I'm traveling w/ my 3 young adult children (ages 19 to 24) over 14 days. We start in London but want to travel to Paris and Giverny, then to Munich and return to London for the remainder of the trip. What type of train pass would you recommend? We initially thought Eurail to Paris but then what? Would you also suggest a travel loop so we make the most of our time? I don't know if we'd be able to fit another country such as Belgium/Switzerland for a day but then we would avoid repeating our travel route. Thanks.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4051 posts
Virginia: All over the Internet there are versions of this question posted. The stock answer is you've got the process backwards. Find out what the point-to-point tickets will cost, then look at rail passes. You will need to check websites run by the various national rail companies. To make it more complicated, budget airlines can often beat the prices, and certainly the time involved, if tickets are purchased well in advance (and that includes the hassles of airport security, etc.) Begin at the encyclopedia of rail travel, www.seat61.com for both sources and strategies. For airlines, www.skyscanner.com covers some low-cost carriers not found on the big international agencies such as Kayak. This is time-consuming but you have three adult companions who will benefit from joining the research. The trip, in your minds, has already started.
If I can add a personal thought, making the most of your travel time does not result from maximum travel. Better, for two weeks, to choose a couple of locations, settle in, get a feel for the place, and take an occasional day trip. London-Paris-Munich would be more than enough for me. And consider flying in to one city and going home from another. Many airlines and on-line agencies have an option for multi-destination or multi-city choices. This is much more efficient in both time and money.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16385 posts
Fourteen days is not a lot of time to see these places. I suggest you stick to London, Paris, Giverny, and Munich, maybe with one-night stop on the way between Paris and Munich. Take the Eurostar train from London to Paris, buying your tickets as far ahead as possible to get the best price. From Paris to Munich, I would stop overnight in Strasbourg to break up the trip, but that is my travel style. You can get good prices on these tickets on the TGV website. Fly back to London from Munich. No train passes.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
If you have not already bought flights, don't do a round trip to London. Book into London and out of Munich. Even if this is more expensive than RT to London (and it may not be), you save time and money by not backtracking. To find these flights, don't look for two one-ways (very expensive). Instead, use the "multi-city" option on Kayak, Expedia, etc.