The champagne station at St Pancras.

The Champagne Bar at St Pancras is high up within the station's beautifully distinctive structure (photo credit below)

I recently met a friend at the St. Pancras champagne bar.

Everyone deserves a moment of decadence once in a while and sitting under the giant Victorian arch you can certainly indulge yourself in an unpretentious setting.

We took a seat at one of their roomy booths and looked over the menu, which covers familiar as well as rare vintages.  Bottles range from £42 all the way up to £6,500 although glasses start at a more reasonable £8.50.

Fancying something exotic we ordered an Oriental Bellini and a Blushing Bubbles, the first served up with a half submerged lychee and the latter with a topping of pretty passion fruit seeds.

Service can be a bit slow. But you can forgive the staff since this is the longest champagne bar in Europe (some 90 metres).  The station originally opened in 1868 and re-opened in 2007 after extensive renovation.

Besides the Eurostar trains, the champagne bar shares the upper concourse with Martin Jennings’ sculpture of Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman, which is somewhat eclipsed by the 9 metre high “Meeting Place” statue under the handsome gold and black Dent station clock.

The St Pancras Champagne Bar is a perfect venue for people-watching - whether you're catching a train or not (photo credit below)

If you happen to be a lucky traveller, you could start or end your trip in style by splashing out on a Champagne Breakfast.  If you feel particularly flush, you could upgrade to a Krug Champagne Breakfast for Two.

Trains from France and Belgium pulled in alongside us and we watched passengers come and go, trying in vain to make our drinks last as long as possible.  Unfortunately the fruit addition only made them more drinkable.

We did manage to stay long enough to witness the evening illumination of the 14,080 glass panels overhead.

It was around this time that I gave thanks to Betjeman who helped save the station from demolition in the 1960s.  It’s a breathtaking example of Victorian architecture and that alone is worth raising a glass to.

St. Pancras Champagne Bar is open from 7am-11pm (Sunday 9am-11pm), 7 days a week.  Are there any good hotels within striking distance?

You could certainly consider some of the hotels we’ve recommended in nearby Islington or the eco-conscious Zetter in Clerkenwell.

Check the best rate for the Zetter Hotel from 30+ hotel booking sites

The boutique-style and eco-friendly Zetter Hotel is handy for St Pancras station

Another option is the Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street – which also gives you easy access to Soho and the British Museum’s secrets.

Check the best rate for Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street from 30+ hotel booking sites

Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street offers good service in a recently-renovated hotel

Finally, if you need somewhere that is both cheap and convenient then we’d also suggest the Premier Inn Kings Cross St Pancras.

Check best rate for Premier Inn Kings Cross from 30+ hotel booking sites

Not only does it come within the top 100 TripAdvisor London hotels (a great achievement for a supposedly budget brand) but it’s also right by St Pancras station – perfect to stumble home to after all that champagne!

Finally, if you’re planning a Eurostar getaway to Paris, don’t forget to check out our “London versus Paris” head-to-head showdown!

The above article was contributed by guest writer Sara Revell who conducted the Champagne Bar review anonymously and paid her own way.

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Photo credits: Zetter Hotel, Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street, Pixelhut’s photostream, Peauter’s photostream

Tagged as: Premier Inn Kings Cross, Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street, Zetter Hotel