myguideBritain Blog

St Pancras Station - London’s gateway to Europe

November 16th, 2007

I drove through London this week to some meetings. It took me over 2 hours to cover the 25 miles or so across the city to Canary Wharf in the east end. Should have taken my own advice and used public transport!

However I did take a short diversion on the way to see the newly restored St Pancras Station, the new terminal for Eurostar trains that will whisk you away to Paris in the same time it took me to get across London!

What a fantastic building.

The Victorian gothic architecture is pure fantasy and the train shed (where the platforms are) is a miracle of Victorian engineering. Originally opened in 1868 it has been restored to its former glory in the £800million ($1600million) restoration project and extension - as modern Eurostar trains are a little longer than their Victorian counterparts! The shed roof has over 1400 glass panels covering an area of 10,000sq metres and the bottom third of the roof is finished with 300,000 slates hand crafted and supplied from the slate quarries of North Wales.

Now I know we should be talking about Britain and our experiences here but if you’re visiting London and fancy a bit of French culture you could be in Paris in 2hrs 15min giving you a good day in Paris if you leave on the 7.30am train, before returning on the 9.13pm train to your London Hotel. You’d have more than enough time to see the Eiffel Tower, take a boat trip along the Seine and perhaps a visit to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa before returning to the Gare du Nord station for your return journey. If you’ve time eat in Paris before returning. For instance try the Restaurant Chartier in Monmartre that takes you back to the 19^th century with its white aproned waiters and belle époque splendour. Good food at a reasonable price and a great atmosphere.

Don’t relax too much though or you’ll easily forget about your train back to London!

Entry Filed under: All of Britain, England, Wales