Eurostar/London to Paris Time Frame
 

We arrive at Gatwick March 29 7AM. Want to take the eurostar from Victoria Station into Paris. How long do you think it will take to go through customs, get to Victoria Station by train in order to catch the eurostar to Paris. What time do I reserve the ticket. I was thinking around 1:00. Please advise, I don't want to reserve and then miss the train.

It doesn't leave from Victoria, but Waterloo. You also need to factor in time to check in (about half an hour before departure, I think).

Gatwick to central London: 30 minutes by train. Allow 30 minutes transfer to Waterloo (probably much less, but you never know) and 45 minutes check-in for the Eurostar = leaving Gatwick at the latest at 11.15 am for a 1pm Eurostar.

Options from Gatwick:

train to Victoria - taxi or bus (211 or 507) to Waterloo
or
First Capital Connect train to London Bridge (not a Southern train, they go to different platforms), wait on the same platform for a train to Waterloo East - climb some stairs at Waterloo, walk through to the mainline station, down the escalator and across the concourse to the Eurostar terminal (all on the one ticket).

robizzo1:

Let me bring up another possibility, as I don't know the size of the group you're travelling with or the amount of luggage. Depending on the number in your group, it may be cheaper and faster for you to arrange for a car service or minicab to pick your party up at Gatwick and drop you off at Waterloo. Those airport express trains can get pricey when you're buying three or four tickets. As a comparison, last week I hired a car service from my hotel near Regent's Park to Heathrow for 45 pounds. Saved a ton of time and headache, and came out to about the same price.

pkt: &quot;<i> . . .faster for you to arrange for a car service or minicab to pick your party up at Gatwick and drop you off at Waterloo.</i>&quot; Absolutely not true. Your experience is in from LHR - which is an <u>entirely</u> different kettle of fish than LGW.

At 0800 a car to Waterloo from LGW could easily take 2 hours. It is more than 30 miles - almost twice as far as LHR and there is no direct route/motorway in from the south.

The train is the only practical way to get from LGW to central London in less than 90 mins.

Can you tell me what you ultimately ended up doing. I am planning on flying into London at the Gatwick airport (only because it seems to be less than LHR)and staying at least 3 days then taking the Eurostar into Paris. Please advise with any advise you may have for Hotels or traveling to Paris. Thanks

Narazonia,

Please note that the original post is quite old and there have been major changes to Eurostar.

It now leaves form St. Pancras, instead of Waterloo. Connection to LGW has thus improved--you just take a train from Gatwick to St Pancras on First Capital Connect. (This is not the same as Gatwick Express. It's also much cheaper--less than GBP10, though this is a regular commuter train, so it will get crowded during the rush hours). The travel time is about 1hr.

You need to know that you'll need to check in at Eurostar terminal at least 30min before.