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Post by Jules80 on Jul 28, 2008 16:42:22 GMT -5
man i have been so out of it lately! I just saw this thread - how did your daughter like her experience? I've had friends that have done both... french speakers out west, and anglos from out west in quebec. All have found it extremely usefull. being bilingual already, i never did it...
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Post by Jules80 on Mar 19, 2007 20:18:12 GMT -5
that would be me crystal! i spent 6 days in shetland last year! it is a truly wonderful place tho next time i would take a car! although the bus system is quite good (particularly considering the small population) it is infrequent. and a car for 5 ppl is probably cheaper. that being said, the expense of getting to shetland only really makes it worth it for a min of 5 days. the ferry gets you there early in the mornign i believe and leaves aberdeen about 7 or 8 pm the day before. otherwise i would suggest stirling (2d), edinburgh (2 d), St-andrews (1), loch lomond (1)... and i'd love to go see loch ness one day and the isle of skye.
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Post by Jules80 on Feb 11, 2007 20:06:13 GMT -5
Hey
many people say that athens isn't a great place to visit. most people recommend the islands. i've never been tho. 3 days in venice is a lot. i'd recommend 2 days venice, 2 days Siena and 2-3 days in florence. or if nothing else do siena as a day trip from florence as there is way more to see in florence.
Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Feb 4, 2007 18:00:25 GMT -5
i believe reading these boards others have said trains in spain and portugal are not very good or frequent and that the bus is the best way to go for those countries.
J
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Post by Jules80 on Jan 21, 2007 12:48:24 GMT -5
i'm not really a fan of brussels i would suggest brugges... much prettier and more pleasant. you may find going from long to brussels straight away exhausting... don't forget the jet lag!
ibiza is quite the party spot - my cousins have been there many times! should be fun!
london really needs more than 3 days imo. check into it, buckingham palace may be open when you're there... its only open to the public at certain times of the year. i recomend the cabinet war rooms and the london walks tours - they're excellent. for plays there is the tkts tickets in leicester square... buy them the day of and they're much cheaper... these tend to be for plays that have been running for a while. while not likely to be cheap, i believe lord of the rings is now playing in london. i saw it in toronto and it is the most breath taking play i've ever seen.
Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Jan 19, 2007 17:16:37 GMT -5
Heidi,
looks like a great trip. couple of things. don't buy a eurail pass. if you're leaving the uk from edi fly to paris. if you're leaving from london, maybe the eurostar? fly from paris to rome (it will be quite a long train ride) there are loads of budget airlines with cheap flight (30-40 euros). don't buy a eurail pass for italy... in terms of trains, its really cheap in this country.
in february, deciding to stay an extra day at the last minute shouldn't be a problem. however if they have a booking for someone else the next night you won't get your room back. but as it is feb it should be less of a problem.
Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Jan 14, 2007 15:24:08 GMT -5
wow - way too many places there! for starters 1 day in dublin is a waste of time. you need at least 3 days and more like four to get over jet lag (assuming your coming from NA or Australia). you have a lot of 1-2 days stops which are rapidly gonna become exhausting. you should consider nixing them or extending your stay. i have no real comment on spain or portugal tho i have friends who would say at least 5 days for barcelona. marseilles you need more than a day and bordeaux ideal is 3 particularly if visiting wine country interests you (and personally that is why i went). brussels imho is the worst city on earth (except maybe for toronto ) and i would suggest brugges if you really want to go to belgium. its a very beautiful city and the people are soooo friendly! but i'd recommend 2 days. while i haven't been to prague, budapest or vienna i'm told that 3-4 days are very necessary there! 5 days for both paris and rome are a good amount of time. i'd suggest a day trip to tours from paris. the chateau are fabulous! Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Jan 9, 2007 19:13:49 GMT -5
4 days is a lot of time for zurich. you've got maybe 2 days worth of stuff to see there. however you can use it as a base to explore other areas in day trips tho. i do recommend the lindt factory tho! lots of cheap chocolate bout the only cheap thing about switzerland Julie
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Post by Jules80 on Dec 27, 2006 21:36:30 GMT -5
Hey
the only thing in terms of days is brugge. you have 3 days there which is a lot. brugge is beautiful but 1 -1.5 days is more than enough (unless you are planning day trips). don't miss the chocolate museum! its great! i might suggest moving one day to venice where i think there is much more to see.
Julie
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Post by Jules80 on Nov 12, 2006 23:23:37 GMT -5
Generally speaking, may and early june are best as it is not as hot (especially in places like italy) and there are less tourists and less line ups. major cities count 4-5 days (ie rome, paris, barcelona), smaller cities you'll want 2-3 days (florence, innsbruck). in three weeks you could probably hit no more than 5 cities. if you really want to see more, you'd need to extend your trip. realistically, if you wanted to keep it to 3 weeks, you could hit a couple of german cities, maybe innsbruck, and then rome and florence. i suggest innsbruck only because vienna would implicate a couple of 10 hour train rides.
people will have more suggestions when you post more info on what you like. its hard to suggest places for people when you don't know their intrests.
Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Oct 22, 2006 13:33:44 GMT -5
Nice is a nice place and in my opinion, you need to see more than paris to give france justice. nice was my favorite place in france ( i also visited tours and bordeau). i also really enjoyed tours which was in the loire valley and full of castles. i believe the train from florence to barcelona is on the scale of 18-20 hours (my friend did it i think that was how long she said it was) so i would second the thought on getting a budget flight (you could get one for about 40-50$ cdn).
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Post by Jules80 on Aug 10, 2006 6:19:42 GMT -5
well rome you don't have nearly enough time. i suggest a minimum of 4 days not including any travel time. there's just too much in rome to see. other than that it seeems fine. for you other trips at weekends and whatever for further destinations (like london) you may want to look into budget fligths. will certainly be cheaper and definately faster!
i've been to paris and its definately safe for women. my friends have been to barcelona and would say the same about that city.
jules
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Post by Jules80 on Aug 1, 2006 6:24:40 GMT -5
you're probably best sticking with trains cause you're a little last minute now and flights will be expensive. if you use your eurail pass, you will get a discount on th eurostar to go to lonon. august is a nice time to see the uk. be aware that if you go to scotland, while it has been a warm summer, august can get quite cool (like below 20 deg C) esp in the evening. the rail pass is also not valid in the uk you need a britrail pass or p2p tickets. paris or rome are going to be slightly unpleasant in the august heat. that said, paris at christmas time is fantastic and definately worth seeing. so your 2 days for the moment sounds good. do the louvre (if that interests you)... i seem to rememeber there being a/c in t here! with 8 days in italy you could do 5 rome and 3 florence and get a good feel for the cities or you coul rush more and see less cause of travel time and do 4 rome, 2 florence, 1 venice. since sept is still a month away it might be worth checking for a flight to spain because i believe the train is about 20 hours ( i believe that's what my friend said rome to barcelona was).
Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Jul 29, 2006 14:52:20 GMT -5
looks good! just be aware that you will not be up for doing much on the 10th. jet lag can hit you pretty hard.
Jules
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Post by Jules80 on Jul 25, 2006 18:15:06 GMT -5
you've got over a month left till your trip. budget airlines are very feasable. for example you can fly london to amsterdam for 24.50 pounds. this is cheaper than eurostar and far quicker! you should have a look at other legs of your journey... particularly italy-france as that will be one very long train journey. rome to paris on ryanair is 40 euros as an example. you may find better with other budget airlines.
gatwick doesn't have tube access but it doesn have train access. very easy. train from waterloo or vauxhall.
Jules
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