Finaly going to europe...after everyones europe threads!

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Kwaipie

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2005
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It is very easy to get raped by the car rental companies in W. Europe. I would do some serious research on that, if you're just going to/from major cities, train is by far the best. Gas prices over there are insane, filling up my Audi A4 was more than $200. Many car rental outfits are franchise offices of the big US companies and will have their own specific contracts that aren't as protective as the ones in the US. This franchise thing is what makes it hard to return a car in a different city. In the dozen times I've rented a car there, I've never ended up with what I reserved. Parking can suck and you've never seen such narrow streets. The hotel I regularly stay at on business over there charges an additional ~$15 a day for the car.
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
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I just called a few places, a lot said they dont do theat, but someone gave me a reason...


"you cant return a car from london to paris, because in london the steering wheel is on the other side of the car"

damn, it would have been very convenient to drive instead.
 

Kwaipie

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2005
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well, it's like $300 to take your car through the channel tunnel, that should be a deal breaker too, although, it's only about $70 to take a car on a ferry. Trust me, you don't want a car in London or Paris.
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
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madgenius.com
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
well, it's like $300 to take your car through the channel tunnel, that should be a deal breaker too, although, it's only about $70 to take a car on a ferry. Trust me, you don't want a car in London or Paris.

they make things so tough :D

guess we are stuck with the choochoo! We may rent a car for a day trip...

what is a good train to take from london to germany?

then germany to paris?
 

davestar

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2001
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Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
well, it's like $300 to take your car through the channel tunnel, that should be a deal breaker too, although, it's only about $70 to take a car on a ferry. Trust me, you don't want a car in London or Paris.

they make things so tough :D

guess we are stuck with the choochoo! We may rent a car for a day trip...

a train is really the way to go, even if costs were equivalent to car travel. i'm sure you can find a local train to your day trip destination as well.
 

Kwaipie

Golden Member
Nov 30, 2005
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Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Originally posted by: Kwaipie
well, it's like $300 to take your car through the channel tunnel, that should be a deal breaker too, although, it's only about $70 to take a car on a ferry. Trust me, you don't want a car in London or Paris.

they make things so tough :D

guess we are stuck with the choochoo! We may rent a car for a day trip...

what is a good train to take from london to germany?

then germany to paris?

Where are you going in Germany? Basically, you take the Eurostar from London to Brussels Midi, transfer to a Thalys train from Brussells to Cologne (Koln) and switch to a german operator Deutsch Bahn for other destinations in Germany.

This site is pretty all inclusive.
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
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perfect kwaipie!

I just hope it doesnt cost an arm and a leg :D.

I will be researching where to stay, and where to day trip to in germany later...I took 3 years of german in high school so I thought id test it out!

plus they have great bonbons!
 

shopbruin

Diamond Member
Jul 12, 2000
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don't rent a car in europe - it's not worth it. i got all over london and paris using their subways, and when those closed, by taxi. i bought all day passes when i was in london, and then a carnet of tickets in paris, which was a packet of 10 tickets to use on buses, short distance trains or the subway. REALLY easy to use and get around on.

if you are going to take the eurostar, i actually recommend buying them in advance. when i bought my ticket from london to paris, the price KEPT GOING UP. i was REALLY annoyed when my 110 dollar ticket jumped to 140 dollars that afternoon. the eurostar goes from london to brussels, but it doesn't go from brussels to paris, so you would need to get a eurail pass from there.

i used hostelworld to book my london hostel, which was in soho. i actually got a hotel in paris, which was the same price as a hostel. i traveled with one friend, and our hostel had doubles, so we gladly paid more to be the only two people in the room.

do you guys know french? i'd learn a couple of phrases - my friend would ask for stuff in english, and then i would ask in french. we got a lot better response once i piped up in french.

we didn't use our cell phones there - i used a phone card. i actually was the only one who ever called anyone, my friend hardly called. i missed my fiance. hehe.

i really loved the rick steves books over the lonely planet ones, because we liked his cheap travel tips. also because you are travelling during the "down" season, make sure you double check the times of the exhibits you are going to, as they have shorter hours or some things don't happen everyday (like the changing of the guard is every other day during the down season.) rick has good maps of the public transit systems in his book, but it doesn't hurt to get more - i picked up the paris maps when i bought the carnet (this was at gare du nord) and the london maps i think i could pick up a few at select underground stations.

i did the same as you - flew into london, out of paris. it was 650 after all taxes from los angeles.

if you have certain places you must visit, plan everything out in advance. we actually scheduled each day we were going to be in london and paris, from 9am to 6pm each day, to maximize our time and to know that we visited the location on the correct and open day (or perhaps the day they open late.) we also planned stuff by how close it was to other stuff.

it was a great trip... i want to go back.
 

josh0099

Senior member
Aug 8, 2004
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I would actually recommend flying to Germany from London using one of the low fare airlines you can usually score tickets for under $50 easily one way. A couple of the major low fare airlines are EasyJet and RyanAir. They may not be the best airlines in the world but they get you from point A to B fast and cheap. I used them for over 10 flights in Europe when I studied aboard. They are cheaper then trains and go faster :) Unless you want to pay the extra money and time to see the scenery I would use the low fare airlines.