How to take a rail journey from London to Canterbury

Final Destination: Margate

All trains also call at: Stratford International and Ashford International

Taking this route from St Pancras station in London to Canterbury is the quickest option for a train journey between the two cities.

Departing from St Pancras International:

ShowMeTheJourney’s guide to departing from St Pancras International by train has insights into how to take a quicker route into the station when arriving by the Northern and Piccadilly lines of the Underground (following the signs to the Euston Road exit is recommended).
However, ignore this when you’ll be heading for these Southeastern trains.
Follow the signs which simply state ‘Trains’ when arriving at St Pancras by the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines.
Then once you have exited through the ticket gates in the Underground station, you will find a passage way which leads into the main station.

Towards the end of this passage way on the right-hand side, there are some elevators which lead directly up to the part of St Pancras International station used by the Southeastern trains, so they provide a short-cut.
Or if you carry on to the end of the passage way, you can use the escalators which lead up to the ‘market’ area of St Pancras International station.
The Southeastern concourse is on the level above this area, the escalators leading up to it are to the right of the branch of Starbucks.

When arriving by Underground on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, you need to head to the far end of St Pancras station in order to access the Southeastern trains.
The least confusing route is to turn right once you’ve exited through the ticket barriers into the part of the Underground station that these line use.
Then over to the left, then you’ll then see a long-ish passage way, towards the end on its right-hand side it houses the elevators leading up to the Southeastern concourse, and at its end are the escalators leading up into the mainline station.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

If you know that you’ll want to depart from St Pancras International station, when looking up a journey on the Southeastern website, it’s best to select ‘London St Pancras’ as the From station and ‘Canterbury West’ as the To station.
The search results will then only feature the trains which take this route.

However, if travelling at the cheapest possible price when making a train journey from London to Canterbury is your key criteria;

• and you can be flexible regarding which station you depart from,
• and don't mind which of the two stations in the city you arrive at, Canterbury East or Canterbury West,
  ...it’s best to use ‘London Terminals’ as the From station and ‘Canterbury East or West' as the To station, when looking up a journey (and clicking the see all fares prompt below the search results, when it's an option).

By using those ‘From’ and ‘To’ options, you can access all the ticketing options for a London to Canterbury train journey
Tickets are typically always more expensive, when taking this route from St Pancras, as a premium for travelling on the high speed line is automatically included in the ticket price.
So you can check to see how much you can save when booking from the stations other than St Pancras.

When travelling from central London discounted Advance tickets are made available on all three routes; though they are taken off sale at 23:59 on the previous day.
Though as is typical when using Advance tickets, if you book them you will then be committed to travelling by the specific departure(s) you have chosen.

If you’ll be commencing a journey from London to Canterbury in the area around London Bridge station, or if your starting point has easy access to the Jubilee or Northern lines of the Underground, then taking this route can have a similar end-to-end journey time to taking the alternative high-speed trains from St Pancras.

The time spent on the train will be around 40 minutes longer, but an end-to-end journey when travelling via London Bridge can take a similar amount of time, once you factor in how long it will take you to reach each respective station in London that the trains to Canterbury will depart from.

To give an idea, the journey from London Bridge to the part of the St Pancras station used by the trains to Canterbury, will take around 20 minutes if you take a Thameslink train (which will require a separate ticket, if you won’t be using an Oyster card), or around 25 mins by the Northern Line.

And if you will be buying tickets at the station, this route from London Bridge is typically cheaper than travelling from St Pancras, because a premium for using the high speed line on that route, is included in the price of tickets.

Boarding at Charing Cross

These trains commence their journeys at Charing Cross station and the journey time from there to Canterbury is 1hr 43min, but the trains on the alternative high speed route from St Pancras are around 50 mins faster.

The trains from St Pancras usually depart at similar times to these trains, so if you were to take the Underground to St Pancras from Charing Cross; and then the trains from St Pancras, the end-to-end journey time will be at last 20 mins faster; despite the need to transfer between Underground lines at Leicester Square.

So boarding these trains at Charing Cross station can be a good option, if the starting point of your journey is within easy walking distance of that station and you don’t want to bother with the effort of heading over to St Pancras, in order to save 20 minutes.

However, if Charing Cross is a convenient departure station, you can also usually save money, as tickets are typically cheaper on the trains which don't take the high speed route.

Boarding at Waterloo East:

After departure from Charing Cross and prior to calling at London Bridge, these trains will call at Waterloo (East) station; which is linked to the main Waterloo station.
So if you’ll be continuing a journey to Canterbury from a train which arrives at Waterloo station, or commencing a journey from the area around Waterloo, including the South Bank arts complex, you’ll have an easier journey compared to heading over to St Pancras in order to take a high speed train.
There is no direct Underground line between Waterloo and St Pancras, you will need to interchange at Leicester Square, so the transfer to the part of the station at St Pancras used by the hi-speed trains to Canterbury will take 25 – 30 mins.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

If you know that you’ll want to depart from London Bridge, Charing Cross or Waterloo, then when looking up a journey on the Southeastern website, it’s best to select the specific London terminal as the From Station and ‘Canterbury West’ as the To station.
The search results will then only feature the trains which take this route.

Though if you want to compare prices with the hi-speed trains from St Pancras, it’s best to use ‘London Terminals’ as the From station and ‘Canterbury West' as the To station, when looking up a journey.
When using 'London Terminals you may see a prompt below the search results, asking if you want to see all fares by any route; and if you do, click on this in order to update the search results.

Tickets are typically more expensive, when taking the alternative route from St Pancras, as a premium for travelling on the high speed line is automatically included in the ticket price.

The trains on the alternative high speed route from St Pancras have a journey time that's 35 min faster than these trains from Victoria.
However, when factoring in the need to head from the Victoria area to the part of St Pancras station used by those other trains to Canterbury, the difference between the end-to-end journey will only be around 10-15 mins.

So if the starting point of your journey in central London is conveniently located for Victoria, taking this route by train to Canterbury becomes the logical option.
Particularly as the ticket prices will be typically cheaper than the trains from St Pancras, regardless of whether you book online ahead, or book last minute at the station.
Though if possible target the trains which leave at 40 mins passed each hour, as they’re faster.

Though before committing to this route, it’s worth checking the location of your final destination in Canterbury.
Those trains from St Pancras, as well as the trains on yet another route, which depart from Charing Cross, London Bridge and Waterloo (East) stations, all arrive at Canterbury West station, which is on the other side of the city centre to the station named Canterbury East, that these trains from Victoria use.
Though if you’re heading to the cathedral, it doesn’t particularly matter which of the two stations you arrive at.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: 3 months ahead of the travel date

If you know that you’ll want to depart from Victoria, then when looking up a journey on the Southeastern website, it’s best to select it as the From Station and ‘Canterbury East’ as the To station.
The search results will then only feature the trains which take this route.

Though if you want to compare prices with the hi-speed trains from St Pancras, it’s best to use ‘London Terminals’ as the From station and ‘Canterbury West' as the To station, when looking up a journey.

Tickets are typically more expensive, when taking the alternative route from St Pancras, as a premium for travelling on the high speed line is automatically included in the ticket price.