London to Stuttgart

I will! Thank you!

Flying will restrict the luggage that you can take, which might be substantial considering you're going to be there for some time. In addition, most low cost carriers leave from Stansted, not London. Stansted is an hour long bus trip (~$14 pP) from London.

Check with the German Rail website. There is a connection by Eurostar, leaving London at 8:57, with a 22 min connection in Brussels around noon, arriving by ICE in Frankfurt at 16:20. If you book online with the Bahn, it's a London-Spezial fare starting at €49 per person (no youth discount). You'll only see this offer if you put in London to Frankfurt (or Köln, but that wouldn't make sense); you won't see that fare offered for connections all the way to Stuttgart, even for the London-Frankfurt part.

These are date and train specific, non-refundable tickets, so don't try to use them on the day you arrive in London, in case your flight is late.

You'll have to purchase your Frankfurt to Stuttgart tickets separately. There are 1½ hr direct ICE connections from Frankfurt to Stuttgart for €57 pP, full fare.

Update: It appears that the €49 fare is available all the way, from London to Stuttgart, but only on Sundays.

You can also go from Frankfurt to Stuttgart by regional trains (3+ hrs) with p-p tickets to Mannheim for €31 for 2 (2 x €15,50) plus a Baden-Württemberg-Ticket (€28 for up to 5 P).

Candice, If you decide to fly you may not have to use a discount airline. You can likely get a flight on either BA or Lufthansa from London to Stuttgart at a reasonable cost.

As Lee mentioned, there are some limitations with baggage, even if you fly one of the major airlines. Figure out the weight that you have and make sure that you take the airline's baggage policies and additional fees into account if you decide to fly.

The other possibility is to get a Eurostar to Paris and then take a direct train from Paris to Stuttgart. You will have to go from Nord station to Est station in Paris, but they are very close together and you can walk. You can see recommended train times and booking details at http://www.seat61.com/Germany.htm#Stuttgart

Thank you so much for your replies and help. I've been looking around and I think Eurostar to Paris then Stuttgart might be my best bet. I wasn't able to get the discounted 49 euro tickets that I was hoping for because my husband has to go first class because of his age (do I understand this correctly?)

Would it be best to book tickets in advance or purchase them when I get over there?

I know of no restriction that persons over a certain age have to go 1st class. I'm 65 and always go 2nd class. You can't use a Eurail Youth pass in 1st class, but anyone is free to travel in 2nd class.

I just tried ages up to 99 for a date in July, and it still would sell me a €49 ticket.

You can get advance purchase tickets online from the Bahn for Paris to Stuttgart for €39 (unless they make your elderly husband go 1st class).

Candice, Have a great time in Stuttgart! I stayed for six months in a town just outside of Reutlingen which is just south of Stuttgart. Be sure to explore the local area as well as well as going to the better known sites. The Neckar River valley is beautiful. It's known for it's orchards. They make a powerful Apple drink in the fall that you drink until Marchish. It comes in stone crock.

Pam

Haha! Lee, I had to laugh at your comment because my husband certainly isn't elderly! :) I realized now, along with some searching, that I did understand it wrong. I'm 24 and my husband is 27, so we should be able to both get second class (I was wrong with the age restriction). The bahn.com website was just confusing in this aspect because it kept asking for my husband's age, then bumping up the rates. I'm considering booking my tickets through raileurope.uk now. Thanks for your help!

Thanks for the tips, Pamela! I most certainly will check out those sites.

Would anyone recommend waiting until I land in London to purchase the rail tickets, or purchasing them in advance? I'm just scared my plane is going to be delayed or something. Then again, I don't want to be stuck in London if the trains are full. :/ I'm just not sure what to do.