Travel to Germany from London

I'm not going to give any advice on any of the itineraries because they all sound good and I'm guessing you should choose the one you think your family will prefer.

The only comment I wanted to make was about the Eurostar train which you will take to either Paris or Brussels.

Please read up on the train so you are aware of checking in times. Also be aware that you will go through immigration and customs for either Paris or Brussels in London prior to boarding the train. when you get to either Paris or Brussels you just walk off the train and go about your business.

Just a note about your Eurostar train after the London arrival. Don't schedule it too closely to your ETA. Your arrival could be delayed. There could be waits at Immigration and baggage claim. Then you have to get into London and over to St Pancras station. You need to be in line 75 minutes before departure in order to go through security, British exit Immigration as well as French entry Passport Control. Many would recommend allowing at least 5 hours before getting the train. THEN you have the train ride to either Paris or Brussels. (Dont forget about the 1 hour time change). All of this after an overnight transatlantic flight. You likely wouldnt even arrive at your Paris or Brussels hotel until mid to late afternoon, by which time your family may be too tired to do much sightseeing.

This is very helpful information in terms of timing. Thank you so much!

Question- if we were to be able to swing it to fly into Paris instead of London and wanted to take a train to Baden Baden or Nurnberg the next day , would the process of getting the train be like the process in London? 5 hours to prep to take a train in a lot! Or would it just be "show up" when your train departs?

"I love train travel and once we are in Germany we will be renting a car to get around Germany..."

?? Riding the trains in Germany would be the way to go, wouldn't it? Have you looked into that at all?

And flying to STR (near Baden-Baden) or NUE (Nuremberg) would eliminate all the heavy logistics you will otherwise be imposing on yourself and the others with a stay in Paris or Brussels. You don't have anything that is motivating you to see Brussels, right? It's just a place to sleep. As for Paris, I'd be shocked if all of you will be in a sufficiently alert state to do your list of Paris things - since your plan is to leave Paris early the next morning.

Just spend a day/night at Heathrow or nearby. Check in somewhere, get some food, take a walk, nap, shower, whatever it is you need to do... try to stay awake until at least early evening. Then fly out the next morning. You'll get to Nuremberg sooner, if that's where you are going. Your family can greet you right at the airport.

German train system: it's a very dense transport network. Erlangen is no backwater. You don't say where you plan to tour for 3 days. Well, you can get to Nuremberg from Erlangen in just 20 minutes. Take the train to Bamberg in 25. There are dozens of other nearby options as well. Germany has something on the order of 5,000 + train stations that are served by dozens of trains every day. And train travel is extraordinarily inexpensive in Germany as well as scenic... Bamberg, Bayreuth, and Würzburg are nearby. Just want to see the countryside and small towns? From Erlangen or Nuremberg, an hour's train ride takes you to this beautiful old-world town - Iphofen:

https://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/2985-iphofen-galerie/

Leave your bags where you will be staying; the round-trip by train to Iphofen will cost only €25 for the whole family, and no one gets stuck in the back seat:

https://www.vgn.de/en/tickets/all-day-ticket-plus

The same ticket can take you to other scenic, old-world places as well over the course of a few days. How about the Franconian open-air museum in Bad Windsheim (another spa town)?? It's a wonderful family activity:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198421-d284746-Reviews-Frankonian_Open_Air_Museum-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

You could just leave your bags in Nuremberg while on this round-trip outing as well.

Rothenburg is another round-trip destination with the same ticket from Nuremberg.

As for Baden-Baden... it has almost nothing to do with the Black Forest. You would need more time than you are allotting to see some genuine Black Forest towns.

You will fly out of Vienna? Was your plan to take a car from Germany to Vienna and drop it there? Expect to pay a hefty drop off fee for dropping a German rental out of country. I'd recommend taking the train into Austria instead. Saver fares at German Railways are excellent and children the age of yours ride for free with their parents.

Thank you! We would rent a car in Germany because we have family in Regnizlosau, Abenberg, Biberach and Erlangen. We will be driving around to see them all/ meeting up, etc. We plan to head to Salzburg and then Vienna and will be dropping the car likely in Fussen if possible before we see the castles and then head to Salzburg then Vienna (to see my cousin) via train.

I do like the idea of NOT having a car in Germany but my family has advised me TO get a car while in Germany.

I'll have to think about this more- if we can swing it to fly into Paris directly, I think we could try that. And Baden Baden I love - I have been there before and thought it would be cool for the kids to see the thermal baths and try the Caracalla and it is off the train line and easier to get to than other BF towns. My father lived in Freiburg and I also love Freiburg and considered that over Baden Baden.

This is all a work in progress and I am at the starting stages- but the flights are so cost prohibitive that I am trying to use those points we have through JetBlue which will cover our entire way there to London and partially there to Paris.

Regnizlosau, Abenberg, Biberach and Erlangen.

I see. Yes, a very unique itinerary for sure. And these places are separated by some huge distances. I hope you are able to allocate the time you will need for both the planned ground travel and visits to some interesting places as well.

If you are coming from JFK, you could take the morning flight and spend the night in London, then take the Eurostar to Paris the next day, That way, you could confidently buy Eurostar tickets and be fairly certain you will make it.

I think part of the problem is that you're looking at prices way too far out. Right now round trip airfare can be pretty cheap. Trying to project a cost 12 months out is crazy.

And flights from London to either Frankfurt or Nuremberg are $15, plus baggage fees. Why would you take the train?

I don’t understand why you’re going to Paris at all. Why not just fly from Heathrow to whichever German airport makes the most sense? If you’re set on taking the Eurostar, wouldn’t Amsterdam be closer?

I think you will soon discover that getting to Germany from London will include a lot of extra time and expense. With the travel from the airport to the station, and the required checkin times for Eurostar, it could be 5+ hours from the time you arrive in London until you board the train. Then another 3+ hours before you finally get to your first hotel. In that time, you could already have hopped a flight and arrived in Germany, and probably for a lot less money (and stress). Don’t over-romanticize the train trip. Especially on arrival after an international flight. After all that, you won’t feel like doing much of anything on day 1, regardless of where you end up. Especially the kids. Day 2 will likely be rough with jet lag. So adding another long travel day should be considered carefully.

Just an additional bit of info....there is no exit immigration in the UK.

If you fly into Paris and then get a train, you just show up and get on board. While there is not supposed to be a border between Schengen countries, Germany has set up border checks.

Okay thank you for all of this info. We were going to try to do a night in Paris because I have never been and it's a bucket list item for me to see the Eiffel Tower. I am not sure when I will get back to Europe with both kids and if/ when we go back with both kids we will do Italy the next time for my oldest daughter's HS graduation. So, I was trying to squeeze Paris in if possible, but given all of this feedback it seems that we either need to fly direct to Paris and then take the train to Germany OR fly to London and hop on a plane to Germany. I was trying to price things out as if I was flying this summer (to give me an idea) and it seemed the flights from London to Nurnberg were about $130 or more each, which seemed crazy since I have always heard that plane travel is really cheap in Europe. My last experience taking Ryan air was 15 years ago from Rome to Frankfurt and it was insanely cheap but I didnt' know if times had changed. I am also nervous about taking a connecting flight and missing it due to a delay from the USA to UK which will then ruin the entire flow of the trip.

I'm planning this far out because I need to figure out budget with hotels/ train/ car so that we can put the right amount of money away for this trip. Plus, my German family are planners and plan their summers a year in advance, so I am trying to be respectful of that. My aunts and uncles is all in their 80's and I am going to try my best to get to all of the 4 locations as none of them are keen on driving anymore, but we may have to sacrifice Regnizlosau because it is so far out of the way.

Now you know! Thanks for helping me this has been hugely beneficial. I will not take the train from London to Paris or anywhere else, given this info. We will either fly from London direct to Germany or we will take a train from Paris to Germany.