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It's normally cheaper to fly round-trip from the same city instead of into one place and out of another. Pick a central location for your trip plans such as Paris and go from there. How are you planning on traveling around Europe? Euro rail is a very comfortable and economical way to travel to most places in Europe, you can even get a weeklong or month-long pass for infinite trips during a given period of time.
you can even get a weeklong or month-long pass for infinite trips during a given period of time.
That isn't how Eurail works. You get a specified number of "travel days" during a period of time. Unlimited trips on those days. It's not like you can show your pass and hop on any train going anywhere at any time. Some trains require reservations -- even for rail pass holders.
A typical pass is "11 travel days over a two month period, valid in a specific four countries." Even with the restrictions, this is my preferred way to travel in Europe (and the UK, which has their own rail pass system).
Flyonpa.....the free stopover sounds great. Have you flown on Icelandair before? The price is decent from PDX. I'm trying to find another city to fly out of, that is close to Greece. Any ideas?
Couldn't get anywhere with Turkish.
An alternative would be get back to Brussels before you leave, enabling you to do PDX-BRU round trip. With Ryanair: Athens-Brussels (Charleroi) is 50 euros one-way, Athens-Rome 45 euros, Brussels-Rome is less than 30 euros some days, etc. Of course you'd need to figure out whether the extra baggage fees and perhaps hassle are worth it. Athens-Charleroi is a 3-hour flight and you'd need to switch airports to do BRU-KEF-PDX.
Another thing to consider is that ATH-PDX is serious travel no matter how you do it -- Turkish, Ryanair+Icelandair, or anything else, you're looking at close to 24 hours in a plane or an airport. That's why (1) the Reykjavik stopover can be interesting (2 three-hour flights ATH-BRU-KEF), or (2) if you can end your trip somewhere in Western Europe instead of Greece, you can make your return trip a bit shorter.
Re: your other question about the stopover -- it is any length of time, up to 7 days. the people I know who have done it stayed roughly 48 hours. Reykjavik is pretty small so unless you want to rent a car and explore Iceland, a couple of days should be more than enough.
That isn't how Eurail works. You get a specified number of "travel days" during a period of time. Unlimited trips on those days. It's not like you can show your pass and hop on any train going anywhere at any time. Some trains require reservations -- even for rail pass holders.
A typical pass is "11 travel days over a two month period, valid in a specific four countries." Even with the restrictions, this is my preferred way to travel in Europe (and the UK, which has their own rail pass system).
I think it was 6 days over a 2 month period for a little over $500.....per person. That's what I was looking at.
An alternative would be get back to Brussels before you leave, enabling you to do PDX-BRU round trip. With Ryanair: Athens-Brussels (Charleroi) is 50 euros one-way, Athens-Rome 45 euros, Brussels-Rome is less than 30 euros some days, etc. Of course you'd need to figure out whether the extra baggage fees and perhaps hassle are worth it. Athens-Charleroi is a 3-hour flight and you'd need to switch airports to do BRU-KEF-PDX.
Another thing to consider is that ATH-PDX is serious travel no matter how you do it -- Turkish, Ryanair+Icelandair, or anything else, you're looking at close to 24 hours in a plane or an airport. That's why (1) the Reykjavik stopover can be interesting (2 three-hour flights ATH-BRU-KEF), or (2) if you can end your trip somewhere in Western Europe instead of Greece, you can make your return trip a bit shorter.
Re: your other question about the stopover -- it is any length of time, up to 7 days. the people I know who have done it stayed roughly 48 hours. Reykjavik is pretty small so unless you want to rent a car and explore Iceland, a couple of days should be more than enough.
Two days might be fun. Airfare from ATH - BRU is cheap. Thanks for that. Great idea.
We're starting to worry that we won't be able to afford this trip. I'm getting anxiety. LOL It would be a trip of a lifetime, but we could do many trips (closer to home) for what we'll spend on this one.
Dublin is generally one of the cheaper places in Europe to fly into ,if you're then willing to use a mix of low coast air carriers and trains to work your way to Athens.
Going through Dublin in this manner has saved me money on many flights!
Two days might be fun. Airfare from ATH - BRU is cheap. Thanks for that. Great idea.
We're starting to worry that we won't be able to afford this trip. I'm getting anxiety. LOL It would be a trip of a lifetime, but we could do many trips (closer to home) for what we'll spend on this one.
It is well worth the cost to visit Europe....don't back out!! Have you talked to a travel agent to help coordinate everything? I normally book my own trips from beginning to end, but on my first trip to Europe (spanning France/Germany/CZR/Austria/back to Germany) in two weeks, I used a travel agent through AAA. She was fabulous and really helped me get GREAT fares on the air and the train. After being there, I now feel comfortable booking my own, but having her was a fabulous way to get the first trip booked. And it wasn't any more expensive than if I had done it on my own. Feel free to message me with any questions! I've gotten pretty good at the travel booking over the past few years, even venturing into the Middle East last month!!
Speaking of AAA, they've got reciprocal agreements with European auto clubs so you can sometimes get the same sorts of AAA lodging discounts you get in North America. In my experience, the AAA discount rate for a fully cancelable room is roughly the same as the nonrefundable advanced purchase rate.
One bit of advice, make sure you actually take some time and enjoy the destinations you visit. I know of more than a few people who overdid it. Sure they saw a lot but they didn't spend much time actually enjoying the destinations, because it was a race from one attraction to the next, cramming as much as they could into the short amount of time they had.
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