Arriving By Eurostar in London

ShowMeTheJourney's guide to arriving by Eurostar trains at St Pancras International provides insights into:

• How to access the Eurostar Arrivals exits from the trains;
• How to transfer to onward connections;
• Tips for making these transfers as easy as possible.

The exits at from the tracks/platforms at St Pancras International used by the Eurostar trains are located at the front of the train.
So when you step off a train head towards the clock, pictured below, which you will see on the end wall.

Eurostar trains are exceptionally long, so if your reserved seats happens to be towards the rear of train, you'll have to walk some distance to reach the exits.

The Eurostar trains arrive at the upper level in St Pancras International station, so you'll need to descend to the level below in order to reach the exit and transfer points; despite the fact that you'll be able to see an exit leading out of the station building ahead of you.

When you reach the end of the platform/track the first exit you will come to is a moving walkway which leads down to the arrivals hall.
However, if you don’t have large items of luggage, the quickest route to the exit, is usually to use the escalators, which can be found beyond the end of the platforms/tracks.

If you use the escalators you can avoid the queues that build up at the entrances to the moving walkways.
Also the escalators bring you down into the departure hall closer to the exit than the moving walkways, so using them is actually a short cut, even though they initially seem further away.

It can take a minimum of 7 minutes from stepping off the train to exiting Eurostar arrivals, so if you're making a tightly timed connection move towards the front of the train before it arrives in London.

The exit doors from Eurostar arrivals, pictured above underneath the sign, lead into the main part of the station known as The Arcade’.
This can be disconcerting, as you will have in effect stepped into a shopping mall, and the routes for exiting the station won’t be particularly obvious, you can’t see the street from here.

In the view of the 'Arcade' pictured below, the doors from Eurostar arrivals are on the right of the lower level, near the triangular white hotel information desk (which has since been removed)

Turn to the right on exiting Arrivals, then having taken a few steps the somewhat anonymous passage way leading to the taxi rank will be over to the left, opposite Eurostar departures.

On exiting from Eurostar arrivals into the main station building, the Arcade, you will see a sign above you showing you that you need to turn left to access the Underground.

Walk ahead until you have exited the main building through the doorways from 'The Arcade' pictured below; they're at the opposite end of the building to the trains.

Then over to the right, you will see the London Transport Information office, which is useful if you are a first time user of the Underground.
Over to the left you will see the atrium that is located above the platforms/tracks used by the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.
This is pictured below, you will be at the lower level where the people using the station are located.

The access to Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines is at the far end of this atrium.

The access to the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines is over to the right, on the other side of the ticket machines.
As will be seen on the image below, the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines share platforms.

Though if you will be heading west as far as Baker Street, or east as far as Liverpool Street, it won't matter which train you hop on to.

More info is available in the 'Onward Connections by Underground' summary on our general GUIDE to using St Pancras International station.

As pointed out in the 'Onward Connections by Thameslink train' info on our general GUIDE to using St Pancras International station, some areas of central London are easier to access from St Pancras by these trains instead of the Underground.

Another plus is the access to the Thameslink trains is quicker and easier than the access to the deep level Underground lines, which connect St Pancras International to the city centre.
And Oyster Cards can also be used on these Thameslink trains to Blackfriars (for the Tate Modern and South Bank) and London Bridge(for Borough Market and The Shard).

Turn to the RIGHT on exiting Eurostar arrivals and then walk ahead, you will see the Thameslink part of the station ahead of you; Thameslink trains depart from platforms/tracks A and B.
For central London, follow the signs to the 'Southbound' trains* - trains from platform/track A; and take the escalators or lifts.
*Not all southbound trains will be going to London Bridge.

Turn to the RIGHT on exiting Eurostar arrivals and then you'll need to use the escalators or lifts to head to the upper level in the station- the same level that the Eurostar will have arrived at.

For the Southeastern trains terminal, turn right and walk to the far end of the 'Arcade' lower level of the station, you'll see the East Midlands trains ticket office ahead of you.

Then when you're at this end of this 'Arcade' (pictured above) turn to the right ,over to the right you will see the main electronic departure board.
Opposite the departure board, on the other side of the Starbucks, there are lifts and escalators up to the Southeastern departures concourse.

Turn to the RIGHT when exiting into the station from the Arrivals Hall.
Walk ahead towards the Thameslink station and then turn to the right and you will be in 'The Market' concourse (pictured above).

The main electronic departure board will be on your right and the exit on to Pancras Road will be ahead of you.
Use this Pancras road exit and the entrance to Kings Cross station is then just across the street.

Heading to Euston on foot will take around 8 - 15mins.

If you arrive by Eurostar follow the signs to the taxi rank as it is located on Midland Road, when you step out of the station turn to the left.
When you reach the junction with Euston Road, turn to the right and cross the street towards the British Library.
Three blocks over, you will pass the Unison Building, with the word 'Unison' in large letters mounted on the pavement.
After here turn right and then left, on two short streets used by buses which serve Euston's bus station, the access to the the railway station will then be up the short flight of steps you'll see ahead across the street.

OR take the Underground it's one stop hop northbound on the Northern Line.
Taking the Underground one stop may seem to be an indulgence, but the exit from the Underground at Euston takes you directly to the departure concourse; in contrast the access from the street at Euston is much more confusing.

Map of the London Underground
Underground Journey Planner

A plus of arriving at St Pancras International is that the station has interchanges with 6 Underground lines, so the station has easy access to most areas of London, but if you are a first time user, these SEVEN tips will hopefully be of use.

1. Note that the Underground station at St Pancras International is named 'Kings Cross, St Pancras'.

2. The Transport for London information desk is on the right, when you use the entrance to the Underground station closest to Eurostar arrivals.

3. The trains that are heading SOUTH from platform/track A in the ‘Thameslink’ station give much better access to some parts of London than the Underground.
For St Pauls take a train to ‘St Pauls Thameslink’.
For Tate Modern and The Globe Theatre take a train to Blackfriars and then at that station, use the South Bank exits; nearest the front of the train.

4. The Hammersmith & City, Circle and Metropolitan lines share platforms, the first train to arrive to arrive can be a Circle Line train and the second to arrive can be a Hammersmith & City line train etc.
The trains will also look the same, so watch the departure indicators on the platforms carefully.
If you will be going to Paddington look for westbound trains heading to Hammersmith.

5. If you’re heading to Heathrow from St Pancras International, taking the Piccadilly Line is the best option, particularly if you have luggage.
It can seem like a dauntingly long Underground journey, but the second half of the trip is actually above ground.
The transfer to the Heathrow Express from the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines at Paddington is fairly awkward (by far the shortest route involves using stairs; and taking the step-free route takes around 5 minutes).

Also if you opt for the Heathrow Express, but just miss a connection, so have to wait 15 mins at Paddington, the journey time difference between that route and the direct Piccadilly line, can be marginal.
Not all westbound Piccadilly line trains will be heading to Heathrow, so check the departure indicators and avoid hopping on the first train regardless.

6. There are no direct Underground trains from St Pancras International to Waterloo, but generally the least stressful connection is to take the Piccadilly Line westbound to Piccadilly Circus and transfer there to a southbound Bakerloo Line train.
It looks further on the map, but the transfers are the easiest of all the alternatives and the Bakerloo Line trains tend to be the least busy on the Underground.

7. For Westminster take any ‘Thameslink’ train south to Blackfriars and connect there for an eastbound District or Circle line train, the interchange at Blackfriars will be towards the rear of the train.
This will be quicker than taking the Circle Line direct and less congested then taking the Victoria line and making a transfer at Victoria station.