Flying short-haul from London is fast in theory and slow in practice: an hour at the gate, an hour in the air, an hour to the city centre at the other end. A Eurostar to Paris is two and a half hours, central station to central station, and it's been quietly getting cheaper.
The Eurostar basics
- London St Pancras → Paris Gare du Nord: 2h 16m. From £39 single if booked 2–3 months ahead.
- London → Brussels Midi: 1h 53m. From £35 single, often cheaper than Paris.
- London → Amsterdam Centraal: 3h 52m direct. From £40, the most underused of the three.
Tickets release 180 days before departure. The cheapest ones go in the first fortnight of release. Set a calendar reminder; it makes a real difference.
Onward connections that flights can't match
From Paris and Brussels you can reach most of Europe in a single onward day-train:
- Paris → Lyon: 2 hours, ~€30 if booked early.
- Paris → Avignon / Marseille: 3–4 hours, full-speed TGV.
- Brussels → Cologne: 1h 50m. Onward to Frankfurt or Berlin same day.
- Brussels → Amsterdam: 1h 50m, every hour.
Use the SNCB, SNCF Connect, or Trainline for onward bookings. Trainline charges a small fee but consolidates the booking.
Night trains: back, slowly
After a decade of decline, European night trains are expanding again. From the UK, you arrive via Eurostar by evening and board the same day:
- Brussels → Berlin / Vienna (ÖBB Nightjet) — sleep through Germany, wake up in Austria.
- Paris → Venice / Rome — Thello and seasonal services; check timetables.
- Amsterdam → Munich / Innsbruck / Zurich — overnight Nightjet, increasingly popular.
A 6-berth couchette is around €40–60. A private 2-berth sleeper is €100–180 per person. Cheaper than most hotel-plus-flight combinations, and you save a day.
What this actually costs vs flying
| Route | Eurostar (early) | Budget flight (incl. transfers) |
|---|---|---|
| London → Paris | £39 | £40 + £25 RER + £15 Stansted Express = £80 |
| London → Brussels | £35 | £35 + €18 train + £15 Stansted = £75 |
| London → Amsterdam | £40 | £30 + €5 + £15 = £50 |
Door-to-door, the train wins on Paris and Brussels and ties on Amsterdam — without the airport queues, the size-of-bag stress, or the carbon.
Small things worth knowing
- Arrive 75 minutes before departure at St Pancras. Border control and security are slower than they look.
- Standard Premier (the middle class) gets you a meal and lounge access; for short hops, it's not worth the £40 upgrade.
- Eurostar Snap (cheap mystery-time tickets) was discontinued, but Maxi Jeune equivalents on French TGVs are still a thing for under-26s.
- Bring a refillable water bottle. There are taps at St Pancras after security; the Eurostar onboard prices are airline-grade.
When the train doesn't work
Beyond Italy, Spain, and central Europe, the train stops being competitive. Lisbon, Athens, and most of Scandinavia are still flights. But for the first 1,000 km out of London, the slow way is now genuinely faster, and almost always cheaper if you book ahead.