Flying within Europe

Consider the following example for a situation when flying makes sense. Greece is a very common destination for first-time travelers in Europe. Let’s say you are in London, and want to go to the island of los and party yourself into a hospital bed. los is good for that. With a Eurail pass you would pay to cross the Channel (Eurail is not valid in England) by either Channel Tunnel train, ferry and train, bus, or whatever. You would then proceed, probably via Paris, to Rome, and on to the hellhole port of Brindisi, to catch a ferry to Athens.

The train ride from Paris to Brindisi will take roughly eighteen hours. You then get on the ferry in Brindisi, pay a port tax and summer supplement (even with a ferry that takes Eurail passes), and then spend the night sleeping either on the deck or in a room full of smoke. The next morning you arrive in Patras on the west coast of Greece, and pay for a bus, or wait for a train, to Piraeus, the port of Athens, which will probably involve a transfer. At the port you pay full price for a ferry, and spend another night on deck on the way to los, where you arrive the next morning.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? I’ve done it and it stinks. It’s less painful if you start from Rome, but it’s still eight hours from Rome to Brindisi. And you have to do the whole process in reverse to get back. The total cost, if you have a train pass, including couchettes, port taxes, etc, is around USD 120. Flying out of London to Athens, on the other hand, will cost about USD 200 round trip (or much less if you get a cheap flight with a no-frills airline), and you wilt arrive feeling like a human being instead of a piece of raw meat.