London to Strasbourg by train

How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey from London to Strasbourg

There are typically two options for making the journey by high speed trains from London to Strasbourg:

1: travelling via Paris can be a cheaper option, but you will need to make the transfer across the French capital between the Gare Du Nord, which is where the Eurostar will arrive, and the Gare de l'est the departure station of the TGV train.

2: Or if you make the connection in Lille, you can make the transfer within Lille Europe station.

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Routes

Option 1: travelling via Paris

Travel Information

The Eurostar will arrive in Paris at the Gare Du Nord, but the train on to Strasbourg will depart from the Gare de l'Est.
This guide explains how to make the transfer between the two stations.

When making a a booking, check the connection time between the arrival at Gare Du Nord and the departure from Gare de l'Est.
Due to the more limited number of connections available many of the end-to-end options currently allow more two hours between trains, so if the Eurostar arrives on time an option will be to have something to eat/drink in a brasserie by the gare de l'Est.

Or you can avoid having to making to make your own way between these two stations in Paris, if you opt to take the alternative route via Lille.

Current timetable:
Mon to Friday = 11 x connections per day
*Sat /Sun = 8 x connections per day

Changing trains in: Paris

Tickets

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: 90 days ahead

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.

In the unlikely event of the Eurostar arriving too late in Paris to make the booked connection, tickets can be transferred free of charge to a subsequent departure on to Strasbourg.

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

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 via B-Europe - or they ARE now available on the Eurostar website.
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.

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 from the UK on the first day that your pass is valid for and return to the UK on the final day that you will be using a pass.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Eurostar from £57

Eurostar Guide

In addition to direct journeys by Eurostar trains, the Eurostar website also sells

  • 'Any station in Belgium' tickets; the key feature of these tickets is that they live up to their name, so how distant your Belgian destination is and the journey time doesn't impact on the ticket price.
  • Journeys to SOME major cities in France not served directly by Eurostar– including Avignon, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nice, Nantes and Rennes.
  • Journeys to destinations in Germany that are served by Thalys trains from Bruxelles, including these cities; Aachen, Cologne/Koeln, and Dusseldorf.

Eurostar also sells seat reservations to users of Eurail and InterRail passes without booking fees.

Trainline from €65

Trainline Guide

SNCF Connect from €65

SNCF Connect Guide

SNCF is the national rail operator in France and not so long ago it recently simplified both the range of tickets and the term and conditions of using them.
Therefore the cheapest tickets also become more flexible too.

Other improvements included a simple integration of travelling with bicycles and rail pass users being able to book reservations for national journeys, without paying booking fees.

And it also recently launched SNCF Connect as replacement for its Oui.SNCF booking service.
You can set up a low price alert to let you know when the cheapest price is available for a future journey.

Something else to look out for is that simplest way of travelling with tickets is to use the SNCF Connect App, as booked tickets can therefore be stored on your mobile device, which can then be shown to the train conductors as proof of purchase.

SNCF Connect on Google Play

SNCF Connect in the App (Apple) store

SNCF also operates RailEurope, which is in effect a dedicated online booking service for making bookings from outside of Europe.
If you reside outside of Europe you may discover that SNCF Connect rejects phone numbers or card numbers, but RailEurope won't do so.
Though RailEurope will add booking fees when making a purchase

Journey Features

High Speed (total journey)

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:

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.

The crossing of the River Medway - seen from the right of the train The crossing of the River Medway - seen from the right of the train
The Queen Elizabeth II road bridge seen from the right of the train The Queen Elizabeth II road bridge seen from the right of the train
From the high speed line between the tunnel and Lille From the high speed line between the tunnel and Lille

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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Journey Features

Scenic - NoHigh Speed (total journey)

Good to Know

Note that these trains depart from the Gare de l'Est in Paris.

Travelling on these trains from Paris to Strasbourg:

Final Destination: Strasbourg or Colmar or Stuttgart or Frankfurt or Munchen

Most of these fast trains between Paris and Strasbourg are non-stop - they're the departures with a journey time of 1hr 45 mins.
They spend some of the journey travelling at more than 300 km/h on the fastest high speed line in France.

On Sunday to Friday three of these non-stop trains are the ICE trains, making their way from Paris to Frankfurt via Strasbourg - and on Saturdays two of the departures are by these ICE trains.

On this route within France , the terms for using a rail pass on these international ICE trains, are the same as on the TGV InOui services.

Our understanding is that the double-deck Duplex trains are now used for all of the TGV InOui departures on this route  - but here's a guide to how you can confirm which type of TGV train you will be travelling by.

A typical view from the Paris - Strasbourg high speed line A typical view from the Paris - Strasbourg high speed line

It is not a scenically interesting train journey from Paris to Strasbourg.

What  gives this journey its wow factor is that for some of this trip you'll be travelling at more than 300 km/h on the the fastest high speed line in France!

The high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg is now fully open - hence the  fastest ever journey times on this route!

Option 2: travelling via Lille

Travel Information

Making the connection between the Eurostar from London and the TGV to Strasbourg at Lille Europe has the major advantage of avoiding the need to between stations in Paris.

You'll need to make your own way from the Gare Du Nord to the Gare de l'Est if you opt to take the alternative route via Paris

The train which typically departs London at 11:04 daily usually has a conveniently timed 36 minute connection into a train on to Strasbourg, hence this option is usually available for booking as an end-to-end journey by the ticket agents.
However, because the transfer time in Lille, when taking the 15:04 from London is more than 90 minutes, this combination of trains can require the booking separate tickets for each part of the journey.

2 x connections per day

Changing trains in: Lille

Tickets

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: 90 days ahead

The search results for the London to Strasbourg journeys on the these ticket agents, combine this journey via Lille with the alternative connections via Paris.

The connections via Lille are from the trains which typically depart from St Pancras International at 11:04 and 15:04.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
Eurostar from £78 (approx)

Eurostar Guide

In addition to direct journeys by Eurostar trains, the Eurostar website also sells

  • 'Any station in Belgium' tickets; the key feature of these tickets is that they live up to their name, so how distant your Belgian destination is and the journey time doesn't impact on the ticket price.
  • Journeys to SOME major cities in France not served directly by Eurostar– including Avignon, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nice, Nantes and Rennes.
  • Journeys to destinations in Germany that are served by Thalys trains from Bruxelles, including these cities; Aachen, Cologne/Koeln, and Dusseldorf.

Eurostar also sells seat reservations to users of Eurail and InterRail passes without booking fees.

Trainline from €89 (approx)

Trainline Guide

Journey Features

High Speed (total journey)

Good to Know

Final Destination: Bruxelles-Mid or Amsterdam

At St Pancras

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.

Our guide to taking a Eurostar from London is here.

The Queen Elizabeth II road bridge seen from the right of the train The Queen Elizabeth II road bridge seen from the right of the train
Crossing The Medway Viaduct Crossing The Medway Viaduct
On the high speed line in France On the high speed line in France

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.

Journey Features

High Speed (partial journey)

Good to Know

Final Destination: Strasbourg

These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Lille daily at 11:25 and 19:09.

All trains also call at: Champagne-Ardenne TGV and Lorraine TGV

These trains spend the entire journey on a high speed line, but it is primarily the speed that gives this journey its wow factor.

It's not a particularly scenic train ride, so having something to watch or read with you is recommended.

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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.

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