Advice on travelling on Eurostar

[Norm81]

Hi,

 

I'm going to be travelling to Brussels in a few weeks by Eurostar from St Pancras and I was wondering if anyone has any advice or experience they can share.

 

We're a party of 4, one of whom walks with difficulty and a stick. We arrive in KX at about 1pm and depart St Pancras 3pm so we also need to get some lunch somewhere, I know there's next to 0 at KX so hoping St P's is better? I've read on our itinerary that we are coach 3 and have to get the right escalator, so I assume there's walkways above the platforms and you then drop down next to your coach?

 

Interested in any handy hints etc too from those with prior experience.

 

I'm the only one in our party who's been to KX anywhere near recently, so the other 3 are looking to me to keep us right!

 

Thanks

[Oldddudders]

I think St P will see you alright for eating, although I've only bought sandwiches there myself. There are escalators to the upstairs level, where you can see the Betjeman statue, the Lovers statue and there was, maybe still is, a bar. Check-in is at the lower level, and is airport style, including equally charming staff. Be ready to empty all your metal stuff, phone, change, keys etc into a jacket pocket that can go through the metal detector - you will walk through the usual hoop. Anyone with metal bits in their skeleton may have a problem with security staff.

 

The departure lounge is beneath the platforms, and you will be called when the train is ready to board, with two travolators to the train. Coaches are numbered at each travolator.

[Edwin_m]

Since about a year ago the new concourse at the side of Kings Cross has opened with more in the way of catering than before and both stations are well worth a look round.  However there is still more in the way of facilities at St Pancras - the further you get from the Eurostar entrance the quieter and (relatively) cheaper it gets.  In particular the very northern end on the lower level has several eateries, a second M&S and more toilets both of which are less chaotic than the ones towards the south end. 

[jonhall]

St Pancras has a fairly good range of food outlets, the upstairs area (i.e. the platform level) is a quieter area, and check-in won't start until an hour before the train is due to leave so you might as well stay put in whichever cafe/bar you find until that time, rather than hang about waiting for the gates to open.

 

Once through security then you will have to hang about in the Eurostar lounge until they are ready to board you - about 20 minutes before the departure time - there is a WHSmiths and cafe beyond the security.

 

There are two travelators that bring you from the Eurostar lounge up to platform level - coach 3 will be at the back so the travelator that takes you back towards the security, there will be a couple of staff who will check that you are going up the right one. PAY ATTENTION when you are on the platform, the Paris and Brussels trains often leave one after another from either side of the island platform - don't get on the wrong one!

 

At Brussels you will be at the back - follow everyone else off the platform. Please be aware that Brussels Midi reputedly has a pickpocket problem - be sensible, keep bags always closed, and in sight, and anything valuble ideally in zipped inside pockets, you shouldn't have any problems if you are reasonably alert. Are you staying in Brussels or traveling onward?

 

Last point - on the return - if your train stops at Lille then there can be 'non-tunnel' passengers, which is giving UK border agency a headache - they will stamp your ticket in Brussels - DO NOT LOSE IT - you will need to show the stamped ticket to security at some point during the Lille-Callais leg, and show your passport and the stamped ticket when you arrive in London. Re-clearing border checks is taking time, I always aim to be in coach 2 or 3 and near a door so that I can get close to the front of the queue, if you are in a high numbered coach and/or not near the doors then it probably isn't worth rushing as you will only be standing around until the queue has cleared.

 

The seat 61 website has a short video that gives an idea of what to expect http://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm#Watch_the_video_-_London_to_Paris_by_train

 

Jon

[Fat Controller]

Carluccio's place on the first floor at the Euston Road end of St Pancras is reasonably priced, with service being fast, but not hurried.

[The Stationmaster]

Masses of places to eat & drink as already mentioned - at a wide range of prices.  Betjemans does (or used to do) an excellent breakfast and you can sit & watch the Eurostars coming & going but it's about as far as you can get from Eurostar check-in!

http://stpancras.com/Eat-and-Drink?

 

Check-in is usually straightforward - just have you ticket ready and as already noted be prepared to empty metal stuff (including cigarette packets, they can set off the metal detectors due to the foil inside).

 

When you get to Bruxelles I would not advise walking outside the station - one side has reputedly got quite bad for muggings although that information is quite old and it might again be o.k.  Your Eurostar ticket should cover you for onward travel to Central which, unsurprisingly, is the nearest station to the city centre.  The centre of Bruxelles is relatively compact and walkable although Central is part way up the hill to one side of the centre and is an underground station.

 

The city has masses of places to eat and they are generally reasonably priced because there is so much competition, you can even get a meal in the Grand Place for a not too exhorbitant price although it is several years since I was last there and the £ has sunk against the Euro so things might not look so good nowadays price wise.  there is a whoe; street of restaurants with just about every sort of cuisine (not necessarily the right word for some of them) which I think is either Rue de Bouchers or, more likely one parallel to it (I never took much notice of street names - I just knew where they were without needing the name).  The best chip shop used to be a van along one side of the Bourse - the right hand side as you look at the front of the building from the main Boulevard Anspach, highly recommended if it's as good as it used to be and open late.

 

There are also some very good - but consequently much more expensive - restaurants and I can recommend an excellent one if you're feeling wealthy (originally recommended to me by a French colleague even my wife is impressed by their food but it is mainly fish dishes although they do an excellent steak)

 

I don't know if it's still going but there used to be a small railway museum at Brussels Nord station - that is walkable from the centre but the trek, although not too far, might be too much for someone who has walking problems.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip, I used to like going to Brussel as it is so compact in the centre and you could get some good meals at reasonable prices (not above re the £ means that may well have changed of course).  A Belgian friend frequently suggested Louvain/Leuven as a better and cheaper place for eating out but alas I never had a chance to try it.

[flapland]

The pub in the old KX parcels office on the first floor also looks very nice, I think the lift is at the north end of the new concourse.

[SNCF stephen]

If you fancy a short trip out of the centre then you can take the train from Gare Midi to Edinghen/Enghein to visit the model railway shop called Jocadis. It is one of the better model shops I have been to in Europe with a wide range of stock (although mostly European). They commission kits of the Brussels tram system which are expensive but good quality. The shop has moved since I last visited but it appears to be even more accessible from Brussels as the shop is now in the station. There is usually someone there who speaks English. There are frequent trains there and it costs something like £10 return. 

 

There is another model shop in the centre called Dreamcatcher. It has less stock but the owner is very helpful and speaks English. This shop has an interesting selection of stock but it is smaller than Jocadis used to be. 

 

Of all of the places in the Grand Place that I have eaten I always liked the White Rose (La Rose Blanc or De Vitte Rose if my memory serves me right) as the prices for food were pretty good and the beer selection was pretty impressive with guest beers at different times of the year. 

 

I tend to find that St Pancras is a bit cold until you get through customs if the weather is cold/windy so remember to wrap up warm. 

[jonhall]

If you fancy a short trip out of the centre then you can take the train from Gare Midi to Edinghen/Enghein to visit the model railway shop called Jocadis. It is one of the better model shops I have been to in Europe with a wide range of stock (although mostly European). They commission kits of the Brussels tram system which are expensive but good quality. The shop has moved since I last visited but it appears to be even more accessible from Brussels as the shop is now in the station. There is usually someone there who speaks English. There are frequent trains there and it costs something like £10 return. 

 

There is another model shop in the centre called Dreamcatcher. It has less stock but the owner is very helpful and speaks English. This shop has an interesting selection of stock but it is smaller than Jocadis used to be. 

 

Jocadis was very interesting, it is upstairs in the newly refurbished station building - I had no idea so much Belgian stuff was available, although my quest for wagon decals was fruitless. Do you have any details for the Dreamcatcher shop?

 

I keep meaning to look at the museum at Brussels Nord, but I thought I read it was closing down in advance of the new Scharbeek museum? I also changed trains at Mechelen last week, and saw a sign to the Spoorwegmuseum, a quick google search dosn't bring up much information, but a short video appears to imply there are a couple of locos - anyone know where I can find out about opening times?

 

Jon

[SNCF stephen]

Hi Jon,

 

I am glad the new Jocadis shop is still as good as I remember. Dream Colletion (not catcher) is on Zuidstraat (google street view link here ) The shop sells HO and N but I recall it also had some G scale stuff the first time I visited. The last time I went I seem to recall that the N gauge stock had been run down a lot. It is across the road from a postcard shop that had a reasonable selection of transportation postcards. 

 

If you do go then please let me know if the stock levels have improved. 

[Norm81]

Thanks all, it helps if you read the tickets properly as we're only going as far as Lille then travel the remainder to Bruges by coach. I'll have got my wires crossed with us calling it the Brussels train.

 

I had no idea we'd be going through airport style security, I'd have thought it was just passport checks etc.

[hmrspaul]

A lovely bar, and cheaper than in the Grand Place, is Le Cirio, it is alongside the Bourse - easily found as it faces on to a glass topped area which shows some sub surface archaeology. Absolutely magnificient interior. I really miss their lasagne and cheesy leeks!

 

And thanks to others for advice on KX and St. P as I haven't been to hang about for a couple of years but will be down there next weekend. Good to hear there is now a bar in KX itself - for a period it was a desert!

 

You haven't mentioned where you are staying. The routes away from Midi are not too obvious.

 

 

Without exaggeration, Eurostar & Brussels are the only things I miss with retirement. But in no way do I miss the pickpockets, Brussels has a hell of a problem - I know I have succumbed 4 times - admittedly in c300 trips. Tricks include dropping yogurt on you - and then someone comes to help (not one that happened to me) and on the metro at g. d Nord there is a line with platforms on both sides, so a gang can distract you one way whilst the robber goest the other - this did happen to me.

 

Paul Bartlett

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/eurostar

http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brusselstrams

[jonhall]

Both routes (Paris and Brussels) can stop at Lille, I've not yet got off at Lille, but have booked through there in a couple of months time to try and 'knock off' the cross-border lines en-route to Brussels.

 

Don't forget to get off at Lille Europe! - its a pretty dark tunnel, and on one trip a familiy in our coach stood up, went to the doors, but didn't recognise the badly lit tunnel was a station, and didn't twig that the doors didn't open automaticaly - so were quite upset when the train pulled out with them still on board, I think they were ultimately off to somewhere in the South of France by TGV, and were astonished when half the coach full (of gricers) that I was travelling with pulled out their copies of Thomas Cooks European timetable, and had planned them alternative route(s) before the familiy had had a chance to find the Chef du Train to explain their mistake.

 

Jon

 

 

Thanks all, it helps if you read the tickets properly as we're only going as far as Lille then travel the remainder to Bruges by coach. I'll have got my wires crossed with us calling it the Brussels train.

 

I had no idea we'd be going through airport style security, I'd have thought it was just passport checks etc.

[Oldddudders]

I had no idea we'd be going through airport style security, I'd have thought it was just passport checks etc.

The St P security staff took several minutes to decide that my cheap Maplin temperature-controlled soldering iron wasn't anything likely to detonate in the tunnel. Do not expect any favours.

[The Stationmaster]

Thanks all, it helps if you read the tickets properly as we're only going as far as Lille then travel the remainder to Bruges by coach. I'll have got my wires crossed with us calling it the Brussels train.

 

I had no idea we'd be going through airport style security, I'd have thought it was just passport checks etc.

The security checks area requirement of the Channel Tunnel Act and can be considerably more than cursory - as the Customs etc checks can also be sometimes (but the French sniffer dogs seem to be very competent, and friendly when not working).

 

The approaching Lille stop will be announced in plenty of time - in at least two languages - so just listen out after you've passed the brewery visible in teh distance at Armentieres (left side of train a way away but the building with spires which looks like a cathedral is the brewery).  In fact between Calais and Lille the train passes through a very interesting area with plenty to see so it might be worth consulting a map beforehand - there's a nuclear plant visible in the distance as you climb away from Calais, the V2 launching bunker at Watten is very close but hidden in the woodland, and you even pass the hill which the grand old Duke of York kept marching his men up & down plus the remains of what was at one time one of the busiest railways in France as it was the principal rail link up into the Ypres salient in WWI - an area full of history.

 

BTW you might find it helpful to delve out a plan of Lille Europ station on the 'net as the steps up to the top are a long way and your less ambulant passenger would be better advised to use the lift I think.

[Markeg]

The Lille Train is often called the Disneyland Express, with lots of families and noise.  Lille is easy to get around too. The Station is easy to negotiate, find your way round as its modern.

 

Mark in OZ

[jonhall]

There is apparently a model railway at Brugge as well - I had no idea, but my parents (not interested in trains) are off to Brugge in a couple of weeks and just mentioned it - might be worth a look?

 

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g188671-d1985452-r110776577-Rail_City-Bruges_West_Flanders_Province.html

 

The other good rail day out in that part of the world is a ride on the coastal trams, it runs almost the length of the Belgian coast, in amongst the dunes, between the various holiday towns - well worth a trip if the weather is nice.

 

Jon

[brushman47544]

Never understood the logic of having the same prohibited items for Eurostar as for travelling by plane. On one occasion I had a small knife in my bag and was stopped. What could I do with it on a Eurostar that I couldn't on say a TGV? Nothing. The security measures are supposed to be to stop terrorist attacks on the Channel Tunnel. In this context planes are different and so should be the security measures/requirements.

 

Since there's no equivalent to "hold baggage" on Eurostar in some respects it's easier to take certain items by plane!

[The Stationmaster]

Never understood the logic of having the same prohibited items for Eurostar as for travelling by plane. On one occasion I had a small knife in my bag and was stopped. What could I do with it on a Eurostar that I couldn't on say a TGV? Nothing. The security measures are supposed to be to stop terrorist attacks on the Channel Tunnel. In this context planes are different and so should be the security measures/requirements.

 

Since there's no equivalent to "hold baggage" on Eurostar in some respects it's easier to take certain items by plane!

The logic is 100% down to Transec - which usually seems to mean it is illogical to mere mortals.  However I presume the idea of banning certain weapons is to prevent hi-jack attempts and thereby holding a train and its passengers to ransom in the Tunnel.  It all gets really amusing when guns are involved - sshh.

[Fat Controller]

The logic is 100% down to Transec - which usually seems to mean it is illogical to mere mortals.  However I presume the idea of banning certain weapons is to prevent hi-jack attempts and thereby holding a train and its passengers to ransom in the Tunnel.  It all gets really amusing when guns are involved - sshh.

I remember my wife being stopped for having a 'Leatherman' multi-tool in her handbag; she gently pointed out that she could cause far more problems with the Berne Key next to it..On another occasion, we'd bought a couple of cook's knifes at De Hellerin; the security/customs person at GdN looked at them, asked if they were for the kitchen, and when we gave an affirmative reply, said 'That's all right, then'.

[jonhall]

I've never had a problem with a standard Swiss army knife passing through Eurostar in either direction.

 

I did wonder if part of it was to discourage Europeans bringing offensive weapons into the UK?

 

Jon

[The Stationmaster]

I've never had a problem with a standard Swiss army knife passing through Eurostar in either direction.

 

I did wonder if part of it was to discourage Europeans bringing offensive weapons into the UK?

 

Jon

Only if they're police or security officals

[icn]

I've never had a problem with a standard Swiss army knife passing through Eurostar in either direction.

 

I did wonder if part of it was to discourage Europeans bringing offensive weapons into the UK?

 

Jon

Same here, no problems with them. (On that note when flying out of Switzerland you can take Swiss army knives in your hand luggage -- although you are generally warned that you probably can't do that on the return journey.)

 

The security checks area requirement of the Channel Tunnel Act and can be considerably more than cursory - as the Customs etc checks can also be sometimes (but the French sniffer dogs seem to be very competent, and friendly when not working).

Apologies for my pedantry, but there aren't any customs checks between EU countries -- the EU is all one customs territory ("European Union Customs Union") -- that's probably border control who have taken it upon themselves to find drugs too. (You have the strange situation that you have customs controls but no border controls going between most EU countries and Switzerland since they're all in the Schengen zone -- you can even fly without showing any form of ID, and border controls but no customs checks going between the UK and most EU countries.)

 

//Edit: See below -- apparently there is customs after all.

[Fat Controller]

Same here, no problems with them. (On that note when flying out of Switzerland you can take Swiss army knives in your hand luggage -- although you are generally warned that you probably can't do that on the return journey.)

 

Apologies for my pedantry, but there aren't any customs checks between EU countries -- the EU is all one customs territory ("European Union Customs Union") -- that's probably border control who have taken it upon themselves to find drugs too. (You have the strange situation that you have customs controls but no border controls going between most EU countries and Switzerland since they're all in the Schengen zone -- you can even fly without showing any form of ID, and border controls but no customs checks going between the UK and most EU countries.)

As someone who has day-to-day contact with them, can I assure you that both Customs (Douanes) and Frontier Controls (was Police des aeroportes et Frontieres, now DICILEC) are both still active at the UK/ French frontiers, and under separate chains of command. IIRC, they are answerable to different Ministries; Douanes to the Finance Minister and PAF to the Minister of the Interior.

[Oldddudders]

On that note when flying out of Switzerland you can take Swiss army knives in your hand luggage -- although you are generally warned that you probably can't do that on the return journey.

A cunning plan to help Swiss exports!