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Eurostar London-Amsterdam Review

This is a London-Amsterdam Eurostar train trip review. The Eurostar is a fast, comfortable and convenient way of travelling from London to Amsterdam. Eurostar uses its newer E320 trains on the route.

Eurostar currently operates a direct train service up to 4x daily both ways between London and Amsterdam.

This is the Eurostar timetable for direct trains between London and Amsterdam:

London St Pancras – Amsterdam CentraalDeparts
ArrivesJourney time
061611143 hours 58 minutes
081613143 hours 58 minutes
110416124 hours 8 minutes
180423144 hours 10 minutes
Amsterdam Centraal – London St Pancras
Departs
ArrivesJourney time
074711004 hours 13 minutes
134717014 hours 14 minutes
164719574 hours 10 minutes
184721574 hours 10 minutes

[Note: Service frequency is reduced at weekends; Amsterdam is 1 hour ahead of London time]


London-Amsterdam Eurostar trip

We made the journey between London and Amsterdam by Standard Premier class in October 2018 on the evening departure. We paid our own way, €102 one-way for the trip. You can book the trip at the NS International site

The Eurostar to Amsterdam departs from its terminal at the beautiful London St Pancras station. This is located in the north of London next to Kings Cross station and a short walk from Euston station. You can arrive by tube via any of the Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Circle, Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan lines.

Also see how to travel Amsterdam to London for more options on travel between the cities.

london st pancras station
Eurostar trains at London St Pancras station

The public area inside the station contains quite a decent range of shops, cafés and restaurants. Upstairs you will find the longest champagne bar in Europe, the Betjeman Statue, the famous Dent clock and Paul Day’s 9m tall statue of an embracing couple known as “The Lovers”.

st pancras champagne bar
Champagne bar at London St Pancras station

There are 3 classes of travel on the Eurostar:

Standard Class – This is effectively 2nd class with the normal 2-2 configuration seating, seat pitch of approximately 32.5″ (82.5cm) and food/drink available for purchase at the Eurostar Café bar buffet car. One-way fares for London-Amsterdam start from £39 or €44.

eurostar standard class seats
Eurostar Standard class seats

Standard Premier – A first class “lite” product using dedicated carriages with 1-2 configuration and seat pitch of approximately 37″ (94.5cm). A complimentary light meal and drinks are served at your seat and a selection of magazines is available. One-way fares for London-Amsterdam start from £89 or €96.

eurostar standard premier seat
Eurostar Standard Premier seats

Business Premier – A flexible fare business product using dedicated carriages with similar 1-2 config and seat pitch as Standard Premier. A full 3 course meal with drinks including champagne is served at your seat (culinary director is currently Raymond Blanc), plus newspapers and magazines are available. At the main Eurostar stations you get fast-track check-in and a business lounge which has free refreshments and WiFi.

Business Premier ticket prices are by no means cheap, priced from around £260 or €299 one-way.


Eurostar check in time (2023)

Eurostar requests that Standard/Standard Premier passengers arrive at London St Pancras 90 minutes prior to departure. Business Premier passengers should arrive 45-60 minutes before departure.

At Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Eurostar recommends arriving 60-90 minutes for Standard/Standard Premier passengers and 30-45 minutes for Business Premier passengers.

eurostar departures london
Eurostar departures check-in area at London St Pancras

At London St Pancras you need queue to go through a check-in gate (where you simply scan or insert your ticket) and then there is an immediate security check of your luggage. This is followed by a UK exit check and then French border control.

You are then in the main departures lounge area which is used by all Eurostar passengers going to Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels. This area has a newsagent, a bar and café. Free WiFi is available.

Boarding is called about 20 minutes before departure and you go up the escalators to the platform. Check your boarding pass for the coach number as there are different escalators for coaches 1-5 and 6-18.

eurostar departure lounge
Eurostar departures lounge area at London St Pancras
eurostar departures lounge waiting are - london st pancras
Eurostar departures lounge seating (empty) at London St Pancras

On the E320 trains, business/standard premier coaches are located at 1-3 and 14-16, with standard class carriages 4-13. The bar buffet is found in coach 8 and 9.

eurostar train at london st pancras station
Eurostar train (new livery) at London St Pancras

Once onboard the train you can place large cases in the luggage racks near the doors. Otherwise there are overhead racks for medium and smaller bags. Standard Premier class has magazines available for reading (such as Time, The Economist, Wired etc) but no newspapers.

There are UK and Euro power points available on all seats on the E320 trains. USB sockets are also available in Standard Premier/Business Premier seats.

eurostar standard premier
Eurostar Standard Premier carriage

The carriage filled up and shortly after the doors were closed and the train departed. We were soon up-to-speed, passing through Ebsfleet station and out of London towards the Channel tunnel. In terms of scenery, probably the highlight of the Eurostar trip on the UK side is crossing the viaduct over the river Medway near Rochester.

eurostar river medway crossing
Eurostar trip – crossing the river Medway near Rochester UK

In Standard Premier, morning services before 11am get a light continental style breakfast (pastries, yoghurt and juice) with coffee or tea, served about 25 minutes into the journey. If you travel after 11am you will get a (cold) light meal with the option of soft drinks, wine or beer plus tea and coffee. If you have dietary requirements you can pre-order a special meal via the online booking portal.

To be fair, the food offering used to be a lot better when Standard Premier was known as Leisure Select a few years back.

eurostar standard premier meal
Eurostar Standard Premier meal

Continuing the journey, the train slows down for the 50km channel tunnel section which takes about 20 minutes. It then speeds up again on the French side for the high speed run to Brussels Zuid/Midi.

After a short stop, the train continues through Belgium (standard track) and speeds up again after passing Antwerp. The final leg of the trip is on the Dutch high speed track and the train makes a stop at Rotterdam before finally terminating at Amsterdam Central station.

eurostar train at rotterdam central station
Amsterdam-bound Eurostar train arriving at Rotterdam Central station

Overall, travel on the Eurostar is highly recommended with its city centre to city centre convenience. Standard Premier class is a comfortable and civilised way to travel in a quiet cabin and will make a good start/end to your trip.

For further info see our guide international trains to/from Amsterdam

How To Book Eurostar Tickets

You can check timetables, prices and make bookings for Eurostar and other international train services at the NS International site

Note, because of border control processing limitations there are some capacity constraints on Eurostar train services – meaning not all seats can be sold. This has kept prices firmer, so you should try to book well in advance to secure the lowest available fares.

We originally published a Eurostar trip report in 2011. Information has been continuously updated and the last trips were made in Sep 2023 and Oct 2018. This article was last updated 4 October 2023.

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