Rail VS flight in Europe?

[NewTraveller]

Hello everyone! My 2 friends and I are planning a trip to Paris late August-early September, but are hoping to visit 1-2 other cities and trying to keep it as low cost as possible. Since flights seem cheaper to Ireland, we're thinking of flying there (and out of Paris). In researching rail passess, it seems that it would be cheaper, faster, and easier to fly from Dublin to Paris as opposed to using the ferry through a rail pass. Question #1: Has anybody used this method and agree or disagree?

If we use this method, we may have extra $ to visit another city. We're thinking Interlaken, to go to Gimmelwald. What form of transportaion would be cheaper and easier? I can't seem to find flights from Paris to Interlaken, but the railpasses also seem pretty expensive (about 300 roundtrip).

I also looked into the eurail select pass saver, which would cover these 3 countries, but it totaled about $700 per person and would make it very complicated to get from Dublin to Paris. Any suggestions???
Would it be cheaper to purchase a ticket while in Paris? Please help...!

[WillTravel]

I'd suggest definitely fly from Dublin to Paris. I'm not familiar with Switzerland, unlike many people here who can help, but it does look like you could get a good deal flying from Paris to Zurich or Geneva:
www.whichbudget.com/

Then you could take a train. I suspect that's the cheapest option.

[me]

NewTraveller,

your post seems a little convoluted. if you're flying NYC to Dublin and from Paris to NYC, yet wish to visit Interlaken & Gimmelwald between them, why would you ever fly between Dublin & Paris?

let me diagram your trip:
NYC -> Dublin
Dublin -> somewhere in Switzerland [prolly cheapest DUB - ZRH via AER Lingus]
somewhere in Switzerland -> Paris [ZRH - ORY via Air Berlin]
Paris -> NYC

there's no Paris -> Dublin or Dublin -> Paris connection that i can see here.

[Eagle]

NewTraveller, I'm not thoroughly familiar with the flight options from your area, but would something like this work for you:

> Flight, NYC to Dublin
> Budget flight, Dublin to Paris
> Budget flight, Paris to Basel (EasyJet is one that flies this route) - alternately, you might check flights to Zurich or Bern.
> Train, etc. to Gimmelwald (check previous posts here on the route that you'll need to take - if you need further details, post another note).
> Train to nearest large city that has good flights to your area - major hubs such as Frankfurt or perhaps some of the larger Swiss cities might be good options. That way you can avoid the cost and time of the return trip to Paris.
> Flight from (?) to NYC

If you're going to use budget airlines, you'll have to book early as the prices increase sharply once the seats on a particular flight start selling. Also, check the web sites of whichever airlines you'll be flying in to find out their baggage rules, etc.

Good luck and happy planning!!!

[herrbert]

For the flight between Paris and Zürich (like Eagle suggested) you can check Air Berlin (Interlaken doesn't have an airport, so that's why you didn't find flights there, so the last bit you need to do by train), or Easyjet for Paris (CDG) to Basel.

For Dublin - Paris, you have the choice between RyanAir and Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus is flying to Charles de Gaulle Airport (the big international airport), and RyanAir is flying to Beauvais Airport some 60-80 miles outside of Paris, so if you take that option, note that it will take extra time to get to Paris (70-80 minutes), and it takes some extra money.

If you want to fly Dublin - Zürich, or Dublin - Geneva, then again try Aer Lingus.

www.airberlin.com
www.aerlingus.com
www.ryanair.com
www.easyjet.com

[NewTraveller]

Thank you everyone for all your helpful comments. You've made my planning easier!