February 13, 2025

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The Best Way To Travel Between London & Paris?

The Best Way To Travel Between London & Paris?

Due to the extensive political, social, and economic ties between Paris and London, there are thousands of travelers every day who travel between these two cities, either for work, to visit friends and family, or as tourists. The two cities are connected by two main forms of transportation, and attempting to select between the two can be a bit more of a challenge than one might initially expect.

Since the 1994 opening of the Channel Tunnel, there have been high-speed rail services connecting the British capital with the largest city in France, a journey that previously could only be completed by air or by taking a combination of domestic rail services and a passenger ferry across the English Channel. This tunnel revolutionized travel between the two cities, adding a new high-speed option that could efficiently connect the two cities with as little friction as possible.

London Heathrow Airport

Photo: London Heathrow Airport

Nonetheless, there is still extensive debate today as to which of these options (air travel or rail travel) is the best way to go, as the overall travel time may be comparable depending on one’s destinations in London and Paris. Furthermore, there are several other factors, including price and passenger experience
to consider. In this article, we will take a deeper look at which of these options is the best for you as a traveler, and how your specific travel circumstances may help determine how you should get between these two cities.

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What exactly are the train travel options between London and Paris?

Currently, there is only one operator running train services between London and Paris, with Eurostar operating 15 daily services in each direction between the two cities. On the weekends, the operator runs 19 different trains, giving passengers even more options to choose from. While the vast majority of these services operate nonstop, there are a few that call at Lille in Northern France. In London, the carrier’s services terminate at St. Pancras International, while in Paris, they terminate at Gare du Nord, which routinely ranks as the busiest international railway station in all of Europe.

Eurostars_at_waterloo_international

The passenger experience onboard the Eurostar train is relatively smooth, although passengers will notice some significant differences with other high-speed rail services within Europe. For starters, when passengers arrive at the station, they will have to pass through a special international check-in process. This involves customs and immigration screenings alongside airport-style security screening.

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At London St. Pancras International, passengers will first go through a security screening, before exiting immigration procedures with British officials and finally entering immigration procedures with French officials. The departure procedure is the exact opposite in Paris, with passengers going through security, then passing through exiting immigration with EU officials, and then entering procedures with UK officials. Then, passengers are invited to wait in a central waiting area for their train, where seating is available alongside multiple coffee houses and duty-free. Additionally, those traveling in Eurostar’s business class can relax in a pre-departure lounge.

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After boarding their train, passengers can enjoy a smooth two-hour and sixteen-minute ride between the two rail terminals, which takes around 20 minutes in the Channel Tunnel, according to Eurostar. The train has two different cafés available, with prices only slightly marked up from what you would expect inside the stations themselves. Upon arrival in either Paris Gare du Nord or London St. Pancras, passengers can smoothly exit the same way they would for any other domestic service.

Eurostar_Class_374_on_HS1

Both terminals are exceptionally well-connected

One of the best-selling points for traveling via Eurostar between these two cities is their prime location within the center of their respective cities. Paris Gare du Nord, which is located in Central Paris, is efficiently connected to the rest of the city by three different Metro lines which passengers can access, as well as a link to the RER, the regional express train that passes directly through the city center and serves Paris suburbs. None of the Paris airports can offer this exceptional level of connectivity, something certainly of value to business travelers on a tight schedule.

Eurostar_at_St_Pancras_Jan_2008

London St. Pancras is also exceptionally well-placed, not just for passengers looking to travel to London but also to suburban areas beyond, with Euston and Kings Cross stations both located adjacent to the terminal. Cross-London commuter services are also operated by Thameslink from St. Pancras itself. Six different London Underground lines serve the station, including all the following:

  • Circle Line
  • District Line
  • Metropolitan Line
  • Northern Line
  • Victoria Line
  • Piccadilly Line

In London, however, there is one airport which can offer more efficient connectivity to some parts of the city than St. Pancras can, with London City Airport (LCY) located adjacent to the city’s new financial district in Canary Wharf. Business travelers between London and Paris will find it quicker to hop over to London City Airport than St. Pancras. Passengers can take the Docklands Light Railway between Canary Wharf and London City Airport while traveling from the area to St. Pancras will involve at least one transfer. However, there are currently no flights to Paris operated from LCY, meaning that that is irrelevant to this discussion.

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What exactly are the flight options between London and Paris?

If one is already traveling out to London Stansted (STN), London Luton (LTN), and London Gatwick (LGW), one is already going to find the train to Paris a significantly more comfortable experience. The Eurostar will offer a smoother check-in experience, a quicker connection to either London or Paris, and an overall lower journey time when one factors in the time that it would take to get from London’s city center to any of its outer airports.

STN

Photo: London Stansted Airport

The only reason why one would choose to fly to Paris from any of these outer airports would be if ticket prices were significantly lower, low enough to justify the amount of time that would be required to get oneself all the way out to an airport like Luton or Stansted. Especially when booked relatively close to departure, there are times in which airlines can significantly beat Eurostar fares, which often rise into the hundreds of pounds.

heathrow_17581988126223

London Heathrow Airport

IATA/ICAO Code

LHR-EGLL

CEO

John Holland-Kaye

Terminals

Terminal 2 |
Terminal 3 |
Terminal 4 |
Terminal 5

London Heathrow (LHR), the best-connected airport to the city as a whole, does make a weakly compelling argument as an alternative to the Eurostar, especially for time-sensitive business travelers. Air France, British Airways, and low-cost carrier Vueling all operate nonstop flights from Heathrow to Paris airports. While Vueling’s services to Paris Orly Airport (ORY) are primarily geared towards leisure travelers, business travelers will likely be attracted to flights from Air France and British Airways.

Air France has six daily departures between the two cities, many of which are during the peak hours and offer ideal timetables for business travelers. Furthermore, these flights are only scheduled for around an hour, meaning that if there are no operational delays and passengers can get through security quickly, these services could be slightly faster. British Airways has seven daily flights between the two cities.

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So what’s the bottom line when it comes to traveling between London and Paris?

At the end of the day, there are very few situations in which the hustle and bustle of a commercial airport, alongside the potential extra amount of travel time required in total (considering the amount of time it takes to get to and from the airport), would beat out the convenience of the Eurostar. The only slight exception to this is price, as there are circumstances where Eurostar fares will rise to the point of being significantly more expensive than flying, especially when flying with a discount carrier. Business Insider even argues that passengers should be willing to pay more for the convenience of the Eurostar, even when tickets could cost over $100 more.

For a very select few business travelers, flying from Heathrow might make more sense. However, with Eurostar’s comfortable passenger experience, there will likely be more time for a business traveler to actually get work done while in transit, as opposed to during a journey that might be marginally shorter than the train, and only so if everything absolutely goes to plan.

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