OT: Recommendations for traveling to Europe?

Mer · 01-17-2006, 11:53 PM

Hi all! DH and I are planning a trip to Europe this spring/summer (a belated honeymoon) and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for us. We do know that we'd like to go to England and Scotland, and were thinking of one of the packages on this site: http://www.raileurope.com/us/about_us/ but having never used the site before I'm a little wary of doing something that big online. Any travel tips, tours, travel companies, packages, or anything else you can share? Thanks!

DannahK · 01-18-2006, 04:59 AM

Make the cost sacrifice and GO TO A TRAVEL AGENT! Seriously, they have good deals and know better, and they know YOU better because they ask questions... That's my advice - otherwise you'll be touring all the wine country and not make it to the sheep/wool country! (the cotswalds by the way)

ctine28 · 01-18-2006, 07:26 AM

years ago my mom and i toured spain for two weeks. this is the touring company we used:

http://www.goaheadtours.com/master/

i liked it and they have lots of different tours for all over europe and whatnot. each day is planned but you can chose to go with ur own plans for the day.

the days are detailed so you know what to expect.

hope this helps

Carol_OH · 01-18-2006, 07:13 PM

I've always wanted to go on a Rick Steve's tour (of PBS fame)

Mer · 01-18-2006, 07:32 PM

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll have to look into that company. We looked at Smithsonian tours too, but those were a bit pricey.

Darhain · 01-18-2006, 08:16 PM

I lived in Europe for fifteen years. Loved every minute of it! What, specifically, do you want to know about England or Scotland?

DON'T DRIVE!

That's my best advice. Take the train, the Underground, the bus, but don't risk driving because you will be very overwhelmed with the difference in driving on the other side of the road and the ENORMOUS roundabouts and the pedestrians everywhere.

Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about travelling in Europe.

foldedbird · 01-18-2006, 08:17 PM

I recommend that you take MEEE!

Kirochka · 01-18-2006, 10:06 PM

Ireland, Ireland, Ireland!!! :D

(Been there three times so far, latest time was our belated honeymoon. Love it. But the driving is insane...)

01-19-2006, 05:01 AM

I drove in England and Scotland with absolutely no problem--not even with roundabouts.

When my friend and I went, we just booked 3-4 nights in various B&Bs in York, England; Whitby, England; and Aberfoyle, Scotland. (Aberfoyle has a woolen mill!!!) We designed our our daily excursions ourselves. We weren't looking for big-city highlights, so we mainly visited small villages and remote historical sites, and we ate more pasties than is considered healthy, I'm sure (but they were sooooo good). We had a blast!

One of my colleagues does a yearly used bookstore run in Wales; if you're into books, I can find out from her exactly where she goes.

kemp · 01-19-2006, 07:20 AM

No problems with travel in that area at all! Public transportation is great ...no reason to drive if you don't have to plus train time is great knitting time! If you can be more specific with where you'd like to travel, I can help. PM me if you have detail about where you'd like to visit.