Operator: Eurostar
Headcode: 9O14
Route: STP-PND
Class: Eurostar Plus
Seat: C8, S65 C2, S65
Date: Saturday 3rd January 2026
With the Christmas and New Year festivities having come to an end, the start of January saw me preparing for my first trip of 2026 and, in keeping with tradition, this one was a proper adventure. For previous January trips I had ticked off (Not Quite) All the Small Things and Snoozed my way to Split, so my 2026 trip needed to be as much of an adventure if not more than the trips that had come before. So, for this January trip, I would be Meandering to Moldova, via France; Germany; Austria; Hungary; and Romania with the trip, as always, starting at London’s St Pancras International.
As with a lot of my larger European adventures, my Meander to Moldova was to start with me catching a Eurostar service from St Pancras to the European mainland. However, unlike previous trips, I wouldn’t be stating this one by heading to Brussels, instead I would be heading to Gare du Nord in the French capital, Paris. Whilst I have travelled to Paris before on the Eurostar (read about that here), it is a route I have travelled a lot less and it would be interesting to see how different my trip would be starting via Paris. I also had hopes that I would finally be travelling on one of Eurostar’s original e300s, as since booking my seat had been changed to a carriage in the middle of the train, the location of Eurostar Plus onboard the older trains.
I timed my arrival at St Pancras quite well as the queue opened to passengers travelling on my service just as I arrived at 0755, and I was soon at the check-in gates. Unfortunately, my hopes of travelling on an e300 were once again dashed as I was provided with another new seat at check-in with the train having reverted to the more modern e320. The other side of the check-in gates, the queues for security were very chaotic and it took me around 10 minutes to get through to the other side which I think is the longest it has ever taken me at St Pancras. Passport control was quick despite all the headlines about European border delays, and I was through into departures at 0812, 17 minutes after entering the check-in queue.
The departure lounge itself was very busy, with passengers for both the 0901 Brussels and 0931 Paris services waiting to board along with passengers for the 1001 Brussels service starting to arrive. Despite the business I did manage to find a seat and once the 0901 Brussels had boarded, I headed to the platform entrance having used Real Time Trains to give me a head start. Our boarding was slightly delayed due to an arrival on the adjacent platform immediately before we were supposed to board, but having made it to 4th in the queue, I was onboard almost immediately when boarding started at 0913. Unfortunately for the traincrew, they hadn’t been told boarding was starting and were still relaxing when we began to reach the train.
I was in coach 2, seat 65 towards the rear of the train for the journey to Paris, travelling in the recently rebranded Eurostar Plus (the old Standard Premier). Although the name has changed, nothing onboard is different with the seats in a 2-1 configuration either side of the aisle in a mix of ‘airline’ style and table seats. My seat was one of a pair around a table on the single side of the aisle, thankfully the forward facing one, and all seats in Eurostar Plus have a USB-A socket along with either a UK or European socket. The seats also have a handy storage tray between them and the window, providing somewhere to store your laptop and free up the table during the food service. There’s also the usual arm rests, reading lights and coat hooks along with free WiFi although this is so notoriously terrible that I’m actually going to mark Eurostar down for it.
Despite the delay to boarding, we departed at 0932, just one minute late with a non-stop run to Paris ahead of us. As we wound ourselves out of St Pancras and passed the St Pancras Churchyard cement works, we were soon entering into the London tunnels which take High Speed 1 (HS1) from central London, via Stratford to the Essex riverside. Spending just a few minutes in Essex passing by Ripple Lane Exchange Sidings which connect HS2 to the conventional network, we then dived under the Thames and entered Kent, emerging just before Ebbsfleet International, a station that hasn’t seen international train services since March 2020. As we sped through the Kent countryside, the UK’s current cold snap was apparent with frost (and some snow) still covering much of the countryside.
At 1004, 32 minutes after departing St Pancras, we entered the Channel Tunnel just as breakfast was being served with a choice of an apple Danish or a spinach, mushroom and ricotta swirl. Opting for the latter, which was very nice, it was served with a choice or water or juice along with tea or coffee, all of which is included in the price for Eurostar Plus. Emerging from the tunnel less than 20 minutes later at 1123 local time, I was fully fuelled ready for the day, although didn’t turn down the extra coffee offered as we sped through northern France which had a similar look to Kent, being covered in frost. Enroute to Lille, which we would pass through but not stop at, we passed to the west of the town of Bailleul and its multitude of spires, before slowing down to pass through Lille Europe station.
From Lille the LGV Nord passes the end of Lille airport, and heads south before skirting the edge of the Maison du Parc naturel régional Oise-Pays de France and the north-west corner of Charles De Gaulle Airport on its way to Paris. At Villiers-le-Bel the line meets up with the edge of the French suburban network and from here we ran parallel to RER line D for the remainder of our run into Gare du Nord. The area of Saint-Denis saw us passing both RER and SNCF depots, as well as France’s national stadium, the Stade de France, the largest stadium in France with a capacity of over 80,000. Arriving into Gare du Nord on one of the 15 lines that form the station throat, we arrived into platform 5 at 1248, one minute early, after a journey time of 2 hours 16 minutes.
As always, this journey with Eurostar was a comfortable and stress-free way to start my trip. Whilst the experience at St Pancras is never great, this is something Eurostar are going to struggle to overcome due to limited space, and it doesn’t detract from the overall experience of travelling from city centre to city centre and arriving into Paris without having to go through further checks. Personally, Eurostar Plus is worth the extra money if its reasonably priced compared to Standard, as the extra space and peace alone is a great benefit with the onboard service being a nice bonus. I will always recommend travelling to Europe via Eurostar, especially if you have luggage, as at that point the price is very comparable to the airlines, and it is generally a smoother experience. All in all, another great journey with Eurostar.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 3*
Food 4*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 17/25 (read about my rating system here!)
Flights & Times 