July 30, 2003 -- First-class trains are one of the best ways to get around Europe. Traveling in style and comfort, you can zip in two hours from Paris to Provence, or enjoy breakfast in Rome and dinner in Venice.
Earlier this summer, Rail Europe's travel agency subsidiary e-vacations.com offered two free railpasses to anyone who bought $2,495 in travel from them. Reflecting cheaper fall airfares, they're now sweetening the deal: you only have to buy $1,995 worth of travel to get two free first-class, 15-day Eurailpass Flexis, an $1,828 value. It's like getting half off your European vacation.
It's not difficult to hit the $1,995 minimum; tickets for two to Europe during the fall will probably run you around $1,000. Add in two weeks' worth of hotels, and you'll end up with free railpasses. It's even easier to spend the $1,995 if you're bringing kids along. (E-vacations won't give you free passes for your kids, but at least they're half-price for children under 12.)
E-vacations specializes in selling combined air-and-hotel packages -- they've got pretty good rates -- and letting them pick your hotels takes a lot of stress out of vacation planning. But you don't need to buy your hotels from them to get this deal -- on their online planning screen, pick "On your own" as your city destination if all you want is air.
To get this deal, book your vacation by August 31 for departure from the US between Sept. 9 and December 27; you've got to complete your rail travel by Dec. 31. You must book online to get the free railpasses, so go to www.e-vacations.com.
Eurostar Comes Down to Earth
Your free railpasses won't cover the Eurostar train between England, France, and Belgium, (although they will give you a $75 discounted passholder fare), but there's good news for Eurostar travelers: prices just came down for all Eurostar tickets booked from the US.
Basic non-exchangeable, non-refundable tickets between London and Paris or Brussels are down to $90 one-way from $139; roundtrips on Mondays-Thursdays are as low as $90 with a mandatory one day stay away, and same-day roundtrips are down to $94.
Youth and passholder fares are $75 each way, and there's now a discounted youth off-peak fare of $45 each way on some trains for travelers under 26. The new fares take effect now, for purchases through September 27. To book the new Eurostar fares, go to www.raileurope.com or call 877/257-2887.
These lower fares are for a faster train than ever. Starting September 28, Eurostar will cut 20 minutes off of UK travel times, reducing the London-Paris trip to a blazing 2 hours and 35 minutes and the London-Brussels leg to an unbelievable 2 hours 20.
The low round-trip fares make brief jaunts to the Continent almost a no-brainer for anyone spending more than a few days in London (or vice versa). We just wish the one-way fares were lower. Ninety dollars is better than before, but it's possible to jump from an airport near London to Belgium or Holland for as little as $55.50 using the Stansted Express train (www.raileurope.com/us/rail/passes/stansted_express.htm) and the Ryanair discount airline (www.ryanair.com).
Of course, Ryanair won't land you in the center of Paris or Brussels, and with distant airports, various connections and long mandatory check-in times, flights take longer than the train and are three times the hassle. Still, the train shouldn't cost 40% more than flying.