Best way to get to Billund from Paris

ryderfan

This question is is primarily for those who live fairly close to Billund (I'm from Texas, so I consider all of western Europe fairly close). I will be in Paris in June. So it easier to fly or take the train to Billund?

Thanks,
Kevin

Huw

Fly. There is no train station near Billund.

ryderfan

Thanks for the info. It appears to be cheaper to fly to Copenhagen and perhaps drive/take a bus to Billund. It's four hours, but still half the price of the direct flight to Billund.

CCC

Ryanair fly to Billund. You might find a two stop flight is better than taking a flight and a bus. From UK, they do Stansted - Billund, maybe more.

TigerMoth

Huw said:

Fly. There is no train station near Billund.

Saying that to someone from a place the size of Texas is a bit disingenuous!

There's a station "just down the road" (20 miles away) in Vejle - right next to the bus station (30 minutes to Billund). There are direct services to Hamburg in Germany.

The overall journey from Paris, isn't quick, even considering it uses the fastest trains Europe has to offer, and it'll depend on your itinerary and preferences, but don't let anybody tell you it's not possible or practical.

Lego91

Paris - Frankfurt - Billund.
There is a flight by Lufthansa going every day from Frankfurt.
Paris - Frankfurt with train and then plane to Billund. (Depends on the price,
could be cheaper to fly to Frankfurt.)

Just an idea. (Because I watch the flight often on Flightradar.)

legogal

I used Stansted on the way over and Frankfurt on the way home. Flying is much easier. Just buy way in advance and avoid weekends and school holidays. (And I am a Texan, and wouldn't try the train/bus/taxi route personally, but then most Texans probably would not either.) On Ryanair, make sure you buy the larger bag option early on. The price swings up deceivingly fast as the day of the flight nears.

Lufthansa did not seem to care how much LEGO you carry on the plane in yellow bags at Billund. It was quite a scene watching folks board post-Legoland! But watch out for later transfers where you might get charged for all that yellow. It is helpful to know that Billund really is in the middle of nowhere, but it is quite a lovely nowhere to be stranded in. As small as Europe is, it is quite hard to get to Billund from just about anywhere. And my good friends in the Netherlands had never been north on a vacation because the weather is even crappier up there than at home for them. They always go south for holidays. That really surprised me!

TigerMoth

You seem to have some odd ideas about European geography, distances and travel!

Billund is a small town, but has the second a largest airport in Denmark. You have to realise that Denmark doesn't do "big" - there's only one city with a poluation of more than 250,000,  but that doesn't mean anything is particularly remote either. I've already be said that Vejle is only a half-an-hour drive away; that's one of the dozen largest towns - it just isn't very large!

The main reason the Dutch (whatever they have to do with Denmark) don't go north is that there isn't anything between them and the North Pole, and no land until you get to around the Bering Straits. By deviating a bit, you'll find the Nordic countries, but they have always been a separate part of Europe and are culturally different. It's slightly different for the Danes who share that Scandinavian heritage but, for the Dutch, "Europe" is south and west.

And going back to the original question, if you really want to fly, there are direct flights from Paris to Billund with Air France or their subsidiary HOP! - and there a supposed to be quite a few new carriers / routes flying to Billund next summer (once one budget carrier flies somewhere, the rest tend to follow).

TigerMoth

West? How can a spell-checker switch compass points.

Europe is south and east from Holland.

legogal

@TigerMoth Yup, we all have odd ideas about travel on other continents! Personally I love Denmark and its smallness. This can be hard to explain to many folks from large countries. So where are you from?

TigerMoth

Everywhere has "small"; it's just that some places don't have "big". But Billund isn't in the "middle of nowhere" by any standard.

TheBigLegoski

@legogal
It is true, the majority of Dutch people will never go on holiday to Scandinavia. The (meteorological) climate is very much the same in Denmark and the Netherlands, and because most Dutch people like to go visit sunnier places (unless they go skiing etc.) on holiday they travel south to France, Italy, Spain etc. Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) is also quite expensive, another reason why most Dutch will travel to other continental European countries.

Contrary to what @TigerMoth thinks, or at least how he phrased it, Dutch and Danish culture are very similar. Though he is absolutely correct in stating that the Danish are distinctly part of Scandinavian heritage, even though geographically Denmark is not part of the Scandinavian peninsula. Hundreds of Dutch ships annually already back in the 16th (1500) century sailed up and down the Baltic sea to do trade with all the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, or more accurately since Europe was mainly comprised of feudal societies, with the aristocracy who very cheaply on large scale grew wheat. Wheat was in fact the most important commodity for the Dutch Republic during the 16th and 17th century. Actually before anyone had experienced and heard of the Vikings in Europe, the Frisians were already raiding the coasts of Europe, for which the Vikings are now still remembered. The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain was also a Frisian invasion, even though they are hardly ever mentioned. The Roman conquerors of Britain, long before that, also employed Frysian mercenaries to aid them in their quest to seize and hold these lands. Both the Danes and Dutch (don't ask me why in English we are referred to as the Dutch?!) originate from (in part anyway) the same ethnic Germanic group/tribe/people. Though Dutch (Nederlands) and Frisian (the languages) are Western Germanic languages, Danish however is linguistically one of the three Northern Germanic languages.

Back to the original question: if you have lots of time, and you are not in a hurry to get to Billund, rent a car! Contrary to the lousy speed restrictions in the USA there are plenty of stretches of 'autobahn' in Germany where you can drive as fast as your car will allow you to go, which I think is fun! Though you might have to check your insurance coverage if you plan on driving really really fast. France also has good motorways, though most highways are toll roads and the max. allowed speed is 130kmph. Make a pit-stop in Luxembourg to get cheap petrol. Stop and visit some other places along the way, stay overnight at some budget h/motels, and you could have a really nice trip. The distance from Paris to Bilund though is almost 1200 km. If your are not going to visit any other places in the meanwhile, you can easily do this in one day. It is almost as far as driving from Dallas, Texas to Atlanta in Georgia. I don't know if you Americans, who generally seem to have a different attitude with regards to distance from many Europeans because of the larger geographical scale of everything in the states, think this is too far to travel by car? Otherwise just fly.

TigerMoth

The Dutch and the Danes have cultural similarities but are still rather different. The former being Saxons, early converts to Christianity; the latter, the much longer-term pagan Vikings - different tribes with common roots but different histories.

Saxons? Saxony is in Germany. Therein lies the clue to your question. "Dutch" simply meant people - so you had the High Saxons from the mountainous areas in southern Germany, the Deutsch, and the Low Saxons, the Dutch, from the lowlands.

TheBigLegoski

@TigerMoth
Of course the Danish and Dutch are distinct peoples with their own history, culture, and language, nevertheless they are in so many respect very similar. How long it took before all Danes converted to christianity, I am not entirely sure, but I do know that many people living in what is now called the Netherlands still worshipped the older Germanic Gods until the early eight century, before they in some cases forcefully were converted to Christianity. The indigenous Dutch (Nederlanders) are descendants from Frisians (Friezen), Batavians (Batavieren), Franks (Franken), and Saxons (Saksen).

'Dutch' simply is Anglophone terminology. The Dutch do not, nor ever have referred to themselves in the past as Dutch, but as Nederlander and/or Hollander, Fries, Brabander, Limburger, Groninger, Drent, etcetera etc. In the same way that the Germans (Germania is a Latin term), even though both the Dutch and the Germans are Germanic peoples, always refer to themselves as Deutsch, and in addition referring to themselves as from Bayern or what ever other specific modern 'bundesland' or ancient region they are from etc. In the same way that a Scot or someone from Wales may also refer to him or her self as Britisch, but never as English.

Old Dutch linguistically is not Saxon, but rather Oudnederlands and/or Oudnederfrankisch, which is distinct from Oudnederduits or Oldsaxon if you like.

NiederSaksen is a constituent state of the bundesrepublik Deutschland. The Saxons were alongside the Angles, the Jutes, and the Frisians, four Germanic peoples of whom many in the fifth century AD with the collapse of the Roman Empire invaded Britain. Many of todays British people are still descendants from these Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians, next to the later wave of invaders from Normandy, as well as the earlier Celts which prior to the Romans already had settled in Briton. The Saxons derive their name from the type of weapon they carried; a Seax, a type of long knife, which also happens to be the Old English word for knife. The etymology of English place names such as Essex and Middlesex is even derived from this.  

Lego91

Well, I'm not good when it comes to history, but for me the main difference between South Germany and the Netherlands/Denmark/North Germany is the flatness. I've never been there, but people told me that it takes some time to get used to it. The highest point in Denmark is smaller/lower than the height between my workplace and where I live. (I hope that makes sense.) Stuttgart's special geographical area makes it possible. 

Less than 40 days until my Denmark trip so I can see for myself if I get crazy because of everything being flat. ;-)

Bricklover18

I just learned a lot about European history by reading these posts...

dougts

legogal said:

(And I am a Texan, and wouldn't try the train/bus/taxi route personally, but then most Texans probably would not either.) 

No self-respecting Texan uses trains/buses. Do they even have buses in Texas?

:-)

khmellymel

When I went to Billund in August, I flew (London) Stansted to Copenhagen via Ryanair (and stayed a few days, it's a nice city).  From Copenhagen, I took the train to Vejle and transferred to a bus to go the rest of the way to Billund (the bus station is pretty much in the same spot).

It sounds a lot more complicated than it is, trust me.  It was actually very easy!  And it was by far the cheapest way I found to get there.

TigerMoth

Eh?

You questioned why the English refer to the Dutch as such. The reason is as I described.

Whether it was appropriate or not is neither here nor there, although, today, the Dutch generally have no problem understanding the relatively few northern German speakers of Plattdeutsche - Low German.

The German word has come to mean something different - although, if you think about, only slightly because it still relates to "the people".

This all also explains why the Pensylvania Dutch come from... Germany.