eurostar "duty free" and passport control...........

[ibizaboy]

im going to eurodisney in may by eurostar.
this will be my first time "out" of the country by train.
what id like to know is, can you bring duty free home from eurodisney station (in the actuall grounds of disney) and what can you take or not take on a train different to a plane, eg, knife n fork . possibly daft but i dont know...
thanks ian.

[KARL]

There is no such thing as duty free shopping within the EU and anything you buy at an EU airport, station or terminal on travel within the EU will be fully duty and VAT paid and almost certainly more expensive than buying at a straight forward local shop. I am unaware of any security precautions at trains or ferries resembling those at airports but I may simply be uninformed of somewhere/something.

[mushroom25]

If you want some retail therapy before you come home, take the RER from Marne La Vallee (eurodisney's station) 1 stop to Val d'Europe, where you'll find (pretty much) all you'll need. Probably not worth bringing back cigarettes, the price differential isn't very big these days.

[Buenchico]

As Karl states, there is no 'duty free' shopping within the EU, only 'duty paid'.

Eurostar security is simply a matter of having your bag X-rayed. There are no restrictions on liquids or sharp objects. All passport checks, with Eurostar, are prior to boarding. (i.e the French National Police will check your passport at St Pancras and the UK Immigration service will check your passport before you board, for your return journey, in France).

Other than that, travelling on Eurostar is just like travelling on a train in the UK.

As far as tobacco and alcohol are concerned, you're allowed to bring back as much as you like as long as it's for personal use. HMRC have a guideline figure of 3200 cigarettes as the maximum quantity that they'll normally accept as being for personal use, without asking any questions. (However, they might challenge you if you brought back lots of different brands, even if you didn't exceed 3200). There are also guideline maximum amounts for alcohol but you'd find it hard to exceed them, simply because you wouldn't be able to carry that much:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebAp p/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_page Label=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_0102 21&propertyType=document

In practice, you'll hardly notice any HMRC staff at St Pancras. Basically, you simply step off the train and go straight to the taxi rank (or wherever else you need to go) , in the same way as you would from a domestic arrival.

Chris

[morgan13]

I posed the question re duty/tax free at st pancras and was surprised by the comments already posted. Most eu airports have tax free shopping and I can assure you its usually one third cheaper than the high street. I use Dublin duty free once a month and buy all my cosmetics at least one third cheaper, Malaga airport sell dkny watches for half the price to all travellers. Gatwick airport has good shopping including certain alcohol/spirits sometimes half price to anyone travelling within the eu. As for cigarettes, they are now one third of the price in the tobacco shops in most european countries and you can bring back 3200 per person for personal use in your checked in luggage.

[deggers316]

yes there are security checks for guns knives etc x-ray scanners in operation

[deggers316]

buenchico
knives not allowed or sharp objects last time i went on Eurostar 2 years ago

[garner]

Having just come back from eurodisney I can tell you that you cannot bring any duty free back only duty paid if you are going back into an eu country.And the duty paid is dearer than your own supermarkets. There is a shop in the train station which sells ciggies but that is the only place you can buy them in eurodisney.g

[weggiewabbit]

"As for cigarettes, they are now one third of the price in the tobacco shops in most european countries"

That�s not true. Even in Spain or Luxembourg, which are much cheaper than France/Belgium/Holland, they�re only something like 45% of UK prices now.

And you�ll always be able to buy them cheaper elsewhere in the country you�re leaving than you can get them for at the airport or on the ferry.

[Tom Braider]

Just got back from Eurodisney. There's no "duty free" at Marne - La vallee station. You can buy fags bit they're only a quid cheaper than at home and the shop there doesn't keep large quantities - and neither does the "Tabac" in Val d'Europe. The strong Euro means there's not much in the way of bargains to be had in France nowadays. By the way, our Eurostar was delayed by over 2 hours on the way out and half an hour on the way back!