Getting to Europe and Beyond From St. Albans

One of the great things about living in St. Albans, for those who enjoy travelling, or have to do so for business purposes, is it's proximity to several major transportation hubs.

Luton Airport, which offers flights to over thirty countries and three continents. To get to Luton Airport Parkway, from which there is a regular (and free) bus service to the Airport itself, from St. Albans takes just eleven minutes. If you need a taxi, expect the local private hire cabs to charge a set rate of around £25-£30 from central St. Albans to Luton Airport.

In November 2007, Eurostar moved it's London base of operations from Waterloo to St. Pancras. Fast trains from St. Albans to St. Pancras take just over 20 minutes - when the service is operating normally.

Having taken the Eurostar to Brussels earlier this week myself, I found the collection of tickets purchased online, checkin and boarding all straight-forward and quick.

Eurostar trains run at speeds of up to 186 mph (300 kph) on the new High Speed One line in the UK as well as on the high speed lines in France and Belgium. Destinations for the Eurostar from St. Pancras include Paris (2h 15m), Brussels (1h 51m) and Lille (1h 20m) - making it possible to get away to any of these cities in around 3.5 hours, allowing time for check-in and a coffee, from St. Albans.

Many people don't realise that it's possible to use Eurostar tickets for onward journeys to any station in Belgium. Ghent, which I visited with my family last year, is only a further half hour from Brussels and is a lovely historic city well worth a visit. A bit further afield, an hour from Brussels, is the charming city of Bruge, which throngs with tourists in the summer months but which is relatively quiet outside peak tourist season. We only spent an afternoon there but vowed to go back - it makes for a great weekend trip, particularly for couples seeking a romantic venue for a stroll, good food, and some excellent Belgian beer. We've also taken the Eurostar to Paris and, again, found the service quick, reliable, and inexpensive - around £100 for an economy return fare.

For those seeking to travel further afield, and willing to spend a bit longer on the initial train journey to the airport, Gatwick is also easily accessible by direct rail service from St. Albans. The journey takes one hour and seven minutes.

If you live in St. Albans, there are a number of easily accessible transportation hubs, all a short train journey away.