But what about the train-ferry combination, the one many may recall fondly from their childhoods? It is still feasible, but these days it is not a streamlined option. You’ll need to purchase train and ferry tickets separately and finesse train station-port transportation on your own. The journey will also take 10 hours, so it’s best to leave that option to your memories. Instead, here are some more affordable ways to get from London to Paris and back again.

Related: 

• 50 Ways to save in Paris
• 21 Simple tips to save in London

Affordable Travel From London To Paris

Here are the most viable and cheapest ways to get between these two European centers.

Air: Fast but not so efficient

Though flying between London and Paris is by no means our recommended mode of transportation — the distance is simply too short to warrant the hassle, not to mention the carbon expenditure — there are a few ways to get between these two dynamic capital cities by air. These days the Paris-London route is used disproportionately for passengers connecting on to a long-haul destination, with the exception of business travelers flying in and out of London City Airport. That said, we did find one-way fares starting at $38 searching a few months in advance, but of course that doesn’t include all of the rail or taxi fares in between the airports and the city center.

• easyJet flies from London Gatwick to Paris-Charles de Gaulle.

• From London Luton, easyJet flies to Paris-Charles de Gaulle. You can find one-way fares three months in advance for as low as £30 (about $38).

• From London Heathrow, Air France flies to Paris-Charles de Gaulle with fares as low at £77 ($99), while British Airways flies to both Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly for as low as £47 ($60).

Rail: Comfortable and quick

The only direct train linkage from London to Paris these days is the Eurostar, which travels between London’s St. Pancras International and the Gare du Nord in Paris 15-17 times per weekday. The trip usually takes 2 hours and 15 minutes, with maximum speeds of up to 186 mph. However, Eurostar started rolling out brand new trains in late 2015 that can make the journey in only 2 hours at speeds of up to 200 mph.

The experience feels a bit like air travel, with its security checks and passport control in both directions. Because the UK is not part of the Schengen Area, passengers go through passport control prior to boarding their trains. Traveling from Paris to London, passengers first exit France through French passport control and then enter the UK via British passport control. In London, passengers will officially enter France in the station, submitting passports to French passport control before boarding their train to Paris.

From London, return Eurostar London to Paris fares begin at a very reasonable £41 round trip ($52) (between midday and midnight on a Monday; anytime on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday; and between midday and midnight on a Saturday). Booking nonrefundable tickets as far as possible in advance (up to 120 days) is your best bet for finding this low-cost fare. The cheapest tickets sell out first, so the earlier you book, the more you save.

Bus: Long but super cheap

The bus is usually the least expensive way to travel between Paris and London. It also takes much longer than a flight or the train. BlaBlaCar Bus and FlixBus are two major bus lines traveling between the two capitals. French BlaBlaCar Bus takes between 7.5 and 9 hours. The FlixBus journey takes between 9 and 10 hours. Both lines advertise free Wi-Fi and electrical outlets.

One-way FlixBus (formerly Eurolines) fares begin at £25 ($32). The FlixBus terminal in London is Victoria Coach Station; the Paris terminal is Bercy Seine.

BlaBlaCar Bus (formerly OUIBUS, and before that, iDBUS), a subsidiary of French train company SNCF, is a more comfortable option, with good legroom. Fares begin at around £25 for a one-way journey — promotional one-way fares and overnight trips can dip even lower. The BlaBlaCar Bus terminal in London is Victoria Coach Station; the BlaBlaCar Bus Paris terminal is Paris-Bercy.

What’s your preference?

How do you prefer to travel from London to Paris? Have any tips on ways to save on any of the transport options listed above? Share your tips with us in the comments section!

The post The cheapest way from London to Paris: Planes, trains & buses from £25 appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

The Oldies

Berlin Linien Bus

Due to Berlin’s unique status as an enclave of the West, long-distance bus service from the city had been grandfathered into the aforementioned law, making bus travel to or from Berlin on Berlin Linien Bus the only available such option in the country. With ties to Deutsche Bahn and a well-established network, BLB is sure to survive, despite plummeting market share. It regularly offers restricted €9 fares on its routes to Hamburg or Dresden. Every few months, BLB offers a Berlin Groupon deal at the same low price, valid on virtually any bus on any day.

Eurolines

Having ended their relationship with German booker Gullivers, the transcontinental Eurolines bus service now sells tickets for international destinations from Paris to Riga directly. While this is definitely the place to look if you’re ultimately traveling outside of Germany, don’t overlook their extensive domestic offerings as well, especially if you’re traveling in the western part of the country. While new competitors have focused solely on building inner-German networks, you can expect growth and therefore more competitive pricing in the international bus market—especially in areas bordering France, Denmark, Poland, Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic—in the coming years.

The Newbies

FlixBus

With a network spanning the entire country, Munich-based FlixBus is the most popular new competitor. Sale prices from Berlin start at €5 for Rostock, Leipzig and Dresden, and €15 for Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Münster, Würzburg, Amberg, Nuremberg or Munich. Also note the international lines connecting airports in Bremen, Memmingen and Munich to the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic.

MeinFernBus

With main north-south arteries running from Berlin to Munich or Frankfurt and beyond, MeinFernBus offers lots of unique travel options across the country at a low price. Berlin to Dresden or Rostock starts at €6, to Leipzig €8, to Hamburg €14 or to Munich €16. International connections are currently available to Zurich, Innsbruck and Luxembourg.

ADAC Postbus

These yellow buses are best for plying the well-worn western corridor between Dortmund and Frankfurt. New routes launching February 2014 will better connect the eastern and central regions of the country with the existing network. Tickets start at €8 between Berlin and Leipzig, €15 for Berlin-Hamburg. Purchase online or at any post office or Postbank counter in Germany.

City2City

With its limited network, consider City2City only if you’re traveling in the former West Germany.

DeinBus

This company offers routes in four distinct areas of Germany without connections between them (at present). It’s well worth a look, especially for regional travel in the southwest. They also offer international links to Prague and Maastricht.

ALDI/Univers

The German discount grocery chain has partnered with bus company Univers to offer fixed-price bus tickets for the most popular connections around the country. Book online with the ALDI Reisen website.

The post Riding the budget bus lines in Germany with fares from €5 appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

But for bus fiends, devotees of road transport who feel inclined to coach the highways of Europe, most rail passes are of little help (although some locally sold passes, such as the Explore Wales pass, do usefully combine road and rail transport).

Easy connections by road

But if trains are not your thing, or you just fancy trying something different why not opt for a pass to explore the Eurolines coach network?

If you don’t know about Eurolines, check out our article earlier this month which gave a few key facts on why coach travel can be a credible alternative to taking the train on many European journeys.

From €175 for 15 days

Current pass prices start at €175 for 15 days of unlimited low-season travel between major cities in two dozen countries across the Eurolines network. That fare holds for anyone aged under 26. For older travelers, the fare for the same 15-day pass edges up to €205. 30-day passes are also available, with the current adult pass costing €310. All passes carry premium prices during high season.

Critics of the Eurolines pass have often argued that the scheme emphasizes larger cities at the expense of smaller places (although Eurolines’ dense network really does serve many out-of-the-way spots). The Eurolines consortium responded in 2011 by adding in a few secondary cities to the pass scheme. These newcomers include Rennes, Tours, Dijon, Nancy, Alicante and Kaunas.

From Ireland to the Baltic States

Once you have your pass, you can roam at will between cities included in the scheme. The geographical coverage is impressive, extending from Dublin and Edinburgh to Rome and Bucharest. Of course, you will need to change coaches on many long journeys.

Eurolines services are intended mainly for international journeys, but there are some domestic hops that can be booked by pass holders. Barcelona to Madrid is one, and Edinburgh to London another (though Catalonian and Scottish nationalists might well argue that both journeys are international in spirit).

Reserve seats in advance

Eurolines offers a hassle-free way of exploring principal cities across Europe in comfort, but a little advance planning pays off. All seats can be reserved, and on popular routes the coach can be full. So Eurolines strongly advise that travelers reserve each leg a few days in advance. Any specific sector can only be ridden twice during the validity of a pass.

You will find a wealth of further information, all very impressively ordered, at www.eurolines-pass.eu and www.eurolines.com/eurolines-pass/.

Rail pass options

Interested in seeing a full list of rail pass options? Visit our booking partner, Rail Europe, to compare rates, destinations covered and see their latest promotions.

The post Eurolines Coach Passes: Are they right for your trip? appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

The Eurolines network

The most convenient network of services for travelers looking to travel around Europe by coach is coordinated by Eurolines. This is not one company but a strong alliance of coach operators who coordinates their timetables and provide integrated ticketing for international journeys across Europe. This gives a continent-wide brand for marketing purposes and allows passengers to plan complicated itineraries that criss-cross Europe.

There are of course many long distance coach services in Europe that are not part of the Eurolines network. For example the Czech company Student Agency runs some two dozen routes from their hub in Prague. PolskiBus has a network of eight routes from Warsaw, the fledglng company’s growing network now also serving Vienna, Berlin, Bratislava and Prague. There are many itineraries where these non-Eurolines operators precisely fill a gap, but for its Europe-wide reach to over 500 cities, Eurolines has no serious rival.

Useful long-distance links

Eurolines does offer some intriguingly long routes. For example, service 350 operates thrice weekly direct from Amsterdam to Lisbon (“Lisboa” in Portuguese), a 36-hour journey that connects two cities some 1,500 miles apart. Even longer direct routes link cities in western Germany with provincial centers in the Russian Federation.

Good for shorter hops too

The Eurolines network thus often steps in with a convenient direct link on a routing that would require several changes of train. With Eurolines, you can board a bus in Switzerland and travel directly to Macedonia or Moldova.

But such long hauls may not be for everyone. And we find that Eurolines-affiliated services are also perfect for shorter hops, particularly in those parts of Europe where rail services are sparse. For example, comfortable long-distance coaches, most of them operating under the Eurolines umbrella, are far better than trains for journeys between the capitals of the Baltic States: Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.

And there are times where it is just fun to travel by road for a change. There are several Eurolines coaches each day from London to Paris and other French cities. While most Eurolines schedules from London to France use the Eurotunel vehicle shuttle service, some are routed via the P&O Ferries link from Dover to Calais – always a great way to cross the Channel. And with return fares for the London to Paris run starting at just £39, the coach option can make good sense for budget travelers.

Book online

Bookings can be made online for most journeys, usually on the website of the Eurolines affiliate in your country of departure. But that does NOT mean that you need to know which particular company flies the Eurolines flag in each country. The organization maintains an excellent web portal, where you can click on the country of departure to be redirected to the relevant national site.

Here are some sample travel times (with the travel time of the fastest direct train shown for comparison):

• Brussels to Zürich: 9h 45m by Eurolines (train 8h 19m)
• Berlin to Prague: 4h 30m by Eurolines (train 4h 30m)
• Zagreb to Munich: 8h by Eurolines (train 8h 25m)
• Copenhagen to Stockholm: 9h 45m by Eurolines (train 4h 20m)
• Paris to Amsterdam: 8h by Eurolines (train 3h 19m)
• Vienna to Budapest: 2h 55m by Eurolines (train 2h 55m)

National partners

Although Eurolines coach services are principally intended for international journeys, in many countries you can also use Eurolines services for domestic journeys that cross no international borders. And many of the participating companies in the Eurolines family also have comprehensive national networks which allow you to switch seamlessly from international to national services.

For example the UK participant in Eurolines is National Express. And you can use the National Express website to book a through journey from many provincial spots around Britain to the continent. A single ticket (for example Manchester to Paris) covers travel on a National Express coach to London where you connect onto an onward Eurolines service for the continent.

More on Eurolines

Now that we’ve introduced Eurolines coach journeys, it’s time to take a little closer at their fares. Read our next post on Eurolines passes, with some tips on getting the best deals, and see how a coach pass can allow you to roam at will across Europe on Eurolines services.

Rail pass options

Interested in seeing a full list of rail pass options? Visit our booking partner, Rail Europe, to compare rates, destinations covered and see their latest promotions.

The post Eurolines: International coach journeys in Europe appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Several coaches each day speed from Riga to Tallinn in less than five hours. Just once a day there is the option of doing the journey by train. You change trains at the Estonia / Latvia border and the whole rail journey takes over eight hours. You can see why coaches have cornered the market in traffic between the two Baltic capitals.

“Bus” versus “coach”

Yet we stumble already. Bus or coach? In American English, the word “bus” tends to prevail and may refer to any form of public transport by road, be it a short ride through New York City or a coast-to-coast marathon with Greyhound Lines.

Things are a little different in European English. A “bus route” is essentially a local service, geared to local traffic. You cannot normally reserve seats in advance. A “coach service,” by contrast, is usually a longer-distance service, often one where advance booking is recommended (even if often not absolutely necessary) and usually operated by a vehicle that has more comfortable seating than you would find on a local bus service.

Buses stop often, express coaches less so

Buses stop frequently: usually at every bus stop along their route. But coaches stop infrequently, often only once in any particular city and then more commonly at the central coach station (or near the train station). Note that in some European cities the “central coach station” may not be particularly central.

This distinction between buses and coaches (as defined above) must be something in English genes. When an Englishman says “I took the Oxford to Cambridge bus” he means he took the X5 Stagecoach which is not a whole lot faster than the horse-drawn carriages that once plied between the two university cities. Okay, slightly faster, but the X5 still takes 3 hours 20 minutes for the 80-mile ride.

And he means a bus, not a coach, even though the vehicles used by Stagecoach on their X5 service are pretty comfortable single-deckers with leather seats, free Wi-Fi and air conditioning. This is luxury stuff for what is essentially a limited-stop local bus service, albeit one that plies a longish route – and, a little improbably for a “bus,” it does not actually stop at every stop along the way. So, yes, the X5 is a little unusual. It’s frequent (half-hourly, every day of the week), you don’t need to pre-book, but it has coach-like qualities with its propensity to skip stops.

Linguistic subtleties

Shift to other European languages and the fine distinction made by Brits between bus and coach may not be sustained. Germans refer to a bus to allude to the short ride to the shops or the 24-hour journey from the Rhineland to a Mediterranean sunspot.

Horses for courses

Local bus services come into their own for shortish journeys within cities or into the rural hinterland of a city. They serve small villages and rural areas that are often well beyond the nerve ends of the rail network. Many routes are done and dusted in just an hour or two. That Oxford to Cambridge run is unusually long for a bus service.

Many buses are short on creature comforts. Don’t hop on a London omnibus and ask the way to the rest room. There isn’t one. Yet these local bus services fill a niche in the market, and there is even a new travel guide for Britain that celebrates the merits of such local journeys. (Yes, yes, we have to come clean here and admit that we edited the book. It is published by Bradt Travel Guides).

By contrast, long-distance coaches can be very comfortable indeed. Reclining seats are the norm. Some offer the chance to buy coffee or snacks. On some premium services, such as the new Eurolines Business Class network, you’ll find a level of comfort that begins to match first class on a train. But of course you just don’t have quite the chance to move around. That’s the big plus of rail.

We shall return to the question of long-distance coach travel in Europe in further posts over the winter. Sometimes it’s a credible alternative to rail travel and it is often great value. In the next post on this theme (in December), we’ll look at those areas of Europe where canny travelers know that the express coach is the top choice.

The post Bus and Coach Travel in Europe: Understanding the difference appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.