Eurostar, the Chunnel train, is definitely the best way. Look for cheap leisure fares and other specials at www.eurostar.com It’s by far the fastest. It’s less than 2 1/2 hours actual time (time difference between UK and Europe means 1 1/2 hours one way, 3 1/2 the other) city center to city center.

If you can’t find a reasonable price, then look at flying. Be sure to add any taxes, costs to get to/from the airport, baggage fees and other “extras” into your cost calculation and increased check-in time and time to get to/from airports into your time calculation.

Bus-ferry-bus or train-ferry-train pretty much kills a whole day and usually isn’t enough cheaper to be worth it.

Old-lady,

I’ve notived Ryanair on have a 15kgs baggage allowance. I’ve searched the site and it seems as though it’s not possible to purchase additional luggage allowance! only another seperate bag. Do you have any ideas how to work around this or what the cost incurred to have an allowance of 20kgs would be?

Many thanks

@daz_88 : if any bag is over 15kg, the charge is 20 Euros PER KILO for any kilogram over 15. So a 16kg first bag would cost 40 Euros during Ryanair’s “peak season” bag rate — 20 EUR for the bag + 20 EUR for the 1kg over the limit. Note Ryanair’s other fees here: http://www.ryanair.c…

Unless you have looked at all other alternatives, Ryanair’s total costs might not be worth it. Online check-in 5 EUR each way; credit card fee 5? EUR; administration fee 5 EUR; 1st bag fee 20 EUR up to 15 kg — each of these fees is each way.

Which particular routes are you considering with Ryanair? Reason I ask is that other options might be better, and I’ll gladly point them out to you if I’m aware of any. Whichbudget.com and Skyscanner.net cover low-cost airline routes. However, sometimes the bigger airlines are competitive on price, without all of the hidden fees and extra bag charges.

Since this is specifically a flight question, feel free to also ask next door on our Cheap Flights forum.

Eurostar is by far the best way to travel Paris-London unless you connecting off of another flight. I agree with Don regarding Ryanair also along with the extra charges your going to have to deal with the secondary airports that they serve “near” some cities. What routes are you looking at?
Cheers
Howie

Guys,

My apologies for not responding sooner- i’m in the middle of exams! Hard to believe that this time next week i’ll be arriving in London . As for which routes i’d intended on flying, my itinerary has changed a little after consultation with my travel agent who unfortunately isn’t of all that much assistance. Anyhow, routes i’m considering flying:

London- Amsterdam (Eurostart can be quite expensive so i’m considering easyjet)
Stockholm- Moscow (Really not sure of the best way to go about this one! any suggestioned welcomed)

Hope everyone is well and looking forward to further responses.

1. Do you already have your visa for Russia? If not, then you either need to cut Russia out, or get on it ASAP.
2. Eurostar. You’ve waited until the last-minute in summer, so of course the seats will be more expensive. I did find a £77 one-way fare on the latest evening departure 6/22.
3. Flights. As mentioned, Skyscanner and Whichbudget.

Easyjet LTN>CDG £54 one-way (incl. 1 20kg bag + credit card fee) Wed. 6/23. Add Easybus.co.uk central London to Luton airport that early afternoon £5.50. Add about 8 EUR for bus+metro from airport to central Paris. All-in ~ 65£ and 2.5 hours + check-in and security waits.

Russian Visa will be difficult and expensive as the Russians charge extra for expedited service. It’s probably still doable if you live near a Russian consulate and already have your letter of invitation or are willing to pay an expediting service. As for getting from Stockholm to Moscow, I’d use www.whichbudget.com to see which budget airlines fly this route. Flying is probably best even if it’s expensive as the only alternative I can think of is overnight ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki and then overnight train to Moscow. Hopefully you can work that out without spending a night in Helsinki or St. Petersburg between, but probably not.

Your travel agent will probably have the best recommendations for both how to get a visa and how to arrange the transportation. I used Perry International as an visa expediting service.