Hello helpful Travelers!
My 17 year old and I are planning our itinerary for our big trip to Europe in a few weeks.
I am going to show you our tentative travel plans. I would love input as to how to move around the most economic way!
We will travel via train to our apartment in Paris-4days
Need to take a train to Dordrecht, NL for wedding
Need to take a train to Amsterdam-staying 2 days
Considering flying from Eindhoven to Venice to explore Italy
Trains through Italy.
Considering flying back to Paris from Rome.
We are trying to be spontaneous with this trip aside from the dates we know we need to be somewhere, ie; the wedding and we fly home from Paris September 9th.
What is the most economic/fun way to travel for the rest of our time?
Creativity is a bonus!
Thanks so much!
Jenn
Posted by
2081 posts
jenn.limbaugh,
take a look at this web site. This guy does alot of homework so you dont have to.
all you need to do is to plug and chug A and B and you will have an idea on what you want to do.
happy trails.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
It's usually both cheaper and faster to fly to and from Italy; see www.skyscanner.com. Nothing is necessarily cheap at the last minute.
A rail pass does not always support flexibility, especially in France, where TGV and Thlays seat reservations are limited for rail pass travelers. Within Netherlands and within Italy, train tickets are pretty affordable to buy as you go.
That would leave Paris-Dordrecht as your longest, most expensive train ride. Some advance-purchase discounts may still be available if you're ready to book that route now through Thalys.com or Rail Europe. See more info and links at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation.
Posted by
Green Bay
21153 posts
Answer: Not to Railpass.
Since are going to wedding with date certain, buy your Paris-Dordrecht tickets now while you can still get a deal. You'll be traveling on the Thalys to Rotterdam and a railpass gets you precious little, but you can save with advance purchase nonrefundable tickets.
Dordrecht-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Eindhoven are inexpensive Dutch trains.
Italy makes the least sense to have a railpass. Even fast trains bought at the spur of the moment are reasonable, and regional trains are cheap.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Sam,
Thank you for the information! Where do I go online to book the train tickets on the Thalys?
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
"Where do I go online to book the train tickets on the Thalys? "
And do book as soon as possible. The prices only go up as the cheaper tickets start to sell out.
Posted by
Green Bay
21153 posts
Easiest is www.capitainetrain.com, but they can only sell a ticket as far as Rotterdam. You'd need to buy local tickets there to go on to Dordrecht.
The French rail site:http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/?DISTRIBUTED_COUNTRY=GB
Use "France" as your ticket collection country or else they will bounce you to rail Europe.
They can get you tickets all the way trough, but you may need to register your Visa card in advance at "Visacheckout" in order to pay. https://checkout.visa.com/index.jsp?country=US&locale=en