Cheap European trip?!

[CMS]

Hi everyone,

I'm sure this question has been asked before on the forum, but has any one got any idea on cheap fares/great rides around Europe? I'm hoping to go for 5 days later in the summer, and it seems as if DB's Spezial fares seem to be the only way to get a high-speed, cheap ride! I'm looking to go to the Benelux countries, Western Germany, France and possibly Switzerland/Northern Italy. At the moment I'm thinking of London-Lille/Brussels-Amsterdam-NW Germany-Strasbourg-S France-Paris/Lille/Brussels-London, but that's only an idea!

Also would it be better to go via Brussels, Lille or Paris for the Eurostar leg?

Any thoughts appreciated/Thanks in advance!

 

[1E05]

I've only ever had experience of cheap ES tickets to/from either Brussels or Pais. DB walk up fares tend not to be excessive but can sometimes blow a hole in your wallet

 

[Greenback]

We did Basel Bad Bahnof to London, 1st class all the way with a stopover in Cologne, for 109 euro.

So I would recommend DB and via Brussels every time! (Unless going to Spain and Portugal)

 

[30907]

Worth noting that the DB Europe specials offer very flexible routing within Germany, and are often cheaper than internal Sparpreis tickets too.
You can also get good Prems prices on Tgv in France but they are point to point only.

 

[D6700]

Worth noting that the DB Europe specials offer very flexible routing within Germany, and are often cheaper than internal Sparpreis tickets too.

Indeed they do - on both counts

Last weekend I took a trip to Budapest, travelling out by train, starting on Saturday and flying back on Tuesday.

Saturday:
York-London HST
London-Brussels Eurostar
(Arrived mid-afternoon)

Sunday:
Brussels-Cologne ICE3
(One hour break)
Cologne-Stuttgart DB Class 103
Stuttgart-Ulm DB Class 101
Ulm-Lindau 2 DB Class 218's
(Four hour break)
Lindau-Munich 2 DB Class 218's

Monday:
Munich-Gyor OBB 1116
Gyor-Tatabanya Road Coach due to flooding at Komarom
Tatabanya-Budapest MAV 470
(This leg was planned as three trains - Munich to Salzburg, Salzburg to Vienna and Vienna to Budapest, with decent breaks en-route, but the flooding dictated the change)

York to London was £13
London to Munich was €59
Munich to Budapest was €39

 

[Max]

There are some great fares to be had on TGV between Paris and Milan if you book early, I got a ticket a few weeks ago for late July in first class for around €40. From there you can reach other parts of Italy affordably, or head north through Switzerland on a DB Spezial ticket. You could also consider getting an Interrail pass for Switzerland, which are priced surprisingly competitively.

 

[Greenback]

I was pleased with our Inter Rail passes for Switzerland, although they don't cover as much as the higher priced Swiss passes, you can still get some great scenic rides across the country using them.

The 40 euro fare from paris to Milan is good, but in my view not as good as the 109 euro fare all the way from London to Basel. By the time you add on the fares from London to Paris, and Milan to Switzerland, even using second class, you will pay more for the total journey.

On the other hand, if you want to stop off in Paris and Milan, the DB fares are useless anyway!