WHAT YOU WILL SEE:

London, England
London is a blend of old and new, pace and buzz alongside peace and tranquility, and an amazingly diverse cultural scene. The sounds of Brit-pop and techno pour out of Victorian pubs; experimental theater is popping up on stages built for Shakespeare's plays; upstart chefs are reinventing the bland dishes that British mums have made for generations; and Brits are even running the couture houses of Dior and Givenchy. In food, fashion, film, music, the visual arts, and just about everything else, London, as it moves deeper into the 21st century, stands at the cutting edge again, just as it did in the 1960s. But rest assured, traditional London survives, basically intact under the layer of hip. From high tea at Brown's to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the city still abounds with the culture and charm of days gone by. London has grown less English and more international. The gent with the bowler hat has long gone out of fashion; today's Londoner might have a turban, a Mohawk, or even a baseball cap. It's becoming easier to find a café au lait and a croissant than a scone and a cup of tea. The city is home to thousands of immigrants and refugees, both rich and poor, from all reaches of the world. Yet it?s a decidedly royal city, studded with palaces, court gardens, coats of arms, and other regal paraphernalia; yet it's also the home of the world's second-oldest parliamentary democracy. (Iceland was the first.) There's so much to discover - more than 30,000 shops, world class galleries and museums, dramatic new landmark buildings, and an endless choice of restaurants, bars, clubs and live music venues, and, of course, theatre.

Paris, France
Paris assaults the senses, demanding to be seen, heard, touched, tasted and smelled. Gaze rapturously at its breezy boulevards, impressive monuments, and great works of art and magic lights. Savor its gourmet pastiche of cheese, chocolate, wine and seafood. Paris is a city of vast, noble perspectives and intimate, ramshackle streets, of formal espaces verts (green open spaces) and of quiet squares. This combination of the pompous and the private is one of the secrets of its perennial pull. Another is its size. Paris is relatively small as capitals go, with distances between many of its major sights and museums invariably walkable. You'll still find classic sights like the Tour Eiffel, Notre-Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré-Coeur, and all those atmospheric cafes, as well as trendy new projects like the Grande Arche de La Défense, the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, the Cité de la Musique, and the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand. And don't forget the parks, gardens, and squares; the Champs-Elysées and other grand boulevards; the river Seine and its quays. Paris's beauty is still overwhelming, especially at night, when it truly is the City of Light.

Brussels, Belgium
Brussels is sumptuous, historic and luxuriously cozy. With artistry richer than chocolate, architecture as graceful as its cuisine and diversity frothier than the beer, Brussels is an heirloom of northern culture at its best. What makes Brussels special? Great seafood in great restaurants, the smell of hot waffles on a cold winter's day, cafes and pubs that never close, the cosmopolitan but neighborly feel, forests practically on the doorstep, pheasant and truffles in autumn, comic strips, designer shops... The city's character largely mirrors that of Belgium: confident but modest, and rarely striving to impress. For visitors, it's full of delights - Grand Place, mussels with chips, pralines, under crowded museums, intimate hotels, Art Nouveau, Horta, Tintin and unbelievable beers. Over the centuries, Brussels has been ruled by everyone from the Romans to the Spanish to the Germans, a colonial history that well prepared the city for its current occupiers-diplomats, lobbyists, and Euro-politicians who flock to the NATO and European Union headquarters here. The "capital of Europe" has begun to act like Europe's Washington, D.C., a focus of economic and political power, where decisions are made that affect the lives of people around the world. Brussels both symbolizes the Continent's vision of unity and is a bastion of officialdom, a breeding ground for the regulations that govern and often exasperate the rest of Europe.

The Eurostar
Eurostar speeds you through the Channel Tunnel, one of Europe's biggest infrastructure projects to date. The $15 billion Channel Tunnel makes the old dream of a ground link between Great Britain and continental Europe a reality for the first time since the Ice Ages.
The tunnel consists of 3 interconnected tubes: 1 rail track each way plus 1 service tunnel. Its length is 31 miles, of which 23 miles are underwater. Its average depth is 150 feet under the seabed. The channel crossing time for Eurostar is only 20 minutes. You will be travelling at a speed of up to 300 kmph/186 mph.

Types of Train Services
First Class:
Comfortable, spacious, fully air-conditioned carriages create the perfect environment for work or relaxation. First Class also offers purpose-designed wheelchair facilities, five non smoking carriages per train, spacious reclining seats, footrests, business and entertainment facilities, tables providing individual workspace, seating layout enables group bookings for on board meetings, freedom to use Mobil phones, complimentary international newspapers, on board magazine, at seat full meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner according to the time of day) with choice of main course.
Second Class:
Easy-to-use, quick and comfortable, Standard Class offers excellent value, ten carriages per train, all carriages are non smoking, individual, comfortable seats, individual tables and or tray tables, family group areas, hot meals and snacks, coffee, tea, juices and a selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks available from trolley and buffet carts, on board baby care facilities, multilingual staff, air conditioning and on board magazines.

On board service:
The two bar cars carry a large selection of snacks and drinks, and 4 public phones are available. All Eurostar trains have dedicated areas for people traveling in wheelchairs, as well as special restrooms. Terminals are equipped with elevators and moving walkways.

The Thalys
Thalys is also known as the "red train" high speed train. You will be traveling at a speed of up to 300 kph (180 mph).

Types of Train Services
First Class:
Interiors feature orange-red seats arranged 2+1. They recline electrically with a touch of the control. The finish is gray, with gray carpeting. A meal is included with any 1st class ticket, and served at your seat every day (except on June 15th). Free newspapers now available. All passengers holding a 1st class ticket and arriving at Paris Gare du Nord or Brussels Midi can book a taxi from the bar car (fee applies). Bookings must be done at least 30 minutes prior to arrival. Upon arrival, a chauffeur will meet the passenger at the Thalys meeting point.

Second Class:
Second class is decorated similarly, even with gray carpeting and the narrower seats are arranged 2+2. Two phones at both ends on the train (accept major credit cards). The bar-buffet is open on all Thalys stretches except between Oostende-Brussels and Antwerpen/Berchem-Brussels on the trains that have Antwerpen/Berchem as origin or final destination.

Car seating and trains features:
The trains carry eight cars offering 377 seats (754 when two trains coupled).
1st class: 2 cars - Non-Smoking; 2nd class: 4 cars - Non-Smoking; 1 Buffet-Car in the middle of the train.