Shrink

Hi All
First - thanks for all the help in the past - I really needed it. Now a new (and hopefully very simple) question. We are flying into Heathrow in May and take a train to Paris. According to Rail Europe, we can get a train at the Heathrow airport. I cant find any evidence of rail service on the Heathrow websites. Question: Can one indeed get off an international flight, go thru customs - etc., and walk to the train station to get a train to Paris. Secondly (ok - two questions) how long should one allow between landing and getting on a train?? We land at 9:35am and there is a train to Paris at 11:05.
Thanks again for your help.
Shrink
ps: Have I heard somewhere that Heathrow opened up a new Terminal recently that is humongous?

flanneruk

No you can't get a train to Paris from Heathrow.

The Heathrow Express will take you to Paddington station in 15-20 mins. At 1100 or therabouts, you can get a taxi from Paddington to St Pancras (the only station in London for Paris) in about 30 mins, allowing time to get to and from the cab ranks. You need to check in on most tickets 30 mins before departure, so thge earliest train you could make would be around 1200 - arriving in Paris around 1430.

But why bother? They've got planes from Heathrow

dexters

Hi Shrink,

The EuroStar leaves from Kings Cross/St. Pancras station. You can indeed take a train from Heathrow to the station, although it is somewhat of a pain.
You can take the Heathrow Express, which is a 15 minute fast train to Paddington. A one way journey is about £15. There is also the Heathrow Connect, which has more stops and is a longer journey time.
Check: https://www.heathrowexpress.com/ From Paddington, you can then just hop on the Circle or Hammersmith & City line to get to KC. That journey should only be about £2.

Your other option would be to take the Piccadilly line from Heathrow, but that will take forever.

However, I think that only allowing two hours is going to be very tight. You'll need about an hour or so to clear customs, then you'll have to collect your luggage, hoof it to the train station, etc.
Just the walk from the gate to customs is a good 20 minutes. If you land at 9:30, I think a noon train is much more feasible.

Terminal 4 only opened this past week, so I can't comment on it yet.

Good luck..have a great trip!

janisj

The trip from LHR to St Pancras is a true pain - and will involve a long walk/with luggage at the airport, then a shorter walk to the taxi rank at Paddington, and then to the Eurostar at St Pancras (dexters' route involves transferring to the tube - not another train - and is an even worse pain)

The Eurostar is WONDERFUL - but inly if you are already sstaying in London. It is not easy, fast or convenient if you are trying to catch it after landing at LHR or LGW.

So w/ an arrival at LHR, it makes more sense time/convenience/money-wise to just take a flight right from LHR to CDG.

AAFrequentFlyer

Correct me if I'm wrong, but won't the Piccadilly Line take the OP from Heathrow to King's Cross/St.Pancras without any changes?

rogeruktm

Perhaps a private car service might be another option? Thinking out loud I think that is what I would do as it sure would cut out the walking time. Still, I sure wouldn't even think about managing the 11:05 to Paris.

flanneruk

The fastest way from LHR to KX at 1100 is the Heathrow Express plus taxi.

There are loads of reasons for not travelling that way, and other times of the day the tube is faster. But the crucial point for this poster is that he CANNOT make the 1105 train.

Personally, I think it's nuts to faff about with trains when you're starting at an airport which still has over a dozen flights a day to Paris. But if the poster wants to get on a train, he has to allow at least 2.5 hours from touch down to train departure - and even that's tight.

janisj

I would actually allow a 4 hour minimum - only because of potential luggage/immigration hold ups at LHR.

(rogeruktm: a car service would be "easier" w/o much walking, but it definitely would take longer)

AAFrequentFlyer

Perhaps the OP was hoping against hope. The next train leaves at 12:30pm. It will still be tight but it's certainly doable taking the underground, but at the end I agree with all others. Flying to Paris would be easier, unless of course the OP wants to experience the Eurostar.....

I know few that just had to do it once in their lifetime.

alanRow

<<< It is not easy, fast or convenient if you are trying to catch it after landing at LHR or LGW. >>>

There are no flights to Paris from LGW - and there's a direct train from LGW to St Pancras for the Eurostar

janisj

I meant the Eurostar is not fast/convenient from either airport - I said nothing about Paris flights from LGW. We often get questions on here about landing at one of the airports and wanting to get on a Eurostar 2 hours later.

St Pancras is easier than Waterloo was - for sure, but even w/ the LGW train one needs to have plenty of lead time.

twoflower

£15 for a train ride from Heathrow to Paddington? Is that per person? Wow! These airport rail services do rock it in, don't they?

AAFrequentFlyer

then there is the underground for ~4-5BPs.

chartley

There are four trains an hour from Gatwick to St Pancras, and the journey takes about 50 minutes.

Pretty good service, I would say.