We (three adults) are travelling on a Friday from Paris to catch our flight back to the States leaving from LHR at 5:00 PM. We'll take the Eurostar from Paris Nord, but we have two questions: (1) what's the quickest way to get from St. Pancras (the apparent destination of the Eurostar) to LHR? and (2) what time should we leave Paris to get to LHR without any tense moments? Any advice is appreciated--thanks!
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5795 posts
I don't think taking a taxi from St Pancras to LHR is necessarily the quickest. This really depends on both the length of the taxi queue and the traffic. It will take at least 45 minutes by cab without traffic.
Personally, I would take the tube to LHR. It will take about an hour. Walk over to Kings Cross tube station (it is connected to St Pancras) and take the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow. However, if you are traveling on the weekend, check the tfl.gov.uk site to make sure there are no engineering works occurring that would disrupt your tube journey.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
St. Pancras is next door to the Kings Cross tube station (only a street separates them and there's a connecting tunnel underneath). Kings Cross station is on the Picadilly tube line. The Picadilly line goes to Heathrow. Very easy. Been there done that in the opposite direction. Kings Cross station is quite busy but the signage is very good.
If you get to St. Pancras station a bit early, I would suggest a quick jump one block in the other direction to visit the fabulous British Library. The early manuscripts room is a real treat. The Magna Carta is in there as well.
Posted by
Freedonia
16084 posts
1) Why not look to see if there are any "cheap" flights from Paris to LHR. This might be the easiest.
2) If you don't have a lot of luggage, I'd suggest taking the Piccadilly line from Kings Cross to LHR. Much cheaper and probably the same amount of time as a cab considering traffic from central London.
If you want to take the Eurostar, remember that the UK is one hour behind Paris. So, in a sense, you'll gain an hour.
My estimation for the time needed for each segment of your trip and I'm going to round up:
Paris to London--2 1/2 hours
London to St. Pancras--2 hours
Check in time needed at LHR--3 hours
That's 7 1/2 hours. 7 1/2 hours from 5 PM is 9:30 but you add an hour which gives you 10:30.
If there is a train between 10:00 and 10:30, technically, you'd be safe to take that. However, taking an earlier train might give you even more piece of mind. Personally, I'd leave sometime between 9 and 10--just in case.
If you do decide to take Eurostar, book early to save money and register as a resident of the UK--not the USA. You'll get better rates.