Train travel from the UK to Europe: Eurostar, Interrail and sleepers

From London St Pancras, a direct Eurostar train reaches Paris, Brussels, Lille and Amsterdam, and a change reaches many more cities. An Interrail pass on Eurostar needs a seat reservation. Border checks for the Schengen area are done at St Pancras before you board.

Eurostar runs the direct trains out of London. Beyond its own cities you change onto a French, Belgian or Swiss operator, or use a rail pass or a night train once you are on the continent. This page is the map of those choices, with a guide for each one.

We sell no tickets and take no money from any rail company. We read the operators' own pages and GOV.UK on 31 October 2026 and quote them with the date. For the cities you can reach, the journey times and the checks before you board, follow the links to London to Paris, London to Amsterdam and Eurostar check-in, passport control and luggage.

Eurostar, trains across Europe says its trains link the UK with France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Its London route pages give the direct journey times in the table below. Bruges is reached with a change onto a Belgian train.

Rotterdam is also served direct, but Eurostar's own pages print two different journey times for it, so we leave it out of the table until they agree. Each route has its own guide: the London to Paris train and the London to Amsterdam train.

Eurostar offers onward journeys in one booking. On Eurostar, connecting trains, it names SNCF trains to Bordeaux, Strasbourg and Lyon, TGV Lyria trains to Geneva and Zurich, and SNCB trains to Bruges and Ghent.

• One booking, separate tickets
  Eurostar says it sends a separate ticket for each leg, with the details for your trip.
• Check the departure board
  At the connecting station you look for your next train on the board and go to the right platform.
• Longer connection
  Eurostar says you can choose a longer transfer during booking if you want more time between trains.
• Changing plans
  Eurostar says you can exchange or cancel individual legs after booking.

For where to go, see our holiday destinations hub, which lists the cities you can reach by train from London.

The Interrail, passes guide lets you choose a Global Pass for several countries or a One Country Pass, and asks for your country of residence to show the passes available to you. The pass is not a ticket for everything: seat reservations, other public transport and accommodation are not included.

Interrail says Eurostar limits the number of seats available to pass holders, so that regular travellers are not priced out. Reserve early if your dates are fixed. How a pass works for a UK resident, travel day by travel day, is on our Interrail guide for UK travellers.

Travelling to or from London, Eurostar says there are passport and luggage checks before you board, so you can step off the train at the other end. GOV.UK says that if you enter the Schengen area through Eurostar at St Pancras International, any information is taken at the border before you leave the UK.

Baggage is simpler than at an airport. Eurostar, luggage says a standard ticket includes 2 pieces of luggage and 1 small item of hand luggage, with a maximum length of 85 cm on routes to and from London and no strict weight limit. The details of check-in and the border are in our Eurostar guide, and the passport and stay rules country by country are on entry requirements for British passport holders.

Interrail says Eurostar is the only train that crosses the English Channel into Europe, so a sleeper journey from the UK means a Eurostar leg first and the night train from a station on the continent. Nightjet, run by the Austrian railway ÖBB, is the operator whose own pages we read.

• Three categories
  Nightjet, comfort categories lists a sleeper cabin, a couchette or mini cabin, and a seating carriage.
• Passes
  Nightjet, Interrail and Eurail passes says Eurail and Interrail Global Passes can be used on Nightjet and EuroNight, depending on validity, with a reservation fee for each pass holder on every journey.
• What we do not list
  Which night routes run on a given date changes, so we name none here. Check the operator's booking page, and see our sleeper trains guide for the routes reached from the UK.

The train is one way across the Channel. The ferry and the car are the others. We cover the routes and port check-in on ferry to France from the UK and the licence and car papers on driving in Europe from the UK.

• Which train goes from London to Paris?

  Eurostar runs direct trains from London St Pancras International to Paris. Eurostar prints a journey time of 2 hours 16 minutes on its London to Paris page.

• Is there a direct train from London to Amsterdam?

  Yes. Eurostar prints a direct journey of 4 hours 19 minutes from London to Amsterdam on its route page.

• How early should I arrive at St Pancras?

  Eurostar recommends arriving 75 minutes before departure in Standard and Plus, 45 minutes in Premier and 60 minutes for accessible travel. It says the timings are guidance and can change, so check your ticket.

• What passport rules apply on a train to the Schengen area?

  GOV.UK says your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before the date you arrive and must be valid for at least 3 months after the date you plan to leave the Schengen area.

• Do I have to register for EES at St Pancras?

  GOV.UK says you may need to register biometric details such as fingerprints and a photo, at no cost. If you enter the Schengen area through Eurostar at St Pancras, the information is taken at the border before you leave the UK.

• Can I use an Interrail pass on Eurostar?

  Yes, with a seat reservation. Interrail says reservations are mandatory for pass holders on Eurostar, open up to six months before travel, and that seats for pass holders are limited.

• What luggage can I take on Eurostar?

  Eurostar says a standard ticket includes 2 pieces of luggage and 1 small item of hand luggage. The maximum length is 85 cm on routes to and from London, and there is no strict weight limit.

• Can I take a sleeper train from the UK?

  Not directly. Interrail says Eurostar is the only train that crosses the English Channel into Europe, so a night train starts on the continent after a Eurostar leg.

• How many days can I stay in the Schengen area?

  Eurostar says you do not need a visa for up to 90 days within any 180-day period in EU countries, and that most countries count the 90 days across all of them as a group.