Train or car?
 

Hi! My fiance and I are getting married June 7th and have decided (at the last minute) to take a two week honeymoon in Europe. We're using frequent flier miles and have to fly into Paris, but don't wish to stay there for the duration of the trip. We've considered going to the southern part of England, northern Spain, or somewhere more rural in France. Is traveling to these spots by land easy and relatively quick? If so, would we be better renting a car or taking the train? We'd like to spend no more than $400 (total) traveling within Europe and don't want more than a days drive at any one time. Thank you!!!

Am sure you'll get a lot of traffic with this question. In terms of train travel...you can take an overnihgt to Madrid and be there the next morning and make further connections for more southern parts of Spain. Some will warn you off of night trains but this is a "premier" route and if you're willing to take one of the "hotel" trains I think you'll find it comfortable. During the daylight to get as far as Madrid from Paris the fastest train connection (TGV from Paris Montparnasse to Irun and then onwards) will take at least 12 hours.
Have you considered trying to get a cheap airfare?

Hi Bootman. Thanks for your reply! No, we haven't considered checking into plane fares but could certainally do so. Do you happen to know which airlines run between Paris and Madrid?

Overnight train between Paris and Venice works nicely too.

See this post - - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34410253 - - for recent news on cheap fares from Paris (Orly) to various locations.

Best wishes,

Rex