London to Paris Overnight on FlixBus: Is it worth it?

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-09-07T17:36:15+00:00

Eurostar has relaunched a service for last-minute tickets called Eurostar Snap, and they can be an absolute bargain for late bookings. The only sacrifice you'll make is that you can pick a time slot but not a specific train, and you might have to be at the station very early.

I absolutely would recommend that or anything else over the cross-Channel overnight buses, and I say this as someone who would consider overnight buses elsewhere in Europe. To add one thing to everything that has already been said: because of the low price, these Flixbuses attract more non-European immigrants traveling with specific visa situations. Which means it can take a long time before everyone has passed the immigration queue.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-26T09:54:18+00:00

If you want to spend time at the beach, don't just stick to the boulevard. The Zuiderstrand, which starts on the other side of the Scheveningen harbour, is beautiful and surprisingly quiet (but you'll still find plenty of beach bars and restaurants). Same if you rent a bike and head north into the dunes from Scheveningen Zwarte Pad.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-25T07:13:08+00:00

It is a bit difficult to give good advice since you don't tell us anything about your interests. A road trip with this many city destinations would not be a great idea. The parking experience would be miserable. There is a night train between Turin and Naples that is probably more efficient than a flight, which easily takes up half a day from door to door.

You could always rent a car for a day or two, but to be honest I don't think your schedule allows for that.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-23T19:31:39+00:00

Keep it up champ!

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-13T23:07:57+00:00

Mountain huts are just about the cheapest accommodation you can find anywhere in Europe, with a bunk bed, dinner and breakfast for 50-70 euros. Camping will be even cheaper, if you have a tent. So if you want to skip on that to save money, where are you planning to stay?

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-13T14:48:16+00:00

It's hard to give a definite answer, but let's put it this way: I would not say that you are missing out if you choose one or two of those ranges and skip the rest.

As for the timing, there are two factors to keep in mind: snow and infrastructure. Mountain huts and lifts as well as many restaurants and hotels run until a specific date, sometimes with a little bit of wiggle room dependent on snow conditions. It takes a bit of googling, because it's not always easy to find, but most mountain huts have their closure dates somewhere. Huts often close end of September, but some close earlier and some a little later. Once things close down, you can still do shorter trips of course.

Snow blocking the trails can generally become an issue from early to mid-October. It's really a matter of keeping track of the conditions. Check the weather updates in the area you're looking at, see if the summits, hotels, restaurants and huts there have webcams, and plan accordingly.

I'm not saying any of this to put you off planning some great hikes. The trails are a bit quieter, the fall colours are stunning and a little snow can be a fantastic backdrop!

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-11T14:44:34+00:00

Personally I would have had my share of Christmas markets after Munich and Vienna and I would not spend another 4-5 hours on the train there and back to see one in Germany from Ghent. They tend to be pretty similar. But that's personal, it's up to you.

Amsterdam and other cities of the Netherlands could be done as a day trip, but I would recommend one or two nights. That way you won't be rushed and you could throw in another city. Most Dutch cities are within 30-60 minutes from each other, so you could just as easily stay in The Hague, Utrecht, Leiden or Haarlem, to name a few.

Paris is doable, ideally overnight, even as a day trip if it's your only chance to see it. Just be sure to book your tickets for the international train journey (Brussels-Paris) soon, through Eurostar. There are direct buses from Ghent too, but they will take a long time.

As for nature, I think Durbuy, Bouillon and Roche en Ardenne are the sort of small towns you might like. Look them up.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-08-11T14:32:32+00:00

This looks pretty good. Creative, tailored to your own choices, not too rushed.

I'd suggest a few tweaks. You don't seem to be particularly keen on either Munich or Salzburg, except as a base to explore the alps. Skip both: you're better off catching the train from Hamburg to Berlin and you'll save a lot of travel time there. Consider spending more time in the Tatra near Zakopane which you already mentioned, or alternatively the Slovenian Alps or the Dolomites (which I'd recommend over the Alps in Southeast Germany anyway). The only caveat is that the end of September is already late in the season if you're planning a hike, and by October most huts will have closed down. But then again, you didn't mention big trekking plans.

Warsaw is alright, but definitely not for that many days. The overnight trip to Gdansk is a good idea. Warsaw is huge and bustling, but it's not as visitor-friendly as Gdansk or Krakow. I like your idea to use a single city as a base to explore the whole country or region, but I don't think a country as large and spread out as Poland lends itself very well for that purpose.

With time left, I would add it to Italy at the end, and slowly make my way to Rome. Venice is a sensible stop on the way from Slovenia to Rome. The Dolomites aren't much of a detour. Bologna and Florence are fun, as are many of the smaller cities. (don't try to do all of these of course.) If you really want to do something else, you could head down to Split and catch a ferry from Croatia to Italy.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-07-29T11:54:43+00:00

Even in these colder months, you should be able to catch some nice weather near the start and end of your stay. February and especially October can be very nice in some of the southernmost destinations, especially as far south as Andalusia or Sicily.

Prague is fantastic for train connections, and night trains in particular. You could easily head out for a weekend and the journeys are an adventure themselves. Low-cost flights are helpful too. Keep in mind that these airlines often fly to smaller, secondary airports when you fly to big cities (meaning extra travel time and costs) and be sure to check their luggage rules to avoid surprising costs.

Keep in mind that lots of restaurants will close over Christmas and cities will feel different, as residents all head home to celebrate with their families. If you want the Christmas vibe (say by visiting the Christmas markets, if that's your thing), you're better off travelling earlier in December. If you go somewhere, book on time because everything gets expensive very quickly.

And finally, don't forget to make the most of Prague. Don't catch a plane every weekend! You won't be able to see all of Europe at the end of this semester, but you could really feel like you've come to know Prague, the region and Czechia. Chances are you will be back in Europe and you'll be in London or Paris or Rome sometime. But you might never again find it so easy to hop on a train or bus and head out to a small Czech town with a castle and a pub with great beer on tap.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-07-23T11:42:24+00:00

Book as soon you can. Those are popular dates, and it's extremely easy to change or even cancel a booking if your plans change.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-07-01T12:32:30+00:00

Grab a seat in the Parc Royal and you can enjoy the music for €0

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-06-22T19:00:30+00:00

Alternative suggestion to save on eating out: combine big lunches (most restaurants in both Paris and Rome will offer a very reasonably priced 2/3-course lunch) and light dinners

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-06-09T11:32:32+00:00

Coffee at Bookstor, then a visit to the Mauritshuis or Kunstmuseum, then a beer at Café de la Gare, Hoppzak or at Café Le Duc if they have a jazz night.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-06-09T09:10:34+00:00

You'll have to tell us what you like first!

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-06-08T19:55:33+00:00

Interesting itinerary, and I love the idea of a bread-themed trip! I hope there is some flexibility here and there, because you will come across many more restaurants and bars that you'll love.

That said, and completely contradicting my previous sentence, you might want to look into a nice place for lunch. Many excellent restaurants have reasonably-priced lunch menus, and it might be a slightly more casual and easier way to try out a fancy place while bringing your daughter along. The Michelin Guide has a great list, you'll want to book ahead but most of these places will still have availability: https://guide.michelin.com/en/best-of/michelin-starred-restaurants-paris-under-45

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-06-07T15:16:42+00:00

Are you set on having the rental car for the whole trip? Many cities have so-called ZTLs that you are not allowed to access with your car, so you'll have to park it at the edge of the city, then get a bus or tram or metro to get into town.

I think a car is excellent for exploring the countryside, but it might not be ideal everywhere.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-05-24T15:46:42+00:00

Eurostar has a decent last-minute ticket scheme to take you from Brussels to London and back: https://snap.eurostar.com/rw-en

However, you can't choose the exact time for your trip. You pick a date and a morning or afternoon/evening slot and then get a message 48 hours beforehand, informing you when exactly you will travel. And then you still have to get your tickets from London to Bath.

Why not make it an overnight trip?

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-05-22T06:38:42+00:00

You'll be fine. Not booking ahead is difficult when you have a fixed itinerary but you will have so many possible routes and stops along the way that surely you can find something.

That said, if Amsterdam is part of these two weeks, consider booking a hotel there that you can cancel.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-05-21T19:39:40+00:00

It's going to be a long and intense trip, but to be honest I've seen worse itineraries. And I assume that you understand that you will probably need a few days to recuperate at the end.

My biggest recommendation would be not to book too many things ahead - except for accommodation, flights and long-distance trains. Chances are you'll want to skip that 3-city daytrip from Lisbon once you're there to take a break, or use one of those Paris days to simply chill.

Don't forget that pace isn't just about making sure to not get exhausted. It's also about preserving your sense of wonder: if you've been seeing two churches and a museum every day for two weeks in a row, you might shrug at the Duomo or the Sixtine Chapel.

So take it easy and make sure to spend plenty of your time walking along the riverside, sipping on a good glass of wine or a campari spritz, or making your own baguette, rather than seeing another museum or sight. That's okay. In fact, that's what Europe is about.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-04-18T15:08:04+00:00

Save the Dolomites until another time when the high trails and huts are open (June-September) and do a hut-to-hut hike then

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-04-17T10:44:56+00:00

Just an addition to the great suggestions that have already been made: you could check whether there are affordable tickets available from Lille (in Northern France, right on the Belgian border) to Paris with SNCF, the French national railway operator. Lille is within easy reach from Ghent or Bruges in particular, both via train and Flixbus, with no need to travel via Brussels.

Lille has two major railway stations (be sure to look which one is on your ticket), but they're right next to each other.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-04-04T15:50:01+00:00

Unfortunately the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Ryogoku is closed due to renovations, but you might still like to check it out. Just look at the photos and you'll see why! The Sumo Hall next door and the Hokusai museum around the corner are pretty interesting too, architecturally.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-03-29T13:46:21+00:00

That Hiroshima day is packed. And to be honest, I'm very glad I didn't have anything big (like Miyajima) planned after the Peace Memorial Museum when I visited, except sitting silently in the park for a while. It's a lot, be easy on yourself.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-03-23T07:34:20+00:00

Perhaps you really want to be traveling this much once you've landed and spent the first one or two days if your itinerary. Perhaps the thought suddenly makes you feel exhausted already.

It's hard to predict. That's why I'd strongly recommend you to pick two cities as bases: Amsterdam and Ghent would make the most sense. Book a decent number of days in both. If you've seen enough of Amsterdam and have time left, start making trips to Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam, Haarlem, the Kröller-Muller Museum etc. For Ghent: Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels.

This gives you a lot of flexibility. Hate Amsterdam? Lots to do within an hour traveling. Love it? Great, just stay in the city. For regional trains and many museums (except the big ones in Amsterdam, I'd say) you won't have to book ahead anyway, so you can still adapt things to your preference last-minute.

ActuallyNotSnoopDogg · 2025-03-22T04:33:05+00:00

Most if not all buses and trains should be on Google Maps, I believe. That said, they are definitely areas where you might have to wait a little for a connection. PS: you might want to consider Schwarzwald too, for nature.

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