All that’s good to know about taking the train from London to Dijon with easy access to ticket, train and station info.
The Eurostar will arrive in Paris at the Gare Du Nord, but the TGV to Dijon 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 Dijon tickets do not include the transfer across Paris.
When making a booking, check the connection time between the arrival at Gare Du Nord and the departure from Gare De Lyon.
The options with an end-to-end journey time of around 5hrs will allow around an hour to make the transfer, ideal if the Eurostar arrives in Paris on time, but this only allows for around 25 - 30mins contingency time in the event of a delay.
Mon - Thurs = 7 x connection per day
Friday= 8 x connections
Saturday= 7 x connections
Sunday= 6 x connections
Changing trains in: Paris
Book Early And Save: Yes
Online bookings open: 90 days ahead (usually)
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.
The price below is for a one way fare; if you're booking a return ticket, it's likely you will be offered a cheaper price in each direction.
A big plus of booking the Eurostar direct on Eurostar.com is that you can access a 'Manage Your Booking' facility - which enables you to change the seat that you will have been initially assigned when making a booking.
Click on the 'train details' for more information.
The different types of ticket summarised
Also worth knowing is that when travelling by Eurostar you can choose between three classes of service, and this also impacts on the exchanges and refunds of what Eurostar refers to as 'Flexible tickets'
If you book Standard or Standard Premier tickets, you can exchange them if need be, to an alternative departure on your booked route; but if you want to transfer your ticket to a new departure less than 7 days before your travel date, you will need to pay an admin fee of £30 for Standard Class tickets, £40 for Standard Premier tickets PLUS the price difference with the new ticket you will be booking.
What's new, in response to the pandemic, is that these £30/40 charges aren't applied if you want to transfer to an alternative departure more than seven days before your travel date.
Business Premier tickets are less restrictive, in response to the pandemic they can now be refunded and they can be exchanged to alternative departures without paying the admin fee, or the price difference.
Eurostar's full ticket terms and conditions are here
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
Eurostar | from £51 | |
Trainline | from £51 | |
SNCF Connect | from €58 | |
Omio | from €58 |
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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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.
The train switches to conventional tracks north of Dijon, and this is the the more scenic part of the journey.
Making the connection between the Eurostar from London and the TGV to Dijon in Lille has the major advantage of avoiding the need to transfer between stations in Paris - which you'll encounter if you take the regular, alternative route via the French capital.
Though the benefits are negated somewhat by the fact that the Eurostar from London will be arriving at Lille Europe station, but the TGV on to Dijon will be departing from Lille Flandres station.
This guide explains how to make the connection in Lille.
Depart daily from London at 15:04 and you will typically arrive in Lille at 17:26
The train on to Dijon is usually scheduled to depart at 18:57, so you'll have enough time to make the transfer, even if the Eurostar runs an hour late.
1 x connection per DAY
Changing trains in: Lille
As the transfer time in Lille is more than hour, the ticket agents won't sell this end-2-end journey via Lille.
You will need to split the booking into London to Lille and Lille to Dijon journeys.
When available both journeys can be booked on Trainline and paid for in one transaction.
Final Destination: Bruxelles-Midi
At St Pancras International
Eurostar REQUESTS that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets check-in a minimum of 30mins before departure, and 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.
The guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.
The trains only call at Ebbsfleet or Ashford International stations to pick up passengers, so these station calls are not included on the departure boards at St Pancras International or announced on the train.
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 line in France.
Final Destination: Mulhouse-Ville
Note that this train departs from Lille Flandres station and NOT from Lille Europe station.
This is the only direct train from Lille to Dijon and it is scheduled to depart from Lille daily at 18:57 and arrive in Dijon at 21:53
If you'd rather arrive in Dijon earlier, then there are are other more frequent journey options, which will sold by the ticket agents.
However, these more frequent, alternative options all involve having to make the transfer across Paris, from the Gare Du Nord where the train from Lille will arrive - and the Gare De Lyon, which is where the train on to Dijon will be departing from.
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.
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.