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Trip to England/Ireland
Peeps Chicken
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Registered User regular
Short version of long story: my mother recently announced that she was willing to spend around $10,000 to send my wife and me on a trip to England and Ireland. The catch is it needs to be this year, and my wife is completely booked teaching from June until December. The only possible time that I can take off from work is at the end of May, for eleven or twelve days (May 18-29). I've put in a request for leave, but there's a chance it won't be granted, which will moot this entire thread anyway. I should know by Monday or Tuesday, hopefull.
In case it does get granted, I've never booked an international trip, and I've never booked a long trip on such relatively short notice. I've also been to London (once), but it was a good 13 or 14 years ago when I was a teenager, and I know nothing about Ireland. That's mainly for my wife, who is a huge James Joyce fan.
1) I'm guessing a travel agent is the quickest way to get things set up?
2) England:
a) The only thing I absolutely want to see is Stonehenge... it was the number one thing I wanted to see last time, and I missed out on seeing it because my mother didn't didn't want to take the train trip. Since then, they've gotten more restrictive about letting tourists get close. I want to see it before they get even more restrictive. Has anybody ever booked a day trip out to see it? I understand a lot of people think it's a letdown, and I understand... I still want to see it. That's been a lifetime thing for me, so I'm really inflexible on it.
b) Everything else is pretty flexible; I'd like to visit the Tower of London again, but does anybody have other suggestions? I know Harrod's is neat, or at least it was 15 years ago. It might be a pile of smoking rubble now for all I know. Anything else?
3) Ireland:
a) I know nothing. I know my wife will want to hit up some of Joyce's haunts. Other than that, Ireland could be Nebraska as far as I know. Anybody willing to give a quick primer on things to see, or nice places to visit? Places to avoid would be helpful as well.
b) Any other tips would be great. Currency is a question... is the same currency used in England used in Ireland? If not, how is the exchange typically? I'm pretty sure the US/English exchange rate is currently 1 Cadillac / 1 pound right now.
4) Seasonal stuff: With the dates currently planned (May 18-29) is there anything I need to be aware of during that particular period? Weather, locust swarms, etc?
(FWIW: Passports aren't an issue... we've already got those in hand.)
In case it does get granted, I've never booked an international trip, and I've never booked a long trip on such relatively short notice. I've also been to London (once), but it was a good 13 or 14 years ago when I was a teenager, and I know nothing about Ireland. That's mainly for my wife, who is a huge James Joyce fan.
1) I'm guessing a travel agent is the quickest way to get things set up?
2) England:
a) The only thing I absolutely want to see is Stonehenge... it was the number one thing I wanted to see last time, and I missed out on seeing it because my mother didn't didn't want to take the train trip. Since then, they've gotten more restrictive about letting tourists get close. I want to see it before they get even more restrictive. Has anybody ever booked a day trip out to see it? I understand a lot of people think it's a letdown, and I understand... I still want to see it. That's been a lifetime thing for me, so I'm really inflexible on it.
b) Everything else is pretty flexible; I'd like to visit the Tower of London again, but does anybody have other suggestions? I know Harrod's is neat, or at least it was 15 years ago. It might be a pile of smoking rubble now for all I know. Anything else?
3) Ireland:
a) I know nothing. I know my wife will want to hit up some of Joyce's haunts. Other than that, Ireland could be Nebraska as far as I know. Anybody willing to give a quick primer on things to see, or nice places to visit? Places to avoid would be helpful as well.
b) Any other tips would be great. Currency is a question... is the same currency used in England used in Ireland? If not, how is the exchange typically? I'm pretty sure the US/English exchange rate is currently 1 Cadillac / 1 pound right now.
4) Seasonal stuff: With the dates currently planned (May 18-29) is there anything I need to be aware of during that particular period? Weather, locust swarms, etc?
(FWIW: Passports aren't an issue... we've already got those in hand.)
Peeps Chicken on
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3b) The entire United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and Leprechaunia) use the Pound Sterling.
Sorry, I know very little about travel in England or Ireland, but could give you a few tips for Scotland/Edinburgh especially.
The Republic of Ireland (Southern Ireland) use the Euro, they won't accept Sterling (Pounds).
Northern Ireland use Sterling (pounds).
At the moment the exchange rate is about 1.9 dollars to the pound, so pretty much half of what you have. Bear in mind that things can be a lot more expensive over here than in America, petrol (gas) especially.
But, get out of Dublin whenever you can and see the rest of the country. Most people think of the west when they think of Ireland and that's where you find the more traditional bits and pieces as well as the landscape in the Connemara.
I'd advise visiting Galway, Sligo and Belfast.
If you are only in Dublin then you should hop the train out to Bray for the beach and the climable Bray's Head.
Or you could go to Enniskerry and punch a sheep, or something.
Ireland uses the Euro, Northern Ireland uses the Pound, as a part of the UK.
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general tourist info can be found at http://www.failteireland.ie/
as a native if I'm bored and want to see what's on I go to http://entertainment.ie/
Dublin is a fun place to visit for a lot of reasons, but my friends and I definitely enjoyed the Guinness brewery in particular. The tour is a lot of fun and really quite interesting.
Also, the Dublin Zoo was very impressive if that is your type of thing. Huge, Clean and participates in a lot of prestigious breeding programs, IIRC.
Fail.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (they wont appreciate you calling them "Ireland"). They use the Pound Sterling, however you are best using the English Pound as it is the only one guaranteed to get accepted everywhere. The other varieties should but you often get stupid people working on tills.
Ireland (or Leprechaunia is fine) uses the Euro.
Yeah, I know I failed. I was actually unaware that Ireland was split into North and South.
The Leprechaunia thing was a joke.
I'm so very, very sorry...
As for things we like to do: neither of us are club goers/dancers, and we aren't heavy drinkers. She's a literature teacher, so she's fascinated with pretty much anything related to literature, which makes London and Dublin dual gold mines.
I'm more interested in political and military history, so museums and castles are really my favorites. My tastes trend a little towards the low brow and the prurient, so ultra-touristy things like Jack the Ripper tours and dungeon tours tend to be things I like.
I know we're both interested in getting outside of the city and seeing the countryside a little... I'm not sure how feasible renting cars is, nor am I sure how safe it might be.
How feasible is a day trip to Paris from London? What are the mechanics involved? If we get to go, it'd be for a relatively short time period, so I'm afraid of overextending/overplanning. Still, we're both very low paid (she's an adjunct professor and I'm a civil servant), so this may be the only trip we take to Europe for decades.
P.S.- Scotland is just out because of time. We'd like to see it, but she has always wanted to see Ireland, and London is just too much to pass up, so for an 11-12 day trip (including travel time), Scotland would just be too much to add. Paris is probably too much, unless it's doable as a day trip.
I did the Paris thing too, and it was only an hour or two hour flight from Newcastle. That being said, I'd think about doing at least an overnight trip in Paris - there's a lot to do there, and you're going to be on foot for a lot of it unless you want to pay taxi fees through the nose. Its a very pedastrian city, and didn't seem very "parking friendly" to me.
I found the Eiffel Tower to be overrated, but Notre Dame is a must see, no questions asked. If you plan on going to the Lourve, you're going to need a day or so if you want to see each wing. The Hall of the Italian Masters alone was worth the cost of admission though.
I love the Wicklow Mountains (where I spend most of my childhood). A few famous films (Braveheart, Excalibur, King Arthur) were filmed there, and you can do an easy half-day bus tour of the mountains (Dublin basically touches the moutains, so it's very close).
Dublin is a very small city, and some tourists I've known have found it difficult to fill a longer stay with Dublin sight-seeing. Some nearby places I'd recommend are
Glendalough - http://www.wicklow.com/glendalough/
Powerscourt - http://www.powerscourt.ie/gardens/index.htm
England - I think Kew Gardens is amazing - http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/places/kew/index.html
Windsor Castle, Eton College and Windsor Great Park make for a good day out from London. Make sure you see the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.
Camden Market for some youth culture?
Literary:
http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/
and Stratford of course.
Don't forget about the Euros for Ireland.
btw I'm a citizen of both the UK and Eire, and have lived in both.
The Imperial War Museum in Manchester would definitely be up your alley.
I spent a summer living in England a couple of years ago, so I did exactly what you are trying to put together.
Here are some tips:
- Don't rent a car. Driving in the UK is very different from driving in the US. Public transportation is the best way to get around. The London tube is awesome, the train system around England is great, and the bus system in Ireland isn't bad at all. As a bonus, you won't spend much money on tickets, leaving more money to do fun stuff.
- Depending on how old you are, you might consider staying in youth hostels. I think it's kosher to stay in hostels if you're under 35ish, but any older than that and you're just a creepy weirdo hanging out with college co-eds. Again, you'll save lots of money on lodging, leaving lots of cash for fun stuff.
- Having an itinerary is good, but don't feel locked in to it. If you are having fun in a certain city, don't feel bad for staying an extra night or two.
- Find out if your bank will charge you fees for taking money out of ATMs. I know that Bank of America has a deal with a chain (I can't remember which one) in the UK, so whenever I took money out of those ATMs, BoA didn't rape me for not using one of their machines. The UK and Ireland are mostly cash based (not that they won't take your credit/check card), so it's a good idea to have some cash on you at all times.
- Don't be afraid to ask for directions/help if you don't understand something. Most Brits and the Irish are nice people if you aren't being a retarded American tourist.
- Don't be a retarded American tourist.
- Natives will be skeptical about you at first, but if you prove yourself to be an all right chap, they'll talk your ears off. Don't be offended if they tease you a little bit for being American.
- Hang out in a pub at least one night while you're there. Pony up to the bar and start talking to the people around you. I guarantee that you will make some great "single-serving friends" while you're there and have some really interesting conversations.
- Try to know what the money looks like before you go. I have several British friends that brought currency back from both countries when they moved here, so getting to see and handle their money before I went was very beneficial.
- Above all else, have fun. You're doing something that most people want to do but never actually get to do. Europe has a lot of history which makes tourism in those countries different from tourism in the states. Take lots of pictures, keep a journal, do whatever it takes to document the trip.
Here are some places I thought were really cool:
- Manchester: Lots of museums, good atmosphere, generally safe, easy to get around
- Dublin: Guinness brew house, lots of cool architecture
- Galway: Just an awesome city to be in, Cliffs of Moore
- Bath: Feels like you're in ancient Rome, awesome city
- Belfast: You can literally feel the tension between the two factions as soon as you enter the city. It's very creepy, but at the same time it's somewhat exciting. If you make it up there, check out the curbs in the neighborhoods - you'll see red/white/blue and orange/white/green combinations depending on what side of the fight the neighborhood takes.
Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about stuff. I can give you lots of recommendations for places to stay and things to do/see around the UK and Ireland.
Also from a war perspective if you take the time to plan it you could almost certainly see Normandy in the time you've allotted. Take a ferry across the channel - it's cheap and fast. If you do that check out Point Du Hoc (as seen in Call of Duty 2). And be sure to see at least one of the American graveyards nearby. Quite literally this is close to a life-changing visit (or it was for me, anyway). The whole geography of the area has been massively altered by allied bombing, but it all has grass growing now. There's this whole peaceful-yet-terrible dicotomy going on. And from my perspective, if you wife takes you to a bunch of Joyce sights, she owes you one (I hated Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man).
I'm now massively keeping my fingers crossed for my leave to be approved.
yeah Newcastle (or the toon if your from there like me) is well worth a visit theres loads to see up here, its got Hadrians wall and a load of other Roman stuff lying about since it was the major city on the Roman/Sctoland border which is worth a look at. Plus weve got the best nightlife in the country according to some recent polls if thats your kinda thing. theres also places like Lindisfarne one of the first places the bible was first wrote in English, plus they have puffins there which is cool.
theres the metrocentre - a huge indoor shopping centre
Raby, Bamburgh, York castles
York minister and Durham catherderal arent too far away either
various theatres and the Sage concert hall. Baltic art gallerey which has been getting some great shows in of late.
its also about 1-2hrs travel from Edinburgh, leeds, manchester and sheffield if you fancya travel about too
Plus prices are a lot cheaper on the whole up north than they are in London, and the south, in some cases a fair few things sell for about half the price you'll pay in London. As a rough idea you can go to a good quality resteraunt and get a 3 courses meal and 2 bottles of wine for about £25
If you get up north, there is some spectacular countryside - look up the Lake District/Peak District. The National Trust and English Heritage preserve most castles/stately homes/national parks/wartime structures - so I'd really recommend looking at their sites and maybe getting their brochures once you're over here to search out places of interest near you.
England and all other parts of the U.K use the GBP (£). In England if you want to be touristy you might as well visit London and look around Nelsons column and the Tower of London etc, you also might want to see a show. Stonehenge is alright, it's a bit of a jip (fucking English making the welsh push heffing stones over two hundred miles
Portsmouth is the key military port on the south coast, and has loads of museums and old ships and things. Also the birthplace of charles dickens apparently:
http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/visiting/74.html
Last time I went you could wander about on some of the ships too.
While you're in Portsmouth the Spinnaker tower is pretty cool, but I wouldn't reccomend it if there's a huge queue. When you're in London I heartily reccomend the Natural History Museum. If you're into your animals then you can book a (free) tour of the Darwin Centre in advance and do it on the same day. It's basically a huge storage centre for preserved specimens, so lots of jars of animals, if that's your sort of thing. They have a giant squid, which I want to go and see. Even if you don't do the tour you can wander into the visitor centre, as it's part of the museum, and see a few rooms full of animal-packed jars. Even without that the Natural History Museum is awesome and definitely worth a visit. Free too, I believe.
Edit: Oh, I just remembered. If you do go to Bath I'd reccomend taking a day to visit Longleat. It's a big stately home with a load of land that's been converted into a Safari Park alongside a giant hedge maze and various other fun things. If you have a day free it's good fun and very close to Bath.
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You probably don't need much time there, but if you have some time and it's on the way I definitely recommend stopping by to see the Roman buildings.
You don't want to come to Portsmouth. Not unless you come here, see Gunwarf Quay, go over to the Isle of White, come back then leave.
You absolutely have to visit Cornwall while you're in England. I am not kidding when I say it's the most beautiful place on the planet. Best town is Falmouth, not as touristy as St Ives or Newquay while still being lvely, and has some great beaches.
Hell, if you're visiting South West England at all PM or email me. My family have lived here since the Doomsday book, so it's safe to say we know where to go!
Edit: Portsmouth is a fucking hole. Having said that, I grew up in Southampton (I even played for the Junior Saints), so I'm a little biased (Meeting a friends girlfriend for the first time knowing she was from Portsmouth I just shouted "SCUMMERRRRRRR" at her from across the pub). Southampton's lovely though, despite the fairly high chance of getting stabbed.