Has anyone taken the Eurostar from London to Paris, any tips or advice, thinking about using it for our trip next year.

I sort of did that in reverse last December. We went from Disney Paris to London, on two trains: first was SNCF from Disney to Lille, then Eurostar from Lille to London. It was blazing fast. The biggest problem we faced was the lack of storage space for luggage. We were in the middle of a three-week trip around Europe, and had a toddler with us. We didn't have a problem until the Eurostar. There is a little bit of space near the front and rear of each train car, but it filled up well before we were able to board. The aisles were narrow, and we had to drag our luggage and a three-year old the length of an entire train car on the way on, and then in reverse on the way off. Our luggage bumped into damn near every person in that car. We also needed to get off one stop before the final stop in London, and I think we were some of the very few people to get off there. It likely would have been easier if we had gone all the way to the end and let the car clear before exiting.

The train itself was fine. It didn't seem anything too fancy, but it was comfortable. And fast. If you have little kids, the pressure might bother their ears when it goes under the Channel. Our son was fine, but the couple across from us had an infant who cried almost the entire time, from ear pressure.

Thanks for the information, I'm sure we will need to have our passports with us but how much earlier should we arrive before our scheduled depart time?

I can't remember how far in advance they opened the security check line. We had a layover in Lille of a couple hours. I asked the guy at an info booth when we got there about it, and he gave me the immigration forms to fill out in advance. They let people line up a little in advance, and then it took a little while to go through customs. Then we got to wait in a big lounge area for about half an hour before they started boarding, and then we had to go downstairs to the platform to wait for a little while before the train actually got there. It was a bit of a process, but it wasn't horrible.

I assume you would be boarding at St Pancras? That's a nice, big station. I can ask my friends in London about how early to get there, in case you don't get any better replies here about it.

That would be helpful, thanks.

We did it from London to Brussels two years ago. Some friends who live in London took us to the train station an hour before departure. The line for security was crazy-long, and we made it to the train 4 minutes before departure. I was a nervous wreck, and it was my first Europe train experience. Get there plenty early!

The pressure bothered my ears. I wasn't prepared for the intensity, but I guess there is nothing you can really do about it.

We took backpacks and since we were the last folks on our train car, we did have a hard time figuring out where to put them since it was so full. I was VERY glad we weren't dealing with big luggage.

We did it this summer with 8 people in our group. Got there early two hours s early thinking would be like an airport but it was very easy to get in. We left fairly early in a Saturday though (7ish) so that may be why it wa me easy for us. We spent most of the time gettting breakfast.

There was a shirt security line but other than that, there was no wait. As long as it's not at "rush hour", it should be fairly easy and quick. Once they open the platform, you have about 10 minutes to get to your seat before they leave. Everything is very efficient.

We did it about 10 years ago and loved it (London to Paris). I don't remember much about the details and besides, being 10 years ago I'm not sure it would help... but in general I really enjoyed the trip and the whole European train travel thing.

One thing I do remember was looking everywhere for the Eiffel Tower coming into Paris and it always seemed we were either too far something was blocking it. We made a transfer to a local subway and still couldn't see it. We got off the train at our stop and came out top side and had the beautiful, iconic close up view of the Eiffel Tower. Literally a goosebump moment.

Enjoy the trip!

I found this site invaluable when planning train journeys on out trips to Europe.

http://seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm

I took the Eurostar from Paris to London last week. The process is pretty easy. You show up about an hour before departure. Get your ticket scanned then passport stamped. Walk into a boarding area where you wait until ~40 or so minutes before departure time. Then get in line to talk to a customs officer and have your bags scanned before entering the train. Pretty seamless and didn't seem quite the hassle of getting onto an airplane and dealing with customs.

Another benefit of taking the Eurostar is that you don't need to travel far outside each city to get to the airports. Gard du Nord and St. Pancras are in the city centers. If you travel light enough you could even jump on the Underground/Metropolitan to your destination without using a car service.