London to Paris: train or flight?

On paper the plane wins easily. London to Paris is about 75 minutes in the air; the train takes just over two hours. In practice almost nobody who has done both regularly chooses the plane, because the flight is the short part of a long morning and the train is very nearly the whole journey.

Here is the comparison that actually decides it.

Door to door, not station to station

Eurostar runs from London St Pancras International to Paris Gare du Nord in about 2 hours 16 minutes. Both stations are in the middle of their cities and both sit directly on the metro and mainline networks.

Eurostar asks Standard and Plus passengers to arrive about 75 minutes before departure at St Pancras, and 75 to 90 minutes at Gare du Nord, with the gate closing 30 minutes before the train leaves. Premier passengers are asked for 45 minutes in London and 45 to 60 in Paris. So a realistic central-London-to-central-Paris total is around 3 hours 30 minutes, and you spend two hours of it sitting still with a table and a window.

Now the same sum for flying, using Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle:

That is a two-hour gap in favour of the train, and it is stable: it does not depend on getting a cheap fare or a lucky connection.

When flying is still the right call

There are real cases. Take the plane when:

• You are connecting. If Paris is a stop on the way to somewhere further, and the onward flight leaves from CDG or Orly, flying into the same airport on one ticket protects the connection. Arriving at Gare du Nord and crossing Paris to an airport does not.
• You are starting from west or south London, or from another UK city. Heathrow and Gatwick are much easier to reach from parts of the south east than St Pancras is, and a domestic connection onto a Paris flight beats a domestic train into London followed by a Eurostar.
• Eurostar is sold out or priced badly for your dates. Eurostar has a genuine monopoly on the route and prices accordingly at short notice. A last-minute fare can be several times a cheap advance one, at which point a budget flight plus transfers may genuinely be cheaper — just count the transfers honestly.
• You want Orly or Beauvais rather than central Paris. Uncommon, but it happens.

The Beauvais trap

Some low-cost flights sold as “Paris” land at Beauvais–Tillé, roughly 85 km north of the city. The official coach into Porte Maillot takes well over an hour before you have started crossing Paris, and it runs to the flight schedule rather than continuously. A fare that looks half the price of Eurostar can easily lose on both money and time once the coach, the metro and the waiting are added. Check the airport code on the booking — BVA, not CDG or ORY — before you compare anything.

What about luggage?

This is the quiet advantage of the train and it is a large one. Eurostar's standard allowance is generous compared with a short-haul airline fare, there is no separate checked-bag charge to add, and nothing is weighed at a desk. You carry your bags on and put them on a rack. For anyone travelling with a big suitcase, a musical instrument, or a child's worth of equipment, this difference alone tends to settle the argument.

Booking notes

• Book early. Eurostar prices in tiers that sell out in order. The cheapest fares appear months ahead and disappear; there is no last-minute discount market on this route.
• Your ticket is for one named train. Standard fares cannot be used on a different departure. If your plans might move, the difference in price to a flexible fare is worth pricing rather than assuming.
• Border control happens before you board, at the departure station, for both directions. That is what the 75 minutes is for. There is no passport queue at the far end.
• Gare du Nord is busy. Allow a few extra minutes to get out of it and onto the metro, particularly at peak times.

The short answer

For a trip that starts and ends in central London and central Paris, take the train. It is faster door to door, the luggage rules are kinder, and the failure modes are milder — a delayed train leaves you in a station rather than airside at an airport an hour from the city you wanted. Fly when Paris is a connection rather than a destination, when you are starting a long way from St Pancras, or when the Eurostar fare for your dates has gone through the roof.

Common questions

How long is the Eurostar from London to Paris?

About 2 hours 16 minutes between London St Pancras International and Paris Gare du Nord. Add the recommended 75-minute arrival time before departure for a realistic station-to-station figure of roughly three and a half hours.

How early do I have to arrive for Eurostar?

Eurostar recommends 75 minutes before departure for Standard and Plus passengers at London St Pancras, and 75 to 90 minutes at Paris Gare du Nord. Premier passengers are asked for 45 minutes in London and 45 to 60 minutes in Paris. The gate closes 30 minutes before departure in both directions.

Is the train cheaper than flying to Paris?

It depends entirely on how far ahead you book. Booked early, Eurostar is often cheaper than a flight once airport transfers and baggage are included. Booked at the last minute it can be considerably more expensive, because there is no discount market for walk-up Eurostar fares.

Which Paris airport should I avoid?

Beauvais–Tillé (BVA) is marketed as Paris but sits about 85 km north of the city, with a coach transfer of well over an hour. If you are comparing a flight fare against the train, check whether it lands at BVA before treating it as a Paris flight.

Sources

Journey times, operators and transfer options on this page were checked against these sources on 11 September 2026. Operators change timetables and fares without notice — always confirm on the operator’s own site before you commit to a plan.

• Eurostar — London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord timetable
• Eurostar — when to arrive at the station (check-in and gate closing times)
• Eurostar — London to Paris route information