Paris to London by car with a private chauffeur, via the Eurotunnel

Paris to London by car: the numbers

Whether you search for "Paris to London by car" or "London to Paris by car", it is the same road in the other direction. Here is the short version, measured on our own crossings — the most recent on 23 September 2026.

• Distance: about 460 km of motorway, plus 50 km of tunnel under the Channel.
• Time: 6h30 to 7 hours door to door, check-in and border controls included.
• Crossing: 35 minutes on LeShuttle — everyone stays in the car.
• Departures: frequent all day long; we book the shuttle that fits your schedule.
• Price: from 1549 € one way in Business Class, all-inclusive — crossing, tolls and London charges are in.
• Documents: a passport for everyone, plus an ETA or a visa depending on your nationality.
• Pets: welcome, and they ride in the cabin with you from door to door.
• Both directions: Paris to London at a fixed price, London to Paris billed per kilometre plus the crossing (see below).

How the crossing actually works

From Paris, the A1 and A26 motorways run north to the Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles, just outside Calais — about three hours of smooth driving, with a comfort stop wherever you like. At the terminal, both sets of border formalities happen on the French side: you pass the French exit check and the UK entry check back to back, without leaving the car for more than a passport presentation. It is one of the rare borders where you clear immigration before you travel, which means that once you roll off the train in England, you simply drive away.

Boarding is the part first-timers remember. Your chauffeur drives directly onto LeShuttle, a train built for vehicles, and parks inside a bright, air-conditioned carriage. You stay in your seats — reading, dozing, finishing a call — while the train covers the 50 km under the Channel in about 35 minutes. Departures run frequently through the day, so we book a crossing that fits your schedule and keep a margin in case controls are slow.

At Folkestone, the doors open, your chauffeur starts the engine, and you are on the M20 towards London — about an hour and three quarters through the Kent countryside, traffic permitting. Total journey, door to door: around 6h30, often less on a quiet day, occasionally more at peak periods. We plan the departure time around your commitments, not the other way round.

Chauffeur-driven car, Eurostar, ferry or plane?

Four ways to cross the Channel, and we only sell the first. So here is the comparison as we would give it to a friend, with no prices for the others — they change with the season and the booking date.

When the car is not the right choice. Be honest with yourself before booking. If you are travelling alone, with a cabin bag, from central Paris to central London, and you want to be there for lunch, take the Eurostar: two hours twenty in the train, and no chauffeur can beat that. The car earns its place when there are several of you, when the luggage would never fit in a train rack, when a dog or a cat is coming, when the addresses sit far from the stations — Disneyland, Heathrow, a house in Surrey — or when you simply do not want to be in a crowd. In those cases the six and a half hours are not lost time: they are a quiet cabin, with your things in the boot and nobody to wait for.

Who chooses the road — and why

The Eurostar is quicker city centre to city centre; the plane sometimes cheaper. Yet a steady stream of our clients books the car, and always for the same handful of reasons.

Luggage without limits. A family relocating for a season, a bride with a dress that must travel flat, golf clubs, ski bags, art in crates — in a Business Van it all simply goes in the back, no excess fees, no fragile items out of your sight.

Pets. The Eurostar does not carry dogs or cats. LeShuttle does — and they travel in the car with you, not in a hold. For clients moving between homes in Paris and London with their animals, the chauffeur-driven crossing is often the only comfortable option. The documents to prepare are listed in our guide to travelling with a pet on LeShuttle.

Production and equipment. Film and photo crews travel with flight cases that airlines make expensive and trains make impossible. One van, one carnet of gear, one driver who waits on set — we work regularly with production teams and understand call sheets. Our business service handles invoicing and recurring bookings.

Privacy and calm. No terminals, no crowds, no seat neighbours. For clients who prefer not to fly — or simply prefer not to be seen — the car is a private space from door to door. And for those who like the idea of arriving in London rested rather than rushed, six unhurried hours with a quiet cabin, Wi-Fi hotspot and a coffee stop of your choosing can be more productive than a "fast" journey spent queuing.

The chauffeur's view

We like the early departure — Paris still grey-blue, the thermos full, the A1 empty past Roissy. By the time the coffee is finished, the flatlands of the Pas-de-Calais open up and the terminal at Coquelles appears, all glass and gantries in the pale coastal light. Passports out twice, two friendly nods, and then that odd, wonderful moment: driving a Mercedes into a train. Inside the carriage there is a low hum and a slight pressure in the ears, and 35 minutes later the doors open onto English light — always a shade softer, somehow. The first roundabout on the left side wakes you up nicely. Then Kent does its thing: hop gardens, oast houses, the M20 rolling toward the city. Our favourite part is the drop-off — pulling up outside a Mayfair hotel with a boot full of luggage and a dog asleep on the back seat, door to door, exactly as promised.