How to take the thrilling high speed rail journey from the Belgian capital to the capital of The UK

Final Destination: London St. Pancras International

Some trains also call at : Ebbsfleet International; Ashford International (These station calls have been suspended until further notice)

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind, so when looking at a timetable the journey will look as though it's an hour shorter.

Eurostar is currently recommending that that Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders should be at the Eurostar departure area 60-75 mins before departure; and that Business Premier ticket holders should be there 45-60mins prior to departure.
The departure gates will close 30 mins prior to departure for Standard Class And Standard Premier ticket holders; and 15 mins prior to departure for Business Premier ticket holders.

Our guide to taking the Eurostar from Bruxelles/Brussels has more information including details of check-in and how to connect into the Eurostar from other train services.

Most of the trains commence their journeys in Bruxelles, so depart from the dedicated Eurostar platforms / tracks, but the trains from Amsterdam use the international part of Midi station, which is also used by the TGV and ICE trains.
These trains typically depart from Bruxelles-Midi / Brussel Zuid at:

• Monday to Friday = 08:52; 16:51; 18:51 and 20:56
• Saturday = 10:56 and 18:51
• Sunday = 10:56; 18:51 and 20:56

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 330 days ahead of the travel date.

Flexible tickets

On Eurostar trains to and from London, the only ticket type are the Flexible tickets, but it is the class of service you opt to travel by, which impacts on the terms and conditions of travel.

Exchanges

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up to one hour* before departure time.

• If the cost of your new ticket is more than the cost of your original ticket, you will be required to pay the difference;
• If the cost of your new ticket is less than the cost of your original ticket, you will not receive a refund of the difference.
  *Note that on you day of departure, if your journey to Bruxelles-Midi is being compromised and you know that you won't make the booked train in time more than an hour ahead - Taking time out to access the service you booked with and making an exchange, will be a cheaper option than having to re-book.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure to the same destination up until 60 days after your booked departure date, without having to pay any price differences on any other charges.

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Refunds

Book to travel in Standard and Standard Premier class:

• Up to seven days or more before the date of departure you will need to pay a fee of £25 per person for a one-way / single ticket and £50 per person for a two-way / return ticket - So you will only receive any sum you paid in excess of these sums.
• Less than seven days before the date of departure, tickets are non-refundable - Also applies if you exchanged a ticket to an alternative departure, under seven days ahead.

Book to travel in Premier class:
Up until 60 days after your booked departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

The Eurostar ticket terms summary is here

Seat Reservations

Reservations are mandatory so seats are assigned when booking - But after a booking has been completed, you use the ‘Manage Your Booking’ facility, which can be easily found on the Eurostar website and select specific seats within the travel class you have chosen.

As the fabulous Seat 61 explains here in detail (scroll down to 'Choosing A Seat') some seats on Eurostar services are better than others.

You don't need to have booked the ticket with Eurostar
You will need to enter a Booking Reference number - but other booking agents such as Trainline, Rail Europe, SNCF Connect, B-Europe and NS International, will also include this number on the communication sent to you.

Using Rail Passes on Eurostar:

Rail pass users can now pay reservation fees to travel on Eurostar trains, in a similar manner to other international European high speed trains.

The new rail pass reservation fees are similar to the cheapest single journey ticket prices, but as those cheapest tickets can sell out quickly, it's likely that the rail pass reservation fees will save money.

You can purchase these online with no booking fees with Rail Europe - see this guide on how to do this.
Booking in advance is recommended as it's not unknown for rail pass reservations on Eurostar services to sell out days or weeks in advance, there is evidently limited availability per departure.

Or you can obtain a rail pass reservations without paying a booking fee at Eurostar stations.
However, if you want to do this on the day of travel be prepared to be flexible re: the train you will take.

If you are a UK resident, your rail pass + reservation is only valid if you take a train to the UK on the final day that your pass is valid for.