The Eurostar Check in Procedure at Paris Gare du Nord is Easy and Painless:
Paris Eurostar at Gare du Nord
Our recent trip to Europe was an interesting one from a luggage perspective. Apart from our mobile office and camera equipment, we had clothing and shoes for the cold weather in Paris, smart clothing for our two-week boutique river cruise, walking boots and rain gear for our Cotswold walk and to top it all, we had formal wear for a family wedding. Needless to say, our baggage weight wouldn’t pass any airline allowance for a cattle-class flight from Paris to London. This is where the Eurostar came in handy. No weight limit for our travel from Paris to London!
Eurostar Check-in Procedure
We have not travelled the Eurostar for a few years now, so weeks before our trip to London, we went to Gare du Nord to investigate Eurostar’s check-in procedure, especially to see how easy it is to manage our overweight bags. The Eurostar ticket office, check-in area and border controls are a level up from the ground floor of Gare du Nord station, but luckily there are two lifts that you can use. Problem solved!
While we were there, we asked a Eurostar staff member about the check-in procedure as we had booked our Eurostar tickets on-line. She advised us to go to the ticket office to get our boarding pass printed that day as it would speed up the process on the day of travel. This turned out to be very good advice. We also picked up a landing card which non-EU passport holders like myself have to complete.
SNCF ticket office at Gare du Nord
Eurostar Check-in
On the day of travel, there was a long queue of people, hovering around the check-in area, some a bit confused about what they were supposed to do. As we already had our boarding pass, thanks to the young lady who advised us weeks earlier, we walked straight to the turnstile, fed our boarding pass through the machine and voila, we were checked in!
Border Controls and Security
Once you’ve cleared the Eurostar check-in, you have to go through border controls and baggage checks as follows:
- First stop was the French border control who will take a look at your passport
- Next the UK Border Control officers will check your passport and the completed landing card for non-EU travellers
- Next you proceed to baggage x-ray, where you have to lift your own cases onto the x-ray belt
Eurostar departure lounge
Eurostar Departure Lounges
After immigration and baggage check you proceed to the rather cramped departure lounges where there are cafes, sandwich bars, news agency, gift shops etc.
- Porte A is for those booked in coaches 7 – 18
- Porte B is for those booked in coaches 1 – 6
Porte A was very crowded (see picture above) and during the hot weather, the area was quite stuffy as well. There aren’t many seats here.
Porte B was much better. The area had some air-conditioning and there were seats in this section.
You wait in the departure lounges until your boarding is announced – this is by coach numbers.
Boarding the Train
Just when we thought we had conquered our heavy baggage issue, it was time to board and we found that we had to wheel our bags back down to the ground level where the Eurostar train platform is. There are no lifts here, but at least the travellator takes people down to the ground level and you don’t have to go down by steps. Once on the platform, there are attendants to guide you to your carriage. We found that we had to walk almost the length of the train as our coach no. 5 was at the front end of the track. Lesson learned – next time I book a Paris to London Eurostar trip, I’ll be selecting a rear carriage.
Overall, the Eurostar checkin-in and boarding process were quite painless and although they say on-line that the Eurostar check-in time is 30 minutes before your trip, I would be more inclined to allow one hour. Unlike the rather swish Eurostar terminal at St Pancras in London, the Eurostar station at Gare du Nord is pretty ordinary. But the most important thing is that our Eurostar 9025 left Gare du Nord promptly at 11:43 for our 2h 17min. journey to London.
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My experience today with Border Force at Gare du Nord was a nightmare. The officer detained me for carrying an expired work permit even though I explained that I no longer work in France, hence why it’s expired. Just when I thought it was all sorted out, they decided not to let me travel because they didn’t believe I was going to a wedding for the weekend. They determined that I was likely to overstay illegally despite the fact the I had purchased a round trip ticket for travel over a weekend. To add insult to injury, Eurostar will not refund my tickets as their policies have recently changed. If you are detained at Border Force for any reason whatsoever, and miss your train as a result, you and only you are responsible for paying the fee to change your ticket. Even if the officers are mistaken. Today, that fee was 150 euros. Never again Eurostar.
Hi Gabrielle,
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Border Force at Gare du Nord, and thank you for sharing your experience which is a caution to others with expired work permits to be aware of their own situation.
Kind regards,
Helen Page
I have a similar experience to the other post. I was detained yesterday at Gare du Nord for trying to enter the UK after recently being refused a student visa. However, I have a US passport so I assumed traveling to the UK and choosing to live in the UK were two separate matters and wouldn’t cause an issue. They told me I couldn’t travel because I’ve “shown the intent to live and study in the UK” and they didn’t believe I would leave when I said I would, despite showing them my return ticket. I know it definitely works against you if you’re choosing to stay with a significant other but I’m sure loads of people travel over there that way?
Anyway, they took my fingerprints and got me escorted out of the Eurostar check-in by French border police (a 10 meter walk) which made me feel like a criminal. From there they left me on my own to figure out how to get back home to Switzerland. I’m 19 years old and this was my first time traveling alone. I don’t understand how one person can determine whether or not I am being truthful to them based off a set of questions. It was such an expensive price to pay for what they thought was a lie.
What date was your article written ?
Love the info. But I find many blogs are not tagged with a date, and sometimes the steps changed. For example, now we can get tickets in the email.
I assume it’s like airlines, and we wouldn’t need that boarding pass from them ?
Hi Tim,
Information was written in 2013. If you buy your ticket on-line, you’ll need to download and print the boarding pass or collect it at Gare du Nord.
http://www.eurostar.com/us-en/travel-info/your-trip/getting-your-ticket
Due to recent events in France, you can expect higher security checks at Gare du Nord so do allow more time. Gare du Nord is also a very busy station. We’re in Paris at the moment and even when you enter shopping centres or department stores, they do a quick check of your bag before you’re allowed to enter.
Regards,
Helen
Hi Helen –
Came across your helpful blog and was delighted to read that you’re currently in Paris and have a feel for the new security situation.
We are a family of four (Dad = UK passport, Mom & 2 boys, ages 7 and 5 = US passports, all US residents) traveling in mid-Aug 2016 on a Sunday from Geneva through Paris (TGV for this leg) and on into London St. Pancras via Eurostar (will purchase tickets online via Loco2, unless there’s a better recommendation). TGV will arrive Paris/Lyon and Eurostar will depart Paris/Nord, with 2.5 hours to get across town (by taxi I assume will be best) and check-in and board the Eurostar.
My questions: 1) is 2.5 hours enough time to get across town from Lyon to Nord? 2) Will we need to leave time for passport control in both Geneva and Paris/Gare du Nord, or if we board in Geneva and are ticketed all the way through, despite being on two different train systems (TGV and Eurostar), could we bypass passport queues in Gare du Nord?
I’m hearing that weekend (particularly Sunday) security lines are horrendous and passport control in Paris is understaffed. I can’t find specific info on TGV or Eurostar websites noting how much time to allow to successfully make this journey.
Any insights would be most welcomed! From a nervous Mom hoping for a smooth trip…
Hi PJ,
Apologies for the delayed response. In the last 30 hours we were making our long journey from Paris to Sydney.
In regard to your queries, we did not use the Eurostar service during our recent Paris stay so I’m unable to comment on current queueing times there, however based on our past and recent Paris visits, I’m happy to share these observations.
1. Getting to Gare du Nord
By Taxi
Distance between Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord is about 5 km. Taxi ride will take about 20 minutes. Our driver to the airport says that the drivers like August because the roads are less busy.
The taxi stand at Gare de Lyon is just outside the main concourse. Tell the taxi driver that you want to get to the Eurostar on Rue Dunkerque and he should bring you to the Gare du Nord entrance that’s closest to the Eurostar check-in. There is a lift there that’ll take you to Level 1 where the Eurostar check-in is. If you’re buying tickets online, please note that you’ll need to print your boarding cards (with barcode) at home or collect them from an e-ticket collection machine at the station.
The Eurostar site specifies check-in times of at least 30 minutes or 45 minutes for weekends and holidays. There are Eurostar departures every hour so you wouldn’t be able to check in too early and neither can they holdup security checks for too long.
http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/your-trip/check-in
In all, your 2.5 hour time seems more than sufficient. August is holiday time for Parisiens and those who are going on trips would have left by mid-August. We unfortunately got caught in the mad rush at CDG and it was quite chaotic there. The French public “service” are not very service oriented and at the immigration channel for our flight there were only three immigration desks for the rows and rows of travellers queueing for passport check. They obviously didn’t think it was necessary to put on more resources because of the large numbers of Parisiens travelling.
By Metro and RER
To get from Gare de Lyon to Gare du Nord on the Metro you’ll need to take Line 1 (Gare de Lyon to Bastille) and then change to Line 5 (Bastille to Gare du Nord). Total travel time is 22 minutes, which includes walking time of 10 minutes. Although this option is cheaper, with your two young boys, it’s best to catch a taxi. If you see any recommendations online to use the RER, please disregard this option as access to the whole RER network within the Paris central city area has been closed off for works.
2. Security Situation
Although you are ticketed all the way through from Geneva to London, you will actually have your bags with you at Gare de Lyon and will have to put them through security check at Gare du Nord – just like airline checks.
Because of the recent migrant issues, some EU countries have closed their borders, so don’t be surprised when you’re asked to show your passports just to confirm identities.
At Gare de Lyon and Gare du Nord, don’t be alarmed if you see armed soldiers patrolling the stations. France is operating under a State of Emergency, which means that they can employ their military on the streets to help with security. Where we stayed in the Marais district, we were happy to see the soldiers and police as at least they serve as a deterrent.
PJ, I wanted to get this off to you quickly to allay your nervousness. If I think of anything else, I’ll come back to you. You seem to have done a lot of research, which is wise, so don’t be nervous.
Kind regards,
Helen
We are Australian citizens (couple in our fifties) travelling to Europe for a vacation (including six days in Paris) and then travelling to London by EuroStar from Gare du Nord on 30 April 2018. We will stay in London for three days and then fly to Canada (electronic travel authority and air tickets already obtained for Canada). Will the UK border control in Gare du Nord create any hassle on account of we were both born and raised in India? We have been Australian nationals since 2006.
Hello Kaiyo,
As you are both Australian citizens and travelling on Australian passports, I don’t see why you should encounter any hassles at the UK border control at Gare du Nord. You also have your onward ticket and travel authority for Canada to show that you are not intending on overstaying in the UK.
Kaiyo, the number of Indians (from India) heading to Europe for holidays has increased vastly in the past years and the United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that by 2020 the number of Indians heading overseas will grow to 50 million for both business and leisure travel. So you should not worry about being born and raised in India during your travels! Have a great trip and enjoy your holidays!
Kind regards,
Helen
Thank you so much Helen for your post. It’s helped me immensely with my trip from Paris to London.
My departure time was 11:04am, as I’m a single traveller with 2 suitcases (snow gears), a backpack and a small bag, I left myself plenty of time as in case I messed up!
I arrived at Gare de Nord at 9:20am. There were only 3-4 people checking in, which makes it less stressful. I didn’t print my boarding pass as I downloaded it onto my Apple Wallet App. I had no trouble at all, using my digital boarding pass.
Apart from the ease of quicker check-in, the other advantage of arriving early is that there is minimal queue when it comes to buying food from the cafe.
On a whole, it was a stress free and smooth journey, thanks to Helen!
Hi Alvina,
I’m glad that our post was helpful in your Eurostar trip from Paris to London and I’m pleased that you had a stress-free trip. Credit goes to yourself for planning an early arrival at Gare du Nord.
Thanks Alvina for taking the time to share your experience and please feel free to share other travel experiences that you have on our site.
Kind regards,
Helen
Hello i would like to ask some questions if you don t mind me asking. Im non eu citizen but my wife is french and we are thinking go to london. How can i take visa before going? They giving visa on gare du nord or ?
Hi Senol,
I suggest you contact the UK embassy in Paris (or whichever city you’re in) and ask them about your visa requirements for London or you can research information on https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
Regards,
Helen Page
Helen,
I just wanted to say thank you. I read your article and took your advice on heading to Gare du Nord earlier than the day of travel. We took the Metro to the station and there was not one sign that directed you to the Eurostar office. It was necessary to ask several people who actually worked in the station before we were able to find it. If we would have had to figure it out the morning we left we would have more than likely missed our train. Your advice made our trip on Eurostar so much easier.
Thank you,
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
I’m glad that you had a good Eurostar experience and thank you very much for your kind feedback. We’ll be in Paris again in September and I’ll see if I can add some directions on getting from the Metro to the Eurostar office to help the next person along.
Many thanks and kind regards,
Helen
Once you clear immigration in Paris on the Eurostar from UK and French immigration, do you just walk out at London Euston or another immigration check is required,