Can anyone tell me about how long it takes to get through Customs at Heathrow? We'll arrive at 10:15am from Chicago. We have reservations in Paris for that night and will take the "chunnel" to get there. There is a 12:30pm departure time from St. Pancras station. What is the time needed to get from Heathrow to St. Pancras?

Unless you are one of the very, very few people pulled for inspection, your concern should be the time it takes to go through immigration, not customs. If you don't have a UK or other EU passport, it looks like it can take a while. It will take an hour to an hour and a quarter on the tube to St. Pancras, but you need to add about ten minutes to get to the tube station and get your ticket. You are supposed to check in at St. Pancras 30 minutes before train time. I don't think you can make the 12:30, even if your flight is on time, and I wouldn't buy non-changeable tickets for it.

Customs takes no time at all. But what you are really asking about is Immigration -- Passport control.

There is no way on earth you can make a 12:30 Eurostar if you land at LHR at 10:15. None.

Even if you manage to get through Immigration and retrieve your luggage by 11:15 - no matter the mode of transport, it will take you at least an hour from the arrivals hall to St Pancras, and check in for the Eurostar is 30 minutes.

W/ a 10:15 touchdown, it could be after 10:30 before you even get off the plane. I personally would not try for a train before about 1:30 or 2 PM - and even then I'd be nervous.

HAve you bought your Eurostar tickets yet? If not, fly from Heathrow. Why schlep into town for the train? Eurostar is quicker and more convenient if you are already in London, but not from Heathrow.

And if you can get your luggage checked through you won't even have to worry about going through UK immigration checks, collect luggage, pass through customs, find your new terminal, check in, go through security and all the myriad of other ritual humiliations that air travel consists of these days

<i>I carry an original official ID with me at all times...</i>

The same is true if you are a carry-on only type.

I agree that, from Heathrow, the best option is to fly, rather than taking the train.

Hi R,

I agree, fly from Heathrow. See www.whichbudget.com

OOOOPS,

whichbudget doesn't have flights from LHR to France.

www.kayak.com shows a 13:40 and a 14:05 for about $160 pp.

Flying out of Heathrow instead of taking the train saves getting to St. Pancras, but you then have to get to Paris from whichever airport you fly into in France, so I don't see that's it's necessarily better - it's a straight shot on the tube on the UK side, and likely to require a change (RER to metro or airport bus to taxi) in France. And if you fly a budget airline, you won't get your bags checked through, or any protection against missing the flight. Anymore, I arrange an overnight in London when doing something like this, but I'm retired and have more time.

Whoa. Not sure where that quote came from in my above message. I should have quoted:

<i>And if you can get your luggage checked through...</i>