For Paris-Barcelona I would either fly or do overnight train. If you choose flying I’d take an early morning or later evening flight so you waste as little useful time as possible going to/from airports, checking in etc. Both Vueling and Click Air have flights that leave around 9:30 p.m. and get in around 11:00. Vueling also has a morning flight that will get you to Barcelona around 10:00 a.m.

For Barcelona-Malaga the situation is similar. I’d grab a morning flight (again, Vueling and Click Air have low price options) so you still have almost an entire day once you land in Malaga, or do the overnight train. You can do the high-speed AVE train during the day, but it’s six hours smack in the middle of the day.

I agree with flying to and from Spain with an overnight train as plan B if you can’t find a cheap flight. For Barcelona to Malaga, you’re going to spend enough time on your way to the airport, in the airport, on the plane and on your way from the airport with a morning flight that the train won’t take much longer. Unless you’re rushed enough that a couple of hours matters, I’d go with whichever is cheapest. There are trains at 17:00 and 18:30 (plus overnight trains) if you want to avoid spending daylight hours on the train.

Trains “best” for London/Amsterdam/Paris. A flight to Amsterdam may save money, but it would have to be big savings for me to opt for the hassle of another flight unless your trip is longer than 3 weeks. I also prefer the train in UK, but there’s good bus service and sometimes it’s significantly cheaper than the train.

cool thanks augustin25 and oldlady. ill deffinitely look into that. and i was planning on going for 30 days if that changes anything. thanks again for the info. :]

ok ive altered my itinerary. ill be beginning my trip in Dublin for 4 days, then on to Glasgow for 4 days(maybe with a day/night trip over to Edinburgh), down to London for 3 days, on to Amsterdam for 4 or 5 days, maybe somewhere in Germany i havent decided yet, and then on to Praha for 4 days. so lemme know what you think. thanks. :]

London – Amsterdam would be best to fly, the rest bus and/or train would likely work.

One way prices for LON – AMS in May are between 33-60 GBP.

Consider paying more for the flight (BMI) if it leaves from Heathrow as it will be cheaper to get to the airport than Stansted (Easy Jet).

We have a great search tool here:

http://flights.eurot…

Train is a good option for London to Amsterdam as it’s nearly as fast as flying, but flights are often cheaper.

It depends on what your budget for this “senior trip”(link removed by moderator, contrary to advertising policy) is, I find flights can be cheaper to travel around England but in other countries train is cheaper although sometimes a lot slower. Edinburgh to London could even be done by bus if you can face along journey, there are sometimes cheap deals.

You don’t need an air mattress, just bring a sleeping bag. It’s light and easy to handle (if you don’t want to, you can always make a make-shift bed on the ground with some sheets and pillows). Declare you enjoy sleeping on the ground during travels, and voila.