I know it sounds crazy to zigzag around, but I found that flying Paris to London to Denmark, with an overnight stay in between, really was cheaper by at least 60 pounds. Of course, I could have taken an overnight train through Hamburg, in a second-class seat the whole way, but the aches and sleeplessness wouldn't have been worth the savings: I'm no backpacking 20-something.   Besides, this way I get a night of drinking English draught beer.

Thanks for all the help. Any chance there'd be folk music in a Dunmow pub on a Thursday evening?