Best method(s) of travel for this itinerary?

[bc]

London, Paris, Nice, (south of France / Monaco), Venice, Florence, Rome, (Vienna?), Prague, Amsterdam, London.

Planes, trains or automobiles are fine with me. Whatever combination is most efficient... any suggestions?

[Kristine]

I would def. suggest trains. Trains are the best source of transportation in europe, it's so easy!

[Rich]

Although I haven't yet been on our trip, our planning is done. Our sites will not be much different from what you have picked......we're just not going to make it to Prague and Vienna. This is what we're doing (hope this helps):

1. Fly into London (Gatwick.....cheap charter flight)
2. Fly from Stansted airport to Venice ($90 Cdn including taxes for my wife and I via Easyjet)
3. Use the Eurail Selectpass Saver for 6 travel days: Venice to Rome, Rome to Cinque-Terre (stop in Pisa.....and maybe Florence for a few hours), Cinque-Terre to Nice, Nice to Paris, Paris to Brugge (Belgium), Brugge to Amsterdam.
4. From Amsterdam, we found another cheap flight with Easyjet back to London ($100 Cdn for both of us incl taxes).
5. Fly home from Gatwick

So, if I could convey one message, it would be that the cheap Easyjet flights were much cheaper than crossing the channel by ferry (and then bussing to the airport) or by the chunnel train. We looked at open-jaw flights, but it was cheaper to fly in and out of London and use the Easyjet flights. We are still managing to do the trip without backtracking.

Might I suggest (or the reverse of):

1. Fly to London
2. Easyjet to Prague (or if this isn't a cheap flight, consider Munich or Berlin and train to Prague)
3. Train from Prague to Vienna to Venice to Rome to Florence to Nice to Paris to Amsterdam
4. Easyjet from Amsterdam to London.

One more thing, aside from Easyjet, there's another website to check out: www.openjet.com

Good luck!
Firsttimer

[bc]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I went ahead and bought an 8-day 5-country selectpass so I'll probably be on the train a lot (hopefully some overnight trains will help me save on accomodations).

I'll definitely be checking out Easyjet if it's $100 for two people. Does that include all taxes? and would I have to book the flight now?

[Firsttimer2]

It did include all taxes for both of us, but we booked the flights about 4-5 weeks ago (we're travelling in May). The flights prices do vary quite a bit from day to day (and even different times of the day), but if you play around a bit, you should find a good deal. FYI.....the total cost of our flights to Venice from London was ~$90Cdn with the ticket prices being 7GBP each (for a ballpark of the extra fees).

I've heard that if you wait until the last minute, you can get even better prices.....especially with RyanAir. I figured the prices were low enough already and I like the feeling of having everything planned.

Good luck!
Firsttimer (forgot my password)

[Kim]

Firsttimer -

Read that you forgot your password so I've reset it to your wife's name twice.

Kim

[Rich]

Thanks! ;D

BC - Sorry, I goofed. The flights I booked from London to Venice actually came to $100 Cdn....still a good deal!

[jennifer]

yup that's a good deal, better than training it!

[bc]

I took a look at Easyjet's fares and they seem pretty cheap. I don't have set dates of where I will be so I'll probably book the tickets last minute when I'm over there.

[Rich]

Just so you know, I've been told that as the airline sells a certain percentage of seats, the price then jumps up to the next price level (and so on). Our flight to Venice has gone up from 6.99 GBP to 41.99GBP. It is nice to keep the options open and travel with a flexible schedule however. Food for thought.......