Some details below on ideas for getting to Strasbourg, France for the action camp:

On Sats and weekdays there is a train which leaves Calais at 12.29 changing at Amiens, Paris Nord, then you have to take the metro to Paris Est where you take a train to S'boug which gets you there at 21.49, this costs 55E or £35 single adult fare, reservation is recommended.

For the Paris-S'bourg part of the jouney it would be possible to make the reservation in Calais. Recommended but not required.

A return journey via Lille leaves S'bourg at 06.10 and gets to Calais at 13.50 costing 50E or £32. No reservation required, if you are under 26 it should be cheaper, they are other trips possible on TGV fast trains, but they'll be more expensive and you'll have to make a reservation.

Don't forget you have the additional time and expense of getting a train from London to Dover then the ferry, as well as having to hump you kit from A-B etc

Also there are Eurostar trains to Paris or Lille from between £49-£79, the catches are that you have to book at least two weeks in advance and most of the popular trains are likely to be sold out. if you don't mind leaving at 6am you 'll be in Paris a couple of hours later and have all day to get to S'bourg.

To sort this, you'll need to go to www.eurostar.co.uk & www.sncf.fr (this is a guess!)

It's a bit of a hassle to fly to, expensive etc plus not v. eco friendly, so we have been looking into alternative transport. There are a couple of options which are the coach, info below; Eurostar which is doing a 59 quid return to Paris if booked 2 weeks in advance and is running from July until August 7th. Check their website for that (url above). Then follow on from Paris via train or hitching.

Personal experience is that hitching is difficult in France, they look at you curiously as they whizz by in their citroens, tho have heard differently. Bunking trains have found quite easy, tho there is some dispute about this below in the post. There always seems to be guards, but SNCF (French railways) can only take you to court if you owe them more than 40,000 Fr (? in Euro) which is 4,000 quid, so you just need to say you lost yr ticket etc and they will write you out a fine payable (or not) in future.

If anyone is driving to the camp and has space, maybe they can post details on the Strasbourg list  strasbourgcamp@yahoogroups.co.uk, or check the liftshare site www.freewheelers.com.

The organisers of the camp have asked that ppl try to bring bikes if at all, as very flat city and will make everything more accessible. I think it is poss to take bikes on Eurolines, but you have to pay extra, which is why train might be easier.

Or try cycling from the UK, will take a while, but be more fun. Any other transport suggestions? See you there!

LONDON - STRASBOURG bus departs each Mon, Wed & Sat. For us the best day to leave would be Sat 20 July. The bus departs Victoria Coach Station at 10pm. You need to check-in, this opens at 9pm. The journey takes 11 and a half hours, getting you into Strasbourg @ 12.30pm Sunday 21.

STRASBOURG - LONDON bus departs each Sunday, Monday and Friday @ 15.45, arriving back in London @ 0600 the following day. For us, the best day to leave would be Mon 29, the day after the camp finishes. PRICE - the fare is £69 if you book it more than 7 days in advance, otherwise it's £79 HOW TO BOOK - Online with a debit card at gobycoach.org. By phone with a debit card on 08705 143219. I person at Eurolines office @ 52 Grosvenor Gardens, Victoria. Turn left outside station, cross Buckingham Palace Rd, it is next to the closed USIT travel agents


Alternative suggestions:

Bunking trains - there's a lot of rumours going about that it's
>getting more difficult to jump trains since the Euro came in in 2002 and
>that the
>police are called more often etc. I don't know anyone who can confirm this
>for definate, and i certainly don't want to put people off doing it, but i
>personally have stopped doing it this year seeing that i have quite a lot
>of
>fines already and don't want to risk it. Last Paris train out of calais is
>really early, about 7pm.
>
>On the other hand, hitching in France is quite OK, I find. It's best to ask
>people at petrol pumps if they are going your direction, though. And
>anyway,
>to get to Strasbourg, you hardly have to go through France at all. You can
>just go to Luxembourg, which loads of vehicles are going to from the
>channel,
>and then cross the border to Metz, from where there's a motorway running
>all
>the way to Strasbourg. Or go through Germany which is really easy to hitch
>through. Lots of people also don't know that it is posible to hitch across
>the
>channel with trucks, either on the boats from Dover, or the trains. But you
>have to go with trucks, because they can take extra passengers for the same
>price. It maybe takes a few hours to get a lift. I guess you can do it at
>Dover
>port, or I've always been quite lucky at Maidstone services, but there is
>nowhere to wait at the entrance to the tunnel.
>