Europe is a dream destination. And we had the privilege to do a 2 weeks Europe trip with our kid this summer. Yes, it does require quite some planning to have a beautiful Europe trip that you are going to remember through your lifetime. You can refer to our book on how to plan your own trip to Europe and our previous article on how to plan a trip to Europe and how to travel Europe on a budget. A major part of Europe trip (Particularly if you are traveling from a different continent) is about commute options. And that is why we decided to elaborate on the same in this post. When it comes to Europe, unlike other places, there are varied commute options on Europe trip available to you, right from the choice of flight to choice of commute between cities and inside the cities and towns. Since, Europe is a major travel destination as well as it boasts of the best public transport network in the world. So, let us describe to you the options available for your commute planning on your Europe travel.
For the offbeat places and road trips in Europe, I so wish renting an RV and traveling with it was as popular as it is in Australia (particularly how its the norm for road trips from Sydney with kids and family and makes for a must do when in Melbourne) . Same with New Zealand and the US. What an amazing commute option it would be for exploring the picture perfect landscapes of Europe ! I would definitely do road trips around Wales or visit Iceland and Germany in a RV then.
Flight options on Europe trip
There are many flight options from across the world, that connect to Europe. From India itself, from where we flew, now a days there are multiple flights. If you plan to travel across different countries in Europe, or even in the same country across different cities, you must compare the flight costs and durations before making a decision on which flight to book. And use some more of these tricks to score great flight deals in Europe.
Now a days, middle east has become a hub for flights to Europe. Flights like Etihad really provide very affordable as well as comfortable options from economy to luxury range. Also, the airlines companies come up with discounts and delightful offers from time to time. So, if you are planning a trip to Europe, you can keep an eye for such offers. Last but not the least, as we always advocate, do remember to book your tickets a little in advance as the prices tend to be steep at end moments.
Inter city commute options on Europe trip
Apart from flying to and from Europe, next you also think about commuting from one city to another. We have not heard of anyone who would fly for hours to reach Europe and be confined to just one city 🙂 So, chances are high that you will be commuting between cities. And to commute between cities on your Europe trip, you will have multiple options. Hiring a car, booking a bus ticket, or taking a train ride are the most common of those options. You need to figure out which one best suites your requirements. Our personal recommendation would definitely be trains. Since they are so economical, convenient and have such a great network in Europe. Even we , on our Europe trip, mostly commuted by train from one city to another. You can also take the Eurail pass in case you are going to be mostly in one or a few countries and are going to travel through them extensively. What’s more , most of the train journeys are very scenic. Then for longer journeys you can opt for some exciting European night trains.
Commute options on Europe trip inside the city/town
Again, the robust public transport options of Europe come into play as you decide how to hop between sites in a city or town. You will be spoilt by choice. You can hire a taxi, take a bus ride, also ride a tram or a metro or just walk 🙂 . Actually, you might have to use all of these, in one situation or the other, like we did. Let me give you a few examples. When spending 3 days in Paris, we made good use of the Paris Metro for our commutes which was a very economical as well as brilliant means of transport to know the local ways as well as to save time and travel with speed. We did bus hop on hop off trip in Paris and Amsterdam on site seeing around the cities as we were in these cities for just couple of days.
In bigger cities you also have options of combined tickets for transport as well as entry to several important sites. For instance, the Amsterdam city card or the Paris card. These cards again come in different variations and you can choose one based on how many days you are in the city as well as how extensively you want to explore the city.
Sometimes, like when we had to catch our bus to Disneyland in Paris, we were really pressed by time. And hence, we called upon a taxi to reach the bus stand. But do remember that taxis are the most expensive means of transport and if you are using them frequently then you might loose your euros very fast. Last but not the least, in canal rich cities like Venice and Amsterdam you can hop on and off the boats as well.
Commute options on Europe trip on day trips
When doing day trips around a town or city, the best commute options are the ones that give you time to soak into the natural beauty around. Like when we were based out of Lucerne while spending 4 days in Switzerland, we did day trip to Grindelwald, visited places in Bern and also went to Interlaken through buses and trains. But, one thing that we didn’t do and would love to do next time is to drive through the breathtaking swiss countryside and Tuscany countryside by hiring a car. So you see, again you have multiple options to decide between when doing day trips around Europe and you need to choose wisely between them.
Summary
Finally, let us summarise here, the commute options on Europe trip that are available at your disposal:
- Flight : Compare prices, look at the travel duration and choose you flight wisely. Also, book a little in advance to get best prices.
- Eurail : Our preference when commuting between cities. Go for individual point to point tickets if you are going to travel less by train and are considering other means like bus, car hire etc. as well. Also, in case you are not going to stay in one country for long. Book a euro rail pass if you plan for extensive train travel during your Europe trip. Also if you are covering couple of countries, or, whole of Europe.
- Buses and self driven cars : For inter city commute as well as on day trips , as an alternative to train, if these are providing you cheaper or more comfortable options. Or, if you want to drive at your own pace, stopping as you desire, then cars are best.
- Taxis: Our recommendation – use taxi when you have no other options. Since, they are extremely costly in Europe.
- Metros : Use metros to commute in the big cities of Europe like Paris to avoid traffic. And travel faster.
- Use boats and ships when in canal rich cities like Amsterdam and Venice.
Hope these commute options on Europe trip will equip you to travel to Europe with the best possible commute at your disposal. We are ourselves now better equipped with our first Europe trip experience. Next, as we explore more places in Europe and across the Balkan Peninsula, hopefully we will be able to make the best of the available commute options. Also, we would love to hear back from you what commute options worked best for you on your previous trips to Europe.
PS: Some of our links are affiliated, this means we will earn a commission when you buy a service or product by clicking those links. However, this will have no extra cost for you.
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Very informative post on commuting options in Europe. I will like to try in my next Europe trip.
Thank you Indu
That’s a wonderful guide. I personally prefer only local transport when traveling in a new destination. The Eurorail sounds exciting. I mostly takes metros within cities to save time and money. Never tried boats and ships though.
Thanks Abhinav. The boats work wonders in places like Venice
The canal travel is not just convenient but also, very cultural in experience. I loved it in Amsterdam, Paris and Venice. The HoHo buses too, are a good option for sightseeing within a city. London ones specially are really good. On the whole, there are just a lot of convenient ways to get around in Europe as you have listed. Well done with that.
Thanks Ami! Haven’t got to experience the London one..will keep that in mind
You have left no leaf unturned when it comes to sharing every possible detail needed for planning a trip to Europe and here comes another addition to the batch. Great job Neha. I m sure your posts on Euro trips will be of great help to many people.
Thanks Sindhu. It makes me so happy to know you all are finding it helpful
Your posts are always informative and detailed. Touring Europe might be somewhat unpleasant if one doesn’t plan well. So these commuting tips are super super helpful. Thanks!
Thank you Lydia
Great information on the pros and cons of all the modes of travel around Europe. I’ve been through Europe in lots of different ways, and I have to say the Eurail pass is my favorite way to get between cities/countries!
Yes Jim, with extensive travel, Eurorail pass are the best
Being from Europe, well from England and having now traveled all around the world, one of the biggest thing that I’ve come to realism is just how easy it is for us to get around from one place to another (Sure this might be harder for us brits when Brexit finally kicks in) But in general like you’ve mentioned in your post there are so many transport option and interlinking. One of my friends is going a trip through Europe right now with his Australian Girlfriend and she can’t believe how accessible everything is
Thats so well put Amit. Actually, that’s one of the reasons we haven’t planned a trip to Australia till now. Getting around is not as easy as in Europe definitely
Great post! so good to know about the cost-effective and great ways to travel across Europe. THEIR TRANSPORT SYSTEM is really good!
Yes, their transport system is great
There are so many commute options in Europe. We loved train travel a lot, especially in Switzerland. But we were surprised to note that in many sectors Air travel is cheaper than traveling by train. For example flying from Zurich to Rome worked out cheaper than train.
Yes, that’s a very good point that you brought out. We will try out this option the next time we travel to Europe
I love Etihad as well… 🙂
Commuting around Europe through trains seems so easy… wish to try this soon and hopefully I won’t be lost…
You definitely wont be lost. There is information all over
those are great tips which helps in travelling to europe ,great informative tips Neha
Thank you Mayuri
We did a road trip through Montenegro, Slovenia, and Croatia and loved it! Can’t wait to use the Swiss Travel Pass and explore Switzerland by their trains. Your day trips from Lucerne sound amazing!
To explore Switzerland by train is indeed a wonderful idea
This is a nice commuting guide. And great photos of the speed trains, too. But how about Uber and Lyft, or any other ride-sharing systems? Are they as popular in Europe or not?
Uber is there in bigger cities like Paris. I didn’t look for the shared option though. But they are again at times more costly than the metro and trains
Very useful post for travel in Europe! I’d also add for flight options, there’s a lot of cheap budget airlines in Europe who regularly have seat sales if you sign up for your email list. These include EasyJet, RyainAir and Vueling. I’ve booked trips from London to Geneva, Scotland, and Greece for less than £100.
Thank you. We will check this option out next time we travel there
What was your trip to Europe and how did you get around? 🙂 Just curious in actual map and transportation used.
Checkout our blog post on how we planned our Europe trip, it has all the details. We travelled through Italy, Switzerland, Paris and Amsterdam. For 20 days. Used trains, walking tours, day trips around by bus, metros in bigger cities like Paris and local trains in Amsterdam. Sometimes, when in dire need, we did book taxis
I so missed Europe! It was age ago when I visited! Nice pics there!
Let’s plan a trip again..what say 🙂
It’s a bit different for us as we live in the UK, so we can absolutely do a single European city on a trip if we feel like it. We vary our travel options depending on where — for nearby places we’ll often drive, that goes for within the UK as well as France and Belgium in particular, making it easy to bring back beer, wine and food treats on the way home. For further afield, we’ll either use the train (the Eurostar offers fast travel from London to many cities) or fly. When we get to where we’re going, sometimes we’ll hire a car there if self-driving gives the best option to see the area.
I really envy you Kavita. If I were living anywhere in Europe, I would do exactly what you are doing..one city at a time, explore Europe completely!!
very very interesting post. informative. When it comes to Europe you really have plenty of option!
We have traveled widely by train in Europe and found it really convenient. But we were really surprised to find that flghts worked out cheaper in many sectors. For example we found a flight from Zurich to Rome on Swissair worked out cheaper than a train ticket. You are right one needs to compare different modes of options before deciding.
Thats a great trip. We didn’t explore this option on this trip. Will definitely do next time
hi
such a comprehensive option , i was wondering if u could suggest some sites where the bookings could be done and any specific details that need to be catered . all in all a grt article indeed
rgds
sumit
Thanks Sumit. That’s a good suggestion. I will include sites information in the blog post soon