Slash8915

iTrader: (21)

My girlfriend and I were talking about where to take our vacation, and we were considering heading over to England for a week. Now we JUST thought of this, so I haven't really looked into how expensive it's going to be, but I was wondering if anyone here can recommend some places to see over there. I want to do as much sightseeing as possible because it's mostly free, and their currency is 2x what ours is, so **** would get expensive FAST.

I was also wondering if any of you DID have recommendations on how to save money on this trip.

03Sssnake

iTrader: (20)

Get your airfare way in advance, it will you save you some coin.. My cousin and I took this trip right after our senior year of HS. We flew on an Air Canada flight out of Bush Intl, round trip was around 500-600 bucks, killer deal at the time. I did have a layover in Canada both ways for several hours, but that down time was spent drinking molson in the airport bar thanks to Canada's lower drinking age We landed at Heathrow and spent a night in London, then headed north to Scotland. I did not care much for Brits in London, but they got nicer the further north you went The Scot's were real nice folks and we spent a a lot of time in Edinburgh Scotland. We then took a twin catamaran ferry across the Irish sea to Dublin Ireland, which ******* rocked, spent some time there and later went to Cork Ireland to kiss the blarney stone etc, then Limerick Ireland. We stayed in youth hostels along the way, which are cheap, 10-20 pounds a night, sure they have gone up since. I backpacked as well, two pairs of jeans, few shirts etc...I took around 1500 bucks in travelers checks and that got me thru nearly 4 wks, you exchange them at currency exchange centers which are all over the UK. Went to several museums and historical sites, but mostly chased long faced UK women and drank our asses off.

luvmeZ28

iTrader: (3)

I lived over there for a few years when I was younger, dad was air force. London would be the obvious choice as the primary point of interest. Alot to see and do. You could get on a tour from there that goes out to some of the castles I'm sure. Paying for it, good luck! LOL you could probably find a group rate through a school or travel agent or something.

texas94z

I'd kick it hard in London if I had the chance.

TooMuchMoney

iTrader: (1)

How hard?

03Sssnake

iTrader: (20)

from the back to the front

Kickin hard

TooMuchMoney

iTrader: (1)

Sorry man too hard for me.

LeadfootDuramax

iTrader: (6)

My wife and I spent 3 days in London back in November. It was fun, but it dies get very expensive quickly. You will not need a car in London. Just buy a pass for the "tube" (subway). That is all you will need. There is plenty in London to keep you busy for 4 days. We really hustled to see a ton of stuff and felt like another day or 2 could have been nice. It just depends on what you want to see.

If you are looking for a cheap place to stay. There is a place called the Cherry Court Hotel. It is not super nice or fancy, but fine and very cheap for a decent place. The bed is a bed. It is cheap though. Something like 55 british pounds a night. It is very close to the Victoria "tube" station which has many different lines running through it making it an easy home base for seeing London.

If you have any more questions, post up or PM me.

whatsa347

iTrader: (6)

I've got family in England, its not really anything special. We save up our money and go to the islands in greece where we have all our other family. Nothing against England or anything but the Mediterranean is where its at.

ZFSix

iTrader: (14)

I went in 2000, we were in Paris for a week and took a ride on the train through the Chunnel over to London for a day. It didn't leave much of an impression on me, but it's definitely cool to see. I'd probably go back now that I am older.

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

I've been to London once and Europe a few times. My advice is to watch Rick Steve's show on Brittian to get ideas. Check out some travel books and make copies of pages that have things that interest you. You'll find there is more to do than you bave time for. Prioritize what you want to see most and make a route based on that with alternatives incase something is closed or the weather is bad. We had a things in Switzerland planned once, but moved more north into Germany due to flooding in the area.

Once you have that decide how you are going to travel. We go on the cheap with a backpack per person. We also tend to stay in Hostels. We've gotten nice rooms for as low as $10/night. Some come with breakfast too. London was expensive even at the hostel @$100/night and that was 10 years ago. You do need to get a hostel card if you go this route. Some hostels in Europe are in old castle and such. My wife and I always got out own room too. We only had to share a room once.
There really isn't a need for a car anywhere in Europe. If you're going from town to town a lot, check out a Britrail pass. Some ferries are covered by this too. If going to Ireland, make sure it'll work there because I think they may be on Eurail and not Britrail. Buses will take you places trains don't, and as stated ride the underground in London.

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

I forgot to mention, make a little notebook itenerary with the pages you copied from travel books. Its just good to have as a reference incase you need/want to change things up.
While in London, ride a double decker at least once. I also didn't mention that most cities will have a flat rate day pass for transportation too. Its unlimited riding for the time period. If you're jumping buses or subways a lot to get around this will be cheaper.

Have fun, don't feel you have to do everything in one trip, be aware of your surroundings, and protect yourself against pickpockets (money belt). There are more there than here and they are good.

Slash8915

iTrader: (21)

In Hostels, don't you sleep in the same room with a bunch of random people? That'd be weird...

TWS

iTrader: (63)

Spent a week in England on vacation in '94. 3 days/nights in London and the balance of the week in Southeastern England. London was - and still very much is - expensive. However in 3 days we were able to hit most of the major tourist hot spots. Rented a car and headed out. Funny to drive on the "wrong" side of the road from the "wrong" side of the car and shift with my left hand, but it really wasn't bad at all. Just learn the rules for handling roundabouts so you don't **** everyone off or worse get in a crash. We hit Canterbury, Dover, Hastings, etc. lot of touristy spots in that region and it was a good time. We would stay in a bed and breakfast and that's much better than finding a hotel (actually more B&B's than hotels esp in the countryside from what I saw).

TWS

iTrader: (63)

Depends on the hostel. I've stayed in a couple in Europe where your party had their own room but all bathroom facilities were shared - like a big bathroom down the hall on each floor.

ggriffin59

iTrader: (7)

Try the Lonely Planet site or books for travel tips, places, reviews, prices. 9 years ago I stayed in London hostels for around $15/day & got round trip air for $350 on Continental from Houston. I've seen flights during the last year for under $500. Just keep checking the 'cheap air' sites & you'll find a bargain. You can also get 'hop-on, hop-off' tour bus tix reasonable, you know the big, red double-decker buses . . . Between that & the 'Tube', you can go anywhere you need. Check Hyde Park on Sunday mornings, radicals get on their soapbox, It's a show!

TooMuchMoney

iTrader: (1)

Think about it sometimes that random group of people could be a room full of hot Euro chicks..........if you land that room its game on.

Greed4Speed

iTrader: (7)

We only did once and they were from the US. They let us know before we paid. It was single bunks so kind like band camp. Hahaha They were all cool and we were all going to Neuschwanstein the next day so we all hung together for the day too.
All the others gave us our own room because we were a couple. We tend to go off the beaten path so several times there weren't very many people even there and most were families. Most Hostels also have a washer and dryer which comes in handy when backpacking.

Weird was when we did a sleeper car from Vienne to Berlin. There was a stowaway from Budapest that we had to get kicked out. There were 6 bunks with about 18" between them, and a person in each bunk. No sleep that night, and I'll never do that again.

I just though of this. If you're making a day trip by train. The sations have lockers for packs so you don't have to carry them around town.

ORedRoc4

iTrader: (15)

I was stationed there for 4 years, I'm right up the road (and see you pretty regularly) you can feel free to come by and shoot the **** about the place, I have tons of pictures from there to give you ideas of what to see and what not too, info on where to stay and how to really stretch your dollar (gonna need it because that place is stupid expensive)

-Justin

Slash8915

iTrader: (21)

I might have to take you up on that. Where do you live?

Aren't you you the guy I saw about a year ago when I worked in Pasadena? I think you saw my car on Fairmont before I had the cam/heads install.