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London to Basel / Bâle by train
How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey from London to Basel
There are two options for making a journey by train from London to Basel:
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The quickest option is to travel via Paris, but this involves having to make a transfer between stations across the city centre.
Though the trains/connections from Paris arrive at the main station, Basel SBB where connections are available to a swathe of other Swiss destinations including Bern, Biel, Luzern and Interlaken. -
The easier, but slower option is to travel via the main stations in Bruxelles and Frankfurt (Main).
You won't have to leave the stations in order to make the connections, but they are tightly timed (though tickets/reservations can be transferred to subsequent departures in the event of train delays, if you are NOT relying on the final connections of the day).
These trains will arrive at Basel Bad bf, the trains will continue on to Basel SBB station, but that ups the price when travelling on this route.
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Routes
Option 1: travelling via Paris
Journey Summary
6hr 25min - 8hr (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
The Eurostar will arrive in Paris at the Gare Du Nord, but the Lyria train on to Basel will depart from the Gare De Lyon.
This guide explains how to make the transfer between the two stations by RER train.
The London to Basel tickets do not include the transfer across Paris.
Note that the journey option with a total end-to-end travel time of around 6hr 25min will only allow around one hour to make the connection.
The journey options with two transfers:
When looking up this journey on Trainline, you will also see options with '2 changes', which involve making an additional connection as they involve departing on an earlier train from Paris and then connecting into regional trains in Mulhouse or Strasbourg.
The optimum connections in Mulhouse or Strasbourg can be tightly timed, but there are fairly frequent regional (TER) trains on from both cities to Basel and tickets can be used on any alternative departure by these trains if need be.
Mon - Fri = 5 x connections per day
Sat / Sun = 4 x connections per day
Changing trains in: Paris
Tickets
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: 4 months ahead
Trainline will also sell journeys with alternative combinations of trains, so take care when booking; you can also easily compare prices and journey times on the alternative route via Bruxelles/Brussels.
The very cheapest tickets tend to sell out particularly quickly on this route - they're more likely to be available if you can travel on a Tuesday - Thursday, or are happy to set off from London early in the morning.
Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.
Rail Pass Users:
If you will be making this journey with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you can save money by taking the alternative route via Bruxelles.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Trainline | from €79 (approx) |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
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 longer.
At St Pancras International:
Eurostar requests that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets check-in a minimum of 30mins BEFORE departure, though this increased to 45mins on weekends and holidays.
If you have a Business Premier ticket, Eurostar recommends that you only have to check-in 10 mins before departure.
Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with SIX distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France.
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Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Zurich or Bâle/Basel
All trains also call at: Mulhouse-Ville
This is a journey of four distinct parts.
1: Around seven minutes after departure, the train will move on to the high speed line south from Paris and it will then travel at more than 270 km/h for around 1hr 10mins.
The video was taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction, but it gives an idea of the journey experience on this part of the trip.
2. The train switches to conventional tracks north of Dijon, and this is the the most scenic part of the journey
3. Between Dijon and Mulhouse there is another high speed line.
4. Then the final part of the journey from Mulhouse to Basel is back on conventional tracks.
Option 2: travelling via Bruxelles and Frankfurt (Main)
Journey Summary
8hr 40 min (approx) - 9hr 40min (approx)
Daily
Travel Information
The quicker combination of trains involves having to make the awkward transfer across Paris between the Gare Du Nord and Gare De Lyon stations.
However, this is the alternative routing, which only involves having to change trains and NOT having to make a transfer between stations.
Depart London at 06:01 on Monday to Friday or at 08:01 daily and there will be an easily timed connection of around 1hr 15min in Bruxelles between the arrival of a Eurostar from London and the departure of an ICE train on to Frankfurt (Main).
However, if you depart London at 11:04 or 13:01, the end-to-end journey time will be around an hour faster, but the transfer time between trains will only be around 20min and this connection isn't guaranteed.
Rail Pass Users:
If you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or Interrail pass this combination of trains; Eurostar + ICE + ICE, is a much cheaper option than travelling via Paris on the combination of Eurostar + Lyria trains, which you have to take when travelling via the French capital.
That's because rail pass users don't have to pay a rail pass reservation fee on the ICE trains, but the compulsory reservation fee charged to rail pass users on the Lyria trains is comparatively expensive.
Monday to Friday: 4 x connections per day
Saturday to Sunday: 3 x connections per day
Tickets
Note that the Cologne/Koln to Basel ICE trains will arrive in Basel Bad Bahnhof/Bf station before they arrive at Basel SBB station and tickets to Basle Bad Bf will be generally cheaper than booking journeys to Basel SBB.
The connection at Bruxelles-Midi station:
If the Eurostar does arrive in Brussels/Bruxelles too late to make the 20 min (ish) transfer – your London to Cologne/Koln tickets can be swapped free of charge, to a subsequent train on to Cologne/Koln.
If you do have to take the ICE train which departs Bruxelles at 16:22, you can still reach Basel by the end of the day, but you will be making the second connection at Frankfurt (Main) Hbf.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| * |
Train 1
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi or Amsterdam
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 longer.
Most of the departures between London and Bruxelles will be by the e320 trains, but the e3300 trains are usually used on some departures.
The usual calls at either Ebbsfleet or Ashford International stations, have been been temporarily suspended until further notice.
Eurostar requests that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets check-in a minimum of 30mins before departure; though this time increases to 45mins before departure on weekends and holidays.
If you have a Business Premier ticket, Eurostar recommends that you only have to check-in 10 mins before departure
It's not a scenic journey, but it is a journey with six distinct phases and highlights:
1: For most of the first 8 mins of the journey the trains use tunnels to exit London (Stratford International station is located between the tunnels).
2: Then from the right of the train, there are views of the River Thames marshes and of the Queen Elizabeth II road bridge.
3: The third tunnel that the train will pass through is the tunnel under the River Thames.
4: Shortly after Ebbsfleet International station (can only be seen from the right of the train) is the scenic highlight of the journey - the crossing of the River Medway.
5: The train will slow down as it approaches The Channel Tunnel.
Announcements are no longer made that the train is about to enter the tunnel.
The journey through the tunnel will take around 22 mins.
6: There is little of note to be seen from the high speed lines in France and Belgium.
Please support ShowMeTheJourney
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please go here to say thank you.
Train 2
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main) Hbf
Though due to construction work in the Frankfurt area, on many dates until late March this journey will be compromised, because the trains will be terminating at the preceding station in Frankfurt Flughafen.
Departing from Bruxelles-Midi/Brussel-Zuid station:
You will usually* have to pass through security checks before boarding these trains and queues can build up at busy times.
*The security checks are at the entrance to platforms/tracks/voies 3 -6 and these ICE and Thalys trains to Koln are usually scheduled to depart from this part of the station.
But check the departure screens before heading for the security checks, these trains can occasionally be scheduled to leave from platforms/tracks/voies 7 or 8.
This train journey from Bruxelles to Frankfurt is usually a great showcase for 21st century European train travel.
The sleek ICE 3 trains give any journey a wow factor and on virtually all of this route they're either travelling on a custom-built high speed line, or on a conventional railway that has been re-engineered so that the trains can travel faster.
The fastest part of this trip comes between Seigburg/Bonn and Frankfurt Flughafen, when the train will travel at up to 285 km/h on Germany's fastest high speed line.
Train 3
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
Final Destination: Basel SBB
The trains also calls at: Freiburg
Arriving in Basel:
If you're heading to Basel city centre, the quickest journey is usually to leave this train at Basel Bad bf.
There are easy tram connections from Basel Bad bf station to the city centre.
After the train departs from Basel Bad Bf it will go on to call at Basel SBB station.
These trains use the high speed line between Karlsruhe and Offenburg.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.
