Travelling On Eurostar With Children

Guest post by Jo Weaving, the South Wales Musical Minis franchisee.

We’ve used the Eurostar twice. On both occasions we travelled from Ashford International to Disneyland Paris. On our first trip our children, both boys, were 4 and 9. On our second trip our boys were 6 and 11.

Upon arrival at Ashford you enter the station via the main concourse and take the escalator, or the lift to the security area. This is pretty much the same as an airport. You go through the x ray machines and then through passport control and through to the departure lounge. We were advised to arrive an hour before our train departed. We did note that the passport control staff were particularly friendly to the children. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that there was no limit on luggage and no limit on liquids.

The departure lounge is spacious, light and airy. There is a play area for younger children and a TV on the wall that was showing CBEEBIES while we were there. On the information desk there were free colouring sheets and colouring pencils along with cardboard build your own Eurostar kits which my 2 boys loved doing. There are ample toilet and baby change facilities, which, in our experience, were all clean and well maintained. The departure lounge overlooks the railway line which sees local services as well as the Eurostar, so great if you have any little train spotters in the family. There is plenty of seating in the departure lounge and plenty of room to manoeuvre luggage along with small children. If you’re travelling to Disneyland Paris, as we were on both occasions, the magic starts here. The walls are decorated with life size popular Disney characters as well as several stand alone cut outs. If you’ve booked the ‘Disney Express’ service, the Disney Express check in desk is situated within the departure lounge. Other facilities include cafes and a newsagents.

Whether you’re travelling 1st class or standard class your tickets state which carriage and which seats you have been allocated. Carriages are clearly marked out on the platform as well as on the side of the train. This makes it very easy when travelling with children as there’s no mad rush to get on the train and find enough seats all together. There is plenty of space in the luggage areas at the end of the carriages for larger items such as suitcases and pushchairs (pushchairs must be folded before boarding) and there is plenty of room in the over head luggage racks. Toilet facilities and the buffet car are clearly signed. Staff come along and check that passengers are in the correct seats.

On our second trip we travelled first class. Upon boarding at Ashford we were greeted by the hostess at the door and shown directly to our seats. First class travel also included a meal. Our outbound journey was mid morning so our meal was a simple breakfast which included yoghurt and cereal, croissant and rolls with butter and jam along with tea, (with milk or lemon as standard) coffee and orange juice. Our return journey was teatime. Our teatime meal was offered with a choice of cheeses or chicken served with vegetables, along with a fruit flan for the adults or a chocolate mousse for the children. A selection of hot drinks along with water and juice was offered.

Seats were comfortable and spacious. Plug sockets, British and international, were also available along the walls of the carriage by the seats - very useful if children are using games consorts or you wish to charge a mobile phone.

I can’t write about return journey’s from other destinations within Europe but once you have passed through security and passport control returning from Disneyland Paris there is no departure lounge so you board the train immediately and wait for departure.

On both occasions we found travelling by Eurostar and positive experience and very easy with children.