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Eurostar has just launched a four day flash sale, offering tickets from London St Pancras to Paris, Lille and Brussels at a very competitive £26 each way.

To benefit, you need to book before 25 December 2016 and travel between 9 January and 27 March 2017.

At the time of writing, availability is excellent. Taking Paris as an example, here’s a random long weekend in January at £26 each way:

If you’re not keen on using up any of your holiday allowance so soon in 2017, you can also plan a return trip entirely within this weekend, again at the £26 rate:

Eurostar is a fantastic way to get to France and Belgium: it’s unquestionably less hassle than flying if you’re based in central London (or within reasonably easy reach of St Pancras), and I have always found it a thoroughly pleasant journey.

Don’t forget, it does have a frequent traveller programme, too.

If you want to really spoil yourself, Standard Premier tickets are also available at £79 one way. I’d say the much better value is in the £26 tickets, however.