goingtoCR

I'm sure asking for advice for a first time to Europe can solicit a ton of responses ...so I'll be specific as I can about what I'd like to accomplish on my trip:

Coming from Tampa, FL. Looking to travel Nov 24 to Dec 10 (or 11th). Destinations: France, Belgium, Amsterdam & London.

My mother is a French citizen, but has not been back for almost 25 years. So France is our main destination...Lyon, possibly a little surfing the south of France for my husband, visiting family in Ostricourt near Belgium border, and of course Paris. We'd also like to see Amsterdam a few nights and London a few nights as well.

Tell me if this is a good start: thinking of flying in and out of Paris, and getting a rail package that takes us seperately to see UK & Amsterdam and bring us back to Paris to fly home. Is this a possibility? I found packages to see UK & Amsterdam with rail, but they included airfare from the states and such, looking for a site to plan trips from Paris...if that's the way to go.

Any advice on how to start planning would be helpful. Would like to hear from anyone who's done these places and how their itinerary went. I like to travel usually by renting a car and taking time to drive and stop and see neat sights, but my mom suggested using the rail to get around and avoid a rental car. I agree avoiding car rental in the cities, but would love to experience the countryside areas at my own pace.

Thanks so much!

ira

Hi G,

My first suggestion is to fly into Paris and out of London.

To see if a railpass would be worthwhile, enter your itinerary for two people at www.railsaver.com.

If you are going this November, it's time to start booking hotels and plane tickets.

MorganB

Well you are all over France, I assume you are talking about atlantic surfing near Biarritz? That is about as far as you can get from the Belgian border.... The fastest rail lines in France are the TGV bullet lines.. You can go to Lyon via TGV in a couple of hours. Paris Bordeaux is about 3 hours. Paris - Bruxelles takes 1h30 mins and Paris London is about 2h30 mins. Paris-Amsterdam is about 4 hours. When you leave the bullet lines travel times go up dramatically. You could take the bullet train to a station near your destination and then rent a car and drive around so you can enjoy the countryside. That is what I usually do and it is a big time saver.

As far as packages are concerned, if you are going to be going via rail to all the places mentioned, a eurail pass may be the most economical option for you. Alternately, you may find that it is simply cheaper to book your tickets individually. If you book well in advance you can get deep discounts on train tickets. For travel originating in France check http://www.voyages-sncf.com to book rail tickets. Look for the british flag on that page to switch to english.

Here's a link to the TGV network:

http://www.tgv.com/EN/infos/preparer/popup.html

Heres a link for info on Eurail passes:

http://www.eurail.com/

Eurail passes will not include your trip to London on the eurostar but will give you a discount on your eurostar tickets.

Given the amount of time you have, it seems to me that you might be trying to see to much. I would try and eliminate something on your list if possible.

jody

I certainly agree with Ira..fly into Paris and out of London.

And you are going all over the map of France. Ostricourt is near Lille..not a bad journey from Paris but from Lyon..you'd have to go to Avignon , change trains in Douai for Ostricourt..or else go back to Paris ,to Lille to Ostricourt

StCirq

Unless surfing is a really big priority for your husband, I'd scratch that off the list. You'd have to go pretty far down the Atlantic seacoast for that, and the time and expense of getting down there, given your other plans, doesn't justify it, since you're already going to be covering a lot of territory in France (possibly too much even without the surfing). Lyon should be as far away from Paris as you stray, IMO.

I agree flying into Paris and out of London makes good sense.

goingtoCR

Thanks, I'm getting an idea of what I might need to do...simplify. Anyone find a website that does all this for you...rail passes, airfare, hotels, car rentals?