A friend and I are looking to spend the summer between high school and college WWOOFing in Italy. I've looked into everything and the only hangup is how to get there. Is flying directly to Rome best, or would flying to London or Paris and then hopping a train/renting a car and driving be the less expensive?
Other - Europe - 2 Answers
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1 :
The way flights work these days, most likely flying to any other capital or main city in Europe with a connecting flight. Use comparison sites like Skyscanner or Kayak, (google will find them and others for you) and see for yourself. Often it is cheaper to fly on with a local flight than to fly direct. A flight to Rome via London will be about the same as a flight to London via Rome, while direct flights to either London or Rome will be more expensive. I took London as example, but it works the same for almost every city in Europe now. Renting a car will never be the cheap option, first of all, at the age you are before going to college you will be too young to rent a car from any but the most expensive companies, if them. Petrol/gas is very expensive and rental prices are several times as high as in the USA. On top that will come an international drop off charge which can be as high as your intercontinental flight, not the cheap option. Train travel is much cheaper and if you can find a flight that is very cheap to an other Italian airport it can be an option, but when you talk about international train travel in Europe, you talk about amounts of money that are bigger than most plane tickets within Europe. So a connecting flight is likely, a direct flight your second option. If you can not find anything on internet, walk in with your local travel agency. I know mine always saves me money on long distance travel, even though I know where to search for the tickets. She is so much better at it.
2 :
I would definitely say aovid trying to rent a car. I drive regularly from the UK down to Italy and it's not a journey I would do for pleasure. Also, the price of petrol at the moment is very expensive in Europe generally - around €1.20 per litre - and tolls right the way down also add to the cost. And that's before you talk about the cost of renting. The cost we allow ourselves of driving down from the UK to Rome, including petrol and tolls but not including rental or ferry, is around £400 or $650. It won't be much less from Paris. Trains in mainland Europe (i.e. from France to Italy for example) are very efficient but not cheap. Paris to Rome takes about fifteen hours and is an overnight train (the Artesia). At the moment the cost is around €180 or $260. Try looking at prices from wherever you live to London or Paris, and then looking at Ryanair from there to Rome. Ryanair are a budget airline within Europe. Their flights are very cheap - I have just come back from flying UK to Rome and it cost me £15 return - about $50, including all taxes. At the moment fares from Paris to Rome are showing at about $25 single trip including taxes. Their website is http://www.ryanair.com - don't expect a luxurious airline though - you get what you pay for. Enjoy your time in Europe - however you get there.
