Fly Around Europe on the Cheap

Let’s face it. Europe is great place to travel to, and a place where most Americans feel the most comfortable outside our own country. The fact is, right now, and for the foreseeable future, traveling within Europe is cheap. By flying no-frills carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet, traveling throughout Europe has never been easier or as inexpensive. 

If you are young, don’t have unlimited funds, or you can put up with the less glamorous side of no-frills travel(waiting in lines, no assigned seats, possibly being up to an hour late), but still want to see Europe, than this article is for you. If you’re like me, like most Americans, you want to see a lot of Europe but you don’t necessarily have the two months it would take. Let’s say you have two weeks. With the proper planning, you can see up to five countries in two weeks and not feel slighted at all. 

Ok, first thing is first. Getting to Europe. I won’t speak too much on booking flights from the United States to Europe(I’ll save that for another article). My recommendation is to, if possible, depart from New York City. Now if you want to see only one European city, like say Paris, or Rome, or London, then get a direct flight. But almost always the cheapest destination to fly to in Europe is London. Its also the perfect city to begin a jaunt across Europe. 

So here we are, in London. There are four airports in the London area. But do not make the mistake and assume that they are close. The four largest airports associated with it are Stansted, Heathrow, Luton, and Gatwick.

Now the probability is that you will fly into Heathrow, the largest airport. Getting to and from these airports can be done by bus or taxi. The Bus between Stansted and Heathrow will charge 50GBP one way, and the trick is getting a round trip from Heathrow to your airport, because a round trip only costs an extra 5GBP. From Heathrow to Gatwick it takes about 70 minutes, but costs only 12GBP each way. Travel between the airports in London will range from $25-100 US dollars, so remember to figure bus fare into your overall travel expenses.