One of the benefits of taking the Eurostar over a plane, besides the fact that it's more environmentally-friendly and takes you right into a city centre, is that you don't have to go through as much faff as at an airport. But in recent years, there's been more and more overcrowding at London's St Pancras International, and its waiting room can be so cramped you wish you'd booked a flight instead.
The red-brick terminus originally opened in 1868. The Telegraph described it as 'magnificent [and] gothic', and as a physical embodiment of all the 'splendour and deep pockets' of the early Victorian railway investors. St Pancras got a facelift at the turn of the 20th century, with renovations creating dedicated space for new cross-Channel train services. These days, St Pancras is the only place in the UK where you can get on a Eurostar train, although campaigners have been trying to change this for some time.
St Pancras International has been named as one of the nine most beautiful stations in the world by the . Opened in 1868, the iconic station is most known for its red brick gothic revival façade. The building is also home to the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London (FKA the Midland Grand), a neo-gothic masterpiece with towering spires and huge arched windows, designed by George Gilbert Scott.