Help us with our budget family travel plan this winter from Milan to London.

@Danhiel Thank you very much for your reply.

yes we will take local train not to spend extra fee.

Is there anywhere you  recommend to visit additionally?

We are kind of thinking to add Munich or Vienna.

You don't have enough time for an extra destination.

On 17th December you could stop for a bit in the Alps if you want snow, Andermatt seems ideal. Take the hourly Treno Gottardo up the Gotthard old route and change in Göschenen (or simply stay onboard the whole way to Zurich).

If you travel to London from Brussels in the evening of the 21st you can get normal tickets for 57 EUR per adult. I don't know the price for the children. This is cheaper than the cost for a pass day plus the reservation fee of 30 EUR per person incl children. 

@AnnaB 

Thank you for searching!!😊
Your comment made me search for individual train prices.

It looks like If we book in advance, individual tickets are much cheaper than purchasing an Eurail Global Pass.

@thibcabe Thank you very much for wonderful suggestion!! We are living tropical island so seeing snow would be great experience for children.

I will consider taking your route. Which website do you think we need to check the price if we are not using Eurail?

You're welcome. For tickets in Switzerland you should check sbb.ch/SBB app. These will be the best choices for you:

- Saver Day Pass for the adults: https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/day-passes/saver-day-pass.html

- Day Pass Children for the... children: https://www.sbb.ch/en/tickets-offers/tickets/day-passes/day-pass-children.html

Actually for the most beautiful Alpine experience possible I must recommend the Bernina line. Timetables aren't available yet for your dates but it should be like this:

- R Milano Centrale - Tirano 10:20 - 12:52 12€ ticket (half for the children)

- lunch break; Swiss tickets valid from that point

- Bernina Express Tirano - Chur 14:24 - 18:22 -> travel on the reservation-free carriages at the front for the best experience (pull-down windows!)

- IC3 Chur - Zürich HB 18:38 - 19:53

- NJ to Amsterdam at 9-10pm

To get the most of the limited December daylight you could also leave earlier and use the hourly regional trains in Switzerland (Tirano - St. Moritz - Chur for example).

Since you're totally flexible with the tickets I mentioned feel free to decide closer to travel. Feeback after the trip welcome! ;)

@EboY 

This journey on the Bernina line is a good idea, but I would leave Milan earlier, not only for the daylight, but also to be earlier in Zurich. In case of delay, if you miss the connection with the night train, you must stay in Zurich for one night and it is not possible to obtain a refund of the hotel from the train companies.

Europe is not Japan, trains are not always on time.

If you change your mind and buy Eurail Passes, they are also valid on this line.

They would have at least 2 back-up trains if there was a delay. But yes I'd leave earlier for the daylight.

@Danhiel @thibcabe 

I really appreciate your suggestion. It will be such a breath-taking experience.

Since you mentioned Bernina Line, I have been watching YouTube videos of this beautiful place!!

We will leave Milan very early in the morning and take the train (Tirano-St. Moritz-Chur) like you suggested. 　

Now, it looks like buying the Eurail is cheaper than point to point tickets. So, I would like to ask one more question.

We have two days in Belgium (Brussels at this moment). But is there any recommended city to go?

19 Dec Amsterdam to Brussels

20        Brussels

21       Brussels to London

Thank you.ありがとう！

Gent is lovely and a good base for the surroundings. But I'll let local expert @BrendanDB make some suggestions. ;)

@EboY 

I would suggest Bruges (Brugge) but the appreciation of the local expert has priority. It were also possible to visit both cities in one day.

Most cities of Europe (including Bruges, Gent and the main station of Zürich) have Christmas markets in December and it is an unavoidable visit.

From the main station of Zürich you can see the « Bahnhofstrasse », one of the world's most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues, who is illuminated in December. In my opinion it is no more true, you can also find the same shops as everywhere in the world.

@Danhiel  I will add Bruges on 19th that we can get money worth for eurail pass!

19 Dec Amsterdam to Bruges then Brussels

20        Brussels

21       Brussels to London

Thank you again for your kind advice!!! 

Hmmm, I don’t like the Christmas market in my own city (Ghent). Littering our beautiful city centre with cheap wooden chalets with fake snow upon, isn’t my cuppa tea so I don’t recommend doing it. It makes the city also dreadfully busy and makes it feel fake, there are better moments in the year to savour Ghent ;) 

In Bruges they have in the end-of-year period a very nice winter light experience walk (what’s that in a name?) called Wintergloed or Winter glow. A bit early for information right now, but certainly something you cannot miss if you’re there: https://www.visitbruges.be/en/winter-glow/light-experience-trail

I always try to defend to take more time to discover Brussels, one can easily spend 3-4 days there. If the weather would be shitty and you don’t fancy doing Bruges in the cold or in the wet I’lld suggest doing Brussels properly. Don’t stay in the centre (around the Grand Place) or station areas (they are a bit meh) but go and discover a lot of the museums (Royal Museums of art and History, Fine Arts, Fin-de-Siècle, Bozar, Mima, Villa Empain, Tram Museum,...), cultural venues, parks (although winter is not the best time for parks), 19th century neighbourhoods with amazing architecture and tons of nice bars and restaurants (but most of them are out of the centre). A difficult city to appreciate at first sight, but once you get to know it most people love it ;)

@BrendanDB Thank you very much for your useful advice!! 

We will stop by Bruges to see Christmas market on 19th Dec :)

For 20th and 21st, we have whole day that able to explore.

Is there any recommended area we should visit for bars and restaurants?

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19 Dec Amsterdam to Bruges then Brussels

20        Brussels

21       Brussels to London

Hello, I’m not a much experienced of a traveler but when I travel month ago this article helps me to prepare my trip https://gowithguide.com/blog/how-to-plan-a-trip-5-essential-steps-5730 you could check this out also and I hope it helps you as much it helps me! Have fun in your trip.