Eurostar London-Amsterdam Review

This is a London-Amsterdam Eurostar train trip review. The Eurostar is a fast, comfortable and convenient way of travelling from London to Amsterdam. Eurostar uses its E320 trains on the route. You can book Eurostar tickets at the NS International site or also at the Trainline site.

Eurostar currently operates a direct train service up to 4x daily both ways between London and Amsterdam.

This is the Eurostar timetable for direct trains between London and Amsterdam:

[Service frequency is reduced at weekends; Amsterdam is 1 hour ahead of London time]

Between July and December 2024 the Eurostar terminal in Amsterdam will undergo an expansion/renovation to allow more passengers to be processed. This means there will be no direct trains from Amsterdam to London during this time – passengers will need to make a stop in Brussels. The London-Amsterdam service will run as usual.

London-Amsterdam Eurostar trip

We have made multiple trips between London and Amsterdam by Standard and Standard Premier class.

The Eurostar to Amsterdam departs from its terminal at the beautiful London St Pancras International station. This is located in the north of London next to Kings Cross station and a short walk from Euston station. You can arrive by tube via any of the Northern, Victoria, Piccadilly, Circle, Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan lines.

The public area inside the station contains quite a decent range of shops, cafés and restaurants.

Upstairs you will find a champagne bar, the John Betjeman Statue, the famous Dent clock and Paul Day’s 9m tall statue of an embracing couple known as “The Lovers”.

There are 3 classes of travel on the Eurostar:

Standard Class – This is effectively 2nd class with the normal 2-2 configuration seating, seat pitch of approximately 32.5″ (82.5cm) and food/drink available for purchase at the Eurostar Café bar buffet car.

One-way fares in Standard between London and Amsterdam start from £51/€58 one-way or £78/€88 return.

Standard Premier – A first class “lite” product using dedicated carriages with 1-2 configuration and seat pitch of approximately 37″ (94.5cm). A complimentary light meal and drinks are served at your seat and a selection of magazines is available.

One-way fares for the London-Amsterdam route in Standard Premier start from £97/€111 one-way or £168/€192 return

Business Premier – A flexible fare business product using dedicated carriages with similar 1-2 config and seat pitch as Standard Premier. A full 3 course meal with drinks including champagne is served at your seat (culinary director is currently chef Raymond Blanc), plus newspapers and magazines are available. At the main Eurostar stations you get fast-track check-in and lounge access.

Business Premier ticket prices are by no means cheap, priced from £335/€385 one-way or £580/€667 return.

The Business Premier lounge in London St Pancras is open to Business Premier passengers (not Standard Premier), Carte Blanche and Étoile members of the Club Eurostar program and American Express Platinum cardholders.

Book your Eurostar tickets here with NS International or at the Trainline site.

Eurostar check in time

Eurostar requests that Standard and Standard Premier passengers arrive at London St Pancras 90 minutes prior to departure. Business Premier passengers should arrive 45-60 minutes before departure.

At Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Eurostar recommends arriving 60-90 minutes for Standard/Standard Premier passengers and 30-45 minutes for Business Premier passengers.

At the Eurostar departures check-in hall at London St Pancras there are ticket machines if you need to pick-up, purchase or change tickets at the station.

At London St Pancras you need queue to go through a check-in gate (where you simply scan or insert your ticket) and then there is an immediate security check of your luggage. This is followed by a UK exit check and then French border control.

You are then in the main departures lounge area which is used by all Eurostar passengers going to Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels. This area has a newsagent, a bar and café. Free WiFi is available here as well as on board the trains.

Boarding is called about 20 minutes before departure and you go up the escalators to the platform. Check your boarding pass for the coach number as there are different escalators for coaches 1-5 and 6-18.

On the E320 trains, business/standard premier coaches are located at 1-3 and 14-16, with standard class carriages 4-13. The bar buffet is found in coach 8 and 9.

Once onboard the train you can place large cases in the luggage racks near the doors. Otherwise there are overhead racks for medium and smaller bags. Standard Premier class has some magazines available for reading but no newspapers.

There are UK and Euro power points available on all seats on the E320 trains. USB sockets are also available in Standard Premier/Business Premier seats.

The carriage filled up and shortly after the doors were closed and the train departed. We were soon up-to-speed, passing through Ebsfleet station and out of London towards the Channel tunnel. In terms of scenery, probably the highlight of the Eurostar trip on the UK side is crossing the viaduct over the river Medway near Rochester.

Note, the Eurostar E320 windows are a little opaque and can often be dirty which does hamper the views somewhat.

In Standard Premier, morning services before 11am get a light continental style breakfast (muffin, yoghurt, fruit and juice) with coffee or tea, served about 25 minutes into the journey.

If you travel after 11am you will get a (cold) light meal with the option of soft drinks, wine or beer plus tea and coffee. If you have dietary requirements you can pre-order a special meal via the online booking portal.

To be fair, the food offering used to be a lot better when Standard Premier was known as Leisure Select a few years back.

Continuing the journey, the train slows down for the 50km channel tunnel section which takes about 20 minutes. It then speeds up again on the French side for the high speed run to Lille Europe and Brussels Zuid/Midi.

After a short stop, the train continues through Belgium (standard track) and speeds up again after passing Antwerp. The final leg of the trip is on the Dutch high speed track and the train makes a stop at Rotterdam before finally terminating at Amsterdam Central station.

Overall, travel on the Eurostar is highly recommended with its city centre to city centre convenience. Standard Premier class is a comfortable and civilised way to travel in a quiet cabin and will make a good start/end to your trip.

For further info: International trains to/from Amsterdam

and how to travel Amsterdam to London for more options on travel between the cities.

How To Book Eurostar Tickets

You can check timetables, prices and make bookings for Eurostar and other international train services at the NS International site or at the Trainline site.

We originally published a Eurostar trip report in 2011. Information has been continuously updated. This article was last updated 30 January 2024.

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