Escorts in St Pancras, N1C and NW1: who is close, and how soon
The Eurostar leaves London from St Pancras for Paris and Brussels, from departure gates inside the station itself, and King's Cross and Euston stand either side of it on the same stretch of road. Whatever the night was like, the morning here usually has a timetable in it.
Nobody on the board lives beside the station, so St Pancras escorts come from the central zones, and the evening before is arranged as it would be anywhere. The other end of the night is less often planned: where breakfast can be had within a short walk, a stretch of water to walk beside before the train, and how to let the morning finish without a rush.
On the ground
St Pancras in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameNW1 2AR, N1C 4TB, WC1H 8EG, NW1 2AJ.
Nearest stations
Walking timeKing's Cross St Pancras, 2 minutes. Euston, 8 minutes. Russell Square, 10 minutes.
Getting there
N1C, NW1Travel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to St Pancras
Who works here
On the board in St Pancras
The six prints above are a first shortlist for St Pancras tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
Breakfast either side of the Euston Road
Under the station roof, the arcade of shops and cafés on the lower level is the closest breakfast of all, and the one for a guest who wants the departure boards within sight while he eats.
North of the station, across the Regent's Canal, Granary Square and Coal Drops Yard fill the old goods yard buildings with cafés and restaurants, reached up Pancras Road or through the King's Cross side. South of the Euston Road, Marchmont Street in Bloomsbury has a run of small cafés among its shops, quieter and more local than anything by the stations.
Note 03
A walk by the canal before the train
The Regent's Canal passes behind both stations, and its towpath is the calm way to spend the time between breakfast and a departure. From Granary Square the broad steps run down to the water, and a few minutes along the canal lie Camley Street Natural Park, a small nature reserve on the edge of the canal, and Gasholder Park, a lawn set inside the iron frame of a Victorian gasholder.
All of it lies behind the stations, away from the Euston Road traffic, so the walk is quiet early in the day, and the way back to the platforms is short.
Note 04
Leaving on time, and without fuss
When booking escorts in St Pancras, a morning with a train in it is best planned in the first message the evening before: say when the train leaves, and set the start and the length so the booking ends with time to spare rather than on the platform. Eurostar passengers also pass check-in and passport control before the gates, so count back from the check-in time rather than the departure itself.
The evening before, reckon on about an hour between the booking being confirmed and her coming through the door; the overnight, ten hours from a late supper into the morning, sits with the other lengths on the rates. For breakfast further afield, Kings Cross lies to the north, Bloomsbury to the south and Euston to the west.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for St Pancras
Asked most often
St Pancras, asked and answered
Where is breakfast closest to the Eurostar gates?
Is the canal towpath pleasant early in the morning?
How should a night be timed around a morning train?
Which is the quiet way to Euston for a train north?
One zone either way
Next along from St Pancras
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.