Our son and his wife will be moving to an Air Force Base in England soon. We would like to visit at Christmas time but prior to visiting them, we would like to fly into Germany to see some Christmas markets and then on to Paris. Total time in those 2 places is only 5 days. Finally, fly or Chunnel across the Channel to England. Once there we will need transportation to Lakenheath Air Base. 1. Is this feasible? 2. What mode of transportation for all of this would you suggest.
3. Any specific markets to see? Where would you suggest flying into?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
It's going to be really hard to fit in both the markets and Paris in five days. I'd classify the markets as something to see if you're nearby, not a destination. If you head to England from Paris, take the Eurostar. The changing stations to get out to Midenhall are adjacent in London.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23266 posts
You could fly into Strasbourg on the border of Germany/France. The Christmas market at Strasbourg is the oldest market dating to the 1400s, quite large, great market and a great city to visit. From there it is a three hour train ride to Paris and then the Eurostar to London. Not sure where the base is but it will be reachable by public transit.
Posted by
near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
521 posts
As Ed mentions, if you come in to London on the Eurostar, you will arrive at St. Pancras International, which is adjacent to Kings Cross station. From there you can either get a train to Ely (1 hour 10 minutes, no changes) or Thetford (1 hour 36 minutes, change at Cambridge). In either case you will need transport from the station to Lakenheath. Thetford is a bit closer, 12 miles away, about a 25 minute drive. There should be taxis at Thetford station, but I couldn't tell you how much that would cost. My parents live about 8 miles down the road from Lakenheath, by the way. I went to the USAF open day there once.
Posted by
near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
521 posts
Another thought about getting to Lakenheath. If you prefer to fly to the UK, Stansted Airport is about 45 miles south of the air base and it may be more convenient for you than Heathrow or Gatwick. It has flights with budget airlines from many destinations in France, but unfortunately not Paris. However, destinations in Germany appear to include Berlin Schoenefeld,Bremen, Cologne (Bonn), Dusseldorf (Niederhein), Dusseldorf, Frankfurt Hahn , Hamburg (Luebeck), Hanover, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Leipzig, Memmingen, Munich, Nuremburg and Stuttgart. Ryanair and Germanwings are the airlines you would need to look at, except for Dusseldorf (Air Berlin) and Munich (easyJet). Stansted to Mildenhall (the village close to Lakenheath) is possible by National Express coach. No changes are involved, but it takes 1 hour 50 minutes and costs around £18.
Posted by
OP
Indianapolis, In, USA
10 posts
Thank you Kevin, Frank and Ed. You have been most helpful. We were excited before but now that I have some place to start with the planning, it is even more exhilarating. Thank you for your quick responses also.
Carrie