We are flying "open jaws" Seattle to Oslo and spend aboput 4 days in Norway. We will then fly to London and spend a week and a half in England. We then head to Italy for 2 weeks. We will spend time in Umbria, Tuscany (Florence, Siena)and Venice. Question #1: What is the best(and cost effective) way to get to Italy from England....plane or train? I thought we'd do Venice 1st, followed by Florence and Siena and then fly out from Milan? Does anyone have any better suggestions? I don't care the order of our stay in Italy, just trying to do what makes most since logistically. Thanks.

Hi trav,

To go by train you would have to take the Eurostar to Paris and train from there - which is not such a terrible thing; you could reduce England by a few days.

You can also fly to Venice from LGW or LHR.

See www.whichbudget.com

PS,

>I thought we'd do Venice 1st, followed by Florence and Siena and then fly out from Milan? <

You can also fly out of Florence FLR or Pisa PSA - both more convenient to Florence than Milan.

The most cost effective way to get from the UK to Venice is via one of the low cost carriers which fly into either Venice marco polo airport (Easy Jet) or Treviso (Ryan Air) which is close to Venice.There may be other carriers too.

Of these two I think Easy Jet is superior and they fly from Gatwick while Ryan air flies from Stansted and or Luton. There are a number of others who fly from regional airports in the UK so it depends on where you are.

Remember, it important to know the disadvantages of these carriers...high overweight charges, you MUST check in 40 minutes in advance, no advances seating assignment, very limited customer service etc. You can do a search on the board for tons more info on this. However, if you're well informed this is certainly the cheapest one way between UK and Venice.

Good luck!

The best way from London to Italy is undoubtedly the train.

If you're not burdened with a lot of luggage, an afternoon Eurostar to Paris, decent dinner someewhere nice, overnight train timed so you're coming through the Italian side of the Alps by daylight, then lunch in Milan beats the living seatbelts out of being crammed into an Easyjet to Treviso.

Sadly, it costs about ten times as much as Easyjet. But you're on holiday, aren't you?

<<The best way from London to Italy is undoubtedly the train.>>

Yeah, kinda like the best way to get from Lisbon to Novosibirsk is by train.

Best wishes,

Rex

Nobody asked about the best way to get to Novosibirsk. Trains are a perfectly civilised way of getting from London to Venezia, giving a chance to visit to Paris, then spending a night sleeping on the train.

I will be trying out Easy Jet from Gatwick to Marco Polo/Venice in a couple of weeks. Compared flights through whichbudget.com (as mentioned in a previous post) and decided on Easy Jet over Ryan Air (which had a slightly cheaper flight) due to better airports for us in both London and Venice, and slightly bigger carry on baggage weight allowance.

I'll report back when I return!

I love arriving in Venice on the train, though...walking out of the station takes my breath away.

Good luck with your plans.

In terms of time, there is no comparison. I took BMI, and it was reasonably cheap: http://www.flybmi.com

We are traveling to Venice, Marco Polo Airport, on Easyjet of out Gatwick in June. I checked out many flights options, but did not consider the train because of the time it would take and expense. We are traveling with our kids.

I know there was a previous post about a site that compares the low cost carriers in Europe. I think it was www.whichbudget.com I remember looking at it after I had already booked and it made me feel better that I got the best deal.

Have a good trip.

Travelatte

Just saw Ira posted the whichbudget.com, sorry I missed it.

I'm looking at BMI for Venice to London and yes, it is quite cheap if you can book well in advance, and unlike some of the other budget carriers, the times are so much better (no getting up at 4 AM to catch a plane) and I believe you're less restricted on the luggage weight.

As much as I LOVE train travel, I don't enjoy sleeping on a train at all, so for me this is a no-brainer. I'd fly!

Unfortunately, the BMI website indicates that the economy class luggage restrictions WITHIN Europe are the same as the other "budget" carriers: 20 Kg (44#).