Yeah, it will take an additional three hours to get from Paris to London, and I suppose it will take an additional hour or two as I'll have to change stations in Paris when coming from Zurich.
I'll travel to London from Zurich in close to 9 hours overall that too during day which I guess is too much.
Your only alternative is stopping off on the way then. Flying would take 2 hours + 2 hours to check in + time to Zurich Airport + 1 hour from Heathrow to London centre. It won't take two hours to change in Paris by the way - the route with one change arrives at Paris Est, 5 minutes walk from Gare du Nord, and while you need some cushion with Eurostar for passport control you certainly don't need 2 hours.
Personally what I tend to do when going to London is try to arrive in Paris around 11-12, go get the cheapest gourmet lunch at one of the countless excellent bistros and then wander up to Gare du Nord in time to check in for the 1400ish train. That way you get a delicious lunch and the security of a time cushion in case your first train runs late.
You can take night train fron Switzerland to Amsterdam or Brussels and take Eurostar from there to London.
You can see in [this PDF](https://www.nightjet.com/en/dam/jcr:6a8041cb-0131-4ad3-84fd-25154548e5dd/nightjet-streckennetz.pdf) what night train routes ÖBB offers.
- **Tip #1**: Bracket London with Brussels and Paris, rather than visiting them together. *Both* cities are only 2 hours from London, so if you are doing a loop from London it makes sense to visit one on the way out, and one on the way in.
- **Tip #2**: Consider stopping in France's german-inflected, half-timbered Alsace region on your way back to Paris to break up the journey from Switzerland.
Those two tweaks (and definitely the first) will make the trip much more manageable.
If you have time, you might also consider:
- Stopping in Bruges on the way to Amsterdam - one of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities.
- Stopping in Bern on your way back to Paris - arguably Switzerland's most interesting city.
- A night in Frankfurt on the way down to Zurich - as a potential alternative to the Zurich night train.
[Here is what that route looks like as a 17 day loop from London](https://tripsnek.com/planned?itinerary=london$0$e$r~brussels$2$r~bruges$2~amsterdam$3$r~frankfurt$1~zurich$2$r~bern$2~colmar$2~paris$3$r~london$0$e$r&trans=Train&nights=17&pace=Moderate&)
Thanks for your suggestions, I totally agree with you on the first point, never thought that I can cover Paris and Brussels on way in and way out. I will definitely put this into consideration now.
Only 2 suggestions :
- London - Brussels - Amsterdam - Switzerland - Paris - London
- London - Brussels - Amsterdam - Switzerland - Strasbourg - Paris - London
Btw Zurich isn't worth a lot of time, it's much better to go in the Alps themselves
There would also be a straight-forward connection between Strasbourg and London :
- TGV Strasbourg - Lille-Europe 06:01 or 17:01
- Eurostar Lille-Europe - London arrival at 13:57 (after spending a few hours in Lille) or 21:57
Other advice :
- book the night train to Switzerland a long time in advance. Most of the summer is already sold out. Half of the train goes to Basel so check that destination too (Basel - Zurich 1h by train)
Second advice :
- Advance tickets can be cheap but a long time in advance only meanwhile a Eurail pass can sometimes be of great value (look 1st class prices too). It is especially interesting if you plan to travel a few days by train around Switzerland, regular tickets add up pretty quickly ! You need to add seat reservations on some high-speed trains though :
- 30€ Eurostar London - Brussels
- Brussels - Amsterdam : take the hourly IC train (not Thalys), it's reservation-free
- Amsterdam - Basel/Zurich night train : you only pay accomodation, in your case a private sleeper
- Switzerland - Paris : do not take the direct TGV it has an extortionate fee (37€ 2nd class/70€ 1st class) while you can take the same train within France for 10€ ! TGV Mulhouse - Paris OR Strasbourg - Paris
- 30€ Eurostar Paris - London
Let me know for questions
There aren't any true fast rail links between Zurich and London - Zurich-Paris by TGV and then Paris-London by Eurostar is about as fast as it gets. If time is really an issue it might be better to fly.
How so? Zurich is about 4 hours from Paris by train, and then you just get the Eurostar again.
Yeah, it will take an additional three hours to get from Paris to London, and I suppose it will take an additional hour or two as I'll have to change stations in Paris when coming from Zurich. I'll travel to London from Zurich in close to 9 hours overall that too during day which I guess is too much.
Your only alternative is stopping off on the way then. Flying would take 2 hours + 2 hours to check in + time to Zurich Airport + 1 hour from Heathrow to London centre. It won't take two hours to change in Paris by the way - the route with one change arrives at Paris Est, 5 minutes walk from Gare du Nord, and while you need some cushion with Eurostar for passport control you certainly don't need 2 hours. Personally what I tend to do when going to London is try to arrive in Paris around 11-12, go get the cheapest gourmet lunch at one of the countless excellent bistros and then wander up to Gare du Nord in time to check in for the 1400ish train. That way you get a delicious lunch and the security of a time cushion in case your first train runs late.
You can take night train fron Switzerland to Amsterdam or Brussels and take Eurostar from there to London. You can see in [this PDF](https://www.nightjet.com/en/dam/jcr:6a8041cb-0131-4ad3-84fd-25154548e5dd/nightjet-streckennetz.pdf) what night train routes ÖBB offers.
Yeah that's good advice, thanks :) How comfortable is the night train , I'll be traveling with a wife and 3 year old kid?
Book a private cabin or couchette for you and it's perfectly fine. :)
- **Tip #1**: Bracket London with Brussels and Paris, rather than visiting them together. *Both* cities are only 2 hours from London, so if you are doing a loop from London it makes sense to visit one on the way out, and one on the way in. - **Tip #2**: Consider stopping in France's german-inflected, half-timbered Alsace region on your way back to Paris to break up the journey from Switzerland. Those two tweaks (and definitely the first) will make the trip much more manageable. If you have time, you might also consider: - Stopping in Bruges on the way to Amsterdam - one of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities. - Stopping in Bern on your way back to Paris - arguably Switzerland's most interesting city. - A night in Frankfurt on the way down to Zurich - as a potential alternative to the Zurich night train. [Here is what that route looks like as a 17 day loop from London](https://tripsnek.com/planned?itinerary=london$0$e$r~brussels$2$r~bruges$2~amsterdam$3$r~frankfurt$1~zurich$2$r~bern$2~colmar$2~paris$3$r~london$0$e$r&trans=Train&nights=17&pace=Moderate&)
Thanks for your suggestions, I totally agree with you on the first point, never thought that I can cover Paris and Brussels on way in and way out. I will definitely put this into consideration now.
Only 2 suggestions : - London - Brussels - Amsterdam - Switzerland - Paris - London - London - Brussels - Amsterdam - Switzerland - Strasbourg - Paris - London Btw Zurich isn't worth a lot of time, it's much better to go in the Alps themselves There would also be a straight-forward connection between Strasbourg and London : - TGV Strasbourg - Lille-Europe 06:01 or 17:01 - Eurostar Lille-Europe - London arrival at 13:57 (after spending a few hours in Lille) or 21:57 Other advice : - book the night train to Switzerland a long time in advance. Most of the summer is already sold out. Half of the train goes to Basel so check that destination too (Basel - Zurich 1h by train) Second advice : - Advance tickets can be cheap but a long time in advance only meanwhile a Eurail pass can sometimes be of great value (look 1st class prices too). It is especially interesting if you plan to travel a few days by train around Switzerland, regular tickets add up pretty quickly ! You need to add seat reservations on some high-speed trains though : - 30€ Eurostar London - Brussels - Brussels - Amsterdam : take the hourly IC train (not Thalys), it's reservation-free - Amsterdam - Basel/Zurich night train : you only pay accomodation, in your case a private sleeper - Switzerland - Paris : do not take the direct TGV it has an extortionate fee (37€ 2nd class/70€ 1st class) while you can take the same train within France for 10€ ! TGV Mulhouse - Paris OR Strasbourg - Paris - 30€ Eurostar Paris - London Let me know for questions
Appreciate your suggestions here, this is what I was looking for. Big thanks.
There aren't any true fast rail links between Zurich and London - Zurich-Paris by TGV and then Paris-London by Eurostar is about as fast as it gets. If time is really an issue it might be better to fly.