I need some vacation ("holiday") tips

[icydog]

My husbandd and I are traveling to London into Heathrow airport on OCT 31 for 9 days. I got a very good fare on BA so we are going straight in London. I understand there are some good cheap fares around Europe to be gotten from LHR but I haven't got a clue as to where to find out about them.
We have been in the city of London twice before and, even though we love it there, we would like to see a little more than just one city. We have also been to Paris twice so we don't want to go there this trip either, but pretty much anything else is possible.

How do you London UK people get to other parts of Europe? Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. I could give you some tips for travel in the USA as compensation
Marylyn

 

[Celestine]

CHeap flights to all European destinations can be found in several places: flybe, thomsonfly, easyjet, ryanair (If you fancy Ireland), or look at at agents such as expedia.co.uk who will check all the various airlines for you. If you want a cheap fare though, you will find that you will probably have to fly from Luton or Stanstead (easily accessible from London by train).

 

[tim june and sam]

Hi icy-dog!

The point here is that whilst LHR is a large international hub airport, the cheap flights market around Europe is based on our smaller peripheral airports away from central London. These include Stansted and Luton, both of which are north of London.

Luton is c.30 minutes by train, Stansted a little further. However, by viewing the likes of www.easyjet.com, you can see that you can get to the likes Madrid, Amsterdam, Berlin or Budapest, all of which are well regarded for a two-three day trip. Fares are typically not more than £80 per person, one way (that's $150 or so) but do vary based on demand & special offers. All destinations within Europe are typically less than 2 hours flying, although can be up to 3 dependent on how far East you wish to venture.

Personally, I hear great things about a 2-3 day trip to Barcelona on the East coast of Spain and would recommend you consider that.

One word of warning, compared to BA or Virgin, the flights geuninely are "no frills" and the price you pay is just for the seat - food and drinks are extras. All the budget airlines are the same - we have three/four main operators from the UK.

Post your general interests/hobbies on this thread, and I'll be pleased to suggest a few places you might try, or have a look at the city guides on somewhere like www.expedia.co.uk

 

[Latte Lover]

The earlier you book the cheaper the tickets so book well in advance.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

The earlier you book the cheaper the tickets so book well in advance.

I have flown Easyjet many times, the last time to Geneva last October (children's half term break). Flew out on the 10:30 on Tuesday from Luton returning 22:00 on the Thursday evening. I booked up 6 weeks in advance and the TOTAL ticket price for the 3 of us (including airport taxes etc) came to:

£125 (approx $220).



I did a check on prices 3 days prior to the flight and that came out to just over £700 (approx $1,300) for 3.

...so, book as far in advance as you can.

 

[icydog]

I have flown Easyjet many times, the last time to Geneva last October (children's half term break). Flew out on the 10:30 on Tuesday from Luton returning 22:00 on the Thursday evening. I booked up 6 weeks in advance and the TOTAL ticket price for the 3 of us (including airport taxes etc) came to:

£125 (approx $220).



I did a check on prices 3 days prior to the flight and that came out to just over £700 (approx $1,300) for 3.

...so, book as far in advance as you can.

I knew this could be done but now I'm thrilled I found out how. We get into Heathrow at 10 PM but it is really only 3 PM in New Jersey time so we should not be tired. If the trains run that late we could go to Luton and get a plane that leaves late that night.
But if this is not possible is there a suitable hotel either in London or Luton for the one night stay? Near the airport and cheap, no frills etc.

As far as where to go, I have no particular place in mind. I've been to Madrid when I was a young girl and I loved it. However my Spanish was much better then as I was straight out of college. I think I should go someplace where they speak English like the Netherlands.

But then again a warm place like Barcelona or Madrid or Rome sounds wonderful too. We have 7 days, subtracting our travel days to and from Newark, to travel or tour. Is it possible to do a whirlwind tour of maybe three cities in this short a time or should I concentrate on one and do it right?

You guys are the experts here. I love that in an hour or two you can be in a different country. It takes me 2 1/12 hours to fly into Orlando from Newark so you can see you are spoiled living where you do. I'm closer to Disney World and you're closer to the world!

Thanks for all your help,
Marylyn

 

[tim june and sam]

....I think I should go someplace where they speak English like the Netherlands.

But then again a warm place like Barcelona or Madrid or Rome sounds wonderful too. We have 7 days, subtracting our travel days to and from Newark, to travel or tour. Is it possible to do a whirlwind tour of maybe three cities in this short a time or should I concentrate on one and do it right?

I would recommend taking each in turn, as each city mentioned here is worth at least two days, but (subject to internal flights within Europe being good value), you could do Barcelona, the South of France (perhaps Nice or Monte Carlo) & Rome in one whirlwind tour - flights would be c.1 hour between each of these cities.

Your return flight to the UK may not be to the same airport as the one you left though, so take care on that front.

Regards

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Good Morning(?) Icy-Dog,

Hotels around the airports tend to be relatively expensive. For example, the Holiday Inn Express (2* no frills) at Luton Airport would cost about £90 for one night.

It's about 40 miles from LHR to Luton, but to get there (without a car) you would need to catch the train from LHR into London (approx 30 mins) then use the underground to get to either London Kings Cross station or London St Pancras (these are next to each other - there is not a central London railway station) which will take about 15 minutes. The journey time from Kings Cross / St. Pancras to Luton is approx 30 minutes.

Add all this to the "hour" through customs, and the "wait" time between trains, you could be looking at arriving at Luton at 1.00am. Also, remember to add in the cost of the rail fare. I'm lucky as I only live 17 minutes by train from Luton Airport.

Taking all this into account, if you're not intending to tour the UK, coming from the States to LHR, it may pay you to take a slightly more expensive flight from LHR to the continent than have all the expense and hassle of working your way round to some of the London "regional" airports.

However, if you were to fly the "unsociable" hours (5.00am at Luton) you can actually get to places for £10 return (plus airport taxes which are approx £10).

 

[icydog]

Good Morning(?) Icy-Dog,

Hotels around the airports tend to be relatively expensive. For example, the Holiday Inn Express (2* no frills) at Luton Airport would cost about £90 for one night.

It's about 40 miles from LHR to Luton, but to get there (without a car) you would need to catch the train from LHR into London (approx 30 mins) then use the underground to get to either London Kings Cross station or London St Pancras (these are next to each other - there is not a central London railway station) which will take about 15 minutes. The journey time from Kings Cross / St. Pancras to Luton is approx 30 minutes.

Add all this to the "hour" through customs, and the "wait" time between trains, you could be looking at arriving at Luton at 1.00am. Also, remember to add in the cost of the rail fare. I'm lucky as I only live 17 minutes by train from Luton Airport.

Taking all this into account, if you're not intending to tour the UK, coming from the States to LHR, it may pay you to take a slightly more expensive flight from LHR to the continent than have all the expense and hassle of working your way round to some of the London "regional" airports.

However, if you were to fly the "unsociable" hours (5.00am at Luton) you can actually get to places for £10 return (plus airport taxes which are approx £10).

Thanks for all that information. We may just take a bus tour from London to Scotland. I think we are too old for all the shuttling around but, if I were 25 again, the trip as you explained it would be exactly what I'd do.

 

[tim june and sam]

Hi again!

Take care that the bus trip from England to Scotland, whilst giving you chances to stop off on the way, would take a good few hours.... 6-8 hours perhaps?

Stop offs of "cultural interest" on the way could include Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare) or perhaps York (Roman/Viking interest), but this would only add to the journey time.

Rememebr that our cheap flights are not confined to mainland Europe - internal flights are also much cheaper nowadays too - London to Glasgow perhaps?