Eurowise Great Escapes

Just when you think Paris can’t get any better…you remember that you
are smack, dab, in the middle of Europe and that in a matter of hours
you could be eating French fries and drinking beer in Brussels or
clubbing in London, or doing what they do in Amsterdam. With a little
bit of forethought you can use France as your affordable basecamp while
you see the sights of Europe on a dime.
 
It is really as
simple as choosing a destination and then knowing where to look for the
best deals and what to avoid. Of course planning ahead and being a
little flexible usually helps too. While I am certainly no travel agent
and have no advice to offer in terms of hotels or car rentals once you
get to your destination, here are tip and tricks for finding some of
the best and cheapest ways to get out of town.
 
By plane
VolareWeb
www.Volareweb.com (available in English, sometimes)
 
I
love Italy! And this is one way to get there cheap (we’re talking way
under $200) and fast. Mais attention! In order for this low cost
airline to turn a profit they have to make about 8 flights a day with
each plane and there aren’t many back-up planes waiting in the wings.
Which means if there is the slightest delay anywhere on the schedule
you could be spending your Roman holiday in a Paris airport.
 
Keep
in mind too that VolareWeb isn’t for those who like their service with
a smile.  It’s strictly a point, click and print operation. There
is no in-flight to service to speak of although you can get coffee, in
a Styrofoam cup, for about 50 cents, if you really want to feel
pampered. Also, if you are like a certain traveler, I am not saying
who, and happen to fall asleep in the airport because of a little too
much, “Lei è bello” and not enough “Ciao!” Don’t expect to find a
friendly VolareWeb agent anywhere nearby to assist you. They disappear
faster than a bottle of good Chianti.
 
But there are perks.
First and foremost, the price. Book early and be flexible and you can
score a ridiculously cheap, as in less than $100, ticket. Even if you
wait till the last minute there are still plenty of deals.
 
Another
advantage to using this airline is that it flies into and out of the
main airports. In France it departs from Orly which is only 12km south
of Paris and easily accessible by public transportation. Taking the RER
B suburban metro line from the center of town to the Orly shuttle
should have you at the airport in just under an hour. When going to the
airport have your itinerary available so you know if you need to get
off at the Orly Ouest or Orly Sud stop. Also be sure to buy a metro
ticket for Orly/Paris before boarding the train or else the
not-too-friendly RATP controllers and police will be absolutely
merciless on you. No claims of being an innocent, ignorant tourist will
work. 
 
Easy Jet
www.easyjet.com
 
This
is another discount airline. Ticket prices may be cheap but it isn’t
worth the savings when you take off and leave from remote airports that
aren’t always connected to the main public transportation system. I had
a friend flying from Paris to Dublin who was extremely pleased with the
fare of less than 100 euros until she had to hike all the way to the Le
Bourget airport. If you are a history buff and you will get a thrill
out of seeing the place where Charles Lindbergh landed after his
transatlantic flight then OK but for the rest of us…this seems like an
unnecessary detour to the Middle Of Nowhere. When my friend arrived in
Ireland, things weren’t much better as once again she founded herself
at an out-of-the-way airport. The only way to get to Dublin was by
taxi, a ride that cost her nearly as much as her plane ticket. Budget
traveler beware.
—
By Train
If you chose to abandon the
hustle and bustle of plane travel all together there is always the
leisurely and legendary train ride across Europe option. The SNCF is
France’s main railway operator but trying to reach someone by phone or
getting precise information on the Internet is nearly impossible.
 
At
least you have a chance when you visit one of the travel agencies
albeit you will probably have to wait in a long line and deal with
someone who will not necessarily be pleased to go over all of your
travel options. Your best bet is to go to one of Paris’ 6 train
stations and buy your ticket directly from an agent or one of the
automated machines. However it will help if you already have your
itinerary in mind. Here’s where to start:
 
One word of
caution to begin. In the US and perhaps other countries we write the
month, then the date when we are talking about a schedule but in most
of Europe it is just the opposite. So just make sure that if you want
to travel on 6/8/04, you and the website or travel agent are clear that
you mean June 8th and not August 6th.
 
Also when people (and that includes menacing travel agents) ask for your name in France, they mean your last name. 
 
Stations and main destinations

Gard du Nord:  to northern France, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, northern Germany (Cologne and Hamburg)
 
Gard de l’Est: 
to eastern France, Luxembourg, Parts of Switzerland (including Zurich,
Basel, Lucerne), southern Germany (Frankfurt and Munich), Austria and
Hungary
 
Gare de Lyon:  to
southern and southeastern France (Lyon, Provence and the Riviera),
parts of Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne, Berne), Italy , and Greece
 
Gare d’Austerlitz:  to the Loire Valley, southwestern France (Bordeaux and Pyrenees), Spain and Portugal
 
Gare St-Lazare:  to Normandy, Caen and Rouen
 
Gare Montparnasse:  to Brittany and the TGV (fast train) to southwestern France
 
Deutsche Bahn
www.bahn.de
 
One
of the best sources for train travel info in France, and all of Europe
for that matter, is strangely a German website. On the Deutsche Bahn’s
train timetable everything is obviously in German but it is easy enough
to go across the top menu and find the International Guest (Int.
Guests) button. From there everything is in English. This is a great
resource if you are planning a slightly complicated itinerary or want
to travel an unlikely route.
 
When one of my friends was
trying to go from Paris to Barcelona he first tried the SNCF website.
After a considerable amount of time he was only able to get a insane
itinerary that had him crisscrossing Europe, for an outlandish price,
with a reservation for a ticket that he could not pay for on-line
because it involved an international credit card and an international
destination and it was one way … or some such disaster. With Deutsche
Bahn he had a simple itinerary for a fair price in a matter of minutes.
However he did have to go to the nearest train station with his
reservation number to pay for the ticket. 
 
Eurostar
www.eurostar.com
 
This
is the superstar of trains that takes you from downtown Paris (Gare du
Nord) to downtown London in just under 3 hours. Forget trekking all the
way to the airport, queuing for check-in an hour before take-off and
then finally getting to London only to have to figure out how to make
it to city center.
 
Go to their site to make your
arrangements and life will be simpler. Second class round trip tickets
start around 70 euros. But if you feel like splurging, I hear you are
treated like royalty in the first class cars.
 
Thalys
www.thalys.com (information is available in English)
 
This
is the train that will take you to Brussels, Amsterdam and a few other
places in between. If you book far enough in advance you can get a
roundtrip to Amsterdam for as little as 69 euros. And just so you know,
as of this month all of the cars are designated as non-smoking. 
 
Artesia
* You need to go through SNCF
 
I’ll
end on this last little tidbit. If you and some friends are thinking
about going to Rome then you might want to take the night train. You
leave Paris at 6 or 7 in the evening and arrive in downtown Rome by 9
or 10 in the morning. You can chose a cabin with 1, 2, 4 or 6 beds and
the fares start around 60 euros. This can sometimes be a good option if
you don’t want to “waste” money on a hotel or if you don’t want to wake
up super early in the morning to catch a flight but would still like to
be in the heart of Rome for breakfast. For the return trip, the
schedule is about the same.
 
Bonne Route!