Arrival time at St. Pancras Station for Eurostar to Paris

45 minutes absolute minimum. I’d leave at least an hour, personally.

Thank u so much. I will definitely plan on arriving at least an hour ahead of time

You have to clear both British and French immigration. Those lines can be long especially if it is a holiday weekend and the crowd is larger than normal. Earlier in the morning you probably are fine with 30 mins to an hour. Mid-day on I would plan at least an hour if not a bit more.

Two hours is way too early. They won’t generally let you in to the area to clear immigration until about an hour before. They really don’t have room for more than about two trains worth the people in there at a time. So generally once the 9 AM train starts morning they let the 10 AM people in and so forth and so on.

Sorry, that is not our experience. We were then on a Saturday and a bank holiday so the line was out the door, down the hall, and around the corner into the shopping mall. It was anticipated because the lines were roped off. It took us close to an hour to get inside. It was standing room only once inside and pass immigration with no seating.

Yikes! That must have been a nightmare. Hope you didn’t miss your train

St Pancras Station is a very pleasant place to kill time. If you did want to get there two hours ahead, just in case, it wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Either you can see that there are long queues at the Eurostar terminal, in which case congratulate yourselves on your foresight, or if there are no queues, do a bit of shopping and have a bite to eat. There’s even a Fortnum & Mason at the station.

Word of warning: most of the shops and restaurants are outside of the Eurostar part of the station - “landslide”, to use an airport comparison. So you’ll still need to present yourself at the correct desks to go “airside” 45 minutes or an hour ahead of time.

Be there at St Pancras at least one hour. Keep in mind the earlier you get there the better odds of getting a seat, even though it might be a waste of time. If it's crowded you'll end up standing.

A seat, Fred? Where do you mean?

I would recommend that you be in line an hour before your train is scheduled to depart. The line includes getting your ticket scanned, security inspection and passport control. We were there about a month ago, going from St. Pancras to Brussels and it took 45 minutes from start to finish.

Eurostar's official policy is here, a good place to begin (which is usually true for this sort of question) :

https://www.eurostar.com/rw-en/travel-info/your-trip/check-in

Marks and Spencer operates a store in the station which sells refreshments so you don't have to pay train catering prices.

Yes you will have to stand in line, if there is one at the security check. There is some seating to wait for the train to board.

Nigel ---- A seat, Fred? Where do you mean? ---- I assume he means seating in the waiting area. At least that was our experience. It gets pretty crowded given that a lot of people are dragging luggage with them. I thought the waiting area seem pretty small. It reminded me a little more of airline travel rather than typical train travel. Obviously, the security screening is at a higher level than other trains. But, at least, they are not concerned about 3oz of liquid.

Linda, Because you have the three teenage grandchildren with you, I’d plan to arrive at St Pancras an hour and a half before departure time. Minimize the stress. This gives you a little flexibility for picking up snacks and drinks, as well as finding the check in area. Sometimes the M&S cashier queue can be long.

Southam’s link is a good one to preview the check in process.

Such good advice! Many many thanks

In addition to the M&S there are many other places to get supplies. Even Godiva chocolates. Pretty much anything you can imagine, and if that isn't enough just across the street is Kings Cross station with a whole upstairs area of food plus what's on the ground floor.

With a few ££ in your pocket and a few spare minutes you won't starve.

Regarding seating in the waiting area downstairs from the trains, I've never had a problem sitting down. Free wifi in there, a branch of Caffe Nero, a place to get Métro tickets, and a large number of stools where you can plug in a laptop or phone.

Same question, but on the Paris side. We'll be leaving on a mid-afternoon train on a Friday, guessing it will be busy. I've heard Gare du Nord is not as nice as Pancras.

You have heard right.

The Eurostar check in is upstairs, you need to find the way up. A much smaller space to do everything in up stairs so it gets a bit busy and crowded. Allow plenty of time. Not so many food outlets at Gare du Nord.

Exactly, I mean in the waiting area, ie finding a seat where your scheduled EuroStar departs? There have been times I've had a seat and seeing others standing around, and there have been times I was among them standing around as all seats were occupied.