European Rail Travel - Has anyone had an early-morning departure on the Eurostar?

Hey guys. I currently live in the United States. Next month I'm visting both Paris and London on the same trip. I'm thinking about taking the Eurostar to travel (roundtrip) from Paris to London. I've never used European rail services before. So I don't know what to expect.

I've checked the Eurostar website, and it seems that most of the early-morning departures from both Gare du Nord and London St Pancras have the relatively low fares. Most of these departures are as early as 6:00.

I want to depart both Paris and London on the Eurostar as early as possible in the morning. However, I have hotels booked in the center of both cities. Obviously, I'll need to take the Paris Metro to get to Gare Du Nord, and the London Tube to get to St Pancras.

My only concern is that I don't know whether or not both the Paris Metro and the London Tube run that early in the morning.:confused: Plus, I've read that the Eurostar requires passport controls and security checks prior to boarding.

How am I supposed to make it on time for a 6:00 departure on the Eurostar if both the Paris Metro and the London Tube do not have early-morning services?

Should I be concerned about this at all?

Well, for a 6am Eurostar departure, you'll need to be at the terminus to check in before 5.30am (although you'll probably be accepted if you're a little late, it's never a good idea to count on this).

So, you'll probably not have access to Tube/metro trains to get there. You're left with night buses, BorisBikes/Vélibs, taxis and foot.

To plan a journey using night buses, try http://www.journeyplanner.org/ for London and http://www.ratp.fr/ for Paris.

Hi, yes, the early morning departures are significantly cheaper if bought in advance because Eurostar has to pay less to cross the Channel Tunnel at that hour. You should be concerned about it and see what night buses are running.

I do it quite often from Paris to London and book at the Holiday Inn Gare de l'Est - it's only a few minute walk to gare du nord and not among the most expensive HIs. maybe this helps. otoh - a taxi in the morning at Paris shouldn't cost too much either ...

Hey guys. I've heard that the London Tube starts running at 5:00, while the Paris Metro starts running at 5:30.

Some have told me that it's not worth grabbing early-morning Eurostar rides because the low fares don't make up for the taxi fares.

It all depends on where your hotel is, of course.

Where is your hotel in London and on what weekday do you want to leave London?

During the week, the Tube starts running around 5am, I think. However, thats's when the trains start in the outskirts, so they will only arrive at St Pancras around 6am.

Exception is probably the Circle line (which also starts around 5am, but only circulates within central London), so if your hotel is for example around Paddington (lots of budget hotels there) you can maybe make it in time.

Are you sure about the 6am departure though? I thought the first train was around 5:30am already...

Don't know about Paris.

OP -- Use the trip planner to see if you can manage the tube.

I've checked the Eurostar website, and it seems that most of the early-morning departures from both Gare du Nord and London St Pancras have the relatively low fares. Most of these departures are as early as 6:00.
The cheapest fares are available all day long not just the early trains. As long as you haven't left it to the last minute to book the ticket you should find something that works a little better for you. I believe you can book up to 120 days in advance.

Where is your hotel in London and on what weekday do you want to leave London?

I'll be staying in Earls Court.

@Palal

Are you referring to the trip planner on the Tube's official website?

Yes. this one (http://www.thetube.com/)

I'll be staying in Earls Court.

After the current Circle line closure finishes on Aug 23rd, The first direct weekday service from Earl's Court departs at 05:11 and arrives at King's Cross St. Pancras at 05:35.

If you wanted to get there earlier, you could take the N97 night bus to Hammersmith Station and catch the first H&C line service which departs there at 04:52, arriving at King's Cross St. Pancras at 05:16.

I take the morning Eurostar once a week, either the 5.25 (which doesn't seem to run during the summer holidays or in winter) or the 6.42 (or whenever - they do keep changing the times).

The 5.25 is unsurprisingly half-empty. Long queues at security around 5am as people arrive just on time (also unsurprisingly) but everyone makes it. It's cheaper, but the saving is often offset by having to take a cab (guess £20 from Earl's Court at that time in the morning).

The next one is the 6.52 which is very popular especially on Mondays. From Earl's Court you can easily take the Tube. The quickest option is the first Piccadilly Line train leaves at 5.39 and gets to King's Cross St Pancras at 5.58, which gives you plenty of time unless you walk incredibly slowly.

In the other direction the Metro also starts around 5.30 and I think the first train out of Paris is the 7.13 so that gives you plenty of time as well to get there by metro.