I hadn’t taken a Eurostar journey in years and decided to change that recently. I needed to get from London to Paris and with flights in chaos and disarray, I thought Eurostar would provide a safe and steady option.
That is, of course, until the UK announced rail strikes and I had to scramble to leave a day early. Not Eurostar’s fault, just saying!
What I found surprised me in some ways, delighted me in others, and left me thinking that Eurostar certainly knows their core customers in one way, but that it doesn’t fit for everyone. If you are pondering a future trip, here are a few thoughts to consider.
Eurostar vs Flying: Journey Time
A Eurostar from London to Paris takes about 2h 30m, whereas a flight takes circa one hour. That’s a pretty zoomed out view, and details matter here in terms of overall time and approach.
Eurostar requests non-business class passengers arrive circa 1 hour before departure and clear the gates at least half an hour before. It can get crowded and queues can get long, so this is advisable. Business class is given a bit more leeway.
Pro tip: Eurostar passengers complete French immigration in London, before the journey which means although you need to arrive a bit earlier than you might hope, there’s absolutely no queue or formalities to attend to on arrival. Plus, you arrive in the city, rather than the airport well outside.
Flying, mosts passengers would need to arrive at the airport with more than 60 minutes to spare, unless they’re departing from a super convenient airport like London City.
Which Is Faster: Eurostar or Flying?
The flight is significantly shorter than the Eurostar journey, at less than half the transit time, but on arrival you’ve got immigration and a ride into the city to contend with. All in, I’d say they actually average out to be similar journey times.
Hour arrival before flight, hour in the air, hour to get through immigration and into the city of Paris for a total of three hours. Give or take 30 minutes on either side.
Hour before train, 2h 30m on the train and then that’s pretty much it, with Eurostar.
Bags & Fees Make A Big Difference
If you ask me, the Eurostar customer is the business centric crowd, and people on short, or day leisure trips. The experience is very good if you’re not bringing full sized bags. If you are, it gets a bit disjointed.
Fun fact: Eurostar doesn’t charge for kids under four (it says three at booking), which gives families “free” tickets a year longer than flying, when children start being charged from the age of two.
Unlike when you fly, your bags stay with you on a Eurostar journey. After you clear security and immigration, you still need to bring them with you into the waiting area or lounge, and wheel them onto the train. You also need to carry them up the train steps.
It’s a non-detail for people traveling without bags, but if you do need bags for any reason, I found it to be a significant annoyance. I love dropping bags off at check in for a flight and not worrying about them until the other side.
If you’ve got bags…
Lugging bags around, and then through the mad crowd rush to get to the train was just not fun, and then having to find space for them on the train was a pain too. Sans bags, the train is a treat.
If you’re checking bags and traveling heavy for any reason, you may prefer the plane. I complained to my poor partner at least a few times about lugging them around.
The only remaining question at that point, is whether you’d need to pay extra to bring bags on the flight, as opposed to free on Eurostar.
The Better Seat?
Without question, Eurostar provides a more comfortable journey experience on board. With trips taking more than twice the time in transit, it should — and it does.
Seats are flexible for different needs and an economy premier ticket on Eurostar gets access to what’s effectively the business class experience, just without the lounge and food.
The table of four in Business Premier allowed our small group to face each other and stretch out comfortably. For any families or working groups, these are great offerings.
If you’re really hampered by airline seats, Eurostar comfort is definitely a bit nicer, but personally I can stomach most seats for an hour, and even this comfy seat got a bit old after more than two.
Food, Drinks and Service
With a longer travel time, service feels friendlier and less rushed on Eurostar than on an airline. Of course, that’s only in business class. European airlines have ditched any real economy service, other than buy on board offerings, or a modest water.
Similarly, Eurostar customers in basic economy can purchase their own snacks — and economy premier gets a light meal. Business Premier gets a nice “multi course” meal, which is a fancy way of saying a tray with a few different things on it.
The food was decidedly nice on Eurostar, but I’ve had many comparable meals in British Airways Club Europe, particularly with the newer catering arrangements. That serves pretty much to say: don’t let food or beverage sway you, unless you’re bringing your own.
If you are bringing your own, Eurostar is a massive advantage, since you can bring liquids with you and you’re welcome to toast yourself with whatever you like. Flying, you of course would hit the 100ml liquid restriction at airport security.
I do think, apples to apples, Eurostar was serving slightly better wine than most airlines serve in European business class. To me, it’s a non starter in decision terms though. A glass is just a “glass” in either experience. Nothing remarkable.
Gare Du Nord Still Sucks
The French love to talk about how much better the area around Paris Gare Du Nord Train Station is now, but I wouldn’t put too much stock into it.
It’s better than it was, but it’s still just a sea of scammers and opportunists trying to charge 3X the rates Uber charges for rides, with pickpockets on every corner. Walk a few blocks away from the station and hail a ride there for the easiest journey.
I figured this was worth mentioning, because it still left us with a 15-20 minute journey into the Vendôme area and that somewhat offsets the gripe about landing at outside of the city at an airport circa 45 mins away. At least it’s orderly!
Which Is Better: Eurostar Or Flying?
With no bags and no airline elite status to speed your way through the airport, Eurostar is a very solid choice for economy passengers. For businesspeople traveling on day trips sans luggage, it’s also a fantastic option.
If you have bags, I think flying is tough to beat. If you have elite status with an airline that entitles you to lounge access and security fast tracks, I think I’d still pick flying over Eurostar too.
If I can cut it fine on departure before a flight, arriving without bags just 60 minutes prior to departure — or about 40 minutes in my case — I can make it to Paris quickly. I like the views from the sky and I enjoy the orderly process of boarding, compared to the Eurostar free for all.
It all depends on the timing needs and journey specifics of your trip. Eurostar may fit your schedule better. Leaving from a city location may save you time, depending on where you live.
Both are great options, and if you factor these features in, you’ll make the right choice.
I took the Eurostar from London to Paris on Thursday 2nd June this year and it was a mess. I had gone past the station a few days earlier and noticed a line of people stretching out of the station along the street and around the back of the station and on the TV that night they mentioned it and what caused it. Fast forward a few days and I arrive at the station nearly three hours before my departure and am told I cannot join the check in line until they open it about an hour or so before the scheduled departure. I waited until about 90 minutes before my scheduled departure and made my way to what I thought was the end of the line only to find out that the line like the other day stretched out the back of the station and to make matters worse the line snaked around two or three times in places.
There were staff on hand who kept advising everyone they would make their train. The line took ages as while it moved quickly at times it then just stopped for 5-10-15 minutes and we were told the security area was overwhelmed and had to clear a bit before more people could go through.
Our departure time came and went and we still hadn’t gone through passport but about 20 minutes after our departure time we went through and got to our train which they said was delayed due to a fatality on the line in France.
Had it not been for this unfortunate fatality we would not have made the train at all. In the end we were just over 60 minutes late arriving in Paris which wasn’t the end of the world and they announced that as we were 63 minutes late we were entitled to compensation and to check our emails 24 hours later.
The service on the train was fine and they served a nice light meal with wine but the experience at St Pancras station was really bad, maybe not as bad as the chaos at the airports at that time but still not the relaxed and enjoyable experience it has been the other 3 or 4 times I have taken it.
One of the issues with the long, narrow lounge at St Pancras is that a lot of people fail to realize it also continues upstairs, running the same length as the ground floor part. I had been going there rather a while before I realized the stairs at either end weren’t, as I had assumed, solely just for toilets. And so it’s often jam-packed when it doesn’t need to be.
Very easy return last Friday evening from Gare du Nord. Panic about arriving hours ahead to queue proved thankfully unfounded. Additionally, Business Premier ticket meant utterly delightful staff provided several shortcuts which I hadn’t encountered in a long time and were much appreciated, and so was in the big, airy lounge in a matter of minutes.
Unfortunately a large, rowdy, loudly swearing group on the train who seemed to think they were on a drunken night out in a Wetherspoons – have never, ever experienced anything like this in normally silent Business Premier carriages before – made the journey extremely unpleasant for other passengers and the commendable staff alike. Several people who complained were moved rapidly to available seats in the next carriage.
Interesting how I completely disagree over the luggage. Only desperation would induce me to check a bag on an airline, especially now, so the fact that I can keep all my bags with me is a huge plus for Eurostar.
The lounge is so-so, but fast track security and passport control work like magic. Much quicker than when flying.
To the other commenter who arrived 3 hours before his train and was not allowed to check-in until 90mins ahead, your ticket clearly indicates your arrival time at the station and the gates never open until the 90 minute mark. And, while there have been one or two incidents of late trains recently because of backlogs at security, that hasn’t been as bad as my experience with airlines from Heathrow. Plus the compensation is pretty much automatic and definitely no-quibble: in fact, Eurostar suggest you apply.
Brussels Midi station is certainly in a rather dodgy part of town, but your ticket includes free train travel within Brussels.
Eurostar seats are numbered and with your ticket there is no scrabble for seats. The overhead luggage shelf is deep and takes large items although for heavy items you might need assistance from a fellow passenger. The train does not tilt so they will not fall. Plenty of space too for luggage at the entrance to the numbered coaches. The views form the train are more interesting than from a plane window. Take your own food as it it’s cheaper and probably better. Checkin area can get crowded if a train is late departing but the line moves quickly. Seats are firm but comfortable and a long walk to stretch your legs is feasible. Sometimes connections to other trains can be a bit tight time wise if you have to change at Lille for Amsterdam as an example. Seat number 61 is supposed to be the best seat but I have not experienced that yet. Avoid taxis at Paris. Usually long queues. Walk a block or two and then hail a cab with a green light, or take the Metro.
Loved this article – thanks for sharing. I had a good chuckle at “Gare du Nord still sucks”. We opted to stay within walking distance of Gare du Nord in September and have our fingers crossed that at least the hotel we chose is safe enough. Glad to understand the queues and such, and curious about the lounge. I’ll have to look into who has access to that and the free booze, eh? Thanks again for the write up!
The E320 seats are awful even in Standard Premier.
I thought the Seating in Standard Premier on the renovated E300 was actually quite comfortable. My advice is to call and see which trains are running E300s and book accordingly. That said, you never know if you’ll get switched.