Does anybody know how much time i need to allow to clear customs when traveling to paris from london on the rail? We'll be catching the metro in london at leicester square to st. pancras......and we have a 8:30 train time. Do we need to leave the hotel at 6:30 to catch the 8:30train? That's what my travel agent said.

Thanks.

See http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisur...n/check_in.jsp - you need to be at St. Pancras at least 30 minutes before your train leaves.

You will catch the tube, not the metro (lol), see www.tfl.gov.uk for a trip planner. It will not take you an hour and a half for that! You need a new TA - or, better, none at all.

Don't get mixed up between customs and immigration...when you get on the train at either end, after checking in (but putting your ticket into the ticket reader and going through the turnstile, you will come to passport control. Normally unless it is a time of high tension (in other words if they're looking like somebody fleeing the country), there is no passport control to leave the UK....there is a French border control post...the queue is rarely long and unlike flying your baggage never leaves your possession...you put in all through the x ray machines. You won't have anything to declare for the most part in entering France from the UK as they are all part of the eu...when you arrive in Paris you just walk off the train...same thing is true on the reverse trip.

How much luggage do you have? If more than a couple of carry-ons I would just grab a cab rather than trek on the tube at rush hour. And no, leaving your hotel at 6:30 would be ridiculous.

Any delay at St Pancras is likely to be simply queues for the security scanners, and those won't take as long as it feels like at the time. Say, 10 minutes from putting your ticket through the gate to finding somewhere to sit in the lounge (assuming there's nothing wrong with your passport).

From Leicester Square, leaving at 0715 should get you there in plenty of time, with a margin for unforeseen events. I wouldn't expect the tube to be too crowded yet at that time, but Leicester Square isn't the most luggage-friendly station (too many steps). If there's more than one of you, a taxi would be a cost-effective stress-reliever.