Car
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| Take your car |
- You can seek out rural and suburban hotels and apartments away from train stations and bus routes
- You can travel at your own pace, stop wherever you like as long as its not in a No Parking zone or a traffic obstruction is created. In Italy three lines of cars happily park alongside the kerb which makes life difficult for the driver actually directly adjacent to the kerb.
- If a case of wine, selection of cheeses, herbs or any thing else takes your eye you can buy it and stow it away and not have to worry about carrying it around with you (until the cheese goes off!).
- Fuel is often cheaper than the UK
- Long journeys can be tiring especially with bored children
- You need to find a parking space
- Cars use up valuable fossil fuels
To actually see the countries as you drive through them you need to take the smaller roads but if you need to get to your destination quickly then turn onto a Motorway / Autoroute / Autostrada / Autobahn or whatever they are called in each country. These enable drivers with cars lacking acceleration (like mine) to pass slower vehicles and for faster vehicles to overtake me. They get you there quick but often this comes at a price (Toll). Some countries don't have toll roads these include the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
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| Irish Ferry at Dublin |
Ferries
To get around Europe from my home in Wales by car requires the use of a ferry or the Channel Tunnel as mine is not amphibious. There are pages on this site devoted to looking for the cheapest way of crossing the Channel. The Ferry Deals Page gives a few options.Air
Eurapart no longer covers European Air Travel. As there is a choice of more sustainable travel options available.Car Hire
You might need to hire a car at your destination or take public transport. Car hire companies abound and we will include some pages on car hire in the future.
- Hertz - Leading car hire company
- Cheap Car Hire Finder Search for holiday and business car rental worldwide including airport pickup at affordable discount rates.
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| TGV High Speed Train |
Rail
Eurapart train and bus pages.Rail travel is an extremely civilised mode of transport. Eurostar, TGV, ICE etc are just a few of the new breed of high speed train that are cutting travelling times between the major cities. The Channel Tunnel allows a direct connection between the UK rail network and that of the continent.
Rail passes used to be restricted to Under 26's via the Interail Pass. I missed out on this when I was younger and now can't get the travel bug out of my system. I digress, Interail Passes are now available to all ages (more expensive for over 26's). For non European citizens then Eurail Passes are available. Interail and Eurail passes offer unlimited travel across most countries.
Some rail site worth browsing:
- The man in seat 61 - an excellent personal website with information on travelling by rail to Europe and beyond. Comprehensive rail links.
- Eurostar - UK to France and Belgium
- - booking of UK trains
- SNCF - French Railways
- DB - German Railways
- SNCB - Belgium Railways
- RENFE - Spain
- FS 'Trenitalia'- Italy
- Rail Europe
- Book rail journeys and rail passes anywhere in France and the rest of Europe.
- Eurostar - High speed train from London - Paris, Brussels and more.
Bus
National ExpressIntercity bus service for the UK.
Megabus
Super cheap UK InterCity bus service. Seats start at £1 but are subject to £1.50 booking fee.
Eurolines Europe wide bus service UK arm run by National Express Coaches. London to Paris from £12 (plus £3 booking fee).