Please help me get to Germany!

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

I have a very close friend who is getting married in Bad Ischl next March and I'm struggling to sort out travel.

A friend has agreed to look after our ds's for 2 nights.

The wedding is on 11th March at lunchtime.

I live in South Wales and would need to fly out on Thursday 10th March and return on Saturday 12th (in time to collect DS's before bed time).

I am not the greatest at sorting out travel arrangements so would welcome some advice or experiences form the MN collective!

Just have a look at the websites of the airlines that fly out from your nearest airport to the nearest airport you need to get to in Germany.

Or use a screen scraper like kayak or skyscanner, pop in your travel dates and you'll see what flight times are available and what fares there are for each of the available flights.

The only Bad Ischl I know of is in Austria? In which case you need to fly to Salzburg. Have a look at Sky Scanner

...otherwise fly London Heathrow to Munich (then hire car or train) for more choice.

Yes it is in Austria, but I've had no luck getting flights at the right times to Salzburg or Innsbruck so I was looking the other side of the border.

I'll try sky scanner - thanks for the tip.

Does anyone know if the train could be an option? I've not been on a train for years - let alone one in a different country!

Munich would be your best bet if Salzburg is no use.

German Wings, but no flight on Sunday.

Is there any way you could stay till Sunday?

Sorry, no flight on Saturday.

tward flight: Best tariff
Connecting flight Connecting flight 1 London-Stansted -> Cologne-Bonn
Departure: 09.03.2011, 07:50 h
Arrival: 09.03.2011, 10:10 h
2 Cologne-Bonn -> Munich
Departure: 09.03.2011, 14:00 h
Arrival: 09.03.2011, 15:05 h
Services included:

* 1 item of luggage per person
* seat reservation
* snack and drink

Return flight: Best tariff
Connecting flight Connecting flight 1 Munich -> Cologne-Bonn
Departure: 13.03.2011, 17:05 h
Arrival: 13.03.2011, 18:10 h
2 Cologne-Bonn -> London-Stansted
Departure: 13.03.2011, 19:45 h
Arrival: 13.03.2011, 19:55 h
Services included:

* 1 item of luggage per person
* seat reservation
* snack and drink

2 Adults

377.98 £

Wait.

They fly (via Cologne) to Salzburg. And on Sat.

Outward flight: Basic tariff
Connecting flight Connecting flight 1

London-Stansted -> Cologne-Bonn

Departure: 09.03.2011, 07:50 h
Arrival: 09.03.2011, 10:10 h

2 Cologne-Bonn -> Salzburg
Departure: 09.03.2011, 12:10 h
Arrival: 09.03.2011, 13:15 h

Return flight: Basic tariff
Connecting flight Connecting flight 1

Salzburg -> Cologne-Bonn
Departure: 19.03.2011, 12:55 h
Arrival: 19.03.2011, 14:00 h

2 Cologne-Bonn -> London-Stansted
Departure: 19.03.2011, 19:00 h
Arrival: 19.03.2011, 19:10 h

2 Adults

209.96 £
Baggage surcharge and excess baggage

0.00 £
Seat reservation

0.00 £
Optional services

0.00 £
DB Rail&Fly

0.00 £
Travel insurance

£
Voucher

£
Transaction fee

£

Total 209.96 £

Your only problem is getting to Stansted from Wales for the very early flight, and you won't be home in time for bedtime.

Thank you very much for all of that.

You're right that the flight times are the problem. My friend has work and family commitments so can only have the boys for the Thursday and Friday nights.

Ryanair has flights, very early start on Wednesday

Going Out: 09/03/2011 06:35hrs
London-Stansted - Salzburg
2 x Adult 73.98 GBP
Taxes/Fees 0.00 GBP
2 x Web Check in 10.00 GBP
Coming Back: 12/03/2011 10:05hrs
Salzburg - London-Stansted
2 x Adult 73.98 GBP
Taxes/Fees 0.00 GBP
2 x Web Check in 10.00 GBP

or Friday morning

Going Out: 11/03/2011 06:35hrs
London-Stansted - Salzburg
2 x Adult 73.98 GBP
Taxes/Fees 0.00 GBP
2 x Web Check in 10.00 GBP
Coming Back: 13/03/2011 10:05hrs
Salzburg - London-Stansted
2 x Adult 73.98 GBP
Taxes/Fees 0.00 GBP
2 x Web Check in 10.00 GBP

Travel Extras
Going Out:
Coming Back:

Total
Total Cost 167.96 GBP
Excluding administration fee (if applicable)

If you can go to Munich, Lufthansa has at least 4 non-stop flights a day from Heathrow at £49 each way, inc. taxes and no other fees for baggage etc, being a normal scheduled airline. And you get a ryebread sandwich and drink for free too! ;)

We flew to Munich on Lufthansa for our holiday in Austria (Zell am See/Kaprun) last yr, its an easy drive.

Trains from Munich are fab as well. We've flown into Munich before and taken a train to stay at the lakes south of Munich. The train was one with destination Innsbrueck, so that might suit you. Beautiful scenery as well!