How to take a thrilling high speed rail journey Milan to London

Trenitalia has introduced its top tier Frecciarossa 1000 trains to the Milan to Paris route and the early morning departure, which is typically scheduled to leave Milano Centrale at 06:20, has an easily timed daily connection into the Eurostar which is usually scheduled to depart from Paris at 15:13.

Arriving at the Gare De Lyon

You will need to make the transfer from the Gare De Lyon, where the Frecce train will arrive, and the Gare Du Nord, from where the Eurostar will depart.

Checking-in at the Gare Du Nord:

At the Gare Du Nord the check in and waiting area for the Eurostar (the 'Hall Du Londres') is at an upper level, above the main concourse.
The access to this upper level is some distance from the voie/platforms/tracks that the Eurostars depart from.
The escalators leading up to Eurostar departures are located at the rear wall of the station building, on the opposite side of the concourse to voies/platforms/tracks 14 - 15.

When the service is operating normally, the transfer across Paris by the RER train will take less than 25 mins, from stepping off the TGV at the Gare De Lyon to being on the concourse at the Gare Du Nord.
So if the Frecce train from Milano arrives in Paris on time and the RER is as it should be, you will be at the Gare Du Nord around one hour 15mins prior to the departure of the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes before departure.
But because the access to Eurostar check-in won't be closed off until 30 mins prior to departure, being at the Gare Du Nord 75 minutes prior to departure, as per the usual schedule, will allow enough time to make the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Business Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 30 minutes before departure, with access to check-in being closed off from 15 mins prior to departure.

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of of the travel date

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for both trains.

Your ticket will not include the RER train across Paris from the Gare De Lyon to the Gare Du Nord.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

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.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, 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 the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

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.

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.

The impact of the connections

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.
So as 'end-to-end' tickets booked in one transaction for this journey won't be classified by Eurostar as 'through tickets', you may need to re-book tickets for the Eurostar at the Gare Du Nord, in the unlikely event of a delay to the Frecce train from Milano, causing you to miss the Eurostar you are booked on to.
Trenitalia, which operates the Frecce train is not a member of Railteam, so its Hop On The Next Train policy does not apply.

Because Eurostar in effect classifies the the tickets for the Frecce train and its train as separate bookings even when booked in one transaction, you can de-risk the need to re-book the Eurostar, at a last-minute more expensive price, by making two separate bookings - for the Frecce train from Milan and a later Eurostar on to London.

The first TGV departure of the day, which typically leaves Milano Porta Garibaldi at 06:00 also connects into the same Eurostar departure on from Paris as the Frecce train from Milano Centrale (option 1)

It is due into the Gare De Lyon less than 15 mins before the Frecce train will be due to arrive there, so it connects into the same train on to London.

Though typically on a Sunday, it is possible to depart from Milano Porta Garibaldi on a TGV departing at 12:10 and connect in Paris into a Eurostar.
The connection is into the final Eurostar of the day on from the Gare Du Nord, but the usual timetable allows more than two hours to make the transfer across Paris.
This later TGV typically has a connection available at Torino Porta Susa from the first Frecce train of the day on the Napoli - Roma - Firenze - Torino route; but connections from these cities to London in a single day by train aren't available on Monday to Saturday.

Arriving at the Gare De Lyon

You will need to make the transfer from the Gare De Lyon, where the Frecce train will arrive, and the Gare Du Nord, from where the Eurostar will depart.

Checking-in at the Gare Du Nord:

At the Gare Du Nord the check in and waiting area for the Eurostar (the 'Hall Du Londres') is at an upper level, above the main concourse.
The access to this upper level is some distance from the voie/platforms/tracks that the Eurostars depart from.
The escalators leading up to Eurostar departures are located at the rear wall of the station building, on the opposite side of the concourse to voies/platforms/tracks 14 - 15.

When the service is operating normally, the transfer across Paris by the RER train will take less than 25 mins, from stepping off the TGV at the Gare De Lyon to being on the concourse at the Gare Du Nord.
So if the Frecce train from Milano arrives in Paris on time and the RER is as it should be, you will be at the Gare Du Nord around one hour 30mins prior to the departure of the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes before departure.
But because the access to Eurostar check-in won't be closed off until 30 mins prior to departure, being at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes prior to departure, as per the usual schedule, will allow enough time to make the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Business Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 30 minutes before departure, with access to check-in being closed off from 15 mins prior to departure.

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of of the travel date

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for both trains.

Your ticket will not include the RER train across Paris from the Gare De Lyon to the Gare Du Nord.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

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.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, 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 the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

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.

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.

The impact of the connections

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

Though both SNCF, which operates the TGV train, and Eurostar are members of The Railteam Alliance which offers a Hop on the next available train (HOTNAT) policy.
It 'allows travelers to take the next high-speed service leaving from the same station as originally planned when a delay on or cancellation of a preceding Railteam member’s high-speed service prevents them from making their originally-planned connection. This service is free of charge and is subject to the following conditions:

• HOTNAT only applies at the station at which the passenger originally planned to change trains and in cases of train delays and train cancellations.
• The approval of HOTNAT is subject to the available capacity on board each train. Seats are not guaranteed'.

So 'issues regarding missed connection and cancellations' should be 'handled' by Railteam's HOTNAT policy.
Though HOTNAT can't be applied if the arrival into Paris is after the final Eurostar of the day has departed for London.

This journey can currently be booked

Depart from Milano Centrale at 07:20 and you will have more than an hour to make the connection between trains in Basel - and will be scheduled to have 2hr 30mins between the arrival in Paris and the departure of the Eurostar.
This journey with an end-to-end time of around 13hr 20mins, can typically be booked on Trainline

Or depart from Milano Centrale at 11;20 and the end-to-end journey time will be shorter at 12hr 10mins, but the time between the arrival in Paris and the departure of the Eurostar will be around 1hr 35mins - and the connection will be into the final departure of the day on to London.
This journey option can typically be booked with RailEurope.

Alternative journey options

When the usual schedule is disrupted the connection between trains in Switzerland may need to be made at Zurich HB station instead of in Basel.

Arriving at the Gare De Lyon

You will need to make the transfer from the Gare De Lyon, where the Frecce train will arrive, and the Gare Du Nord, from where the Eurostar will depart.

Checking-in at the Gare Du Nord:

At the Gare Du Nord the check in and waiting area for the Eurostar (the 'Hall Du Londres') is at an upper level, above the main concourse.
The access to this upper level is some distance from the voie/platforms/tracks that the Eurostars depart from.
The escalators leading up to Eurostar departures are located at the rear wall of the station building, on the opposite side of the concourse to voies/platforms/tracks 14 - 15.

When the service is operating normally, the transfer across Paris by the RER train will take less than 25 mins, from stepping off the TGV at the Gare De Lyon to being on the concourse at the Gare Du Nord.
So if the Lyria train from Basel arrives in Paris on time and the RER is as it should be, you will either:

• be at the Gare Du Nord around 2hrs prior to the departure of the Eurostar if you depart Milano at 07:20; or
• around 1hr 5 min prior to the departure of the Eurostar if you depart Milano at 11:20.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes before departure.
But because the access to Eurostar check-in won't be closed off until 30 mins prior to departure, being at the Gare Du Nord more than one hour prior to departure, as per the usual schedule, will allow enough time to make the Eurostar.

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of of the travel date

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for all trains.

Your ticket will not include the RER train across Paris from the Gare De Lyon to the Gare Du Nord.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

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.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, 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 the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

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.

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.

The impact of the connections

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

Though both Lyria and Eurostar are members of The Railteam Alliance which offers a Hop on the next available train (HOTNAT) policy.
It 'allows travelers to take the next high-speed service leaving from the same station as originally planned when a delay on or cancellation of a preceding Railteam member’s high-speed service prevents them from making their originally-planned connection. This service is free of charge and is subject to the following conditions:

• HOTNAT only applies at the station at which the passenger originally planned to change trains and in cases of train delays and train cancellations.
• The approval of HOTNAT is subject to the available capacity on board each train. Seats are not guaranteed'.

So 'issues regarding missed connection and cancellations' should be 'handled' by Railteam's HOTNAT policy.
Though HOTNAT can't be applied if the arrival into Paris is after the final Eurostar of the day has departed for London.

This journey can currently be booked

Depart from Milano Centrale at 08:20 and you will have around 40 mins to change trains in Lausanne - and will be scheduled to have 2hr 5mins between the arrival in Paris and the onward departure of the Eurostar.

Arriving at the Gare De Lyon

You will need to make the transfer from the Gare De Lyon, where the Frecce train will arrive, and the Gare Du Nord, from where the Eurostar will depart.

Checking-in at the Gare Du Nord:

At the Gare Du Nord the check in and waiting area for the Eurostar (the 'Hall Du Londres') is at an upper level, above the main concourse.
The access to this upper level is some distance from the voie/platforms/tracks that the Eurostars depart from.
The escalators leading up to Eurostar departures are located at the rear wall of the station building, on the opposite side of the concourse to voies/platforms/tracks 14 - 15.

When the service is operating normally, the transfer across Paris by the RER train will take less than 25 mins, from stepping off the TGV at the Gare De Lyon to being on the concourse at the Gare Du Nord.
So if the Lyria train from Lausanne arrives in Paris on time and the RER is as it should be, you will be at the Gare Du Nord around 90 mins prior to the departure of the Eurostar.

Eurostar recommends that holders of Standard Class And Standard Premier tickets should arrive at the Gare Du Nord 90 minutes before departure.
But because the access to Eurostar check-in won't be closed off until 30 mins prior to departure, the train from Lausanne can arrive in Paris around an hour late and you should still make the connection in time

The Eurostar on to London:

Final Destination: London St Pancras

Note that these trains will no longer be calling at Ashford International or Ebbsfleet International, until an unspecified date likely to be in 2025 at the earliest.

Note that London is in a different time zone to mainland Europe, it is one hour behind; hence what can seem like a discrepancy between the journey time and the interval between the departure and arrival times.

Our guide to arriving by Eurostar in London is here.

Book Early And Save: Yes

Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of of the travel date

Eurostar does not sell tickets for this journey.

Seat reservations are automatically included when booking tickets for all trains.

Your ticket will not include the RER train across Paris from the Gare De Lyon to the Gare Du Nord.

Eurostar train ticket terms summary

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.

Book to travel in Premier class:
The booked date and time can be exchanged to a different departure up until the end of the previous day, 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 the end of the day before departure date, tickets can be refunded at no additional cost

Seat Reservations on the Eurostar

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.

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.

The impact of the connections

Making the connection in Paris:

There is relatively new E.U. legislation which protects travellers against financial loss in the event of missed connections due to train delays, but it only applies to 'through tickets'.
The Eurostar terms and conditions specifically state that when booking journeys which combine Eurostar + Thalys trains 'through tickets' will be issued.
However, 'for all other journeys that combine a Eurostar Service and a service provided by another carrier(s), including when purchased in a single commercial transaction, those tickets will be separate contracts and issues regarding delays, missed connections, cancellations, compensation, and the management of aftersales will be handled accordingly'.

Though both Lyria and Eurostar are members of The Railteam Alliance which offers a Hop on the next available train (HOTNAT) policy.
It 'allows travelers to take the next high-speed service leaving from the same station as originally planned when a delay on or cancellation of a preceding Railteam member’s high-speed service prevents them from making their originally-planned connection. This service is free of charge and is subject to the following conditions:

• HOTNAT only applies at the station at which the passenger originally planned to change trains and in cases of train delays and train cancellations.
• The approval of HOTNAT is subject to the available capacity on board each train. Seats are not guaranteed'.

So 'issues regarding missed connection and cancellations' should be 'handled' by Railteam's HOTNAT policy.
Though HOTNAT can't be applied if the arrival into Paris is after the final Eurostar of the day has departed for London.