Glasgow - Black Forest, Germany?

The_One_Who

I'm looking to go to Germany (Europa Park specifically) in April/May and currently trying to find the cheapest way to get there. So far travelling is working out to be around £200 per person return and just looking to see if it's possible to knock off a few pounds more, possibly by using a slightly more obscure route.

My current route is to get the sleeper train down to London, Eurostar to Paris, TGV to Strasbourg and then a local German train and bus to Rust. And then the reverse on the return leg.

Obviously my price estimation is using current prices available, and I'd be hoping to get the cheap fares once they are released for my chosen travel dates. So it's not exactly the best method, but may well work out the cheapest. Flying looked incredibly expensive!

Any help/advice/tips would be appreciated.

Mr_Wang

Look, I know Glasgow is grim and understand your need to escape, but Germany is not the answer.

Dubai - Nothing like a forced detox

eesh_2

Easyjet fly from Edinburgh to Munich. Cheapest returns come out at £50 (before luggage, card fees etc). This could be an option.

Edit: Ah, have just checked exactly where the Europa Park is, Munich not that handy all told, but they do also fly to Basel/Mulhouse from Edinburgh.

Haarlem

We did the Black Forest by rail last May.

I found the cheapest fares sold out within hours of being released.

One problem at getting the best deal is that Eurostar bookings are released a month or two before the TGV bookings, and the timetable may change for the TGV departure times so allow plenty of time for the connection if you do not know the exact times for your onward travel.

Look at both Rail Europe and DB sites as the prices can differ.

I used Rail Europe going out vis Basel, and DB reurning via Karlsruhe. Always look at the first class fares, as they can be only a few pounds more and worth it for the food you get.

When you get to the Black Forest you should get the Konus Card http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/konus which will give you free travel over a wide area of the Black Forest by rail, bus and tram.

Look at prices via Brussels and down Rhine valley

Have you looked at this site for invaluable information on rail travel in Europe. http://www.seat61.com/

The_One_Who

eesh wrote: »

Easyjet fly from Edinburgh to Munich. Cheapest returns come out at £50 (before luggage, card fees etc). This could be an option.

Edit: Ah, have just checked exactly where the Europa Park is, Munich not that handy all told, but they do also fly to Basel/Mulhouse from Edinburgh.

Thanks, I've looked at flying but it is incredibly expensive. The flights alone can be more than the entire rail journey, and often not at convenient times sadly. I've even looked at flying to Paris and then getting the train, but it doesn't really work out that much cheaper.

Haarlem wrote: »

I found the cheapest fares sold out within hours of being released.

One problem at getting the best deal is that Eurostar bookings are released a month or two before the TGV bookings, and the timetable may change for the TGV departure times so allow plenty of time for the connection if you do not know the exact times for your onward travel.

Yep, that is something that I think I'm just going to have to risk. And hope that I do manage to get a hold of some of the cheap(er) fares. It's tricky as well because the tickets are not all released at once, so will have to book in stages. However, I've found a ticket from London to Strasbourg for about £55 each, which seems good value to me. If anyone can find cheaper please let me know!

Look at both Rail Europe and DB sites as the prices can differ.

I used Rail Europe going out vis Basel, and DB reurning via Karlsruhe. Always look at the first class fares, as they can be only a few pounds more and worth it for the food you get.

Have you looked at this site for invaluable information on rail travel in Europe. http://www.seat61.com/

One thing that puzzles me is the times given on the Bahn.de site are often different to the ones found on, say, TGV-Europe.com (my preferred French booking site). On the German site it gives you a train at 13.00 and on the French no such train is coming up! Very odd.

Seat61 is a great resource as well, used that for my trip around France last summer.