Oswinhella

I will be studying abroad in Amman for the fall semester next year. And then I will be studying in London in the spring semester. It seems kind of stupid to fly back to the States and then fly to London in a month. I would rather skip the extra flights and get there from Amman.

How would I do this? Would I have to catch a flight to someplace in Europe and then get a Europass? I would prefer to travel by train and go to as many places as possible.

How much can I expect to spend?

Havana128

Fly to London from Amman?????

Kate

Very confused by your post. You want to get to London, but want to travel by train and see as many places as possible? Are you looking for a vacation in between London and Amman.

vervid

British Airways, Royal Jordanian, non-stop maybe even easyjet. Other choices available if you are ok to transfer somewhere. Check them out on Kayak.

dutyfree

Easyjet to London Gatwick,British Airways to London Heathrow and Royal Jordian both to JFk and London. All nonstop!

PatrickLondon

Try www.skyscanner.net to see where in Europe you could reach from Amman and what offers the best value, and www.seat61.com for advice on rail travel throughout Europe. You might also pick up useful tips and advice from forums where there are more likely to be people who've done this sort of thing recently, like Thorntree or
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Interrailing

It might be easier to fly to London and do your rail touring from there. Where else would you store the stuff you don't need on tour but will need for your study in London?

flanneruk

Before the war broke out in Syria and they started rebuilding access to the major stations in Istanbul, it was possible, twice a week, to get a series of trains from Amman to London. You had to change stations in Istanbul, but otherwise the line ran all the way.

The war makes that impossible. But its's dead easy to fly to Istanbul, then get (from this autumn) trains to London by many, many different itineraries from Sirkeci, the main European station in Istanbul. The most straightforward routing is Edirne-Sofia-Belgrade-Trieste-Venice-Milan-Domodossola-Simplon Tunnel-Dijon-Paris-London, though it's faster to bypass Italy.

If you can handle the baggage problem (honestly: few things are more of a pain than lugging serious luggage on and off trains for 2,000 miles) it's a terrific journey, covering a very considerable proportion of European scenery, history and sights.

BigRuss

All this is well and good, but you better determine what your visa(s) and citizenship status (you may LIVE in the United States, but do you hold an American passport or one from another country) entitle you to do before embarking on whatever journey you take.

thursdaysd

What flanner said. Fly to Istanbul (I used used Turkish Airlines) and then head northwest. Once you get to Sofia you have lots of options - Bucharest or Belgrade (maybe via Skopje) for starters. I'd probably go through Hungary and Austria to Switzerland, but I'm a big fan of Budapest. Get a copy of the Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe and figure out what you want to see. Then use bahn.de for schedules and seat61.com for info on buying tickets.

Enjoy Jordan (click on my name for my Middle East TR). For sure don't miss at least a couple of days at Petra. Or the mosaics (not just the map) at Madaba. Or Jerash.

Ackislander

Flanneruk, you have outlined my dream trip!

Man_in_seat_61

Speaking as someone who actually HAS travelled overland by train from London to Amman & Aqaba and back (indeed, I've been from London to Damascus and back by train TWICE), it's a fantastic experience, just the sort of experience flying is robbing us of.

The problem, of course, is that Syria is a no-go zone at the moment.

However, I can certainly recommend a train ride across Europe from Istanbul to London. In fact, I popped down to Istanbul from London (and back!) just a few weeks ago, my third round trip by train between these great cities.

www.seat61.com/Turkey.htm has the info.

Here's the video I shot a few weeks ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVuOtaID1Rk

Oswinhella

Sorry, let me clarify. I realize that I can catch a flight from Amman to London. However, if I have over a month between semesters, why not explore a little bit of Europe?

Flanner, flying to Istanbul sounds great. Im guessing that I can choose or design my own route? Ive already been to a lot of the countries in Western Europe and I would like see more of the east side. That is an option correct?

Here is the rough plan right now... Amman (bus)-> Jerusalem (bus)-> Tel Aviv (fly)-> Istanbul (train)-> Paris or Amsterdam -> London

Is it still the rule that if I have Israeli stamps on my passport I won't be allowed into Lebanon? I would really like to go to Beirut.