rebekkah

Planning a trip to europe and thinking about flying from city to city, since its faster then the trains. Just wondering with a US passport do you have to do customs each time? About how much time before the flight do you have to be at the airport?

Starting in Venice then traveling to barcelona, then paris, then vienna, and train to munich.

chapla

No customs within EEU
1 Hour before departure

hetismij2

You do not need to go through passport control since they are all Schengen countries.
You will go through security before departure, and the recommended time to be at the airport before departure is 2 hours, especially if you have to check in or have hold luggage. You should certainly be there 90 minutes before departure, even with hand luggage and online check-in, and boarding pass printed or on your phone, as gates tend to close well before departure time, and any delay at security, or in printing a boarding pass if you need to, could prove fatal.
On arrival customs in non event. Just walk straight out.

janisj

>>1 Hour before departure<< . . . will NOT work if you are flying some of the budget airlines. You need to read their rules - most are VERY strict about far ahead you have to check in/drop bags. Just being in line doesn't cut it. Miss the deadline and your ticket is voided.

bilboburgler

Not sure if planes are faster than trains. Vienna to Munich door to door?

Tulips

With handluggage, and if you have already checked-in online, one hour is fine. Otherwise you need longer.

janisj

>>Not sure if planes are faster than trains. Vienna to Munich door to door?<<

Apparently that is the only trip the do plan by train.

flanneruk

The issue is only partly border and airline formalities.

Though the real airports at the cities you mention are relatively close to the towns themselves, they're still a great deal further away from most hotels than railway stations are.

Most of your list also have airports tens of miles further on, sometimes promoted by low cost carriers (Ryanair being the main but not only offender here) as if they were in city concerned. These secondary airports usually have diabolic public transport links to the city they purportedly serve: Ryanair at one point used to promote Bratislava for Vienna: till relatively recently, two cities with the Iron Curtain between them.

It's not at all rare for the surface connections at each ends to take twice as long as the plane journey itself.

Jean

Flanner points out what most people miss when contemplating flying. Secondary airports are (usually) not well connected to city centers. You need to calculate additional time and perhaps expense.

But you've selected destinations that are very distant from one another, so you've set yourself up for transportation "issues" no matter which way you go.

papillon20

I flew from Paris to Barcelona on Easyjet (budget airline). There is no customs or immigration when you get there but I believe you still need your passport to check in if you're not an EU citizen. I would definitely recommend trying to be there at least 90 minutes before the flight.

If you fly Ryanair for anything, keep in mind that they usually fly to the farthest out airport. I flew Ryanair from Venice to Paris once and it took me about an hour and a half to get into the city by bus from Beauvais. So make sure to pay attention to the airports and note that it will probably take some time to get into the city. And if you don't have big luggage, take public transport to get into the city centre, not a taxi.

bvlenci

I would always, even if checked in online, arrive at the airport more than one hour before my flight. It also depends on the airport. Some have more delays at security than others. If I have to check bags, I allow two hours. It's often more time than I need, but that's what books are for.

sandralist

Depends on the airport, time of day you are flying, and it also depends if you are traveling at a busy time, like holidays, or a friday, blah blah.

Just because you are flying a budget airline doesn't necessarily mean you need more than an hour. You can check in online in advance in many cases, airports are small. Some "secondary" airports are actually closer to city centers than the "primary airports".

Devil is in the details, but the bottom line is:

If it makes sense to fly, then fly. Whether you save an hour here or there regarding check in times or airport proximity is rarely the issue.

lincasanova

I have found with some airlines as I am not an EU national I cannot check in online.

Man_in_seat_61

You can of course go Venice to Paris by train, either a sleeper or daytime trains through the scenery - http://www.seat61.com/international-...m#Venice-Paris

It's part of the European experience!

Then Paris to Barcelona takes 6h15 or so by direct TGV Duplex 200mph double-decker train, from 59 euros. That is centre to centre, compared to up to 5 hours in total by train, airport, flight, airport, metro. You can easily book this at www.loco2.com or www.capitainetrain.com - see the photos and video of the trip (or rather, a northbound version) at http://www.seat61.com/Paris-to-Barce...-TGV-train.htm

rebekkah

Thanks everyone these responses were very helpful!