Questions about our trip...

[ScarlotteDorian]

alright, anthon and i are in the process (yes right this very moment) of purchasing our airline tickets. we are flying into london on March 11th and coming home on March 21st. a few of the things that we want to do while we are there are: (not in any particular order)

-hike the highest point in the UK, Ben Nevis in Scotland (you game Roz?)
-visit the orphangage that anthon's mum grew up in in Leighton Buzzard
-visit the couple that his mum lived with in Bedford
-spend St. Patrick's Day in a cool little town in Ireland (any suggestions?)
-visit Briley (Beergal) in liverpool

any other suggestions of things we might want to do while we are there? although we both like doing some city stuff, we are way more interested in cool outdoor type of stuff.

what would the best way to get around? euro-rail i suspect. although i've been on this site for so long, the fact that i've never really been planning a trip for myself has stopped me from soaking in too much information. we are pretty sure of our particular destinations and time of travel. would it be cheaper to buy ticket by ticket or just get a pass for 2 adults for 10 days?

well, i'm sure i'll have more questions in the next couple months. as always, thanks for the help travelpunks! i'm finally crossing the drink!!

[space virgin]

Take a day or two and hike from village to village in the Cotswolds!!! One of the neatest things about the UK is the free passage hikers/et al are given through private property. I'll dig up some info on it.

Stonehenge, while obviously fairly touristy, is also something not to be missed. Even if all you do is drive by it and pull the car over, as opposed to paying the 7 quid (okay, that's what I paid 3 years ago) to get in, it's WORTH IT. And about 30 miles north is the stone circle of Avebury, which while not quite as impressive as Stonehenge is really neat for the fact that it's HUGE-- about the size of a football field-- and you can wander around in there and touch the stones to your heart's content. If you're into that.

Also look into maybe doing some hiking in the Shropshire area or in the Black Mountains in eastern Wales.

[omisan]

what would the best way to get around? euro-rail i suspect.

There's no Eurail in the UK/Ireland. There are various railroad services in Britain and you can get a pass at Britrail.com for $311/person for an 8-day. (britrail.com) Train travel in Ireland is notoriously slow... Taking trains in England, I've usually just opted for individual tickets - you can get them quite cheap in advance. There's more than one operator between towns, but you can get most of the ticket prices and timetables at nationalrail.co.uk. Other options are the slow old coach... Between the UK and Ireland, you can do the bus/ferry or train/ferry combo, but they're expensive and time-consuming. You can fly for as little as £10 on EasyJet, RyanAir, BMI, BMIbaby, etc...

[bluepea]

Bus Eirann in Ireland was nice and pretty cheap. RT from Dublin to Galway was like 20 something Euro.

Megabus.com has cheap bus travel throughout the UK.

There is a "magic" hill in Ireland (that I never made it to ). Read about it here http://www.geocities.com/middleian/backwardsroad.html (doing fast reply, sorry).

Congrats on your first trip overseas!

[foofiter]

National Express has bus fares for 1 pound of you book far enough in advance. Would be good for short trips.

I am about 90% sure Ryanair has free seats going until midnight tonight. It is WELL worth it if you can plan that far ahead. Get the London-Dublin Flight booked...if it is not blacked out. You can also fly to Liverpool on Ryanair if I am not mistaken. Also check out whizz air.

Foo

[bluepea]

Don't bother with Wizzair as they are based out of Poland/Hungary and don't fly between Ireland and England (though they offer flights to/from either location to a few select locations mainland.

Mega Bus has very cheap fairs and is doing some free seats. Their taxes aren't even that $$. You can only book out about a month though.

Foo, do you stalk ryanair or are you on their list? I keep getting the things for their free seats! Damn them and their terrible timing. But, they cover up until March 25 and you can fly INTO Dublin (unfortunately all of the [free] flights originate from the UK). Try Aer Lingus also.

Anyhow, I start school on Monday ( thought I still had another week!!!!) so I won't have nearly as much time on my hands to write posts that are just way too long.

[beergal]

you can do the lake district easily enough from liverpool i think you guys would really like it there...i will do a bit of research for you both

[bassgirl79]

yeh its really nice there , i think its about an hour away from liverpool.

[Jen05]

Damn, had a long post and accidentally deleted it. Anyway, to travel around England, I used a National Express student Hobo card which basically worked like a eurail in that you could hop on hop off and it was unlimited travel. I think it was about $85 CDN for 1 week, but there's a variety of passes and their website's fairly clear. In Ireland, I bought single fares, but it was only 13 euros to get from one end of the country to another (dublin to Galway). The Highlands in Scotland are beautiful, around Loch Ness and whatnot, although Ben Nevis looks spectatular! In Ireland, I love the West Coast (county Clare, Kerry and Cork). In Clare, there's the Cliffs of Moher, and Kerry has some beautiful places like the Gap of Dunloe. My favorite cool little town is Baltimore, on the Southern tip of County Cork near Skibbereen. It's so beautiful, and definitely Irish! Have a great time!

[worldwidemike]

Well, I'd hike either the Lakes District or Cornwall...but the Lakes District is up where you're going to be. So, that might be better. Also, Scotland is gorgeous. Make sure you get up into the highlands and west to the Hebrides islands. On Skye, you can hike the Quirang (I believe I spelled that right), which is pretty awesome. Mull is my favorite island...gorgeous scenery in the Loch Na Kael region.

I know you guys are hardcore hikers, but you can use the bus system to aid your hikes and make them into more enjoyable "Day Hikes." Pick a spot to overnight for a couple nights. In the morning, take the first bus from your overnight spot to a village where you want to hike back from. Then do the same thing in the other direction the next day.

Who are you guys flying over on, just out of curiousity?

worldwidemike

[kingcrazylegs]

Wow - thanks for all the tips guys! We booked sveral legs of our trip to catch some awesome deals on RyanAir...so this is what we have so far.

We arrive into London in the morning and figure we'll spend a few hours in London before heading to out to Bedford. I have a family friend their. She is going to take us to the place my mom grew up and to a few other places.

Day and a half later we will head to Liverpool to meet-up with Briley . By train I'm guessing..? We are looking at going to either The Lake District or Snowdonia in Wales...both sound awesome and we can't decide. We'll need to be back in Liverpool 3 days later, as we will fly our of Liverpool around noon on the 16th to Shannon, Ireland. Spending the next couple of days in and around Killarney before heading to Dublin to fly to Glasgow and going out to the highlands for a couple of days. (specificly Ben Nevis, as mentioned above)

We have still to decide how we will get back from Scotland to London to catch our flight back home. We are debating whether or not to take a cheap flight or take a train...

Obviously we know there is a lot we will miss, but we only have 10 days actually there...I have no doubt we will go back several times.

[bassgirl79]

hmm i get trains from scotland down to liverpool quite a lot and its pretty slow like 7 hours, i woulnt like to go to london from there. id say get a flight if u can, have a look on www.easyjet.co.uk they fly from inverness in the higlands to london.I think there is a sale on now

[blinkchick2134]

I love how you two just decide to go over the pond. I'm so jealous.

Any chance of a layover in Philly?

[foofiter]

Originally posted by jamiepeaski@Jan 5 2006, 05:43 PM

Foo, do you stalk ryanair or are you on their list? I keep getting the things for their free seats! Damn them and their terrible timing. But, they cover up until March 25 and you can fly INTO Dublin (unfortunately all of the [free] flights originate from the UK). Try Aer Lingus also.

Jamie,

I am on their list I get the e-mails all the time and I do sorta stalk them as well. I swear by RyanAir!

Foo

[kingcrazylegs]

Originally posted by bassgirl79+Jan 8 2006, 12:35 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bassgirl79 @ Jan 8 2006, 12:35 PM)</div>

That does look like a good option - thanks for the tip...might just have to book that!

<!--QuoteBegin-blinkchick2134@Jan 8 2006, 03:30 PM
I love how you two just decide to go over the pond.* I'm so jealous.

Any chance of a layover in Philly?

[snapback]97396[/snapback]

Nope - sorry dear