Nazneen

Hello, I'm new to this forum, but have been reading the posts on various subjects and are very helpful. I'm planning a trip to London, Paris, and Prague for my husband and I at the end of April/beginning of May 2008. Trying to figure out the best way to get from one place to the next. Looking for the best combination of cost-effective and convenient to go from one city to the next. Would this make sense:
Arrive in London, immediately take the Eurostar to Paris, stay for a few days in Paris. Take Eurostar back to London, stay a few days in London. Then, fly to Prague, stay a few days, and then fly back to London and back to the US. Is it a waste to keep going back to London, or would roundtrip tickets from a "homebase" of sorts make it cheaper than just going London-Paris-Prague-London? Thanks

cheryllj

I'm not sure why you would take the Eurostar back to London before flying to Prague. There are discoung flights from Paris-Prague (or at least there used to be 2 years ago, when I did it).

Are you saving THAT much money by taking the ES back to London and then flying from London to Prague? I would price out each leg to compare. How much is a one-way flight from London-Prague versus Paris-Prague?

alanRow

Smartwings fly from CDG to Prague, SkyEurope from Orly

Or you could take the train

www.seat61.com/Czech.htm

Can't see the point of dashing straight to Paris from London, if I was you I'd spend a few days in London, then travel to Paris before finally heading to Prague, then preferably returning home from Prague using a multicity ticket

If you can't get a multicity ticket then return to London the day before your flight as there's no better way to feel stupid than being stuck 1000 miles from your homeward flight

It may even be better to reverse your whole trip and fly to Prague as soon as you arrive in the UK then make your way back to London via Paris - then you are close to your homeward flight airport with plenty of time to spare

nytraveler

Fly into London, see it, take the train to Paris see it, fly to Prague, then fly home from there.

Otherwise you will be wasting a huge amount of money - and even more important, time - on all that backtracking.

In searching for airfare look for the multiple city option.

Then double check discount airlines from Paris to Prague.

This also has the advantage of starting you off in London - where there will be least culture shock when you're jet lagged.

Nazneen

Thank you Cheryl, Alan, and NYTraveler. I've been researching one way flights and you're all right, it does seem to be unnecessarily expensive and a waste of time to keep going back to London. We plan on using miles to do our trip from the US to Europe, so I'm not sure if a multi-city is an option. But we could always do Paris-London-Prague-London.

One more question: do you think about 15 solid days is good enough to do these 3 cities? Is it the right amount, or should I add another place in? A little background...I'm an experienced traveler and have been to London many times and Paris once (10+ years ago though), but never Prague; this will be hubby's first trip to Europe. I'm already in love with it, but I want him to enjoy himself as well, so I thought a little bit of a less rushed pace would allow us to appreciate each city and relax a little, as we both have stressful jobs where we travel a lot. Any thoughts/advice?

Nazneen

One more thing I forgot to mention...in London we're staying with friends and Paris with family, so we'll have good advisors to help us out; Prague will be our own little romantic getaway, just the two of us.

pittpurple

Prague is a great choice - it's my favourite city in Europe so far. My husband and I were there for 6 days last summer and didn't want to leave! I think 3 cities in 15 days is plenty, you'll lose a day travelling between each city so depending on how you arrange your travel, it's really 12 days or so. I agree with the PP, if you can get a multi-city ticket from the states that would be ideal - even if it's more money, it might be worth it not to have to lose a day and spend money to travel between cities.

We did a long weekend to London in October and had basically 3 days for touring. My husband had been there before, but it was my first trip. We still had a lot we wanted to see when it was time to leave! if you end up seeing the major sites within a couple days, it would be nice for you to have some time to just wander around and experience the cities in all three places, so I don't think you'll get bored!

Have a great trip!
PittPurple

ira

Hi N,

> do you think about 15 solid days is good enough to do these 3 cities? Is it the right amount, or should I add another place in?

Barely enough time for the 3, definitely not enough for more.

>..Prague will be our own little romantic getaway, ....<

In which case, I won't suggest leaving out Prague.

If cost is important, you might want to look into flying RT LGW and Easyjet.com from Prague to LGW (about $48 pp for the latter).

Enjoy your visit.