The day before I was due to take the train back to my home in France during a visit to London, my husband called to tell me the French railworkers were on strike (again!). “But don’t worry,” he said. “I’ve managed to book you on Ryanair.”

“Great, thanks,” I replied. I didn’t mean it. Flying has become so problematic and irritating that if coming to London means getting on a plane, I don’t come. At airports we are treated no better than common criminals, told to take our shoes off and throw away our lipglosses. It’s a wonder anyone ever makes their flight at all.

So why not travel by train instead, especially with the opening not just of Britain’s new high-speed rail link, but of a couple of fast new lines on the continent, too? From November 14 next year, high-speed trains will be able to dispatch homeowners and holiday-makers across the continent in time for lunch in a German beer garden, French chateau or even a seedy bar in Amsterdam.

Journey times from the new Eurostar terminal at London St Pancras to Brussels, Lille and Paris will be cut by 20 minutes compared with the current service from Waterloo International.

Add in the impact of new faster TGV services between Paris and Strasbourg and between Brussels and Amsterdam, and the saving could be up to two hours.

“This will not only have a positive effect on those travelling to the continent,” says Eurostar, “but our new location means that a lot more travellers in the UK will have easy access to Eurostar. St Pancras is flanked by King’s Cross as well as Euston — in total, those three stations serve seven train companies.”

Eurostar is also opening a new station at Ebbsfleet, just off the M25 close to the Bluewater shopping centre. There will be seven trains to Paris a day from Ebbsfleet as well as five trains to Brussels.

The Brussels train will no longer stop at Ashford, Kent, but there will still be three trains a day from there to Paris as well as the Disneyland Paris service, ski trains and the Avignon summer service.

One to two hours from London

If you leave London at 5pm on a Friday and head west, chances are that after two hours you will still only be halfway to your weekend home. Take the Eurostar, however, and you will be able to reach hundreds of locations in less time than it takes to get to Devon and Cornwall — or even some parts of Kent on a bad traffic day.

Although Calais — just 55 minutes away from London by next November — is not famous for its charm, there are some lovely spots around there, both inland and down what is known as the Opal Coast.

“This is such a beautiful part of France,” says Frances McKay, director of Francophiles estate agency (01622 688 165, www.francophiles.co.uk), “but most people just whizz straight through it.”

Among the coastal gems are Hardelot, founded by Englishman Sir John Whitney in 1900 and still popular with British buyers, and Wimereux.

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