Things I wish I knew before taking the Eurostar (London - Paris)

0:00 The best way to get between London and Paris is by a train called the Eurostar. But, if you've never taken it before, it's not your usual train journey. There's actually a lot you need to know to avoid wasted time and wasted money. So, in this video, I'll talk you through everything you need to know about taking the Eurostar so you can book your tickets and hop on the train with confidence. But first, what is the Eurostar? The Eurostar is a high-speed train that goes under the English Channel via a 50-km tunnel connecting London and Paris directly and also London and Brussels and a few other places. Why? Because you're going from city center to city center. You don't have to deal with the headaches of flying, of getting to the airport, of going through the long security lines, having to be there 2 hours early, and being stuck on the middle seat of a flying flying right of a Ryanair flight.

0:52 It's just a lot more pleasant. The Eurostar also goes to Amsterdam, Brussels, and Rotterdam, and from Paris can get you a few other places as well. [music] Right, let's get into how you actually book this thing because there's a few things you need to know before you just go straight to Google. And absolutely everything I talk about in this video, plus extra links, and more information will be in my Eurostar mini guide, and I'll tell you how you can get that for free at the end of the video.

1:15 Okay, booking your ticket, where do you actually buy your ticket? So, you can go direct to website and buy your ticket from there. It's probably the most straightforward and you avoid any third-party booking fees, but there's also a website called Omio that if you're doing a wider Europe trip and you're going to have a lot of different train tickets and bus tickets that you're going to be buying, I usually recommend using Omio cuz it kind of keeps everything in one place. You can pay in your own currency, but it's really up to you. How far in advance do you need to book the Eurostar? Honestly, the earlier you can book it, the better.

1:50 Tickets are available 6 to 8 months early and the cheapest fares will go the fastest. So, the earlier, the better. Now, there are three different types of classes on the Eurostar train, standard, plus, and premier. [music] Standard is exactly what it sounds like. It's the economy of the Eurostar with comfortable seats with the least legroom, but you can take your luggage, you've got access to the cafe car. It Honestly, it works for most people, including myself, even though I have been known to do an upgrade or two, but still standard's great. In plus, you get more legroom and a bit of a more comfortable chair, plus they come and serve you food at your seat. And I think this is a nice sweet spot, especially if you want it to be a little bit more of a special experience.

2:34 Going for the upgrade can be nice. And premier is the business class of the Eurostar. It's the top tier with the main differences being that you get access to the Eurostar lounge in both St. Pancras and Gare du Nord, which I have to say I love that lounge, but there's more on that later. You also get a separate line for security and for checking in {slash} getting your bags checked, which does speed up the process significantly. That's really like a big part of what you're paying for. Oh, and on board, you also get served food, but it's a three-course meal designed by Raymond Blanc, which I'm going to be honest, I've had that meal. I don't think it's that special, but it's a little bit nicer than in plus. In terms of canceling your ticket or making changes to it, this is where Eurostar really is a lot better than booking a flight. For standard and plus tickets, you can exchange your ticket up to 1 hour before your journey. All you have to do is pay the fare difference. You can also get a refund up to 7 days before your departure for a fee of £25. For premier, it's even more flexible. You can actually get a refund up to 2 days after your departure. So, like if you don't get on the train. So, maximum flexibility, you're going to want that one. In terms of pricing for kids, children under 4 years old are free, but they will have to sit on an adult's lap.

3:49 If you don't want them to sit on your lap, you will have to buy them a child ticket. For kids age 4 to 11, child tickets are for them and they're going to be about 30 to 50% cheaper than an adult ticket. It just depends on when you're traveling. So, in terms of taking the whole family somewhere, this is definitely much more cost-efficient than flying. Although, kids do not get any discount in premier class, so sorry, they're full price when they [music] I was going to say fly. They're full price when they're in business premier. For seat selection, you can choose your seat at the time of booking and I do recommend you do that, especially if you're traveling with anybody else cuz the seats do get booked [music] up really fast. And if you're going to be in standard, I usually like to get the seats that are around a table because it just feels a little bit more spacious than the seats that are like kind of one after the other. And if you're with one other person, it's especially nice. And if you want to like get some work done or you're going to have some food, that having that big table is really good. How do you get your ticket? So, you do not need to print your ticket or anything like that.

4:50 You can actually pull up the Eurostar app and add your booking into the app and then you will have a digital ticket right on your phone, which is like the easiest way to do it. Okay, some of you might have heard of Eurostar Snap and it's basically this like way to get discounted tickets if you like Honestly, I'm not going to explain it because I don't think it's worth it. Uh and especially the types of people who are going to be watching this video, it's not going to work for you, so I would just avoid it. I know, sounds mysterious, but it's not even worth explaining. Now that your tickets are sorted, there's some important admin to have a look at, like passports, visas, things you can bring, things you can't bring. You don't want to skip this part.

5:28 But first, you're going to need some interesting things to do while you're in London and Paris, and I know that trying to choose from the thousands of experiences that are out there on the internet, it can be really, really hard. So, you should have a look at Walks for the best of the best. They do expert guided tours in both London and Paris, and honestly, it's the kind of experiences that really make a trip. Their guides are real storytellers, not just people who are reciting lines from a thing that they memorized. And they get you access to things that can be really hard to sort on your own. In Paris, one of my favorites is their closing time at the Louvre tour, where you visit the Mona Lisa at the quietest time of day. So, instead of being 40 people deep trying to get a photo of a painting the size of a cereal box, you actually get to stand there and take it in. It completely changes the experience. And in London, their VIP Tower of London after-hours tour is so cool. You get to explore the tower once everybody else has left, led by a Beefeater guide, and you get to witness the centuries-old ceremony of the keys that [music] very, very few people in this world have gotten to see. It's really freaking cool. Walks also runs tours in other cities around Europe and beyond, so scan this QR code to have a look at the tours in London and Paris or wherever you're going and get to booking. And now for immigration rules and allowances. Such a sexy section.

6:54 Important though. You need your passport no matter what. I know you're getting on a train and it feels like, why would I need a passport? But you're going to a different country, so you must have your passport [music] with you. And on that note, you also need to check if you're going to need a visa for the country you're going to. So, [music] the internet will tell you if you need a visa for the UK or for France, and you should act accordingly. [music] If you don't need a visa for the UK, there's probably a good chance you're going to need an electronic travel authorization or an ETA, which you can find more information about if you go to gov.uk. I have included a link to where you apply for an ETA in the mini guide of this video. Restrictions on what you bring into France or the UK. So, compared to flying, you can actually bring like a lot of stuff. Of course, there's the usual things that you're not allowed to bring, like anything that's explosive, big knives, etc., etc., but you can bring liquids, you can bring alcohol, you can bring cigarettes, [music] tobacco, all that stuff. But, it's worth noting that as of March 2026, when I'm recording this, >> [music] >> there is a temporary restriction on bringing dairy products and meat products from the EU into the UK because we have a bit of a foot-and-mouth disease thing going on right now. So, you will not be able to bring that. So, unfortunately, your French cheeses and your French butters will have to stay in France. If you want more information about that, it's on gov.uk. A little bit more about what you can bring on board.

8:20 What's really nice about train versus plane is you can bring lots of food and lots of drink on with you, even alcoholic drinks. So, if you want to get a bunch of food to take onto the train with you, totally fine. And a lot of people will get like a bottle of bubbles and bring that on and have that with their friends as they make their way >> [music] >> to Paris or to London. So, you're totally fine if you do that. Now for luggage, another [music] great thing about this versus flying is that your ticket includes two large suitcases and you can also bring a smaller carry-on size bag. Now, Eurostar's pretty lax [music] about like checking how much luggage you have with you. The main thing is you do need to be able to lift everything yourself and carry everything yourself because there is no porter service. Also, if you go for a premier ticket, you are allowed to have three large [music] bags. It's a lot. If you've got oversized or extra luggage, there is a service to help with that.

9:18 You just have to book that ahead. And if you're traveling with kids and you're going to have a lot of bags in your hands full, there is also a service that you can book to get [music] assistance with that. Okay, now you're booked and now you're packed, so let's talk about getting to the train station cuz this is where a lot of travelers get caught out. How early should you arrive to the station? Now, your Eurostar ticket in the app will tell you how far in advance it wants you to come to the station.

9:44 However, in my experience, you don't need to be there that early. It's generally around like 35 to 50 to 60 minutes in advance, and every time I follow that, I'm like, there's literally nobody here. I could have rocked up 20 minutes later and been totally fine. I usually say 45 minutes is usually plenty. However, I don't want you guys getting mad at me, so I'm going to tell you 60 minutes ahead of time is the sweet spot. Also, sometimes what I do is I will go and see if there's a long line for like check-in, and if there isn't, then I'll like just go wander the station for a bit before I make myself get into the the gist of everything.

10:20 It's really easy in both stations in London and Paris to find where the Eurostar area is. There is literally signs absolutely everywhere, and in London at St. Pancras, it is on the ground floor, but for Gare du Nord, you will just need to take the escalator up to the first floor. First floor in Parisian, not first floor in American. For checking in, there's not really like a check-in at Eurostar. Basically, what you do, the first thing that you do when you get there, is you'll go to the ticket barrier and scan your ticket, and then it will let you in, and that's when you make your way to security and border control. Speaking of border control and security, so at both stations, you will be doing this before you get on the train, which is great because then when you get off the train at your destination, you're good to go. You don't have to do anything. So, you will do border control for both the EU and for the UK, and you will also do your bag screening / security. You don't have to take anything out of your bags, you just chuck everything onto the conveyor belt, and then all goes through. It's actually really easy. In Paris, you do border control first before security, and then it's flipped for London. And if you have a passport that allows you to use the e-gates in the UK or in the EU, you will be allowed to do that at this terminal, but if you don't, then you'll speak to a border agent. Now, once you're done with all that, you will then go through to the departure zone. So, let me tell you about that. What is in the departure zone? Okay, this is the part of the Eurostar experience I would say [music] is probably um the most underwhelming, especially in London.

11:51 Once you get through, there is not that much going on. There's a Pret A Manger, so you can get some takeaway food and a coffee. There's another little food place and a little shop, and then there's lots of seating, but I tend to find it's really, really full in it. So, it can actually be really hard to find somewhere to sit [music] down, which is also why a lot of people, including a lot of my friends, like to cut things really finely of when they actually get to the Eurostar terminal because they don't want to have to stand around [music] in the departure zone for too long, which to be honest, I get it. Paris is a little bit better.

12:29 There's a few more shops and food spots, and there is more space, but it's still like not the most fun. However, if you have access to the business premiere lounge, then um that is a great experience. I love that. The one in London especially, you have lots of space in there. It's very comfortable and quiet. They've got pastries, smoothies, coffee, teas, magazines you can take. I actually really love that experience. So, if you've got that access, give yourself time to experience [music] it. When it comes time to board, here is how boarding works. Basically, they'll put up on the screen which track that your train I don't know I did Just a track. It's not It's not track, it's track. Which track your train is going to be on, but you can't miss it because about like 500 people will all get up and start to make their way to the escalators that bring you either up or down to [music] the train. You might notice that you'll get split off depending on which carriage you're in, so you'll want to have a look at your ticket to see which carriage that you're going to, so you can make your way in the right direction. You'll make your way to the platform, the train will already be there, and then you'll want to look at the signs on the side of the train to see which carriage you're at, and then head in the right direction of the one you want to go to. You don't have loads of time to do this, but you still have plenty of time to do this, so it it's doesn't have to be a mad dash, but everyone's like No one's being really slow to do this, which is good. Once you find your carriage, just drag your bags on and find your seat inside. It's easy. What do you do with your luggage once you're on the train? So, you have two options.

14:00 There is overhead storage right above your seat. That's where your smaller like carry-on size bags will go, and then for your bigger suitcases at both end of each carriage, there are luggage racks, so you can just stick your bags right into there. Now, your stuff is generally quite safe there. I always chuck it in and just leave it, and I don't think twice about it, especially because between London and Paris, there are no stops in between, so it'd be really hard for someone to >> [music] >> yank your bag out and take it and get very far, to be honest. And then you're off. Next stop, Paris or London, depending on which direction you're going in. And here's what the journey itself is actually like. There's a cafe car on board called the Eurostar cafe car. It's actually not that bad. It's got some sandwiches. It's got a little bit of hot food, wine, beer, soft drinks, tea, coffee, some snacks, and things like that. So, for 2 and 1/2 hours, it's like got decent stuff. To get to the cafe car, there are signs in every carriage pointing you in whichever direction you need to go to get there.

15:00 Once you sit down, you will see at your seat there are power sockets for both EU and UK. You'll also have a tray table if you're not at one of those seats with the actual table at it. And there is technically Wi-Fi on board, but every time I connect to it, and I'm like, "Today, this is the time, guys. This is the time it's going to be actually working well enough that I can actually do a bit of work," and it never does, and I just end up disconnecting and hot-spotting off my phone. So, I would have very low expectations for the Wi-Fi on board. Now, you might be wondering about, because a lot of people ask me about the English Channel crossing. So, basically, what happens is [music] there will be about 20 minutes of the journey where you are going to be in total darkness, [music] and it's kind of anticlimactic, if I'm honest, considering you're going under the water, but it basically just gets really dark on the outside, still really bright on the inside, of course, and for 20 minutes, your ears will pop, and it feels kind of like nothing else going on.

16:01 Sadly, you can't see any of the little fish blooping around. That would be way cooler than what what this is, but it's really nothing to worry about, and it's just goes by really quick. One thing to flag though, that there is a 1-hour time difference between the UK and France, so if you notice that your clock is very suddenly changed, and it's not the time you expected, that is why. And before you know it, you're pulling into the station, and here is how to make that transition as smooth as possible.

16:26 Getting off the train at Gare du Nord and at St. Pancras is very straightforward. Everybody just [music] basically gets up, gets their stuff, and makes their way off the train, and everyone heads in the same direction with their bags to get into the regular part of the station. Like, it's so easy cuz there's no border control to do, there's no checks, you they just [music] dump you in the middle of the city. It's actually fantastic. Now, when you're at Gare du Nord, I do want to tell you you do just need to be a little bit careful cuz the area around the station [music] isn't great. So, as you should do in London, to be fair as well, keep an eye on your bags. If you're standing outside of Gare du Nord station waiting for a taxi or for a friend, don't speak to anybody that comes up to you, and just really keep your wits about you. And then if you're going to take the metro, just head to the metro station, or if you want a taxi, call yourself an Uber as quickly as you can, or head to the taxi rank and [music] get a taxi there.

17:20 For getting into the city, both Gare du Nord and St. Pancras are incredibly well connected. St. Pancras has, I think, six tube lines that go through it because it's technically connected to King's Cross station as well, which will get you, I'm kidding you, or I'm not kidding you, anywhere in the city you need to get to. And for Gare du Nord, there's RER lines as well as metro lines, which also basically gets you to anywhere in Paris that you need. Like, why would anyone do this journey on a plane? It's such a pain compared to how great this is. To get my Eurostar mini guide with all this information plus links and a lot more, just scan this QR code that's popping up here. And if you're coming to London, there are 25 key experiences I think you should have while you're here to feel like you really did London, and I tell you about all of them in this video here, so go ahead and click that and watch that next. It's There's a lot of good stuff in there.