who has got family stranded by the volcanic ash?

[MrsShu]

me ! easy jet have cancelled return flight

delayed in the maldives...

How bad can it be?

My GF has her in-laws over in Dubai. And they won't be departing anytime soon.

fondue, yes I think the ports are going to be littered with abandoned bikes. In the paper yesterday it said the ferry people were insisting people ride their bikes on and off...fun for people with 2 suitcases to balance, and apparently there was a businessman wobbling on a kids bike.

How bloody stupid... also the empty places on trains (presumably caused by people not getting there in time) - you'd think Eurostar could implement a 'standby' to fill up no-show places, wouldn't you?

And the French port authorities wouldn't let some intrepid 'dunkirk spirit' types with RIBs take people for free from Calais - because it would 'undercut the ferries'
They'd better not try pulling that one with the British Navy!

Fondue is right of course that Geneva is expensive so if anyone is stuck here, please let either MM or myself know so we can offer you a bed for the night. You can pay well over €150 for a hotel in Geneva, and that often does not include breakfast.

Interesting that the trains are not full, Fondue.

I think that people are booking tickets on trains and then maybe missing them or then deciding to take other options. On the Italian site it says that international trains are full until Saturday however a friend got 2 sleeper seats for tonight to Paris presenting herself at the station.

Not taking foot passengers in these circs is bloody ridiculous. The ferry companies should be ashamed.

I think it is good that the gov have got involved. Lots of teachers, doctors and nurses are stuck. Not to mention the kids about to sit examines and self employed people.

Dont think they will go as far as KL though. I think the plan is to fly everyone to Spain then transport them by boat from there.

Exames!

Agree that the ferry companies have some explaining to do re foot passengers.

Does anyone know what happens if a child is late back from holiday and cannot sit an exam? There was a story in the mail of a family who spent £8000 getting back from Europe, including chartering a boat to get their son back in time to sit his exams.

Surely in these circumstances the boy would have been allowed to sit his exam later?

Think that people who are making a stupid profit out of circumstances like this should be reported to the department of transport ( or similar) after this is over and have licences revoked. Taxis, hotels, car hire comps, anyone really !
I am amazed that TUI / Easy Jet or similar haven't already been looking at using the planes / crews in areas where planes can fly Greece / Canaries etc to fly plane loads of people to mainland areas where transport up to the Uk is possible. There are shed loads stranded in Cyprus, Greece, Malta etc.

Thanks MmeLindt, makes life feel normal to be able to mn my worries away! We are considering trying to get across to Spain on Thurs if our Sat flight looks unlikely by then. Can't face the whole journey just yet but pils friends have house in Spain we could stop at a while.

Colleague of mine just had an epic journey back from Egypt (via Geneva) and said that, once he finally got to Calais, there were 4 ferries lined up and only one was full.

According to newsround things will start moving tomorrow

ROME - COACHES OUT. Just worked tirelessly all day to get my daughter and my mum out of Rome. The British embassy is running coaches from the embassy, expensive at 280 euros a seat. We rang 'Sylvia' at the embassy on 06 42 20 22 74 - last I heard she was fairly sure more buses would be run tomorrow. Hope this helps.

Sophia I'll keep my fingers crossed for you tomorrow.

(Yes, English magazines/newspapers are stupidly expensive here. But money well spent imho, I'm so happy I can still find my fav British magazines here!)

Hi all,

My DP is thinking of leaving from northern greece where we are to try & get to London. He can fly either to nice or rome. Spain too but that's too far perhaps. Options then are: train from nice to paris & then eurostar. OR train from Rome to Brussels & then eurostar. Plan 1 quicker (I think!) Plan 2 easier because DP has friends he can stay at in Brussels.

Does anyone have experience of these routes & could you give advice? I very easily found info on TGV (Nice-Paris), but couldn't find info on any train from Rome to Brussels. Any website that would help?

You need treni italian maria, here www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD

treni italia

Rosa is there any way we can get in touch with you? We are due to fly to Rome on Wednesday arriving arnd 1830 and then hope to try and get tickets on the train and get to Caen in France to catch a ferry (although we're 'foot' passengers so looks like we won't get on a ferry anyway)

We're currently in Greece btw.

Thank you.

Sky news reporting that UK airspace will open tomorrow.

Swiss airspace closed until tomorrow morning, next update on Geneva airport website at 9pm (so 8pm GMT)

Seat 61.com will help with train routes. However I've just been researching for DH "trapped" in Israel. He could get flights to Rome or Madrid but having failed to work my way through the various train company websites I phoned Festiniog Travel (specialist rail travel agency). The word was they (& therefore us mere mortals) cannot book anything right now, bookings can only be done in person at the station. Also this notice from Rail Europe that says they can no longer book for passengers outside France.

News just reported that UK airspace will reopen tomorrow.

Hi everyone

DP was stuck in Milan - has been since Thursday - and has finally got a coach to Paris, which he's on now. He has a ferry tomorrow afternoon, but no accommodation for tonight.

Is there a website I can use to check hotel availability in Paris? Or would that just be too easy? Any advice?

I'm in New York till 1st May with DH and 6 month old dd.

help...

I have used Hotel info to look for hotels before, tends to be good.

Or HRS