Surprise me

London to Turin by Train: The Paris Connection

By The Travel FieldbookPublished on Updated on 7 min read
A Eurostar train at St Pancras railway station in London.
A Eurostar train at St Pancras International, the London departure point for the journey towards Turin. (APK · CC BY 4.0 · Edited)

London to Turin by train means changing stations in Paris, not taking a direct Eurostar. Starting at Trafalgar Square, you travel through St Pancras and Paris to Porta Susa, then continue to Piazza Castello in Turin. The direct onward rail service is currently affected by engineering works, so settle your travel dates before buying separate tickets.

The route via Paris

London–Paris
Eurostar, St Pancras International–Gare du Nord
Fastest London–Paris journey
2 hours 16 minutes
Paris station change
Gare du Nord–Gare de Lyon
Direct onward service on operating dates
SNCF TGV INOUI to Torino Porta Susa

You can travel from London to Italy by rail, but Eurostar ends in Paris. Compare train and flight between the same endpoints, Trafalgar Square and Piazza Castello, rather than comparing station time with flight time.

Rail via Paris versus flying from Gatwick

Pros

  • Rail brings you to Porta Susa, with a walk rather than an airport transfer at the Turin end.
  • Rail suits an overland journey or a Paris stop; its cost combines London access, Eurostar, Paris transport and the onward reserved train.

Cons

  • Flying is the shorter travel option: British Airways schedules around 1 hour 45 minutes in the air. Rail adds a long onward journey and separate departure checks to Eurostar.
  • British Airways’ seasonal nonstop flights run Monday, Friday and Sunday, with validity ending between 19 and 23 October 2026, depending on the service; the latest departure is 21:05 on Fridays, 18 September–23 October 2026.

For Gatwick, walk to Victoria in about 26 minutes, then take Southern in about 33 minutes. Budget roughly £60–£250 one way for the flight, rising with demand, plus airport rail travel. Allow around two hours at Gatwick for processing.

At Turin Airport, take Arriva’s route 268 coach to Porta Susa, a journey of about 30 minutes, then walk to Piazza Castello. Arriva’s adult single fare for the city-to-airport direction, including Porta Susa, is €7.50. A late flight needs a separate airport-to-city transport decision, rather than assuming the coach connects.

Paris–Italy engineering works

An overnight in Paris does not restore a suspended service. It can give you a more comfortable connection when onward trains run, but during the interruption you need a different onward journey or different travel dates. Resolve that choice before committing to the London–Paris ticket.

Tickets and missed connections

  • London access: a local-transport ticket to St Pancras, separate from the international trains.
  • Eurostar London–Paris: adult Standard fares from £39 one way, subject to availability. The ticket includes the compulsory seat reservation, but pass holders need a separate reservation and booking fee.
  • Paris transfer: the adult single Metro-Train-RER Ticket costs €2.55 for the Gare du Nord–Gare de Lyon journey.
  • Onward train: a separate SNCF TGV INOUI ticket with a compulsory seat reservation. Frecciarossa also requires a reservation for the booked train, date, time, class and seat. Keep its reservation reference and coach and seat details ready.

Buying earlier and choosing less popular departures can reduce the total. Prices for more flexible tickets also vary by departure and availability, but their conditions may be worth paying for if your plans could change. Buying Eurostar and another carrier’s train in one transaction still leaves separate contracts, not automatic protection for the whole London–Turin journey.

If a delay or cancellation causes a missed connection, the Agreement on Journey Continuation can help, provided your itinerary allowed sufficient interchange time. Keep the original ticket and obtain official proof of the disruption. Ask staff for assistance: continuation is on the next available train of the carrier named on the unused ticket, at no extra cost, subject to seats in the same class. Eurostar’s HOTNAT arrangement does not apply to this transfer.

Eurostar departures at St Pancras

From Trafalgar Square, walk to Leicester Square Underground station and take the Piccadilly line to King’s Cross St Pancras. Access to St Pancras International takes about 17 minutes. Follow signs for Eurostar Departures, rather than the domestic platforms. The Underground journey is only the approach to your international departure.

Have your ticket and passport ready, with any visa or entry authorisation required for your nationality. After the ticket gates come luggage security and passport checks, then the departure lounge. Keep documents accessible until you have finished the checks, rather than packing them deep inside a bag.

Eurostar takes you to Gare du Nord, where you begin the cross-Paris transfer. Departures vary by date: on 4 October 2026, the last London–Paris train leaves at 20:31. A late departure is better suited to a Paris overnight than an onward connection that evening.

Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon

At Gare du Nord, leave the Eurostar arrivals area and follow signs for the RER suburban railway. Take southbound RER D directly to Gare de Lyon, with Châtelet–Les Halles as the intermediate stop. The rail transfer takes about 13 minutes, but give yourself additional time to reach the RER platforms and find the onward train with luggage.

The front façade of Gare du Nord in Paris.
Gare du Nord, the Paris station used for the connection towards Turin.
Carl-Emil Jørgensen · Pexels License · Edited

Validate your Metro-Train-RER ticket at entry and keep it until you have left the network. Use it again wherever exit gates or a required connection demand validation. Do not discard it on leaving the train: you may still need it to exit the station.

A taxi between Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon can be easier with heavy bags. The driving component is about 22 minutes, but congestion and waiting for a taxi can lengthen it. Budget roughly €20–€40 for a metered ride, depending on traffic and supplements. A taxi is a luggage fallback, not a reliable way to rescue a tight connection.

SNCF trains from Gare de Lyon

Once at Gare de Lyon, match your booked train number to the departure display. SNCF TGV INOUI serves Torino Porta Susa directly on operating dates, on its Paris–Turin–Milan route, with three daily departures. Frecciarossa’s two daily Paris departures run to Milan, so reaching Turin on that option requires a change onto the Milan–Turin leg.

The SNCF journey of about seven hours includes a replacement bus between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Oulx. Allow for moving your luggage between train and bus on that arrangement. Paris to Turin rail tickets and arrival explains the onward ticket choices and station arrangements if you are weighing these options.

Porta Susa to Piazza Castello

From Gare de Lyon, your SNCF arrival is at Porta Susa. Its active station has underground platforms. The former station building is not where you board or leave today’s trains. Porta Nuova is a separate terminus, not another name for Porta Susa.

Lifts serve all six passenger platforms and operate from 05:00 to 00:00, useful when leaving with luggage. From street level, walk to Piazza Castello to complete the city-centre journey. The walk is about 1.8 km and takes about 25 minutes. Allow more time if bags slow you down.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, closures, and key figures.

More from Turin

Turin Christmas Markets: Stalls and a City Walk

Turin’s Christmas markets offer different reasons to browse: charitable gifts at ADISCO on Via Lagrange, chalet stalls and hot chocolate in Piazza Solferino, and a traditional market setting around Cortile del Maglio in Borgo Dora. Start with ADISCO and Solferino for gift shopping, but treat Borgo Dora as a seasonal tradition rather than a guaranteed […]

CioccolaTò: Turin’s Chocolate Festival

CioccolaTò brings Turin’s chocolate makers and confectionery exhibitors together in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, with guided tastings and children’s workshops extending the festival beyond the market. Its organiser chooses dates around Valentine’s Day rather than following a fixed annual date. You can come simply to browse and buy chocolate, or make a tasting or family activity […]

Bike Rental in Turin: Shops, Costs and Riding Rules

Hiring a bike in Turin gives you room to explore Valentino Park and the Po beyond the central squares. Turinbike and Movegreen offer shop collection, with ordinary city bicycles and pedal-assisted options. Choose your bicycle around the terrain and the outing, then agree collection, equipment and the return handover before setting off. In this guide […]

Turin Festivals: Events Worth Planning Around

Choose September for a classical-concert-led break in Turin, with MITO SettembreMusica as your reason to travel. Books, jazz and electronic music offer other strong reasons to choose particular dates, but the Book Fair and Kappa weekends bring extra accommodation demand. For cinema, language access matters as much as the programme. Winter light art works better […]

Related picks

Day Trip to Lugano from Milan: Lake and Summit

Bernardino Luini’s fresco at Santa Maria degli Angioli, Via Nassa’s covered arcades and the lake panorama from Monte San Salvatore give Lugano enough substance for a day away from Milan. This is a full-day excursion, with an old-town morning, lunch, a mountain afternoon and a final lakeside pause before returning to Milan Centrale. The day […]

Verona to Venice: A Full-Day Trip by Train

Rialto’s Grand Canal views, St Mark’s Square and Tintoretto’s Paradise in Doge’s Palace give Venice enough substance for a full-day trip from Verona. The route follows the lanes between these sights, stops for lunch in western Castello and finishes beside the lagoon before returning to the station by boat. The station-to-station plan uses direct Frecciarossa […]

Brescia to Trento: Train, Coach or Car

A direct train is the simplest option between Brescia railway station and Trento railway station at Piazza Dante, especially with luggage or children. Coaches use separate stops and add walks at both ends, while driving gives you freedom over departure time but leaves parking and permitted access to arrange at the destination. In this guide […]

Milan to Trento: Train and Coach Routes

From Piazza Duca d’Aosta outside Milano Centrale, you can reach Piazza Duomo in Trento by train or direct FlixBus coach. A through train avoids a transfer and leaves you closer to the old centre, while the coach can suit you when its departure and complete ticket price fit your plans. The coach boards beside Centrale, […]