Eurostar advice

[ItMustBeTuesday]

Hi

I've never been on the Eurostar before. Do they check-in and security times take as long as it does when flying? Trying to work out what time we should arrive at St Pancras the morning we go.

Also trying to work out how long it takes from arriving back in St Pancras to walking out of the station so I know what time to book our train back up north.

Thank you so much in advance for your help with my very boring question.

No I think they say allow 40 minutes to an hour. I’m going in a couple of months plan on leaving myself an hour.

In, allow at least an hour. Boarding is 20 mins before but the queues can be long.

You should be out within 10 mins of arrival at destination. It's a long platform to walk! Bear in mind that all trains can have delays, Eurostar not exempt. It's only 10 mins walk to Euston through the backstreets though.

The advice from Eurostar a few months ago was to arrive at St Pancras least 90 minutes before departure. Sometimes it's incredibly busy, at other times you'll be through check-in, security etc in around 15 minutes. It should say on their website what the current advice is, and your ticket itself will tell you how long you should allow.

Last time I travelled on the Eurostar check-in was really quick, this was pre-Covid though so as others have suggested I’d see what they advise.

Do you know St Pancras? There are lots of nice shops and cafes there and nearby if you have time to kill on the way back.

You clear through British and French passport controls before boarding Eurostar at both St Pancras and Gare du Nord stations which means you just walk off the train and proceed along the platform to the station concourse as if it was any other train - it’s really straightforward.
There are airport security type checks too, but the volume of passengers is much less than in an airport terminal, so follow the advice from Eurostar regarding the time to allow.

I would allow 90 mins at St Pancras and get a cup of tea if the queues are small. When I travel to UK I always allow an hour between train arrival and train leaving Kings X - even though it's across the road. Sometime the train has been late, sometimes there are extra passport checks at St Pancras. If you get off at the far end of the train it's quite a walk still.

I’d allow an hour. Certainly no more than that. There’s one tiny Costa and not enough seats.

No more than 90 minutes I meant to say.

And getting out of station is usually very quick. 10 minutes?

Thanks very much everyone. Regretting booking the 6am train!

We did a day trip to Brussels last month, think the train was 06:19. We got to St Pancras at about 05:05, the queue was massive (Paris train at 06:00 I guess. Also people travelling for Xmas?). It took about 35-40 minutes to get to the ticket barrier, then security. We reckoned because of the early hour people had aimed for 60 minutes before rather than 90 and so the two trains were bunched up more than they would be later in the day. There were people for the Paris train near us getting a bit stressed, luckily they were taken out of the main queue by staff. We did manage about 10 minutes in the lounge via our Amex cards. The trip was very smooth and we hardly queued at all at Brussels on the way back.

I'd allow an hour to check in, get through passport control etc.

It's pretty quick to get out at St Pancras. If you're leaving from St P/XC, I'd allow 20-30 mins.

We always book the Premier Inn on Euston Road for the night before an early train. Get up, wheel cases across the road and check in!

Pre-Brexshit it was easy. But since the gammony racists had their way I'd suggest 90 minutes to be certain...

For 6am I’d probably aim for getting there an hour before.

If you wind up stuck in a queue at any stage (check-in, security, passports..) and are getting worried about making the train, don’t hesitate to flag a staff member, tell them your train no. and ask if you’re ok staying there in the queue. If they think there’s a risk you’ll miss the train they’ll direct you to jump queue. They regularly prioritise passengers for soonest departures, especially when there are a few trains around the same time.

On the Eurostar site it says your luggage cannot be more than 85 cm. My case is 90cm including the wheels. How strict are they? Is 85cm the length of the luggage storage area?

OnedayIwillfeelfree I travelled last week to Amsterdam and didn’t see any airport type luggage measuring crate things (I guess they have a better name than that!).
I think the measurement guide is to stop people boarding with huge cases, skis, boards, etc. and if your case only exceeds by 2 inches, you’ll be fine.