Rookie

[molson1kenobi]

Hi everyone. I'm a bit of a late bloomer here, but I'm going on my first trip to Europe in late September. I'm packin' it and I plan to hit England, France, Italy, Amsterdam, and possibly Germany. I was hoping that some of you might be able to give an opinion on what's worth a look and what's all hype. Any other tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you are planning a trip around the same time let me know. Thanks in advance.

[LHR02]

Hi Rookie

How long will you be traveling and are you using a railpass, bus, or perhaps driving? Do you have some sort of basic itenerary already in your head or working from a clean slate? It will help us to offer suggestions if we know these things. ;D Oh, and one last thing, are you going to 'party' and therefor looking for a big club scene, or wanting a more 'cultural/sightseeing' sort of thing?

I'll offer the following for your first listing: England. (Once again, just England, or Scotland and Wales as well?) London is amazing! It has anything and everything you could possibly want, no matter your interests. It is frantic, frentic, crowded, and very expensivre. ButI personally took the attitude that I could never begin to see it all, so took my time and really 'saw' those things I chose to visit. The Tower was a real favorite, it is huge and a fascinating place I thought. The museums are quite fine, loads of 'historical' sights to see, and some of the most wonderful people watching anywhere.

Bath! I'd consider it a must see, and the walking tour that is offered is free, leaves from the baths each day at 10:30 and will give you wonderful insight into the town.

sorry......my two year old granddaughter just woke up! I promise I'll get back to this in a little bit! Duty calls!

ging

[molson1kenobi]

Hi dustoffmom. Thanks for replying. I guess I was a little vague with my info. I'm planning on staying for a month, maybe an extra week or two, depending on how the cash flow is. I wouldn't be partying every night, but I certainly like to have a good time. I'm travelling solo but I'm very social and would love to hook up with other travellers.
My plan so far is this:

England- Just England. Mainly London, with a trip out to
Stonehenge, and the Cliffs of Dover.
France- Mainly Paris, with a trip out to Juno Beach. I'm
Canadian and want to visit the Canadian
soldier's Normandy landing beach and such.
Italy- I'm not sure about Italy. I want to see the
Colisseum(sp?) and the like, but I'm up for
suggestions for cities here.
Amsterdam- I doubt I need an explanation here. What's
hot here?
Germany- Probably Berlin if I make it to Germany. Up for
suggestions here too.
I'm thinking a week in each country of the first four. Germany if I have the money. I'm not sure about the railpass. I'm also not sure about the order I should visit the countries or which country I should start in. What type of airfare if I'm not sure of a departure date? Any comments would help a lot. I'm glad to hear the Tower is cool. It's on my list and I was hoping it wasn't hype. Thanks again dustoffmom. If you need any more specifics, let me know.

Peace

[Kim]

You might want to look into getting an open jaw ticket, which is when you flying into one place and out of another. That way you won't have a retrace your steps to get back to somewhere to fly out. Might cost a bit more but it will save you the ride you would have taken to get back there.

Italy is spectacular, you can't miss it. Rome is amazing-skip Milan.

Being Canadian, your best bets for cheap airfare are to fly into either London or Amsterdam. Your best route would depend on where you will be flying in and out of. If you don't get an opn jaw ticket and flying into London, it would probably look like this:

England
Netherlands
Germany
Italy
France
Back to England

Flying into Amsterdam would be:
Netherlands
Germany
Italy
France
England
Back to Amsterdam

A railpass is pretty much a neccessity-in order to figure out which one you will need, you have to figure out approx. how many days you plan on travelling.

There is a good tool here callee the conductor for helping you figure out what pass is best for you:

www.railconnection.com/default.asp?af_id=7365

Kim

[LHR02]

Okay...nap time (thank god! ;D) so I will try to finish. BTW, 6 weeks 'should' be enough for what you list, but nevertheless it is going to be a wee bit rushed. I'd have a firm sort of timeplan to make sure you can get where you want to go. Kim offered the best solution, and I highly suggest you look into, the open jaw ticket. I flew into London, did a clockwise route round the continent and ended/flew home from Paris. In your case, I'd look into London and out of Rome e.g Would save you several days travel and allow you to use that time to better advantage.

Back to England......I'd say again Bath is a must see. If you are no huge fan of Jane Austin and have no particular interest in that era, it is still worth going to have a look. The town is beautiful, there are easy, quick day trips to Stonehenge, Avebury, and Salsbury from there....Mad Max, about 15 pounds. Worth the bucks as it is somewhat spread out and easier to do a tour than wing it on public transportation. BTW....I found Stonehenge to be so 'tourist-fied' as to be a huge disappointment. You can't get near it! Avebury is much more interesting I thought and you can stand on the damn things if you've a mind!

Most likely my favorite town in England was York....although your time may not allow a trip there. It's fabulous! The tourist part is well centered and easily done by walking, the old twon well preserved, several wonderful museums, a lively, interesting town. I had a ball here, planned three days, stayed 5. Another town with one fabulous walking tour, free again, and if you go do not miss it. Meets across the street from main TI at 1000. The National Railroad Museum....yep, I too said YUCK....is a blast! So much fun. It is all open, warehouses, restoration shops, so much more than I expected. Planned on 90 minutes or so, spent half a day there. Worth a look even if you think who cares about the trains. ;D The York Minster remains, after 4 months of looking at them, one of the most beautiful cathedrals I saw. Was there one evening at 1700 hrs for the Evensong.....one of the best memories of the trip. The choir, the music, swirling around and floating down over you.....magical!

I could write reams on Wales....and Scotland as well, but you are not going there so I will not.

I second Kims suggestion that you really must get rail passes! Especially in UK as trains are most expensive there! I had a one month Britrail....figured out I actually only used it 13 days as I recall now. And that included going up into Wales and Scotland. I ended up staying much longer than anticipated in most places...some less, but not many.

Oh, one last thought on London.....Windsor Castle! Amazing and worth every dime to get in...think it's about 8 pounds. Plan on the better part of a day if you do go, ride out and back and at least 4 hours there. Hampton Court? In my opinion, skip that one and see Windsor instead. And, if you've any interest in WWII...Churchills war rooms in London is so interesting. For museums, I much prefered the Victoria and Albert over the British, but that's depending on your interests of course.

I'll try and get some specifics on your other stops as time allows. Having a two year old around again over lo these many years is quite a challenge! Makes net time more difficult to get to.

Have a wonderful trip! Please consider posting 'live from Europe' here on the boards as you travel and let us know how you are doing and what is exciting you! I did....and found myself signing on and getting mail over there from folks I'd never heard of but who were reading my 'reports' and saying hi!

ging

[Kim]

For everyone's info..

If anyone is interested in having their travels posted in the "Updates from Travellers in Europe", please email me.

All you have to do is email me along the way and myself or one of the moderators will post your emails in this section. ("Updates from Travellers in Europe" is read-only, you can't reply to the topics as it gets them out of order)

Kim

[molson1kenobi]

A big thank you to both of you for your tips. I appreciate every one of them. I'm starting to get a clue on what I'm doing. One more question is who do I get a rail ticket from to get between Paris and London? BritRail or EuroRail? And what is the best way to get from Paris to Juno Beach? Rail, bus, or car? I'll keep coming back to this thread and would love to get more tips and comments. Thanks again.

Sheldon

[LHR02]

I bought my 'eurrail' ticket In Edinburgh.....pretty sure you can get them at most any train station. Buy it as soon as you arrive, the cheaper fares especially sell out quickly.

To get to the D-Day beaches take the train to Bayeaux or Cannes.....there are several little towns in that region that are close by, but those are the two 'bigger' ones I recall. There are loads of 'sightseeing' trips available all over in that region. However, most that I saw were geared more toward Omaha and Pon-du-lac area so check carefully that they go where you want. Local transport a bit dicey there, at least the time of year I was around. Depending on the season, you may or may not have any luck trying to do this on bus////either book a tour or rent a car. I am certain though that the so called 'half day tours' do not go to the Canadian beach, at least those in Bayeaux. You have to pay for the full day tour, and at that the time at Juno is less than an hour I believe.

ginger

who meant I bought my EuroStar ticket in Edinburgh, not Eurrail!

[Alison]

I am heading to Europe as well in mid-late Sept. visiting the same countries as you....wondering if you wanted to swap notes. Email me at [e-mail]

[molson1kenobi]

Hi Alison! That sounds good to me, in fact I already emailed you. Email me back and give me your thoughts.
Talk to you soon.

Sheldon