The Experience

Let the adventure begin

Often, the ‘holiday feeling’ doesn’t kick in until arrival at your destination, but St Pancras International, with its happily animated bustle, is a place that fills you with excitement from the very start. It may be big in comparison to other stations, but compared to most airports it feels small, and the result is a quietly dignified atmosphere, with smooth check-in and boarding procedures that mean you arrive at your comfortable, reserved seat feeling relaxed and ready for the adventure to unfold.

Across Kent and into the Channel Tunnel

Leaving St Pancras International, the Eurostar passes through (or, more accurately, underneath) east London, sometimes (but not currently) calling at Ebbsfleet or Ashford in Kent to collect more passengers. From here, you are whisked through picturesque countryside at 186mph (300km/h), entering the Channel Tunnel a mere 35 minutes after departing from London.

Apart from the fact that it takes 20 minutes to traverse, the Channel Tunnel resembles any other railway tunnel. When you next see daylight, just under an hour into your journey, you are already on French soil.

Accelerating away from the tunnel, the Eurostar speeds through gently undulating farmland dotted with villages and ancient churches. Lille is just 25 minutes from Calais, while Paris is 90 minutes away, making the journey time from St Pancras International to the historic Gare du Nord terminus just 2 hours 25 minutes. Once you arrive, you don’t, of course, have to wait around while your luggage is unloaded onto a carousel – you just lift your cases down from the rack and go.

Onwards to southern France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy or beyond

The trip by Eurostar is, in most cases, just the first leg of the journey.

If you are travelling via Paris, you can break your journey with a night in Europe’s chicest city. Many people prefer to travel via Lille for an easier change from Eurostar to TGV, although connections from Lille are becoming less frequent. You can also stay overnight in Lille to explore its handsome old quarter and sample its excellent gastronomy before continuing your journey.

Whether you choose to break your journey with an overnight stay or not, you can rest assured that we will have allowed ample time to change trains and we provide full details of all your connections in your personalised itinerary and information pack.

Although Eurostar sets the bar high, the French high-speed trains compare very favourably, as do the Spanish, Swiss, Italian and other connecting rail services for holidays further afield. As on Eurostar, we book reserved seats wherever possible, meaning you can sit back and watch the scenery change as you head further south towards the Mediterranean or into the mountains.

By the time you reach your final destination (where we usually arrange for a taxi to collect you for the transfer to your hotel), you should find yourself in good spirits, your appetite for exploring thoroughly whetted by the views you’ve watched unfold from your window.

More information

We’ve tried to answer the most common questions in this section, from check-in at St Pancras to changing stations in Paris, and from luggage limits on Eurostar to accommodation on sleeper trains. However, we’re always happy to answer any other questions you may have regarding travelling to your Inntravel holiday by rail, so please contact us.