Eurostar to Le Mans

Le Mans is famous for hosting the world-famous 24 hours of Le Mans race. However, it's not the only thing Le Mans has to offer the budding tourists. La Mans is a beautiful French town just on the Sarthe River, and it's one of the Eurostar's connection services, making it easy to get to for a weekend away.

About Le Mans

If you're all about racing, it's definitely the place to go. The annual 24 hours of Le Mans race is the longest running endurance sports car race, since 1923. Once the race is over, head to the 24 hours of Le Mans Museum. There are some fantastic examples of cars from private collections and the Automobile Club of the West, some vintage, some sports cars. The museum has been running successfully since 1961, and now houses one hundred and fifteen different motorbikes and cars, twelve of which won the race.

Once you've done the cars, Le Mans will provide you with more than enough in the way of activities. For those who enjoy the great outdoors, L'Arche de la nature is definitely worth a trip. Spread over four hundred and fifty hectares, this great park has three different parts to explore. In the house of water you'll find aquariums and displays on the eco systems of the local rivers. The farmland has the orchard, meadows, hedges, and vegetable gardens displaying man's association with cultivating his natural environment. And the forest, which covers the largest amount of the land, houses an array of tree specimens.

However, if you are a lover of fione architecture, you won't want to miss the St-Julian Cathedral in Le Mans. It dates back to the eleventh century, but it was not completed until the fifteenth century. Taking such a long time to build, it's not surprising that it is one of the biggest cathedrals in all of France. The floor area measures a staggering 5000m². There are some incredible sections, including a typically Gothic chancel and a Romanesque nave. Make sure you take time to stop in the Chapelle de la Vierge, as here you'll find an incredible fourteenth century Gothic painting of forty-seven angels. The stained-glass windows dating back to the eleventh century are also a sight to behold, depicting the Ascension of Christ.

Le Mans by Eurostar Trains

You can get to Le Mans on one of the Eurostar connection services. This means you'll have to change trains at some point. Eurostar trains depart from St Pancras International, a very easy-to-get-to destination in London. Your simplest option after getting on the train at London is to change at Paris Gare du Nord, which will only take two hours and fifteen minutes. From here, you'll need to get to Gare de Montparnasse. You can either grab a taxi or take the Metro (on line 4 to Porte d'Orléans). Once you arrive, there are a number of TGV services that will take you to Le Mans. If you travel from London, you can expect the total journey time to be about four hours.

Visit the official Eurostar web site to book your train tickets to Le Mans.