UK/Germany travel help needed

In My Humble Opinion
1

My husband and I are planning a trip to the UK and Germany this summer, and while we are generally quite good at scouring the web for all kinds of info to get good deals, we are a little bit stuck with the logistics of one part of it, so I turn to you, dear Dopers, to give me advice!

Here’s the situation:

On Friday July 22, 4 adults need to get from Manchester, UK to the Black Forest in Germany (so either Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Strasburg airports will do). 2 of those adults (GB) need to return to Manchester on Sunday July 24, while the other 2 (CAN) will continue on with a car rented in Germany and spend the week in that country (the car rental is taken care of, thanks to one person working for a rental company!)

On July 29, the 2 adults in Germany need to get back to London Heathrow from Berlin in order to take a July 30 flight back to Canada.

GB will likely travel very light, so can take a no-frills airline if they have to. CAN will have a full sized suitcase each, as well as carry-ons, so the extra fees on a no-frills airline might not make it worthwhile compared to a regular airline. There is no need for the 2 pairs of adults to travel on the same flights, though ending up at the same airport in Germany around the same time is ideal. GB basically needs to fly, as we think driving is too slow and expensive from Manchester to the Black Forest.

So the problem is mostly CAN’s itinerary: Manchester->(Stuttgart/Frankfurt/Strasburg) and then Berlin->London Heathrow. . CAN is willing to take a train back to the UK if that’s cheaper, though 14 hours in a train plus several hours on a plane to Canada via New York doesn’t sound like the best way to end a trip (then again, airlines offer free booze on international flights…)!

So basically, I’m trying to find cheap, efficient ways to travel through a weird itinerary. The dates are pretty much set in stone, and the locations absolutely are (hotel is booked in Berlin and must, must, must go to a particular town in the Black Forest for personal reasons).

I don’t know the best websites to find deals in the UK or Germany, and I’m not sure what tricks or routes are the best. I’m hoping Dopers have some sort of travel advice!

Any ideas?

2

Although I haven’t been to Europe in far too long, I have lots of friends there and they often come visit.
Your itinerary is set in stone - not a good thing when trying to be creative with booking travel at the last minute. Just to give you some indication of what you will be dealing with - my German friends book 6 months in advance for any trip they are going to make, if not more!
There are some cheap(er) charter airlines in Europe that have some great deals - but you either have to book LONG in advance, or risk taking the extra-cheap, last minute deals that may or may not be available when you need them. Otherwise, they ain’t so cheap either.
I think you are the perfect candidate for a real travel agent. Trying to do this on your own, with those very specific dates and time, is going to be a royal pain in the ass…and all it will take will be one minor snafu and you will wind up paying a fortune for a full price flight to make up for it.

3

I’m not really very experienced at travelling so apologies if this is of no use to you, but I live in the UK and if I were trying to get from Manchester to Stuttgart, I would simply start by Googling “Cheap flights Manchester-Stuttgart” and see what comes up. Most likely this will throw up links to Expedia, Opodo, and Cheapflights.com. I have never made a purchase through these sites but they are a useful starting point. After looking at what they have to offer I would probably go to the site of the airlines they were suggesting to check deals there. If they did not come up on searching via Expedia, I would also try EasyJet, Ryanair, and BMI (the UK’s three largest budget airlines, I believe - as you say, you will need to watch for extra charges). British Airways, Air France, and Lufthansa are probably also worth checking out.

Also, don’t discount the possibility of the train, though it would involve at least 2 changes - Manchester to London by train takes about 3 hours, London to Paris on the Eurostar is (I think) about another 3 hours, and then I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a direct train from Paris to Stuttgart and/or Frankfurt, and almost certainly there will be one to Strasbourg. How long that last leg will take I am not sure, I travelled to the Rhine valley in Germany by train from the UK several years ago and it was quicker and more efficient than you might imagine. Carrying large bags around stations is obviously a pain though, most stations are less luggage trolley-friendly than most airports.

Apologies if you have already thought of all this, I second the advice of seeing an actual travel agent but going in prepared with some idea of the costs is always a good idea, which you should be able to do with the above method. Good luck!

4

Manchester’s one of the biggest airports in the UK. There’s direct flights from Manchester to both Frankfurt and Stuttgart. No way would I take a train at any point on this journey unless it was absolutely necessary, especially not to London. When booking flights, I use Skyscanner to find the best deal.

5

Thanks everyone. We would have liked to plan this trip more ahead of time, but a few things only fell into place to make it possible recently. The two Canadians are very flexible in their travelling - except for getting from Berlin to London on the 29th, but the other couple (GB) are limited to a long weekend and as I said, we have personal reasons for going to the Black Forest, but not an actual deadline other than trying to make it work on that weekend!

I’ve googled, used Expedia and other websites. I’ve found various ideas, but I didn’t really know whether they were reliable or really good deals from the point of view of UK/European residents. I’ll take a look at Skyscanner, I’d never heard of that one! That’s the kind of information I was hoping to get!

Our budget isn’t super tight, but we do enjoy saving when we can! In other words, we are cheap, not poor! :slight_smile: We considered talking to a travel agent, but we are cheap enough to not want to pay them more than what the airline would charge us directly! I’ll keep researching this week, and maybe use one if I can’t come up with a convenient solution. I’m done school but not working, so it’s not like I don’t have a ton of time to research this!

Thanks for the advice so far! If any one else has any suggestions, I’d love to hear it!

6

Hi,

Lufthansa (operated by Contact Air) has a flight from Strasbourg to Manchester.

If you fly Easyjet from Berlin Schoenfield to London GATWICK (about a 40 minute train ride to central London) that will be very cheap if booked well i n advance, but that might not have the luggage allowance you need for Canada. Alternatively British Airways have a flight from Berlin Tegel to London Heathrow which can be reasonable if booked early.

Flying in Europe is generally cheaper than taking the train. The cheapest tickets are got when you book early.

Good luck.

On Friday July 22, 4 adults need to get from Manchester, UK to the Black Forest in Germany (so either Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Strasburg airports will do). 2 of those adults (GB) need to return to Manchester on Sunday July 24, while the other 2 (CAN) will continue on with a car rented in Germany and spend the week in that country (the car rental is taken care of, thanks to one person working for a rental company!)

On July 29, the 2 adults in Germany need to get back to London Heathrow from Berlin in order to take a July 30 flight back to Canada.

GB will likely travel very light, so can take a no-frills airline if they have to. CAN will have a full sized suitcase each, as well as carry-ons, so the extra fees on a no-frills airline might not make it worthwhile compared to a regular airline. There is no need for the 2 pairs of adults to travel on the same flights, though ending up at the same airport in Germany around the same time is ideal. GB basically needs to fly, as we think driving is too slow and expensive from Manchester to the Black Forest.

So the problem is mostly CAN’s itinerary: Manchester->(Stuttgart/Frankfurt/Strasburg) and then Berlin->London Heathrow. . CAN is willing to take a train back to the UK if that’s cheaper, though 14 hours in a train plus several hours on a plane to Canada via New York doesn’t sound like the best way to end a trip (then again, airlines offer free booze on international flights…)!

So basically, I’m trying to find cheap, efficient ways to travel through a weird itinerary. The dates are pretty much set in stone, and the locations absolutely are (hotel is booked in Berlin and must, must, must go to a particular town in the Black Forest for personal reasons).

I don’t know the best websites to find deals in the UK or Germany, and I’m not sure what tricks or routes are the best. I’m hoping Dopers have some sort of travel advice!

Any ideas?