are so many such events running shows the idea works and shows how valuable they are to the charities who run them.

again, not disagreeing with your viewpoint, just trying to show why it happens.


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## Lucasmik (7 Jul 2011)

Yeah i would prefer to do it as a group and tbh i do like the sound of the organised events where the trip is planned out for you, at the end of the day i suppose as long as the charity you are sponsoring get a majority of the money then something is better than nothing, would be interesting to know why they want you to raise so much and how much of that exactly goes to the charities though.


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## MissTillyFlop (2 Sep 2011)

Jezston said:


> You shouldn't be using sponsorship money to pay for the trip. All money raised should go to charity.
> 
> Pisses me off when friends and colleagues email me saying "I'm going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity! Need to raise £4000!". I'm not paying for someone's bloody holiday.



I see what you mean. I am doing an organised charity bike ride to Paris, but I put in the hotel/ferry/eurostar money etc myself.


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## Chris Loveridge (18 Feb 2014)

Herzog said:


> Easy.
> 
> Get a tent and a rack. Campsites are around 8 to 15 quid a night. Foot passenger on the ferry is around £20. It's around 450km, so 100 km a day (so 5 nights max). Plus food and all the rest.
> 
> I usually spend about £20 a day when touring.



I have been looking into the London-Paris recently and do not want to have to pay £750 for a self funded organised ride or have a min of £1.5k to raise for a charity. Your camping idea sounds great. Do you have any tips about campsites to visit from your experience. I am relatively new to riding but quite driven so am looking for a challenge. I've completed two 35 miles rides and for some reason feel like i can take on the world. I may have a lot of learning and realisation to discover but i'm set on the idea all the same. 

I have hybrid, not a road bike which i dont think will be too much of an issue. From your experience how did you find carting a tent round with you? apologies for the number of questions but its all new to me, so appreciate your pointers and tips. 
Chris


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## Chris Loveridge (18 Feb 2014)

In addition to my last post, i do want to raise money but i dont want to line the pockets of someone else/corporates. I want to pay for my own travels and place every £ or € raised into the pocket of the recipient for his treatment. Organised rides raise money for charities but not of my choice and the cost of selecting my own charity is in the region of £750 which i just will not pay which i do not agree with. In line with many of the comments within this feed.


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## Mark Grant (18 Feb 2014)

Look in the touring section, lots of tips there.


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## SWSteve (19 Feb 2014)

^^^this


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## arallsopp (20 Feb 2014)

You can make a cheap and pleasant ride of it by going:

0900 London to Newhaven in time for the late afternoon ferry. Snooze on board, sleep in a cheap hotel in Dieppe.
0900 Leave Dieppe via Avenue Verte. Sleep in a cheap motel around Beauvais.
0900 Beauvais, pootle into Paris via choice of routes, see Chantilly, amble, bimble, sleep in expensive hotel in Paris.
1200 Paris. Take the Eurostar back to London with the the wheels whipped off and your bike in a bag. 

No idea what the prices are now, but I did the above in 2007 (I think) for about £230 all in. Left London on a Thursday, arrived back in London for late lunch on Sunday.


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