QUESTION ABOUT ENGLAND,IRELAND,SCOTTLAND,FRANCE,AMSTERDAM
THIS IS OUR FIRST TRIP TO GREAT BRIT AND FRANCE AND AMSTERDAM. WE ARE STAYING IN SCOTTLAND ONE WEEK AND THE OTHER WEEK SPLIT BETWEEN PARIS, AMSTERDAM, LONDON. OUR QUESTION IS WHAT RAIL PASS IS BEST FROM LONDON TO PARIS THEN PARIS TO AMSTERDAM THEN BACK TO LONDON??? WE WANT TO LEAVE LONDON MARCH 15, 2010 AND RETURN TO LONDON ANYTIME THE 18TH OF MARCH.WE CHECK OUT OF OUR TIMESHARE ON MARCH 19TH AND HEAD TO SCOTLAND FOR A WEEK. AND DO YOU THINK IT'S BEST TO RENT A VAN FOR 6 ADULTS TO TOUR SCOTLAND/IRELAND ??? ANY HELP/SUGESTIONS IS NEEDED...
RAYMOND
ORANGE PK, FL USA 10/28/09
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I don't know enough about EuroRail passes, (we only used it once). But, we have used BritRail for our travel in the UK many, many times and really enjoyed the train trips. We found we liked not having to commit to a specific day of travel (weather, change of plans, etc.). Scotland is easy to explore by rail and personally, I just don't want to risk having to drive on the left, use a manual transmission, drive on small, curvy roads (some are still single lane), and navigate at the same time. Then there is the problem of parking in the cities and the very high price of petrol (gas). Inverness makes a great "base city" for Scotland and is well served by rail. There is a good Tourist Infomation office there and LOTS of day trips offered by tour companies. By the way- please don't use all caps- it is considered shouting on the web.
First off STOP SHOUTING!!!
Best to buy an advance purchase from Eurostar.com from London to Paris, no passes.
The van is a great idea for six, they have large Transit vans in the UK with 11 seats, or room for 6 people and lots of bags.
Also for the trip Paris to Amsterdam via the Thalys, book advance tickets online at www.thalys.com, no passes needed.
Passes are good if you are going to take a lot of trips within s certain country or region, but for just the trips you asked for, individual tickets are best.
You can click Railpasses at the top of this page for more info.
Also do not go all the way back to London to fly home. Get a flight back from Amsterdam, use "multi-0city" if booking online.
sorry for the caps, didnt notice them, i'm to old to yell anyway
Do I have this right? You want to travel from London to Paris on the 15th and travel from Amsterdam back to London on the 18th? Assuming you take an early morning Eurostar from London to Paris on the 15th, a Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam in the morning on the 17th, and a late afternoon IC train from Amsterdam to Brussels in time to catch the last Eurostar from Brussels to London on the 18th, you'll have two nights in Paris and one night in Amsterdam--with a lot of time traveling in between--for less than two full days of sightseeing in either city.
I can tell you how to get the best fares for these routes (no railpass). However, before I do, I recommend that you consider skipping Amsterdam this time and spending all three nights in Paris. It's your trip, of course, not mine; but unless you have your heart set on getting a brief taste of Amsterdam, it would be more effective both cost-wise and time-wise to stick to Paris and save Amsterdam for another trip.
If you do go to Amsterdam, I suggest that you investigate how late a flight you could get to London on a budget airline, giving you more sightseeing time on the 18th. VLM flies Amsterdam-London City; easyJet flies Amsterdam to Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted; and bmi flies Amsterdam-Heathrow.
Tim is right about time...you're not giving yourself enough of it.
If I'm getting this right, you have a timeshare in London that you are leaving vacant while in Paris & Amsterdam?
My suggestion is to check out of the time share early, and fly between Amsterdam and Edinburgh. It will save an entire day of train travel.
As far as renting a van, well, how do you feel about driving on the opposite side of the road? And if you are going to Ireland as well, it's best to leave one van in Scotland and pick up a new one in Ireland. Are you trying to split the week between Scotland and Ireland?
View Larger Map Its a little hard to drive from Scotland to Ireland unless you take the ferry. Ryanair.com has cheap flights from all over Ireland to places on the continent.
I like Frank II's idea of flying from Amsterdam to Edinburgh. No time spent backtracking to London only to have to turn around and head for Scotland. Your budget airline choices are easyJet and Flybe. This would allow you to have another full day in Amsterdam.