From London (including Eurostar terminal) to Manchester by rail

The London rail terminus serving Manchester is Euston. There are three trains per hour to Manchester Piccadilly. The journey time is usually approximately 2 hours 10 minutes, but may be longer at weekends or late at night. All services are operated by Virgin Trains. For more information about rail travel in the UK, see this page.

Euston is easy to reach from other parts of London by Underground. It is served by two Underground stations: Euston, on the Northern and Victoria Lines, and Euston Square, on the Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Circle Lines (see map). Euston Underground station connects directly to the rail station concourse; Euston Square is a short walk along Euston Road.

From the Eurostar

Eurostar (Channel Tunnel rail link) services from Paris and Brussels terminate at St Pancras International rail station. St Pancras is conveniently located on Euston Road, 600m from Euston Station. The walk between the two is well signposted and should take 5 to 10 minutes.

Note that although the two stations are connected by a direct Underground link, this is unlikely to save any time, and will not be helpful if you are infirm or have heavy bags to deal with. A taxi is the only easier alternative.

Local sites of interest

A short walk from Euston or St Pancras will take you to an excellent range of sites for scholarly research and display. If you are planning a stopover, or have a couple of spare hours (and are not over-burdened with baggage), you might like to investigate the following:

• The British Library has its main site, with reading rooms and stores including the rare books and manuscripts collections, next to St Pancras. (If you wish to use any of the collections, you will need to apply for a reader pass: note carefully the requirements for address-bearing ID. You can visit the exhibitions for free without a pass.)
• The Wellcome Library for the history of medicine, and the public galleries of the Wellcome Collection, are housed just beyond Euston rail station on the opposite side of Euston Road. (Again, you need to apply for a membership card to use the Library; the Collection galleries are free and open to the public. UPDATE, 22 May: please note the Wellcome Library's Forthcoming changes to opening hours and services.)
• Behind Euston Road on the south side are grouped the buildings of University College London, home to the Grant Museum of Zoology and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology; several other constituent colleges of the University of London; and (around 15 to 20 minutes’ walk from Euston station) the British Museum. This area is Bloomsbury, famous for its literary associations and Georgian architecture.  
• Another invaluable resource is Judd Books, specialising in second-hand academic volumes.