Getting Home

Thanks Nancy..I'll keep this in mind. So...an additional 5 days isn't enough? IF, we do end up going to England, let's say...what are musts to see and bargain places to stay at? We have friends in France and Spain. And to answer the direct one-way flight, yes from Seattle to Reykjavik to Stockholm was $349 one way. Cheap huh?

You haven't given us any information about the length of your trip, or the time of year you are going. Both of those are important in advising you. Do I understand correctly that you bought a one-way ticket?

Our trip starts April 15th to Sweden until the 21st...we take train to Germany, stay until the 26 or 27, then go somewhere...london, france, italy, spain??

I'd recommend either Austria or London. If you finshed your German leg in Munich, you could take the train to Salzburg. Lots to do and see there. Then train to Vienna and fly home from there. Or cheap flight to London- lots to do there and good day trips by train. If you are interested in that, pm me and I'll send you the link to an article I wrote about doing that.

" Do I understand correctly that you bought a one-way ticket? "

This is critical in answering your post.

Use a search engine to check one-way airfares for the counties that you mentioned--for example, look at flying from London, Paris, Rome or Milan, and/or Madrid.

Look at the least expensive and decide if that works for you--you will also have to factor in transportation costs (train or discount airlines) to get from Germany to the place where you fly home from.

Your location in Germany and the number of travel days you have after you leave Germany will also influence your decision. You may want to consider staying in Germany and visiting other cities rather than going to another country.

You may find that, in the long run it would have been less expensive to purchase round trip, open jaw tickets.

Good luck!

Yes, I bought a one-way ticket through Icelandic Air. Our friends in Sweden bought for us the train tickets to Copenhagen and onto the ferry for $250 for 4 people. I guess those prices just keep going up everyday and we had to make that decision this past week. London sounds wonderful, but that means train right? Car would be great because of kids, but I don't know what's cheaper...train or car, then insurance and gas..etc. Next time I just need to schedule an appointment with someone in an agency and custom schedule. But, for now input from friendly travelers will allow us to save money, time and also pay our taxes this year. Thanks.

Hi Karina,

Two more questions:

Where are you staying in Germany? Knowing this will help posters determine the best way for you to get London.

How many days do you have to spend in London if you fly home from there?

Thanks!

We're going to Tonning. Friends are picking us up in Lubeck on the 21st in a rented van and staying with them in Tonning until we start to smell like fish...the 26th, then...? We plan on staying in Europe and wanting to be home back in Seattle by the 1st. Thanks again.

Hi Karina,

With 5 nights I think that I'd consider staying in Germany and traveling around. Berlin is a great city with lots to do and you could fly home from there or Frankfurt. Not sure you have enough time to drive to another country. Also look at taking a train to Amsterdam and flying home from there.

For other cities look at discount flight options at www.whichbudget.com

Thanks all for your wisdom, experience and travel sassy-ness (if that'a word). It's people like you that help us to make smarter decisions next time and realistic adventures!

You're not going until April, so you have some time to research the pros and cons of train vs car. You'll need to look at several different options for places to leave from, but since you're really only talking about four or five days beyond your already planned visits, I don't think you have time to visit an additional country.

I've found very reasonable transatlantic flights out of: Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Shannon, Ire at different times of the year. So much lower in fact, they were worth adding a discount RyanAir flight to get me near those cities. Your options home to Washington might be different. With kids in tow, you might be less flexible than I was.

Yes, it was a cheap ticket, but I suspect you will lose most of that "savings" when you pay for your return ticket.

You might just check out Icelandair - they fly from many cities in Europe via Reykjavik back to Seattle. Since you have a ticket with them, maybe they would let you apply what you paid towards an open-jaws roundtrip ticket?