Earlier this year in March, I had the opportunity to visit Brussels for the day on a work trip with Eurostar! For those that don’t know, Eurostar is the train that runs from London to Europe. It connects the UK by train with the rest of the continent. The most popular trips from the UK are London to Paris and London to Brussels. Although you can also take the seasonal direct Eurostar all the way to the south of France (Avignon, Marseille, etc.) during the summer months! They have also expanded on a London to Amsterdam service in the last year. While it’s not as frequent as the service to Paris or Brussels, it’s still an easy connection with another big European capital. The train to Brussels also stops in Lille (in France) first.

Traveling by train is easy and if it were cheaper, I would do it all the time. Unfortunately, living in the north of England it is almost always cheaper to fly from a northern airport, than spend money on the train getting down to London to take the Eurostar (or fly from a London airport).

For my day on the Eurostar, a group of us from work left York at 7:00am, and went all the way to Brussels and back in a single day! We got back to York around 9:00pm, so it was a long day.

The Eurostar From London to Brussels

The Eurostar leaves from St. Pancras station in London, and you should probably get there about 30-60 minutes before your train is due to leave. Even though the line was huge, it only took us about 30 minutes to get through check-in. You do have to go through security and customs, although it’s much different to what I would have thought! You scan your ticket to get through the barrier, and then there’s airport-style security screening. On the plus side, you don’t have to worry about your liquids or take your shoes off!

From there, you go through customs—there’s a side for UK/EU citizens, and a side for the rest of us who are non-EU citizens (me!). The line moved fast and before I knew it, I got stamped into France and into the Schengen Zone!

There are two types of fares for Eurostar: Standard and Standard Premier (Eurostar’s version of First Class rail travel). I did both on my trip, so luckily got to experience both of them! Standard class was really nice—comfy seats, and there were only a couple of other people in our carriage. There are really large luggage racks at the end of the carriage (way bigger than a normal train in the UK).

A Quick Visit to Brussels

Unfortunately, we only had a really short amount of time in actual Brussels before we had to get the Eurostar back to London. As we had already gone through customs before leaving London, when we arrived at the station in Brussels (the station is Brussels Midi/Zuid) we just walked off the train and out of the station. It was so easy!!

I had time for a quick waffle and frites, and then it was back to the station! I only had about 45 minutes in actual Brussels before leaving. We went through security and then passport checks to enter the UK, with no queue at all. It was painless and just so much less hassle than when I enter the UK flying into airports.

Standard Premier on the Eurostar Back to London

Our group had tickets for Standard Premier on the way back. It was much nicer—you get a light meal and (unlimited) drinks served at your seat. We certainly had plenty of wine to go around! You do get more leg room, and the seats are even more comfortable than in Standard. As the configuration is different, there are fewer people in a Standard Premier carriage. But our Standard Premier carriage was really busy (every seat was full), so it felt a lot more crowded than our journey in Standard earlier in the day. All in all, it was a really cool way to spend a day of work!

Eurostar is a great way to travel between London and the rest of continental Europe. I’m not gonna lie though, tickets are really expensive (especially considering I’d have to add on the York-London legs both ways). But they do have offers on occasionally for tickets from £29 one-way. These are not at peak times (generally only mid-day trains on weekdays), but if you have the flexibility (ex. If you’re doing a big Eurotrip), it would be really convenient. They also don’t have baggage restrictions the way budget airlines in Europe do, so if you’re in London and can snag a ticket for a low price, you’ll have scored a great deal.

I use Trainline to book all of my train tickets. If you’re planning to take the Eurostar and stay a few days (which I definitely recommend over a daytrip!!), I’d book accommodation in advance. I always use Hostelworld to search for hostels, and Booking.com for hotels. You can also sign up to and search accommodation on Airbnb here! Considering travel insurance for your trip? World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.

This trip was sponsored by Eurostar, and made possible through my job as a Tour Advisor—all opinions and photos remain my own.

Have you ever taken the Eurostar before? What was your experience like? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

You might also like my Brussels posts from my last trip to Belgium!

8 Unique Things To Do In Brussels

11 Practical Tips For Visiting Brussels

How Much Does It Cost To Spend 4 Days In Belgium?  

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