Buy UK train tikcets to connect with Eurostar

Use this form to buy tickets from any station in Britain to a special destination called London International.  These have fewer time restrictions than normal tickets, and & international (CIV) conditions of carriage then cover you for any missed connections, read these booking tips first.

Please read these booking tips first...

(1)  What is a ticket to 'London International'?  There are special tickets for use in conjunction with Eurostar which are a well-kept secret!  They're just like a normal train ticket to London, but (a) they include the Underground to St Pancras (if your train arrives at one of the other London termini), (b) they have fewer time restrictions than an normal ticket to London, so are much cheaper than normal tickets if you need to travel in the Monday-Friday peak hours to connect with Eurostar, and (c) they ensure that the international conditions of carriage (CIV) apply to your UK journey, covering you if you miss a Eurostar because of a late-running UK train or vice versa, see explanation & full details.

(2) To find these fares, type in 'London International' as your destination...

(3) Select 'Arriving by' on the outward journey and pick an arrival time at least 50 minutes before your Eurostar leaves, to allow for check-in & any delay to your UK train.  Allow longer if you like...  On the return journey, leave 'Leaving after' selected and pick a departure time at least 20 minutes after the scheduled arrival of your Eurostar at St Pancras.

(3)  IMPORTANT: How to check the fare you choose is one of the special 'London Intl' tickets:  Unfortunately, with 'London International' as your destination, the system comes up with ordinary fares to London as well as the special London International fares.  To check whether the fare you choose is indeed one of the special fares with CIV conditions of carriage, click the 'i' against the price.  If the fare conditions refer to Eurostar, then you've got the right ticket!  Tip:  Sometimes a normal 'advance' ticket to London is cheapest, and is the only fare shown in the 'Cheapest fares' section - but if you click 'Flexible fares', you may find a flexible ticket to London International with CIV conditions.  Which one you then choose is your call!

(4)  You can now go ahead & buy your ticket to   London International online.  Be prepared to show your Eurostar ticket or booking reference, and passport on board the train, if asked.

   
 

Buy Eurostar through tickets from UK regions to Paris or Brussels

 

If this system fails to produce suitable through fares in the results, go to www.eurostar.com or simply buy separate tickets from your local station to London as shown here.

 

If your journey starts outside London...

We don't all live in London, and most of us will start our journey to mainland Europe at our local station, be that in Scotland, Wales, the Midlands, the North, the West Country, wherever.  This page explains some clever ways to add affordable UK train travel to your Eurostar journey, and some clever ways to by-pass London completely using ferry services from the North of England, East Anglia, the West Country and South Coast direct to Europe, avoiding London.  Here are the main options:

Option 1:  Buy a Eurostar through ticket...

...from 130 UK towns & cities to Paris or Brussels.

Option 2: Buy a separate train ticket to London

European train booking agencies such as Rail Europe or German Railways UK office can usually only sell tickets starting at London St Pancras, Ebbsfleet or Ashford, so you'll need to buy a separate ticket to London to connect with Eurostar.  You have two options:

...Buy a normal train ticket to London.

...or buy a special ticket to London International.

Option 3:  Eurostar from Ebbsfleet or Ashford...

Ebbsfleet International (M25)...

Ashford (Kent)...

Option 4:  Ferry from the North of England

If you live in the north of England or Scotland, by all means buy a Eurostar through ticket or buy a ticket to London to connect with Eurostar.  As Kings Cross and St Pancras stations are adjacent, and Euston only a short walk away, interchange is really easy between Eurostar and domestic UK trains arriving at Euston, Kings Cross or St Pancras.  But depending on your final destination, also consider by-passing London & Eurostar, using an overnight cruise ferry direct from the North of England to mainland Europe.

   
  DFDS Seaways ferry "Queen of Scandinavia"  Photo courtesy of DFDS.

Cruise overnight from Newcastle to Amsterdam with DFDS Seaways, then take direct sleeper trains to Munich, Zurich, Vienna, Milan, Copenhagen, Warsaw or Prague... Photo courtesy of DFDS

See the video...

Take a direct ferry from the North of England...

... then take a direct sleeper train from Amsterdam to Switzerland, Prague, Munich, Copenhagen, Warsaw...

It's worth knowing that there are overnight sleeper trains from Amsterdam Centraal direct to Prague, Munich, Basel, Zurich, Copenhagen, Warsaw.  These are the same City Night Line sleeper trains shown on the other pages of this website as going from Cologne, as that's where Eurostar passengers from London normally pick them up.  But they all in fact start in Amsterdam.  So instead of taking a train up to London, then Eurostar, then a connection to Cologne, why not cruise overnight by ferry from Newcastle or Hull to Holland, spend the day exploring Amsterdam, then travel on by sleeper?  Left luggage lockers are available in Amsterdam.  You can book all of these sleeper trains online at www.bahn.de (English button top right).

...or cruise overnight to Holland then use daytime trains onward...

Alternatively, take one of these overnight cruise ferries to Holland then use daytime trains to places such as Berlin or Basel, arriving in the evening.  Simply use www.bahn.de to find train times, allowing plenty of time for connections, then book those trains by calling DB's UK office on 08718 80 80 66, lines open 09:00-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 weekends.

Option 5:  Ferry from the West or South Coast

Travelling from the West of England or South Coast?  The ferry alternative...

  Brittany Ferries 'Bretagne' at Portsmouth...

Brittany Ferries Bretagne waiting to sail from Portsmouth to Caen...

If you live in the West Country or along the South Coast, by all means buy a Eurostar through ticket or buy a ticket to London to connect with Eurostar.  But also consider a ferry crossing direct to France then a train to Paris.  Once in Paris you can pick up the trains to Italy, Switzerland or Spain shown on the relevant country pages of this site.

From:   To:   Operator   From:   To:   Operator
Plymouth   Roscoff   Brittany Ferries   Portsmouth   St Malo   Brittany Ferries
Poole   Cherbourg   Brittany Ferries   Weymouth/Poole   St Malo   www.condorferries.co.uk
Portsmouth   Cherbourg   Brittany Ferries   Portsmouth   Le Havre   www.ldlines.co.uk
Portsmouth   Caen   Brittany Ferries   Newhaven   Dieppe   www.ldlines.co.uk

For example, taking the 23:45 overnight Brittany Ferries ship from Portsmouth to Caen with a comfortable cabin reserved arriving 07:30, then taking the 09:24 train from Caen to Paris arriving 11:11, works well to catch an afternoon train to the South of France or Switzerland, or even the overnight sleepers to Italy or Spain.  The 22:00 overnight ferry from Plymouth arrives Roscoff 08:00, a train from Roscoff will get you to Paris by around 16:10-18:20.

To check train times & fares from any of these French ports to Paris (and to book online) use either www.raileurope.co.uk (in English, for UK residents) or www.tgv-europe.com, but see this advice before using it).  Once in Paris you can pick up the trains to the South of France, Spain, Italy & Switzerland recommended on the other country pages of this site.  Remember to allow plenty of time (90 minutes+) for interchange between ferry and railway station at the French port.

Dover to Paris...

Train +ferry options from London & Dover to Calais & Paris are shown on the London to Paris by train+ferry page.

Cruise ferries direct to Spain...

Don't forget that Brittany Ferries sail up to 5 times each week direct from Plymouth & Portsmouth to Santander & Bilbao in northern Spain, see the Spain page.  A superb way to get there!

Option 6:  Ferry from East Anglia to Holland

Travelling from East Anglia?  Take the superferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland...

If you live in East Anglia, you can buy a cheap combined train+ferry ticket from any Greater Anglia rail station (for example, Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich, Bury st Edmunds or even London) to any station in the Netherlands (for example, Amsterdam or Utrecht) via Stena Line's Harwich-Hoek van Holland superferries.  Fares are great value, around £45 each way using the daytime ferry or £75 each way using the overnight ferry including a private en suite cabin.  See the UK to the Netherlands page for details.

... then take a direct sleeper train from Amsterdam to Prague, Copenhagen, Munich, Switzerland...

It's worth knowing that there are overnight sleeper trains from Amsterdam Centraal direct to Prague, Munich, Zurich, Copenhagen, Warsaw.  These are the same City Night Line sleeper trains shown on the other pages of this website as going from Cologne, as that's where Eurostar passengers from London normally pick them up.  But they all in fact start in Amsterdam.  So instead of taking a train up to London, then Eurostar, then a connection to Cologne, why not cruise overnight by ferry from Harwich to Hook and take a train on to Amsterdam, spend the day exploring Amsterdam, then travel on by sleeper?  Left luggage lockers are available in Amsterdam.  You can book all of these sleeper trains online at www.bahn.de (English button top right).

...or use the overnight ferry then onward daytime trains.

Alternatively, take the overnight ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland then use daytime trains to places such as Berlin or Basel, arriving in the evening.  Use www.bahn.de to find train times, allowing plenty of time for connections, then book the trains by calling DB's UK office on 08718 80 80 66, lines open 0900-1700 Monday-Friday.


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