Help me think through a trip to Europe from the US
January 13, 2024 1:01 PM Subscribe
Help me think through the smartest way to see family in France in Spring.
My family and I are planning on traveling to La Rochelle, France, to visit my sister-in-law and show my kids Europe. We'd also like to spend a couple of days in Paris, as my wife is the only one of us who's ever been.
Our initial plan was to fly to Paris, take the train to La Rochelle, and come home the same way in reverse. However, from our corner of the US, round-trip airfare to Paris is expensive right now, and in playing around with Google Flights, we've found that, for our travel dates, flying to London, getting a cheap RyanAir flight down to Nantes, and then flying home from Paris the next week saves us a substantial amount of money. And hey, we could see London too!
This sounds like an appealing way of doing things, but it's been a WHILE since I've traveled internationally and I'm worried that we're not appreciating some massive hidden difficulty with this plan. For those of y'all who are experienced in traveling to and within Europe, does this plan make sense? Are we missing something?
My family and I are planning on traveling to La Rochelle, France, to visit my sister-in-law and show my kids Europe. We'd also like to spend a couple of days in Paris, as my wife is the only one of us who's ever been.
Our initial plan was to fly to Paris, take the train to La Rochelle, and come home the same way in reverse. However, from our corner of the US, round-trip airfare to Paris is expensive right now, and in playing around with Google Flights, we've found that, for our travel dates, flying to London, getting a cheap RyanAir flight down to Nantes, and then flying home from Paris the next week saves us a substantial amount of money. And hey, we could see London too!
This sounds like an appealing way of doing things, but it's been a WHILE since I've traveled internationally and I'm worried that we're not appreciating some massive hidden difficulty with this plan. For those of y'all who are experienced in traveling to and within Europe, does this plan make sense? Are we missing something?
I would price out if the extra costs of the London to France Ryanair fares, bag and seat fees, as well as the costs of getting to and from the London airports and London accommodations, would not significantly exceed the price of tickets to Paris and then your trip on the French TGV from either Paris or the station at Charles de Gaulle airport.
posted by mdonley at 1:08 PM on January 13 [3 favorites]
posted by mdonley at 1:08 PM on January 13 [3 favorites]
If you're optimizing for cost, I think you've already conceded that travel time is a lower priority. (I don't say this judgmentally - I usually optimize for cost, too.) However, you say "kids." How old are the kids? As a parent, traveling with kids is more a juggling act of what to prioritize. My two kids and I spent a few weeks in Europe last year and I opted to fly into a cheaper city and take the train, but increase our actual travel time from door to door. In my experience, my family feels like we've "gotten there" when we leave the airport. Train travel in Europe is very forgiving and the bureaucratic blanket around it is much less stressful. Another leg by plane usually has more logistical stress and makes the trip feel longer/more draining, even if it's cheaper or faster door to door. Also, one week? I guess I'd focus on either Paris or London as the main metro to explore, and not both.
posted by cocoagirl at 1:12 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]
posted by cocoagirl at 1:12 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]
As mdonley says,, the headline ticket price on Ryanair is not likely to be the one you will pay, once you add on luggage, sitting together etc. Get a idea of full cost before finalised your plan. Trains will tend to be more straight without on cost.
posted by biffa at 1:13 PM on January 13 [5 favorites]
posted by biffa at 1:13 PM on January 13 [5 favorites]
Ryanair are absolutely ruthless on bag allowances and fees so as above, double and triple check this. If coming from the US with American passports, at least Brexit won't have messed much with your expectations of border control and customs, anyway.
Also look into Amsterdam flights. I've done good train journeys from there into France, it's Schengen area so you only pass border control once. And it's a nice city where the things to see are more central/walkable than London's spread-out centre, if you only have a day or two. Just one major airport and one major rail station so you won't have the 'get on the Tube with all our baggage' hassle so many through travellers in London experience.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 1:14 PM on January 13 [3 favorites]
Also look into Amsterdam flights. I've done good train journeys from there into France, it's Schengen area so you only pass border control once. And it's a nice city where the things to see are more central/walkable than London's spread-out centre, if you only have a day or two. Just one major airport and one major rail station so you won't have the 'get on the Tube with all our baggage' hassle so many through travellers in London experience.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 1:14 PM on January 13 [3 favorites]
Are we missing something?
At the risk of stating the obvious, you'd be travelling on Ryanair which in my experience guarantees a truly miserable experience, even when they don't cancel the flight and lose all your luggage.
posted by Lanark at 1:22 PM on January 13 [9 favorites]
At the risk of stating the obvious, you'd be travelling on Ryanair which in my experience guarantees a truly miserable experience, even when they don't cancel the flight and lose all your luggage.
posted by Lanark at 1:22 PM on January 13 [9 favorites]
Oh, definitely seconding what others say about the hidden cost of sitting together. I had to lean hard on an airline last year to ticket/seat my 11yo child next to the only adult they were traveling with. The airline was going to have them about 20 rows apart. Additionally many airlines will not let you check in a minor child 'from home' -- meaning now you have to get to the airport even earlier to check in a child who may not even be seated with you. Infuriating.
posted by cocoagirl at 1:24 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]
posted by cocoagirl at 1:24 PM on January 13 [1 favorite]
Ryanair can only be embarked upon if you treat it as an entirely inconvenient bus trip. The airport you fly out of from in London is likely to be Stansted so a different to where you come in on. London hotel prices are also incroyable.
posted by socky_puppy at 1:32 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
posted by socky_puppy at 1:32 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
Chiming in to agree that avoiding RyanAir and a second immigration line (UK and then France) is worth it. What about flying into/out of Germany or Spain?
posted by soelo at 1:42 PM on January 13
posted by soelo at 1:42 PM on January 13
Flying to Amsterdam is a great plan. Once you're through customs, there's an escalator in the terminal down to the train platform where you can get right on to the train to Paris. The train journey takes about 3 hours to Paris, (stopping in Brussels).
posted by monotreme at 2:46 PM on January 13 [11 favorites]
posted by monotreme at 2:46 PM on January 13 [11 favorites]
Response by poster: This is all great advice, thanks folks. I think you've successfully scared us off our grand but deeply flawed multi-airport plan, we'll just eat the cost and enjoy the ease of flying to and from Paris. Thanks again!!
posted by saladin at 4:17 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
posted by saladin at 4:17 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
It's also worth pointing out that if you fly to Amsterdam (or indeed to most cities in Western continental Europe) you will not have to deal with passport controls entering & leaving France due to the existence of the Schengen area. The UK is not in the Schengen area, so that would be one additional step if you flew via London.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:56 AM on January 14
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:56 AM on January 14
EmpressCallipygos: Train travel in Europe is a whole different ball game than it is in the US
Except for the Eurostar. You need reservations, you have to go through luggage checks almost on a level with airport checks, and the carriages are cramped. Older generations of the TGV are too, but somewhat less so.
posted by Stoneshop at 1:52 PM on January 14
Except for the Eurostar. You need reservations, you have to go through luggage checks almost on a level with airport checks, and the carriages are cramped. Older generations of the TGV are too, but somewhat less so.
posted by Stoneshop at 1:52 PM on January 14
Eurostar travels outside the Schengen area so that’s why there’s more security/checks. Continental Europe train travel like Amsterdam to Paris is easy.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:59 PM on January 14
posted by ellieBOA at 7:59 PM on January 14
No, the luggage checks are specific to Eurostar, people are only subjected to passport checks when traveling to/from the UK by ferry although there will be the occasional spot check. People unfamiliar with Euro train travel have to be aware that Eurostar, despite its name, is not the hassle-free option that rail travel elsewhere in Europe is.
posted by Stoneshop at 9:52 PM on January 14
posted by Stoneshop at 9:52 PM on January 14
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* Fly into London
* Take the train from London to Paris
* Then take the train from Paris to Nantes/La Rochelle
* Then take the train back to Paris
* Then either take the train back to London and leave from there, or fly out of Paris
Train travel in Europe is a whole different ball game than it is in the US, and this may give you a similar schedule for even less money.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:06 PM on January 13 [10 favorites]