Getting around in Europe

When traveling in Europe, there are several great ways to get around. The question is, should you take a train, plane, public transit, or a rental car? Unfortunately, the answer varies depending on where you are, where you’re heading, and what your budget is.

Trains

Trains are a great mode of transportation between countries. For example, when traveling between London and Paris, the Eurostar is a great, fast, affordable option. Trains are often a cheaper alternative to planes when traveling in Europe. But, trains can also be much more expensive than a flight. Another down side to trains is that it may take you 10 hours to get to your next destination, instead of 1-2 hours on a plane. In Europe, time is money. Spending a significant amount of time on a train during the day means that you lose time which could be spent touring the city.

One great option if you find that this fits your plans, is a night train. On a recent trip, we decided to take a train overnight from France to Italy. Night trains can be a great option because you travel while you’re sleeping, so you don’t miss any tourist time. Another great aspect is that you don’t have to pay for a hotel that night, since your lodging is included on the train. So, even if the cost of a night train is higher than a flight, you can save money in the long run because you won’t need a hotel.

The down side to taking a night train is that the beds are not that comfortable. They are adequate, and if you are a young traveler, you will most likely be totally fine with it. You may have to climb up a ladder to reach your bed. Night train compartments often have 3 beds on each wall, meaning that you may have another bed just a foot or two from your face all night.

If you stay in a night train, make sure that your luggage has locks on it. Thieves often use night trains and sneak in while you’re sleeping to steal valuables. Even if your cabin has a lock on it, there is no guarantee that the nice people in your compartment won’t rummage through your things. They may also forget to lock up after a trip to the bathroom.

A final consideration with night trains is that they typically arrive at your destination city early in the day, meaning that you will have to find a place to store your luggage for several hours. Most hotels don’t allow you to check in until around 2:00 or 3:00 PM. If you decide to take a night train, try to find a hotel which offers luggage storage to avoid the hassle of storing and retrieving it yourself.

So, while trains can sometimes be a great option, flying is usually our top choice. If you choose to take any train in Europe, be sure to check out this fantastic blog for helpful resources: Seat61. The author provides great information about trains, timetables, costs, the best seats, and more.

Planes

Flying from place to place has some great advantages. Primarily, most flights within Europe are 2 hours or less. Compare that to the average train ride, and flying seems much more reasonable.

The downside to flying is that you have to be there 2 hours early, and go through security. You may not know this, but many trains, especially ones that take you to another country, require you to go through security which is similar to airport security. So that inconvenience isn’t something that I really take into consideration when comparing the two. Getting to the airport early is also not that bad, considering that you need to arrive at least an hour early for most trains.

The best part about flying is that there are low cost airlines which often offer amazingly low prices. One of our recent flights for example, was only $40 per person. For that same route, the train was $120 per person, and several hours longer. I’m not saying that flights are always cheaper, because that’s not true either. Often times the train is the cheapest.

A huge benefit of taking a train is that they don’t usually charge for luggage, and if they do, it is usually cheaper than the charge on a flight. So if you have more luggage than a single carry on bag and a personal item, then taking a train may be a good bet. But, I would encourage you to bring the minimal amount of luggage to Europe for a lot of reasons. Here is a great packing list to help you know what to bring.

To help you find which budget airline is the best for flying in Europe, we have made this guide. There are a lot of things to know about budget airlines to avoid having any issues. Our guide lays out what you need to know about their basic procedures. It also helps you to make a decision on which airline to use.

Public Transit

For traveling within the city, and to/from the airport, we almost always recommend using public transportation. If you are visiting a major city in Europe, like Paris, London, Madrid, Copenhagen, etc, chances are that you will be able to get very close to the major attractions without much difficulty using public transportation.

Don’t get sucked into the city tour buses that cost quite a bit of money to take a loop around town. They may be nice if you just want to see everything from the bus, but if you have a few places in mind that you want to see, you can usually get there faster on the local metro system.

Be sure to check out passes for each place you visit. For example, in London, there is a pass called the Oyster pass which has a daily cap on your fares. After you reach that amount, the rest of the day is free! Just do a search for your destination city and see what is available.

Public transportation is used regularly by locals because it is reliable, efficient, fast, and affordable. A huge benefit to the underground system is that it has departing trains regularly, and it doesn’t have vehicle traffic to compete with.

Rental car

Rental cars are my least favorite form of transportation in Europe. Sometimes the overall cost of the rental may be less than public transit if you are with a group, but consider the difficulty of finding parking in big cities that will allow you to park there for more than an hour or two. Now, add to that, the cost of parking, and the potential that your car could be broken into while you’re away. There is also the added cost of fuel, and auto insurance.

If you do decide to rent a car, and you’re not worried about insurance because your credit card covers you, be sure to call and verify what is covered and what is not. For example, we rented a car in Ireland, and although our credit card said insurance was included, the fine print, buried deep in the terms and conditions, excluded Ireland. Luckily we knew this in advance, but if you relied on that and had an accident, you could be liable for all of the damage.

Aside from those things, driving in Europe can be tricky if you’re never done it before. Laws vary from place to place, many places have speed camera’s, and roads are much more narrow than in the United States. Now, you may be in a more narrow car, but it is still a bit of a shock if you don’t know what you’re getting in to.

If you do decide to drive, keep in mind that Ireland and England drive on the left. Also, be sure to work on your ability to drive a manual car, because almost every car in Europe is a manual. If you do happen to find an automatic car to rent, you will likely pay twice as much for the convenience.

Now, it may seem like I just hate rental cars, but there are some circumstances when you have to get one. Like, to see Stonehenge or another site out of town. Although Stonehenge has some tour bus options to get there, we found that the amount of time was too short to really enjoy the trip, so we rented a car. We lived to tell the tale, but still, we don’t rent cars unless it is absolutely necessary.

At this point, you may be wondering where to get started with flights. Here is that guide one more time for you.