Europe trip in May
Nov 12th, 2005, 08:15 AM
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Europe trip in May
Hello everyone, I've been lurking around here for quite some time reading and "studying" people's tips and recommendations.
Hopefully someone can give me a hand...
My wife and I are going on a trip this coming May to London, Paris and Amsterdam. We're planning on staying 7 full days in each city. We will be flying into London, but I'm thinking of either flying out of Amsterdam or Paris- we'll have to see how accommodations and all that pan out.
My question is:
What is the best way to get to and from these cities? I've heard that flights in Europe are fairly cheap - flights with both European origin and destination that is. Or would it be better to get a rail pass for my wife and I? This might allow us to spend a couple day s in Brugge as well... I'm looking for economy of course.
Thanks & cheers!
j
Hopefully someone can give me a hand...
My wife and I are going on a trip this coming May to London, Paris and Amsterdam. We're planning on staying 7 full days in each city. We will be flying into London, but I'm thinking of either flying out of Amsterdam or Paris- we'll have to see how accommodations and all that pan out.
My question is:
What is the best way to get to and from these cities? I've heard that flights in Europe are fairly cheap - flights with both European origin and destination that is. Or would it be better to get a rail pass for my wife and I? This might allow us to spend a couple day s in Brugge as well... I'm looking for economy of course.
Thanks & cheers!
j
Nov 12th, 2005, 08:41 AM
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For flights, easyJet has a London (Stansted)-Amsterdam flight (and vice versa of course). EasyJet also has a London (Luton)-Paris CDG flight. You can get each of these flights for €50 per person per way or less if you book ahead a few weeks. Please note both London airports are out of town and require some time and $ money to get to from the city center.
The discount airlines in Europe are cheap, but these locations are so close to each other that trains/buses/ferries may also make sense.
From London to Paris, you can consider the Eurostar train. But you need to book well in advance or get lucky to avoid paying a huge fare (which still usually requires a return trip to be bought).
If Eurostar is not an option, take a train/bus to Dover, a ferry to Calias, then a train to Paris (about 6-8 hours of total travel).
The Thalys hi-speed trains (www.thalys.com) connect Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam (and include a line to Bruges). It's a relatively expensive train but you can get good fares by booking a few weeks in advance. Depending on the country of departure, it is sometimes difficult to book online and collect your tickets at the station, so you might need to use a travel agent to help you here if you can't book at the website and make sure you can pick up your tickets at the station. Read the website info carefully.
Also, if you really want to consider budget options, take a look at Eurolines bus from Paris to Amsterdam (www.eurolines.com). It's 8 hours (train is 4 hrs) but you will pay 40€ compared to 80-90€ per person per way on the train (unless you can get a good advance booking discount on Thalys).
If this bus is too long, then break it up with a bus from Paris to Brussels (4 hrs), then take a short train to Bruges and spend a night or two (I really recommend Bruges). Then take another bus from Brussels to Amsterdam (also 4 hrs).
Don't forget that Brussels is worth some time as well, especially since you are going right through it.
Email with questions if you want.
Good luck.
The discount airlines in Europe are cheap, but these locations are so close to each other that trains/buses/ferries may also make sense.
From London to Paris, you can consider the Eurostar train. But you need to book well in advance or get lucky to avoid paying a huge fare (which still usually requires a return trip to be bought).
If Eurostar is not an option, take a train/bus to Dover, a ferry to Calias, then a train to Paris (about 6-8 hours of total travel).
The Thalys hi-speed trains (www.thalys.com) connect Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam (and include a line to Bruges). It's a relatively expensive train but you can get good fares by booking a few weeks in advance. Depending on the country of departure, it is sometimes difficult to book online and collect your tickets at the station, so you might need to use a travel agent to help you here if you can't book at the website and make sure you can pick up your tickets at the station. Read the website info carefully.
Also, if you really want to consider budget options, take a look at Eurolines bus from Paris to Amsterdam (www.eurolines.com). It's 8 hours (train is 4 hrs) but you will pay 40€ compared to 80-90€ per person per way on the train (unless you can get a good advance booking discount on Thalys).
If this bus is too long, then break it up with a bus from Paris to Brussels (4 hrs), then take a short train to Bruges and spend a night or two (I really recommend Bruges). Then take another bus from Brussels to Amsterdam (also 4 hrs).
Don't forget that Brussels is worth some time as well, especially since you are going right through it.
Email with questions if you want.
Good luck.
Nov 12th, 2005, 08:45 AM
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You can be almost certain that a "rail pass" will cost you more money than simply buying the ordinary ("point-to-point"
train tickets you need. If you want to know more details, enter your itinerary at railsaver.com - - you can see the difference by clicking "only if it saves me money", and then, for contrast, insist on it finding you a rail pass.
For these three cities (and any destinations in Belgium between Amsterdam and Paris), I would recommend flying from London to Amsterdam - - see whichbudget.com - - you can actually choose any of the four main London airports.
And yes, flying home from Paris would be the logical way to end your trip.
Best wishes,
Rex
train tickets you need. If you want to know more details, enter your itinerary at railsaver.com - - you can see the difference by clicking "only if it saves me money", and then, for contrast, insist on it finding you a rail pass.For these three cities (and any destinations in Belgium between Amsterdam and Paris), I would recommend flying from London to Amsterdam - - see whichbudget.com - - you can actually choose any of the four main London airports.
And yes, flying home from Paris would be the logical way to end your trip.
Best wishes,
Rex
Nov 12th, 2005, 09:30 AM
#4
People often forget there is a more convenient airport than "any of the four main London airports."
London City is in the East end and soon (next month I think) the Docklands light rail station opens at the airport. it is also reachable from the Jubilee tube line and a short shuttle ride.
If it were me I'd try for an open jaw into London and out of Paris. London for a week, fly to Amsterdam, 4 or 5 days in A'dam, a couple of days in Belgium, train to Paris for a week, fly home (or the trip could just as easily go in reverse order)
If you wanted a full week in A'dam, that is good too, but Brussels/Bruges would be a nice addition.
London City is in the East end and soon (next month I think) the Docklands light rail station opens at the airport. it is also reachable from the Jubilee tube line and a short shuttle ride.
If it were me I'd try for an open jaw into London and out of Paris. London for a week, fly to Amsterdam, 4 or 5 days in A'dam, a couple of days in Belgium, train to Paris for a week, fly home (or the trip could just as easily go in reverse order)
If you wanted a full week in A'dam, that is good too, but Brussels/Bruges would be a nice addition.
Nov 12th, 2005, 09:55 AM
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I love Amsterdam and go there almost yearly, but 7 days is a bit long unless you are doing several day-trips (ie. Delft, Haarlem, Zeiderzee Museum, Volendam, and Keukenhof are all good ones).
I was thinking it would be easier to go London, Eurostar to Paris, train to Brussels/Bruges, train to Amsterdam and depart from Schiphol. CDG-Paris is the worst airport. And all the train stations are city-center so you wouldn't have to go back out to small airports for the inter-Europe flights.
I was thinking it would be easier to go London, Eurostar to Paris, train to Brussels/Bruges, train to Amsterdam and depart from Schiphol. CDG-Paris is the worst airport. And all the train stations are city-center so you wouldn't have to go back out to small airports for the inter-Europe flights.
Nov 12th, 2005, 12:17 PM
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We went to London-Paris-Amsterdam this past June. If you click on my screen name above, you will find my trip report, which includes info. about our hotels and some restaurants we liked.
We flew to London, took Eurostar to Paris, then Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam via Brussels, and flew home from Amsterdam. It was a great way to travel. Budgeteurope.com is the URL, I think, for a great resource to help you figure out and purchase train fares. They charge a very small S&H fee, about $15, then you can have the paper tickets in hand before you leave home. Much easier and less stressful, IMHO, than trying to decipher the rail websites.
Have fun planning and traveling. I wish we'd had as much time as you do. We only spent 4 or 5 nights in each city. Just enough to get a taste for more!
We flew to London, took Eurostar to Paris, then Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam via Brussels, and flew home from Amsterdam. It was a great way to travel. Budgeteurope.com is the URL, I think, for a great resource to help you figure out and purchase train fares. They charge a very small S&H fee, about $15, then you can have the paper tickets in hand before you leave home. Much easier and less stressful, IMHO, than trying to decipher the rail websites.
Have fun planning and traveling. I wish we'd had as much time as you do. We only spent 4 or 5 nights in each city. Just enough to get a taste for more!
Nov 12th, 2005, 06:46 PM
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Thanks for all the wonderful info, everyone! If my wife and I stop at Brussels & Brugge then the days spent at Amsterdam will have to be cut... I'm a little hesitant doing this mainly because we really enjoy frequenting certain spots when we go on trips - also, we're a sit, snack and watch kind... we love to really take our time (as much as we can anyway in these 1 week long trips). Again, thanks for all the valuable info...
Cheers,
j
Cheers,
j
Nov 12th, 2005, 10:29 PM
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I like to settle in one place for at least 5 nights, too. You can easily take day trips from Amsterdam. It's a city that really surprised us with all there is to see and do there. Very pleasant city, friendly people, beautiful canals to walk, seemed safe at all hours of the night. Sitting at a cafe on the canal, watching the boats go by. Taking a canal cruise. A great city.
Nov 13th, 2005, 10:14 AM
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To expand slightly on Janis' point about London's airports.
London City will, from the middle of December, be on what is really the Tube. Which will make it roughly 30 minutes, and a £2-odd fare, from most of Central London. Since it takes about 3 nanoseconds from the station to actually getting on a plane, it really is THE most convenient airport for a major city, anywhere.
Its role most of the time is to make London's financial district easy to get to for businesspeople in Europe's secondary business centres (the new tube extension means it's 20 mins from the Bank of England even at the peak of the rush hour). So you won't find many bargains flying into it in the morning or out in the evening, and operators into LCY aren't on sites like whichbudget.
But it's not very convenient for many British businesspeople going to the Continent. So you can often find bargain flights Continent-bound in the morning and London-bound in the evening, and sometimes in both directions at weekends. Searching sites like ebookers and lastminute will often throw up deals out of LCY far better than you'll get from the better known low-cost operators using the out of town airports.
But you DO need to play around a lot with times and dates.
London City will, from the middle of December, be on what is really the Tube. Which will make it roughly 30 minutes, and a £2-odd fare, from most of Central London. Since it takes about 3 nanoseconds from the station to actually getting on a plane, it really is THE most convenient airport for a major city, anywhere.
Its role most of the time is to make London's financial district easy to get to for businesspeople in Europe's secondary business centres (the new tube extension means it's 20 mins from the Bank of England even at the peak of the rush hour). So you won't find many bargains flying into it in the morning or out in the evening, and operators into LCY aren't on sites like whichbudget.
But it's not very convenient for many British businesspeople going to the Continent. So you can often find bargain flights Continent-bound in the morning and London-bound in the evening, and sometimes in both directions at weekends. Searching sites like ebookers and lastminute will often throw up deals out of LCY far better than you'll get from the better known low-cost operators using the out of town airports.
But you DO need to play around a lot with times and dates.
Nov 13th, 2005, 05:13 PM
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Maureen, we are currently in a dilemma - either squeeze in the two cities in Belgium and cut the Amsterdam trip or just do Amsterdam for the 7 nights... We spent 7 full days in Prague this past April and we could have easily spent many more! My wife and I stayed in the city so we didn't get to see much of the other neat towns there, but we'd rather "absorb" as much as we can than see as much as we can - oh... just found the answer to our dilemma!
Cheers, j
Cheers, j
Nov 13th, 2005, 06:02 PM
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jky, we had 5 days and nights in Amsterdam and loved every minute. We took one half-day tour to Volendam and Marken (sp?). There are amazing restaurants there, and such a fun atmosphere in the town. Don't know your age, but 20-somethings like The Paradiso for live music.
You can walk forever on the canals and be charmed every minute. I think we're travelers like you are-- don't like to pack and unpack every other day or spend time in transit, but rather get to our destination and soak it up, allowing time to sit and watch the world go by.
There's a cafe I name in my trip report, right up the street from our hotel on Nieuwe Doelenstradt. It's a great place, and has a really nice outdoor patio where you can sit at the canal. Check out my trip report for the names of restaurants and cafes we loved there. Such friendly people, too, and helpful.
Have fun!
You can walk forever on the canals and be charmed every minute. I think we're travelers like you are-- don't like to pack and unpack every other day or spend time in transit, but rather get to our destination and soak it up, allowing time to sit and watch the world go by.
There's a cafe I name in my trip report, right up the street from our hotel on Nieuwe Doelenstradt. It's a great place, and has a really nice outdoor patio where you can sit at the canal. Check out my trip report for the names of restaurants and cafes we loved there. Such friendly people, too, and helpful.
Have fun!
