As an Indian citizen, if I travel through train (Eurostar) from London to either Paris or Zurich, would I require a Schengen visa?
I am on a trip with family to London. We all want to explore some cities of Europe, but we have just applied for UK visas.
Yes of course!, you need a Schengen visa.
The UK is not a part of the Schengen Area despite being a member of the European Union. Ireland shares the same opinion as the UK due to the Common Travel Area agreement between both.
Thus, having a UK visa is not enough to travel to the Schengen Area and vice versa. You will still need to apply for a Schengen visa in order to take the Eurostar from London to Paris or Zurich.
Road, train or sea travel is supposed to be handled exactly in the same way than air travel, with a border check when entering the Schengen area. As an Indian citizen, you will therefore need to have a Schengen visa and to have your passport stamped. In any case, finding a way into the area (say over some mountain road, with a private craft, or something) does not exempt you from any of the legal requirements to enter it.
In the case of Eurostar, there is in fact a full airport-like check before boarding the train, see Train passport control from London to Paris
