travelsis

I am flying from Washington DC to London Heathrow in Oct then on to Italy. Our first stop in Italy will be Cinque Terre then on to Tucany for the rest of the trip. I have been looking at low cost air carriers from London to that part of Italy and can't decide what is the best choice. I can get a flight into Milan on BMI right from Heathrow. This seems like a great option because I won't have to do that commute to one of the outside airports in London, but the the kicker is the closest airport to that area from Heathrow is Milan. What would be the best way(price and time)to get from Milan to the Cinque Terre? I haven't bought any tickets yet to Milan or anywhere else in Italy. Only purchased the tickets from DC to London Heathrow. Is this a good idea? Or do you have any other suggestions.

travelatte

Check out the web site www.whichbudget.com I learned of the site from the wonderful people here at Fodors. It may help you see what options are out there. We flew Easyjet to Venice and it was fine. We did have to switch airports as we arrived at Heathrow. You will need to count in the cost and time to transfer. It worked for our trip, but may not for yours. Also we stayed a couple extra days in London on the way back. Many flights arrive such that you may need to be in London the day prior in order to make the flight.

Good Luck planning,
Travelatte

ira

Hi T,

If you wouldn't mind a side trip on your way to CT, you can fly BMI to Venice Marco Polo, spend 3 nights in Venice, move on to Tuscany, go to theCT if there is still time, fly home.

Weadles

I would bite the bullet and fly out of one of the other airports to Pisa. We did this last year, also on our way to Cinque Terre, and it really wasn't bad at all. With the usual amount of traffic, travel time by taxi between the two airports is only about 45 minutes. I believe there's also a train from Heathrow that brings you right into Gatwick, so you could check out this option, too.

JennyK

There are coaches between the different London airports but you do need to allow plenty of time as traffic can be terrible. I would compare this with the time taking a car or train to the Cinque Terre from Milan. Also remember that the low cost airlines are very much 'no frills' i.e. no allocated seats, no free food or drinks. Also check the prices with Alitalia - I have often been able to match the prices of the low cost airlines.

Weadles

Another thought would be to fly from London-Genoa. From Genoa, you could pick up the train right to Cinque Terre. I think this would be a better option for you than flying to Milan and having to backtrack. Good luck!