Basel / Bâle to London by train

Take this route via Paris and you will need to make the transfer between the Gare De Lyon, where the Lyria train will arrive, and the Gare Du Nord, from where the Eurostar will depart.

On the usual timetable the first five departures of the day to Paris all connect into Eurostar trains on to London, which depart from the Gare Du Nord around 1hr 30 mins after the Lyria train will have arrived into the Gare de Lyon.

Checking-in at the Gare Du Nord:

At the Gare Du Nord the check in and waiting area for the Eurostar (the 'Hall Du Londres') is at an upper level, above the main concourse.
The access to this upper level is some distance from the voie/platforms/tracks that the Eurostars depart from.
The escalators leading up to Eurostar departures are located at the rear wall of the station building, on the opposite side of the concourse to voies/platforms/tracks 14 - 15.

When the service is operating normally, the transfer across Paris by the RER train will take less than 25 mins, from stepping off the TGV at the Gare De Lyon to being on the concourse at the Gare Du Nord.
So if the train from Basel arrives in Paris on time and the RER is as it should be, you will be at the Gare Du Nord around one hour prior to the departure of the Eurostar.

However, Eurostar recommends that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes before departure.
Which may explain why Trainline doesn't typically sell these fastest journey options.

Though as access to Eurostar is closed off from 30 mins prior to departure, being at the Gare Du Nord one hour before departure will allow enough time to make the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Business Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 30 minutes before departure, with access to check-in being closed off from 15 mins prior to departure.

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of of the travel date

For this fastest option when travelling via Paris on a combination of Lyria + Eurostar trains select Basel SBB as the departure station,

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Trainline tends not sell these fastest end-to-end journeys, though it can sell options which only involve taking a combination of Lyria + TGV trains, but which involve taking a later train on from Paris.
Also SNCF Connect can be a tad random in which of these five fastest options which it will and won't offer for sale.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for both trains.

Your ticket will not include the RER train across Paris from the Gare De Lyon to the Gare Du Nord.

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.
So as 'end-to-end' tickets booked in one transaction for this journey won't be classified by Eurostar as 'through tickets', you may need to re-book tickets for the Eurostar at the Gare Du Nord, in the unlikely event of a delay to the Lyria train causing you to miss the Eurostar you are booked on to.

Because Eurostar in effect classifies the the tickets for the TGV and its train as separate bookings even when booked in one transaction, you can de-risk the need to re-book the Eurostar, at a last-minute more expensive price, by making two separate bookings - for the Lyria train from Basel and a later Eurostar on to London.

This routing is slower and it involves an additional connection in Strasbourg, but the transfer in Paris can be done on foot as it involves connecting from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare Du Nord.

Departing from Basel:

The train will leave from the SNCF (French) section of Basel SBB station, over to the right of the main entrance hall.

Most of these end-to-end journey options sold by Trainline allow less than 30 minutes to make the required connections in Strasbourg.
So an option which will allow more contingency time in the event of a delay to the train from Basel, is to depart by an earlier train.
Reservations aren't available on the train from Basel to Strasbourg, so your ticket(s) can be used on an alternative service.

Checking-in at the Gare Du Nord:

At the Gare Du Nord the check in and waiting area for the Eurostar (the 'Hall Du Londres') is at an upper level, above the main concourse.
The access to this upper level is some distance from the voie/platforms/tracks that the Eurostars depart from.
The escalators leading up to Eurostar departures are located at the rear wall of the station building, on the opposite side of the concourse to voies/platforms/tracks 14 - 15.

The transfer from the Gare de l'Est to the Gare Du Nord will take less than 20 minutes and the timings between the arrival of the train from Strasbourg and the Eurostar departure on to London will typically be more than two hours.

So this journey option is within Eurostar's recommendation that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes before departure
Though as access to Eurostar is closed off from 30 mins prior to departure, the train from Strasbourg can be up to around an hour late into Paris and there will be enough time to make the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Business Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 30 minutes before departure, with access to check-in being closed off from 15 mins prior to departure.

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Using Eurail or InterRail Passes

The mandatory rail pass reservation fees on the ICE / TGV trains on from Strasbourg are more than €15 cheaper than on the Lyria trains from Basel to Paris.
Also if you will be travelling with a pass, using it hop on an earlier TER train to Strasbourg can be the best way to go.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 4 months ahead of of the travel date

For this option select Basel SBB as the departure station,

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Seat reservations are automatically included on the trains to and from Paris, but are not available on the train from Basel to Strasbourg

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.
So as 'end-to-end' tickets booked in one transaction for this journey won't be classified by Eurostar as 'through tickets', you may need to re-book tickets for the Eurostar at the Gare Du Nord, in the unlikely event of a delay to preceding trains causing you to miss the Eurostar you are booked on to.

Because Eurostar in effect classifies the the tickets for the TGV and its train as separate bookings even when booked in one transaction, you can de-risk the need to re-book the Eurostar, at a last-minute more expensive price, by making two separate bookings - for the journey to Paris and a later Eurostar on to London.

This option, which typically involves departing from Basel at 15:21* has the advantage of avoiding the need to make a transfer between different stations, as both the TGV from Strasbourg and the Eurostar on to London will both use Lille Europe station.
*= Though by leaving Basel at this time, this end-to-end journey option is then reliant on making a connection in Strasbourg of under 30 mins between trains.
So an option is to take the preceding train from Basel, reservations aren't available to travel by it, so your ticket(s) can be used on an alternative service.

Checking-in at Lille-Europe:

The train from Strasbourg is due into Lille more than 1hr 25min prior to the departure of the connecting Eurostar on to London.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at Lille-Europe 90 minutes before departure, but the access to check-in will closed off from 30 mins prior to departure.
So this won't be an issue even if the train from Lyon arrives in Lille more than 50 mins late.

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.
Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 4 months ahead of of the travel date

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Select Basel SBB as the departure station,

Seat reservations are automatically included on the trains to and from Lille but are not available on the train from Basel to Strasbourg

Making the connection in Lille:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

So as 'end-to-end' tickets booked in one transaction for this journey won't be classified by Eurostar as 'through tickets', if delays to either of the preceding trains cause you to miss the connection into the final train of the day from Lille to London:

• you may need to re-book tickets for the Eurostar at Lille Europe
• and will have to fund any accommodation costs for what will then be a necessary overnight stay in Lille.