Eurostar Premier from Gare du Nord

Why it is on the list

Gare du Nord is the Paris terminal of Eurostar. London trains leave from tracks 3 to 6, reached from the upper level once past border controls, and British entry checks are made in the station before boarding, together with the French exit checks.¹ Premier is Eurostar's top class, with a coach of its own, reclining seats with extra legroom and a menu served by the crew.² To and from London it has its own lanes through security and passport control, which close 15 minutes before departure.²³ The Premier lounge for London trains is on Level 1 of the station, one above the tracks: take the lift on the left after security.³⁴ It opens to Premier passengers up to two hours before the train, depending on how busy it is.³ The ticket can be exchanged any number of times or refunded without a fee up to two days after departure, and any other train that day can be boarded at no extra charge, though the same class and catering are not guaranteed.² Only Premier passengers can book a station escort, a porter and a car.²⁵

It is a train, so it goes only where the line goes. On the routes to Brussels and Amsterdam the Premier lounge is outside the station, at 22 Rue de Dunkerque, and the priority lanes are for London trains only.³ For anywhere else, take The Jetex terminal at Paris–Le Bourget or The Signature terminal at Paris–Le Bourget.

How to get it

Book a Premier ticket with Eurostar; a ticket cannot be upgraded to Premier later, so choose it when booking.³ Each adult takes three bags of up to 85 cm on the London routes and one small bag, with no limit on liquids.² The Paris lounges open 6:00 to 21:30 Monday to Friday, 6:30 to 21:30 on Saturday and 7:30 to 22:00 on Sunday; you need a ticket for that day.³

For an escort, a porter or a car, book with Well'Com Rail, which runs the service for Premier passengers in Paris, London and Brussels, once the ticket is issued: the Eurostar booking reference is required, and every passenger on it goes on one booking.⁶⁵ Enter the train number and dates on its site, choose the services and leave a card hold of seven days; only confirmed services are charged.⁶⁵ Each service costs extra and Well'Com Rail prints no prices: write to reservations@wellcomrail.com for the rates for your train, and ask for the discount on booking both departure and arrival.²⁵ Children under four come at no charge.⁵ One escort booking covers up to four bags; five to ten need a porter booking as well.⁵ The escort starts no earlier than 1 hour 30 minutes before departure, when check-in opens.⁵ A car on departure collects you two hours before the train unless you ask for another time, with 15 minutes' free waiting; after that an hour's further hire is charged.⁵ Changes or cancellations within 24 hours, and no-shows, are charged in full.⁵ A train missed through arriving late is not refunded; if Eurostar cancels the train, the service moves to the next one at no charge.⁵

Discretion

Gare du Nord is Europe's busiest station, with about 257 million passengers in 2024, most of them commuters; Eurostar's international trains were about 3 per cent of the traffic in 2015.¹ The lounge is shared with other Premier passengers and Carte Blanche and Étoile members of Club Eurostar with their guests, and is laid out in zones and booths for privacy.³ The escort meets you and takes you through each checkpoint, and a car can bring you to the station; you carry your own passport and documents through immigration and customs.⁶⁵