Our propagandize is formulation a outing to Europe as well as we’re carrying difficulty determining in between renting a outpost for a complete length of a outing or roving a train. We’re formulation upon upon vacation London, Caen, Giverny, Paris, Zurich, Milan, Nice, as well as Barcelona, in that order.
I’ve listened multiform opinions upon cars vs. train. On a single hand, you have a jam-packed report as well as a automobile would be good so you didn’t have to follow a rail schedule. But in a end it will come down to that process is cheaper.
Your opinions? Thanks!
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Your plan to rent a car/van in the United Kingdom would not work, since no rental company offers one-way car rental from the U.K. to Spain.
Travel by train involves the following travel time and fares per person, although I am sure that you can get cheaper offers for group travel. The fares are based on regular tickets in 2nd class; fares in parenthesis are limited special offers or non-flexible tickets.
From – to • travel time (h:mm) • fare in £/€/frs. — fare in $
London St.Pancras Intl – Paris Nord • 2:15 • £141 (£106) — $227 ($170)
Paris St. Lazare – Caen • 1:55-2:13 • €32.00 — $42.60
Caen – Vernon via Rouen • 2:31-2:46 • €30.30 — $40.35
Vernon – Paris St. Lazare • 0:50-0:59 • €12.80 — $17.05
Paris Est – Zürich HB • 4:36 • € 107.00 (€74.00) — $142.50 ($98.50)
Zürich HB – Milano Centrale • 3:41 • 92 frs. (45 frs.) — $94.10 ($46.00)
Milano Centrale – Ventimiglia • 4:02 • €24.50 — $32.60
Ventimiglia – Monaco Monte Carlo • 0:28 • €3.40 — $4.50
Monaco Monte Carlo – Nice Ville • 0:28 • €3.40 — $4.50
Nice Ville – Avignon TGV • 3:02 • €50.50 (€29.50) — $67.20 ($39.30)
Avignon TGV – Avignon by bus • 0:11 • €1.50 — $2.00
Avignon – Montpellier • 0:56 • €15.40 — $20.50
Montpellier – Barcelona Estacion de Franca • 4:50 • €57.00 — $75.90
Total travel costs based on regular fares: $770.80
Total travel costs based on saving fares: $593.80
Another option would be to rent a car/van in France. However I recommend not to rent it all the way down to Barcelona since you will pay a hefty one-way renting supplement. Although we have border-less travel in Europe the car rental is still based on national provisions and French cars cannot be offered for rental in Spain, hence the car would need to be transported back to France by truck/trailer. If you would rent a BMW 3 or a Mercedes-Benz C in France and turn it in at the Barcelona Airport it would cost €1,541.99 ($2,053.22) for ten days. The same car turned in at the last main train station in France (Perpignan) would cost €916.99 ($1.220.62). The train travel from Perpignan to Barcelona takes 3:05 hours and involves a fare of €37.00 or $49.25.
Instead of using the expensive Eurostar from London to Paris you should consider to take a night ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. The train travel from London Waterloo Station to Portsmouth Harbor takes 1:32 and costs £28.50 ($45.80).
The ferry departing 10:45pm and arriving 06:45am at Caen involves a fare of £57.75 or $92.85 in a 4-berth cabin based on 4 persons traveling.
However there are still some other things to be considered concerning car rental:
• the operator must be at least 25 years with 3 years of driving experience to rent an upper middle-class car;
• should vans or minibuses be offered for renting, the total number of passengers is limited to eight per vehicle; otherwise a special license is required;
• the travel as planned would involve toll and road-tax of €164.86 ($219.52) for Caen – Perpignan and of €178.87 ($238.20) for Caen – Barcelona.
• the price for a liter of gasoline is about €1.30 – €1.40 which amounts to about $6.50 – $7.00 for the U.S. gallon.
Based on the number of travelers you probably should consider to hire a bus with driver from Caen.
Source(s):
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm?redirect=true
http://www.sixt.com
http://www.voyages-sncf.com/
http://www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm
http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=3fdbe14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD
http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/_SvBoAvailabilityTravelCriteriaTerm?_TMS=1283360604427&_DLG=SvBoAvailabilityTravelCriteriaTerm&_LANG=UK&_AGENCY=ESTAR
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/planjourney/query
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/home
If you’re such a large group, and have such a tight schedule, I think that in this case a coach/small bus would work out better for you, but you should also have a suitably qualified driver. Trains do not wait for stragglers, but a coach/bus will give you some leeway into this. The only thing you’ll also need to look into is parking for the vehicle, as not every accommodation as sufficient parking for your needs.
Normally I tell very small groups or couples to take the train and have done with it, but in your case I think that a coach/bus would work out better.