Anyone have ideas on how long it takes to get from Heathrow to St Pancras on a typical Friday afternoon?
I arrive at Heathrow at 3:10pm, need to go through customs, and then am trying to make a 5:30pm Eurostar to Paris. Bad idea? We could also take the 6:30pm Eurostar.
Thanks for your help!
Very Bad Idea.
Even the 6:30 would be pushing it. You don't know if your plane will be on time, you don't know how long immigration will take (an hour or more is not uncommon especially since it is a Friday), it will take at least an hour that time of day and on a Friday to get from Heathrow to St Pancras, and then you need to check in at least 30 minutes before your Eurostar departure. (45 minutes to an hour is better.)
I would think of either taking a later train or staying overnight near St. Pancras and then taking a morning train to be safe.
Remember, most Eurostar tickets are non-refundable or changeable. If you miss your train, you will have to buy a new ticket at full fare.
You are about the third person posting in the last couple of weeks about doing this. If you want to go to Paris, why not fly to Paris and eliminate a lot needless logistical headaches? If flying to London to get to Paris, why not spend a night on the town before heading to the sweet side of the channel:-)
Bad idea, not possible.
Not enough time to get there and get the train.
One of those recent posters realized the best thing to do was stay overnight in London, near St Pancras, and take an early train the next morning.
There are two ways to get from the airport to the station [1] by tube, which may include going up/down stairs with your luggage and could be crowded with rush hour travelers or [2] by driving (shuttle, taxi) which is likely to get bogged down in rush hour traffic and could take longer than the tube. [1] takes about an hour once you've walked to the Underground station, purchased your tickets (presumably with local currency), and are on the platform.
At St Pancras, you have to go through security, then through French passport control. They close well before the train departs, so there is ample time for all passengers to board the train. It's like getting to the gate after they've closed it. There may still be a good few minutes before departure, but you won't have access.
As already noted, you have no way of knowing what delays there may be. The plane could be late because of bad weather anywhere on the route, holding pattern to land, waiting on tarmac for a gate to open to name a few. There is no way to predict the length of lines at immigration. If you checked luggage, you could have a long wait for it and if it somehow gets delayed . . .
Of course, it's possible that you breeze through and get to St Pancras by 5.30, in plenty of time for the 6.30 train. How big a gambler are you? You are betting that you won't lose the price of the cheap ticket you bought in advance. The price for the 7.25 and 8.00 pm trains today is £243. I'd rather spend half that for a hotel for the night. If you are traveling with a companion, you'd be shelling out £486.
Thank you! It's been a while since I traveled internationally. I'm thinking flying does sound better. Do you think a 5:45pm flight to Paris would be ok? I arrive at 3:10 from the states, but would have to change airlines, etc.
Also, what's the best way to get from CDG into Paris at night? Thank you!
http://www.heathrow.com/flight-connections
It all depends on whether or not you have checked luggage.
If you don't, then you can stay airside, not have to go through immigration or customs, and theoretically could make your flight. (As long as there were delays and your flight was on time.)
If you have checked luggage, and can't get it checked through to Paris from your original departure city, then you won't have enough time as you have to go through immigration, get your luggage, travel to your next terminal, check in, go through security and board your flight.
If you were on one ticket, you could check your luggage through to Paris. On two separate tickets, you probably can't.
What airline are you flying to London?
Can you "stay airside" and go from terminal to terminal at Heathrow if you aren't checked in for your next flight and don't have a boarding pass? Can you just "turn up" at the gate and check in there? When I've changed planes in Europe, I think I had to show my boarding pass in order to get into and then through the security line into the departure area. And there's always been a security check between flights. Last time I flew through LHR it took me over an hour to get through security.
