<p>I’ve spent the entire day on the internet planning. I thought I was good at this but this trip is putting me over the edge.</p>
<p>The plan is for 2 students (siblings) to travel from JFK to Paris, spend a day in Paris, a day at Disneyland Paris and then take the Eurostar to London.</p>
<p>After learning that the Eurostar doesn’t travel from Disney to London on certain days we were able to move thing around to make it work.</p>
<p>There are so many options - trains, high speed trains, planes, buses - how am I supposed to be able to tell which is the best option. Cost is an concern.</p>
<p>The rest of the plan is:
London to Cork, Ireland - $214 on Aer Lingus - are their better options?
Cork to Dublin - bus trip - high end $47, depending on time could be less
Dublin to Belfast - another bus?</p>
<p>Those are the big parts of the trip - daily travel I haven’t even thought about yet</p>
<p>So - if anyone has thoughts on transportation please share</p>
<p>I could also use an cheap hotel near the Eiffel Tower, something in Cork and Dublin too - B&B’s and hostels are possibilities in London and Ireland</p>
<p>Maybe its time to work with a travel agent…</p>
<p>The Eurostar leaves Paris from the Gare Du Nord. If they’re leaving from there in the morning they might find it more convenient to stay near there rather than the Eiffel tower. It’s still only a couple of miles from the Louvre (walking distance if they don’t mind walking) which puts them near everything - most of the sights in Paris, as in London, are within reasonable walking distance of each other. Disneyland’s out a ways though. </p>
<p>If you bring up Paris on Google Maps, zoom into a particular area (like central Paris, Northern Paris around gare Du Nord, etc.) then type in ‘Hotels’ on the search bar it’ll pop up with all the hotels in that area. You can also go to one of the travel sites like expedia and search for hotels. There’s a hostel fairly close to Gare Du Nord that seems to be about the least expensive option but I don’t know anything about it. There are also less expensive chain hotels like Hotel Ibis to consider.</p>
<p>I guess they’ve already thought about this but from what I’ve heard Disneyland Paris isn’t that much different from the Disneylands here - basically the same rides etc. although hopefully the Pomme Frites are better. Unless they’re been to Paris before I strongly suggest they forego Disneyland (i.e. Americana) and spend that time seeing more of Paris or perhaps make a day trip to Versailles or something.</p>
<p>Are these the ones deciding between London and Paris at NYE? If so, I didn’t know Paris Disney was even open at that time of year. Did things change? Or did the timing of the trip change, or am I just senile?</p>
<p>I have to agree that a day at Versailles, (esp one on a Fat Tire Bike Tour) will trump Disneyland Paris any day. The Fat Tire Bike Tours leave from an office near the Eiffel Tower if I remember correctly.</p>
<p>RyanAir is great and I’ve heard DisneyEuro is horrible. I’d rather spend a second day in Paris exploring. How old are your daughters?
The London youth hostels are great and my daughter had a good one in Paris but I can’t remember its name.</p>
<p>Gloworm - you’re not senile - these are the same kids.</p>
<p>He’s 22, she’s 19. He’s into theatre, history and Irish pubs. She’s a people person and a Disney fan. Disney is for her, a bit of a compromise. Even though its a total tourist trap its still kind of fun to say you went to Disney in Paris.</p>
<p>New Years is now out - too expensive and too complicated. This is all a work in progress and it keeps changing.</p>
<p>Right now they arrive in Paris go to the Eiffel Tower and spend the night. Next day hopefully a segway tour and then they have the afternoon to get to Disney which is why we wanted the hotel closer to the Eiffel Tower.</p>
<p>For the first part of their trip hostels won’t work because they’ll have luggage. Once they get to London they can leave the luggage and travel with backpacks.</p>
<p>We’ve looked in Ryanair but it didn’t seem like a great option - maybe I need to look again.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t envy you getting this all together, but maybe when she sees Paris and all it has to offer, she will want to nix the Disney. In all but a hot summer, the Paris Disney will not be close to the nice weather of CA or FL. </p>
<p>There is also Easyjet. I would say be careful on both Ryan and Easy. They are cheap, but both have been known to tell people at the last minute that their carry-on is too big, take it from them at boarding, charge 50E/P. Especailly with young folks. They also sometimes fly out of less convenient airports.</p>
<p>My D and I stayed last year at a reasonable B&B near King’s Cross Station. The street was B&Bs on both sides for the entire block. PM me if you want the name.</p>
<p>Although I’ve never flown on Ryanair I’ll avoid doing so - I want to avoid an airline whose leadership has proposed cutting costs by passengers flying standing up rather than seated, charging to use the restrooom, wanting to have just a single pilot (no co-pilot) and other severe cost cutting measures. It makes me wonder what else they’re cutting that we might not know about.</p>
<p>I have made that flight from London to Cork on Aer Lingus. Cork is a small place. The airport easy to use. We hired a car there so didn’t use the bus system. We only made reservations at a B&B the first night. All the rest we just discovered in our travels and that works well.</p>
<p>Unless time is limited, trains offer the best chance to see the surrounding countryside as you travel. (I adore trains.) I’m not a fan of busses- cramped, can’t walk around, can’t speak with fellow travelers- and those bathrooms!
Forgive me if the foll repeats what yo already know. There’s a train from Dublin Heuston to Cork for roughly 36 pounds- Irish Rail. Also, Virgintrains.co.uk advertises London Euston-Hollyhead/Ferry-Dublin Ferryport. 61 pounds R/T? If so, beats navigating airports and that steep fare.
[London</a> to Dublin by train+ferry | Only £30.50 each way, any day, any date](<a href=“http://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm]London”>LONDON to DUBLIN by train+ferry for £48.80 or €60)
[url=<a href=“LONDON to DUBLIN by train+ferry for £48.80 or €60”>LONDON to DUBLIN by train+ferry for £48.80 or €60]London</a> to Dublin by train+ferry | Only £30.50 each way, any day, any date<a href=“shows%20to%20Cork%20also”>/url</a>
I can’t pull up a timetable- could be some overnight train.</p>
<p>My sister didn’t print her boarding pass for Ryan Air and got charged an extra 50 GBP - per person for 4 people. Then got charged a per piece charge for luggage. (Actually, I am not sure it was Ryan Air - it might have been Easy Jet)</p>
<p>The Metro (subway) is super efficient. I wouldn’t worry too much about how close the hotel is to the la tour eiffel. (Might as well get used to what the terminology is in French. Show to kids.)</p>
<p>My kids went with us to Paris at 13 and 15. I don’t think either of them would rather have gone to Disney than have another day exploring once they were there However, if they are going to go to Disney, an hour in the Louvre or Notre Dame or even Monmartre (like a mini theme Park of Paris) would trump la tour eiffel in my opinion. One can see la tour from many parts of the city and going up in it wasn’t that interesting. You can see exactly the same view in the opening of Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Perhaps your D would love shopping on La champs elysees. My D bought a leather coat from Spain for $50 that she still wears. (She’s 23.) Ladurie, next to an English language cinema, makes the best hot chocolate in the world (LOL – how much have I really tried?).</p>
<p>Is it not still called Eurodisney? is also very expensive. </p>
<p>But if that’s what works for your kids I wish them all the best. Better a happy trip than forcing your D to see things she’d rather not.</p>
<p>lookingforward: Thanks for the great info on trains.</p>
<p>As far as accomodations–we stayed at Globetrotters in Dublin, which is half B and B (more hotel like than some) and half hostel. The Breakfast, which is huge and unlimited, is served cafeteria-like to everyone from both sides. The atmosphere was charming, staff was great, room was quaint and also charming (the house has all kinds of historic connections to literary Dublin), and it’s near everything. My D has stayed there several times, first on the hostel side, more recently on the B and B side (has outgrown the hostel experience). I greatly recommend it. Very reasonably priced, too.</p>
<p>kayak dot com This is my current favorite for general airfare and hotel information. You can use googlemaps to double-check the locations of hotels if you need to.</p>
<p>lonelyplanet dot com Everything that is in the books, but more recently updated and online.</p>
<p>Another who agrees Disney is a waste of time. I’d be tremendously frustrated to have only a day in Paris. You can’t even begin to see the city in a day. I think there’s a good chance they’ll want to skip Disney after getting a look at Paris.</p>
<p>Also, it’s a great teaching moment to let the kids help plan this.</p>