During a recent trip to England, I surprised my girls with a trip to Paris on the Eurostar, using the Chunnel to reach France by train.
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What Is The Chunnel?
The desire to link England and France by train goes back more than a hundred years, though the development of the tunnel also called the “Chunnel” (Channel+Tunnel) opened on May 6th, 1994. The train tunnel linking British and French cities runs beneath the English Channel and begins near Dover, England, and returns to the surface near Calais, France. The train tunnel runs as deep as 250 feet under the surface and 115 feet under the seabed at its deepest points; it’s the longest underwater tunnel in the world.
Boring machines that built the three-track rail tunnel offer freight and passenger traffic as well as a service tunnel. High-speed train service allows Eurostar trains to make quick work of transiting between London and Brussels or Paris, reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour (though rail traffic is engineered to reach 140 MPH.)
Surprise, Surprise
During our annual trip to Manchester, England we were to depart from Brussels for our journey home. However, my daughter has been talking about Paris for months and when I saw the opportunity to add the stop to our trip home, I couldn’t pass it up. We had tickets to depart Europe from Brussels but a one-night stop in Paris would make their day.
We spent our time in Manchester and had to make our way down to London before ultimately departing for the continent. On the train, I gave them both a notebook with details of our trip on the train and they were both elated to return to Paris, even if it was just for one night.
Before my wife and I were married, I had traveled some including a trip I worked two jobs in high school to pay for that included a segment on the Chunnel. I hadn’t been back in more than 20 years, and this was my wife and daughter’s first time on the Eurostar. They were intrigued by the concept and it was another new experience.
Getting to St. Pancras Station
International rail departures from the UK depart from London St. Pancras Station (across from and sharing an underground walkways and metro station with King’s Cross station). One inconvenience of traveling the Eurostar from outside of London is that arrivals from elsewhere in the country nearly uniformly arrive at Euston station, a half mile away. That distance is a short 10-15 minute walk for a spritely solo traveler with a single rollaboard carry-on, but for a family with two weeks worth of luggage and a child – it’s a far longer distance.
We quickly got into a cab and made our way to the nearby station where we made our way to international departures. Though it seems obvious now, I had forgotten that there would be an extensive line, a check-in process, security, and transiting customs to officially enter France on British soil.
Check-In, Security, Customs, and Boarding
Business Class passengers have a quick and easy check-in process, and while it didn’t make sense for us to book it ($600 for our family of three vs $200), for a solo trip I would likely insist on it to avoid the crowds. Luckily, in Europe, families are prioritized and we were pulled out of the line and put through a check-in that was much quicker than the rest of the line but I wouldn’t risk it in the future and our transit time was tight.
Once our tickets were scanned, security and x-ray machines were immediately awaiting us. There is not ample room for the security process given the current requirements and the amount of technology each passenger carries. One passenger behind us in line said, “it’s worse than the airport.” Like him, I never thought I’d be lauding airport security for efficiency but here we are.
The boarding area for the Eurostar is rather impressive, especially for rail-deprived Americans. Though on the first floor of the station, there’s a surprising amount of light in the seating area. All-glass elevated moving walkways lead travelers to their train platform one level above, departures for Brussels and Paris were across from each other. We grabbed some sandwiches from Pret-A-Manger for the (just over) two-hour ride and boarded the train.
The Eurostar from London to Paris
We boarded the train with our extensive luggage though luckily there was plenty of space for our things. Seating in coach was 2×2, windows were large though my eight-year-old daughter had hoped she’d have more of an aquarium view when we went under the water.
I made my way to the dining car for some better views and while I can’t speak to the food offered onboard, I do recommend getting up for a walk-around and a better view. Wifi was provided on board but the signal was weak and inconsistent, our phones worked better.
Other than the novelty of taking the Chunnel specifically, the journey was utilitarian. It could have been any train anywhere in the world and that was somewhat disappointing.
Arrival into Paris Gare du Nord
The station was under construction in Paris and we arrived just after 6 pm. As the platform had construction taking place leaving the station took an extended amount of time. Signage suggested the station would be under construction until 2024. Barbed wire fences at the top of the partition made it feel more like a war zone than the city of lights.
We didn’t want to fuss with Uber at the train station with all of our luggage, we bolted for a cab. One of the first pieces of advice I give travelers to Bangkok is that if a driver tells you the price to your destination in advance or doesn’t start a meter, they are breaking the law and you should get out of the cab. We loaded our things into a cab in Paris and he told us an astronomical rate for the 8-mile drive to our hotel (€60 – a nice even number) then began finger-punching his meter until the rate had started so escalate quickly. I pulled up Uber before we were a block away and pointed to the screen.
“It’s €18 on Uber.” He began getting a little testy, as I expected he would, and stated that we had four people (we had three but frankly, our luggage could have counted as a person.) I pointed to the screen where it clearly shows up to four people for the €18 rate and we pulled over.
We emptied our things, he went to the back of the queue to rip off someone else while our Uber driver arrived, helpful, pleasant, and without incident off to our hotel (review upcoming, not this one.) Uber exists because of taxi drivers like that. Word to the wise: consult Uber and compare before taking a cab and if you take a cab, make sure they use the meter without the adjustments to the rate.
Conclusion
I surprised my wife and daughter with a trip to Paris on the Eurostar through the Chunnel. The experience was just ok outside of the novelty but it was great to add another travel experience to our repertoire.
What do you think? Have you taken the Eurostar before? How was your experience?
“standard Premier” class is the way to go, includes a meal and 1st class seats but costs half of a business fare
I did Standard Premier back in August, was nice but my god check in takes forever, i got to the station 90 minutes before departure (stayed over in stevenage and then walked across the street from kings cross) and I got on the train 9 minutes before scheduled departure, business is worth it for that alone
Since I had a rather unpleasant experience on Uber just before the pandemic, I have been leery to use the service again.
Essentially, I was in Dallas visiting friends, requested an Uber from my hotel, got into the car and off we go.
About 10 minutes later, I see Police lights and the driver pulls into a McDonald’s.
Then a second Police car, then a third, to make a long story somewhat shorter.
The driver had warrants and the Police executed a felony stop on her and me in the process (they had no idea at first that I was just a passenger).
Now to the Police’s credit once they figured out that the she was an Uber driver and I was a passenger, they were far nicer to me, even driving me to the restaurant to meet my friends which was only about a further 15 minutes away.
However, if my Uber driver can have warrants and Uber still allowed her to drive or didn’t know that he had warrants to begin with, maybe it is not a great service.
Taxis suck too, no two ways about it, I am not sure the solution if I am honest, but Uber has it’s problems too.
Consider using the G7 app in Paris. Like Uber only it calls local taxis.
I’ve never been in the Eurostar though I’ve always wanted to ride the train through Europe. My problem is I want to ride the train we see Daniel Craig having dinner on as 007 in Casino Royale and that sadly from everything I’ve seen doesn’t exist.
It’s a bit disappointing to hear the Chunnel wasn’t more fun. Still though seems like a decent way to get between the UK and Paris.
‘International rail departures from the UK all depart from London St. Pancras Station (King’s Cross). One inconvenience of traveling the Eurostar from outside of London is that arrivals from elsewhere in the country nearly uniformly arrive at Euston station, a half mile away. ‘
Perhaps a bit of fact checking before publishing would be better for your credibility.
Kings Cross and St Pancras are two different stations.
London Waterloo on the south side of the river and where Eurostar originally was based is the busiest London station and Eurostar moved to provide extra platforms for Waterloo based services. In addition Services arrive at Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, Marylebone, Charing Cross, Victoria London Bridge and more.
The lack of accuracy in the beginning of this piece calls into question the remainder. I would hand it back for you to do it again if I were marking it.
@James Harper – I bet you’re fun at parties. It’s true, the two are separate buildings and thus stations. However, they are connected underground, share the same tube stop, and are in essence marketed together because St. Pancras is [primarily] international, and King’s Cross is [primarily] domestic.
Really enjoyed this piece as a Londoner but St. Pancras is not wholly international. Services up the Midland Mainline to the East Midlands (Sheffield, Nottingham etc.) go from St. Pancras as well as domestic high speed trains to Dover, Canterbury etc. Kings Cross serves the East Coast Mainline (Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh) and Euston the West Coast Mainline (Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow).
@Ralph – I’ve updated my comment to say “primarily.” I couldn’t find some of the services but with rail strikes, I may not be getting the full schedule.
I appreciate you haven’t had the friendliest response from my fellow Brits. Thanks for the piece and I thoroughly enjoy reading your content – I’m just not a commenter!
Better to be correct in the first place don’t you think. That then saves you from making antsy comments about parties.
James, please lighten up. Even TfL have “merged” the two stations by calling the Tube station that serves them as King’s Cross St. Pancras. And by having multiple entry points on both. It’s only natural to conflate the two mainline stations. And most people I know informally speak of both stations interchangeably as well.
“…if a driver tells you the price to your destination or doesn’t start a meter, they are breaking the law…” Typo?
The writer comes across a typically entitled American. A cab from Euston to Kings Cross? I nearly split my sides laughing. And fancy there being border controls at STP so passengers can just walk off the train and out of the station at GdN. The absolute nerve!
@Baroness – Thanks for reading most of the piece, but a reminder I mentioned I was traveling with my family with two weeks of luggage, and that I acknowledge solo travelers shouldn’t have any concerns about the brisk “10-15 minute walk.” With two pieces of checked luggage handles held in one hand, two carry-on pieces in the other, a backpack that weighs 40 lbs, a small child, and a wife (each with their backpacks), yes I didn’t want to make that trek with 25 minutes to check-in at the other station. As we say in America, “sue me.”
I also specifically mention that I had absent-mindedly forgotten about the customs element (because customs are most often operated at the destination country.) Silly me for committing the act of both forgetting that French customs operates in England for this one service, and then having the utter gall to admit my error here for our readership in the event that any other human being could have possibly been as ignorant and moronic as I was. I wouldn’t want them to be prepared in the slightest.
I’ve lived in London and France for 20 years. Never heard it once referred to as the ‘Chunnel’ lmao.
I worked on the project back in ’91/’92 and that was the original name for it. I’ve been living in Australia for the last ten years so unaware if they dropped that over the years.
Came here to say this. Chunnel? It’s either Eurostar if talking about the train, or Eurotunnel (at most) if talking about the tunnel itself – though more often it’s referred to, quite simply, as the (Channel) tunnel.
Very few people in the UK call it the Chunnel…I’ve only ever heard Americans call it that! Nice article otherwise ;P
Regarding the “TSA” like to board the train, do they follow the same rules of air travel? I winder how they manage items that you cannot take on board of a plane but can check in since your baggage will be with you all the time while on the train.
As for Uber in Paris, I just spent a full week there in October and took over 30 different trips with Uber. I only chose the Berline option and it was absolutely flawless. I got from brand new Teslas to high end BMW, Audi and Mercedes. They were easy to find and extremely reasonable in price when compared to Uber Black in the US. Since I was on a corporate trip it was much easier to only use Uber and have all receipts sent automatically to my expense report software. I highly recommend using Uber in Paris.
And for those complaining that Kyle got a taxi from one station to another, how would you expect him to carry all those luggage pieces by himself when you have a kid and wife?
Loved your article. I have taken Eurostar a few times. I was excited for the first trip. I don’t know why I was expecting to see water. I lived in San Francisco Bay Area and have taken BART hundreds of times under the Bay. It has become a great time to take a nap
One of the things I love about European rail stations is the variety of shopping and food options in the station. Very few US train stations offers these extensive options
Now Eurostar serves Amsterdam
Hi Kyle, happy holidays to you and your family. This reader really appreciates what you write, regardless of how or why you write it. To me it gives us a way to travel with you and your family and watch Lucy grow up. Think about all those passport books she will have to show her kids!
It pains me to see all these really negative comments. There must be a bunch of frustrated English professors and people who just want to complain. They are missing the beauty of your stories. Too bad for them and don’t let them get you down!
How do you feel about other travel bloggers that brag about drinking Don Perignon, Krug, etc… where I can guarantee you if they do a blind taste with apple cider they will choose the cider as the best “champagne”.
As a longtime travel journalist in Los Angeles, I was invited on many travel media trips mostly in Europe. I’m reasonably sure you’ve been on such trips, and I wonder why you did not contact the pr folks at Eurostar and ask for their help with fares, etc?
@John Clayton: Thanks for reading and for your comment. It was a lack of time, the decision was relatively last minute.
Sorry but poorly informed about your journey like so many Americans I have encountered. I agree with many others comments, like lots of other stations in London connect to other parts of the UK. How fast is Eurostar, it’s 200 mph in France and much of UK and Belgium. The tunnel goes from Folkestone not Dover and services carry cars, buses and lorries and all services through the tunnel itself go at approx 100 mph. If you had actually read up some background information your article would have read better. You were more concerned about taxis than the amazingly fast service provided between 4 capitals, you missed Amsterdam out.
@Biff Bailey – I was referring to the speed in the tunnel, it could have been clearer but the name of the section is “what is the Chunnel” not “what is the maximum speed of the Eurostar.” You misread the article as I stated “near Dover” not “from Dover”, I also said “near Calais” because for those in the world that would read this outside of trainspotters, Dover is far more recognizable for outsiders. I also mentioned that the train runs freight. And yes, as a passenger in a story about how I surprised my family with an unexpected trip to Paris, the taxis mattered more than the scope of the Eurostar route map.
Oh dear. James Harper likes to provide accurate statements in his comments but fails to “fact check” some of his inaccurate statements himself.
Let’s be clear. Eurostar services did not move from Waterloo to St Pancras to make more room for platforms at the busiest London terminus. Eurostar moved, in 2007, for the sole reason that the High Speed 1 line from Folkestone terminates at London St Pancras Int’l which reduced the journey times considerably. On the Brussels route the quickest journey time in 1997 (when I first used Eurostar) took 3hrs 15 mins, with the only high speed portion being from Calais to Lille. Fast forward 10 years and Eurostar runs high speed from St Pancras all the way through to Brussels in under 2hrs.
I would question James’ lack of accurate fact checking.
I have taken the 1st Class a Few times.Service & Food absolutely sucks on the Train. If I could, I would Take OBB, ICE or any Swiss Train over this Crap.
I’m with the others. Literally no one other than Americans call it the Chunnel. Not a single Brit, French or anyone else in the world; but it is cute that Americans think they’re being all local by using it
@Infidellic – More than 75% of our readership is in the US, where the “Chunnel” term is commonly used. It’s cute that Brits and the French believe this blog is written solely for them.
I took Eurostar from Lille to London in mid November.
Check-in and Customs moved quickly. The ride from France to London was on time with no delay.
However, the reception hall in Lille looked drab and run down as if it had not been touched since the hall was established in the mid-90’s. The interior of the coaches were in need of a serious updating or refresh. Dirt and dust had accumulated on the grill of an air intake, the carpet looked worn, and the seats showed heavy signs of wear & tear. Upon exiting at London, noticed a Eurostar consist which was in serious need of a wash.
Either new trains are in the wings or Eurostar is not making enough money and its reflected in the maintenance.
For convenience, you can’t beat it. However, it truly lacks any flair or dash…more like a Greyhound bus.