London is the biggest city in the UK. There’s so much to do there, whether it’s visiting famous sightseeing locations like Big Ben or eating at the countless restaurants and pubs.
With that being said, navigating your way around London can be very difficult for newcomers, and there are so many different transport options that it can be overwhelming.
One of the key ways of getting to London is by train, but there are a lot of train stations in London that can be used. Each station has its own benefits and routes, and they’re useful for different trips and destinations.
But what does each London train station offer? What sightseeing attractions are near to them, and what important trains depart from them?
Well, we’ve got all the answers to help you! In our detailed breakdown below, we’ve got a full guide to 9 of London’s key train stations (need information about the London Underground? Find our guide here).
Travelling to or through London can be complicated, but our guide will help you understand it clearer and allow you to make the most of your journey.
London Victoria
We’re starting our guide off with one of the best located, and most important, train stations in all of London: Victoria.
This station is especially useful to travelers thanks to its proximity to key landmarks and areas, as well as its closeness to places to pick up other forms of transport, such as coaches and the tube.
- Where Is It? London Victoria is found in the City of Westminster.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? It has a variety of different train companies running out of it, such as Southern and South Eastern. It also offers the Gatwick Express service, helping people to get to the airport more easily.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? London Victoria serves the southern and south-east parts of England. For example, it’s got trains to key cities like Southampton, Brighton, Chichester, and Portsmouth (if you're looking for things to do in Brighton, see our guide here).
London Victoria’s Connections To Other Transport
One of the best features of London Victoria train station is that it offers travellers easy access to a wide range of other forms of transport, helping them to get around much more easily and increase the scope of their journeys.
For example, London Victoria offers the Gatwick Express, which is a non-stop train going from Victoria to Gatwick airport. This is essential for travellers who are trying to catch a flight, taking them straight to the airport with ease.
Additionally, London Victoria is home to the Victoria Underground Station. This means that travellers can hop off their overground train at London Victoria and walk directly to the underground, giving them quick access to the tube system, which will help them to get around the rest of Londonr rapidly. The station is on the Victoria, District, and Circle lines.
Right outside London Victoria, you’ll also find the Victoria Coach station. This is the largest coach station in all of London, and travellers can get on coaches here that will take them all over London. It’s also a terminus for medium and long distance coaches from all over the UK.
Finally, London Victoria train station offers trains to Ashford International.
This train station offers the Eurostar service, which is a special train that can take passengers straight from England to abroad locations Paris, Lille, and Brussels.
That’s right, you can go abroad quickly and easily without even needing to fly! And London Victoria can help you with part of that.
Key Train Journeys
- London Victoria going to Gatwick Airport - 30 minutes
- London Victoria going to Southampton - 2 hours 30 minutes
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Victoria?
London Victoria train station is located just about a fifteen minute walk from Buckingham Palace, which is fitting because of the station’s name. After that, it’s just a short walk on to hot spots like Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery.
London King’s Cross
- Where Is It? In the London borough of Camden.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? Train companies running out of it are key ones like Great Northern, London North Eastern Railway, and others.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? You’ll be able to cover a lot of ground from this train station, because it offers trains going north of London and travelling up the east of England, even going into Scotland.
This means that you’ll be able to get trains from King’s Cross that take you to important English places like Cambridge and York and Scottish places like Edinburgh.
Does King’s Cross Offer Tube Services?
Helpfully, King’s Cross also has its own tube station, allowing overground travellers to quickly transition to the London Underground lines. From King’s Cross underground, you can get to important lines like Victoria, Piccadilly, Northern Line, Metropolitan, and others.
Key Train Journeys
- London King’s Cross going to Cambridge - 1 hour 20 minutes
- London King’s Cross going to York - 1 hour 40 minutes
- London King’s Cross going to Edinburgh - 4 hours 20 minutes
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London King’s Cross?
Fun sightseeing destinations that are handily located near to London King’s Cross train station include the fascinating British Library and the relaxing Granary Square.
Harry Potter fans will want to visit The Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 ¾, which is found right at the train station!
London Euston
- Where Is It? It’s found in the London borough of Camden.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? Key train companies that you can travel with from London Euston include West Midlands and Avanti West Coast (to find out how to get to the famous Windsor Castle, read our guide here). These are two very different train lines, with the former being slower and cheaper, while the latter is more expensive but quicker.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? London Euston train station is best for if you’re trying to get to places running along England’s west coast. This means that if you want to visit important cities like Manchester and Liverpool, this is a great station to pick. You can even reach Scotland from it, with there being a direct (5 hour!) train to Glasgow (to find some ideas for a trip in Glasgow here).
Does London Euston Offer Tube Services?
Thankfully, London Euston has its own tube station located right on site.
This makes it very easy for overground passengers to get off their train and go straight into the Underground, where they can then travel all over London extremely quickly and regularly with the use of the tube.
The London Euston tube station serves the Victoria and Northern line, though travellers wanting to get to lines like Hammersmith & City and the Circle can access them via the Euston Square tube station - which is found just outside London Euston’s overground train station!
Key Train Journeys
- London Euston going to Manchester - 2 hours 10 minutes
- London Euston going to Liverpool - 3 hours
- London Euston going to Glasgow - 5 hours
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Euston?
There are plenty of pleasant sightseeing spots to see and activities to do near London Euston station.
For example, you could take a peaceful stroll through Euston Square Gardens, or check out the Wellcome Collection, which is a free museum and library full of fascinating exhibits.
You can also visit the nearby British Library, or take a slightly longer walk to the British Museum.
London Waterloo
London Waterloo is one of the most important train stations in all of London, in fact being the largest. As a result, you can expect that it’s located in a great place, and has trains going to all kinds of different locations.
- Where Is It? It’s found in the London borough of Lambeth.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? The key train company that runs from London Waterloo is South Western Railway, who operate all the regular trains.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? As you can guess from the fact that the train station’s prominent train company is South Western Railway, London Waterloo offers trains that cover the south and south-western parts of England. As a result, it’s a great station to use if you’re trying to get to key cities like Southampton, Weymouth, and Portsmouth.
As for London places, it’s useful for getting to Hampton Court.
Does London Waterloo Offer Tube Services?
As you might expect from the fact that London Waterloo is the largest train station in London, it also has its own tube station.
The Waterloo underground station is found beneath the main overground station, allowing passengers to simply get off their overground trains and get to the tube system.
The Waterloo underground station is served by four key lines: Jubilee, Bakerloo, Waterloo & City, and Northern.
Key Train Journeys
- London Waterloo going to Southampton - 1 hour 5 minutes
- London Waterloo going to Portsmouth - 1 hour 30 minutes
- London Waterloo going to Basingstoke - 50 minutes
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Waterloo?
London Waterloo is perfectly located to be near a whole variety of key sightseeing attractions in London.
For example, it’s an incredibly short walk from the South Bank, where you can eat at all kinds of restaurants, drink at bars, visit the BFI Southbank cinema, see a play at The National Theatre, and so much more.
The London Waterloo train station is also close to the London Eye, which is a great activity to do if you’re not scared of heights!
London Paddington
- Where Is It? Found in the Paddington area of the City of Westminster, a London borough.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? The key train companies running from London Paddington train station include First Great Western, Night Riviera, and Heathrow Express.
Night Riviera is a sleeper train service that you can take to get to Penzance, Cornwall (see our guide for more ideas of what to do in Cornwall).
As you might guess, the Heathrow Express service is a train that goes straight to Heathrow Airport, stopping at terminals 2, 3, and 5.
This makes London Paddington a great station to travel from if you’re going to Heathrow Airport to catch a flight for your vacation.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? London Paddington has trains that go all over the west and southwest of England.
This means that London Paddington is a very useful station for using when you want to get to key places like Bath or Oxford, but it also takes you to Cardiff Central station in Wales.
Does London Paddington Offer Tube Services?
Like all the train stations in our guide, London Paddington has easy access to its own tube station on the London Underground.
This means that passengers can easily get on trains that serve the Hammersmith & City and the Circle lines, giving them rapid travel around London.
Key Train Journeys
- London Paddington going to Bath - 1 hour 20 minutes
- London Paddington to Oxford - 1 hours
- London Paddington to Cardiff Central - Just under 2 hours
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Paddington?
There are a handful of lovely sightseeing spots for you to enjoy near London Paddington train station, such as Paddington Green, a peaceful spot to enjoy.
You can also quickly get to Hyde Park, a major park full of nature to enjoy. London Paddington is also a short walk from the Alexander Fleming Museum.
London St Pancras International
- Where Is It? It’s found in the London borough of Camden. It’s right near to London King’s Cross station, which we looked at earlier, giving you the choice of which ones to take based on which is most convenient for your destination.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? London St Pancras International, also just known as London St Pancras, has a few key train companies operating out of it. For example, it offers South Eastern, East Midlands Railway, and Thameslink.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? London St Pancras train station is the place you pick when you’re trying to get to the central and Northern areas of the UK, offering trains to the spots that aren’t along the East or West coast.
If you do want locations along the east of England, you can use the King’s Cross train station that’s right nearby to London St Pancras International.
London St Pancras International also lives up to the “International” part of its name, because it offers Eurostar services to places abroad, like Amsterdam.
Does London St Pancras International Offer Tube Services?
Handily, St Pancras International does offer a tube station, which is King’s Cross St Pancras. That’s right, it shares a tube station with King’s Cross, which we looked at earlier!
It serves a whole range of tube lines: Victoria, Northern, Piccadilly, Circle, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City.
Key Train Journeys
- London St Pancras International going to Leicester - 1 hour 5 minutes
- London St Pancras International going to Amsterdam via Eurostar - 3 hours 50 minutes
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London St Pancras International?
If you’re at St Pancras International station, you can visit the British Library nearby.
London Charing Cross
- Where Is It? It’s found in Westminster.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? The key train company running out of Charing Cross is South Eastern trains.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? As you can imagine from that train company, London Charing Cross trains focus on destinations in the southeast of the country.
This means that it’s a great place if you’re going to spots like Dover, Ramsgate, and Tunbridge Wells.
Does London Charing Cross Offer Tube Services?
It has its own tube station, which is served by the Northern and Bakerloo lines.
Key Train Journeys
- London Charing Cross going to Dover - 1 hour 50 minutes
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Charing Cross?
Great sightseeing spots are right near Charing Cross, such as Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery.
London Marylebone
- Where Is It? You can find the station in Westminster.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? The primary train company running out of Marylebone is Chiltern Railways.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? Marylebone is a great train station to use if you’re travelling to places that are in the west of England. For example, it’s got a direct line Stratford-upon-Avon.
Does London Marylebone Offer Tube Services?
Thankfully, London Marylebone offers its own underground station, making it easy for passengers to use the tube. It is found on the Bakerloo line.
Key Train Journeys
- London Marylebone going to Stratford-upon-Avon - 2 hours
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Marylebone?
You can visit the fun Madame Tussauds!
London Liverpool Street
- Where Is It? Central London.
- What Train Companies Does It Offer? The primary one is Greater Anglia.
- What Areas Does It Offer Trains To? Key destinations like Ipswich, Cambridge, and Essex can be reached.
Does London Liverpool Street Offer Tube Services?
It has its own tube station, which serves Central, Elizabeth line, London Overground, Metropolitan, Circle, and Hammersmith & City.
Key Train Journeys
- London Liverpool Street going to Cambridge - 1 hour 26 minutes
What Sightseeing Activities Are Near London Liverpool Street?
You can visit the historical Tower of London, or dine at the Sky Garden.
Final Thoughts
London’s train stations can be overwhelming - use our guide to the 9 key stations to help you travel more easily!
