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Train from Madrid to London

 
Madrid waterfront
Photo © Turespaña

Overview

Route: Madrid Chamartin to London St Pancras International via Paris (sleeper)
Journey time: About 18 hours.
Journey highlights:

Don't miss the restaurant carriage and the three-course meal and bottle of Rioja. And if you didn't choose it on the outbound trip and fancy splashing out on a little luxury, it's worth booking the private couchette (for two) and have a hot shower in the morning before arriving in Paris.

 

Detailed itinerary

Option 1: via Paris (sleeper)

Sample itinerary: Take the 1900 sleeper service from Madrid Chamartin, which arrives in Paris at 0831, giving you enough time to grab a croissant and head across to Gare du Nord for the 1013 Eurostar service to St Pancras.
Price: from £202 return (booked as a return journey outward from London)
Leg 1: Madrid Chamartin to Paris Gare d'Austerlitz (sleeper)
Frequency of service: Daily.
Operator:

EuroNight

Journey time: 14 hrs 08 mins
Transfer

Cross the centre of Paris by metro from Gare d'Austeritz to Gare du Nord. Follow the signs for Metro line M5 to Gare du Nord (which is signposted 'direction Bobigny Pablo Picasso'). It's 9 stops from Gare d'Austerlitz to Gare de Nord and takes 20-30 minutes, but we recommend you leave at least 50 minutes for the entire transfer and don't forget the 30-minute check-in for Eurostar.

Transfer time: Allow 50 mins
 
Book a hotel near Gare d'Austerlitz
 
 
Book a hotel near Gare du Nord
 
Leg 2: Paris Gare du Nord to London St Pancras International in the heart of London. Don't forget check-in time for Eurostar is at least 30 mins before departure.
Frequency of service: About 15 trains a day
Operator:

Eurostar

Journey time: From 2 hrs 16 mins
Destination

Welcome to London. St Pancras International now has lots of lovely shops, restaurants and gastro pubs... and free wifi throughout the station. If you're planning to stay in the capital, there are over 60 hotels within a one mile radius of St Pancras (by the way, the new spectacular St Pancras Midland Grand Hotel - a 5-star Marriott hotel - has now opened!).

From St Pancras, there are mainline rail connections to Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, as well as First Capital Connect trains on the cross-London Thameslink route which continues north as far as Bedford or south to Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

Across the street is Kings Cross station, which has rail connections to the north of England and Scotland, and it's a 15-minute walk (in the opposite direction, heading west) to Euston Station for connections to the West Midlands, the West Coast (including Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester) and Glasgow (including the Scotrail sleeper service).

 
Book a hotel near St Pancras
 

Your route back from Madrid

The lines on the map are for illustrative purposes only - they don't show the exact route taken by the train.

 

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