Advice needed for travel accross Europe please

[whiteoz]

Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, we are 3 female Oz Rotorheads arriving Europe end of August travelling to the following countries, UK, Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, Poland, Germany and Amsterdam. We are hoping to get some good travel tips/advice re travel these countries, especially on the accomodation cheap and reliable as we do not want to backpack or maybe someone may like to offer some accomodation, we can offer the same in Oz for you or your family etc

[whiteoz]

Arriving UK 26th August prefer to check local sights then onto Scotland, been told pubs are pretty good in Ireland not sure how long in each country depends on whether we like it not. Want to go to October fest and also check historical places etc

[Pandalet]

In the UK, there's lots to see and do in London (duh), although it's a bit touristy. If you can give a better idea of exactly what you'd like to see, one might be able to offer some more specific advice :}

There's a fantastic pub just outside Blackfriars tube station, called the Blackfriar. Highly recommend the burgers and the bar snacks.

[airborne_artist]

In UK you could consider the following:

London, Bath, Oxford, Stratford and Warwick (great castle), York, Northumberland (Alnwick Castle, coastline), Edinburgh and back via Manchester and/or Liverpool, from where you could fly to Ireland.

We are on the rail line from London to Oxford - happy to put you up if you are passing - Mrs AA is Oz-bound in March 09. PM me.

edited to add Bath.

[seang]

Whiteoz welcome in advance of your arrival. Small as the UK may seem, there are many many places of interest to visit. City and town-wise London (my home city), Manchester, Bath, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Newcastle are just a few that are worth a look at. Then there's the Lake District, Peak District and Snowdonia National Parks, great for walking, scenery etc (but also lots of rain in the lakes) as well as the Scottish Highlands and lochs. The Dorset coast is lovely and some parts of the Yorkshire coast around places like Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay are rugged and interesting. Unfortunately most of those places are touristy, it's unavoidable when you have a place of interest, but school holidays finish at the end of August so they should calm down a bit. If you want to get away from it all there are hundreds of little villages and small towns where you could find solace, you'll just have to look them out. Some of the bigger hotels aren't too cheap, but many of them run weekend deals, especially if you stay a Sunday night and there are heaps of smaller ones as well as good, comfortable B&Bs with a personal family touch. France - the Normandy coast (especially if you're interested in D-Day history) and Brittany are worth a look and of course there's Paris. Italy, I love Bologna, Milan, Parma, Montecatini (think that's how it's spelt), Rome, Bari, Turin and a place called Limone near the French border. Trains are fab in Italy and cheap too. Amsterdam is always worth a visit but be prepared for hundreds of Brits on all day/weekend booze benders (stag nights, think you call em bucks nights, hen nights and general group drinking). Hope this helps, if you have any specific questions on any of the above places (although I'll struggle to remember much about Amsterdam owing to all day benders, heh heh) please don't hesitate to PM me. Enjoy your trip, you'll have a great time
best wishes
Sean
PS, do I get the job as European Tourist Board rep?
PPs, I apologise to anyone if I've left anywhere out they think should be included, I blame time

[airborne_artist]

A lot of people from Oz buy a camper van in the UK, travel UK and Europe, and then re-sell it when they leave. Worth considering.

[Geoffersincornwall]

Don't leave UK without checking out its most beautiful corner........ Cornwall

G

:ok:

[Islandcrazy]

WhiteOz,

I will be able to help you out with some of the details for the Scottish end of the trip depending on what your interests are i.e. country-side or city or maybe a bit of both and the length of time. Scotland in September can be unpredictable with the old weather side of things. So bring your anorak! I would not suggest camping!

Depending on the time of your visit I may be able to help out with some accommodation if am in the country.

Geoffers clearly hasnt been to Scotland otherwise he would know that its up here that is the best!! :hmm:

IC

[chopper2004]

My neck of the woods, Cambridge has a lot to offer and only an hours journey on the train from London, Kings Cross line

Or a 2 hour trip from london, via the M25

In cambridge, you can go punting, visit the university colleges, see the historic town and enjoy afternoon tea and dinner etc etc or theres leisure park where you can go bowling and have a different variety of restaurants plus from Cambridge you pretty much go anywhere, north, south, east, west because of its locality and close to major roads such as the M-11, A14 (east, west) and A1 (north, south) :ok:

[darrenphughes]

When you're in Ireland, check out my home town of Castleblayney, Co.Monaghan. It's an hour drive north of Dublin. Lots of scenery, with the lake and the woods. Plenty to do with a Waterskiing & Wakeboarding club right in the town. Brand new tournament 18 hole golf course less than a mile outside the town(A 9 hole in the town itself). Plenty of Hotels & B&B's, and it's got 32 pubs & 2 nite-clubs for a population of only 5000(You can't go wrong there:ok:).

It's a good spot to spend a few days when traveling between Dublin and Belfast, which is a good party town.

[whiteoz]

Thanks for all the info, a lot to take on board, We better check our maps and start to plan. Are there any heli companies that allow you to check out their operation, smaller operators etc away from the cities.

[Hughesy]

Wrap 'em before you tap em :E

[iainms]

A Kiwi friend of mine has a camper laying around that he imported from Oz in march, he may rent it ! If you want to look around an Ops or go fly then give me a shout! PM me.

[Jonese]

As mentioned before, Bath is an excellent place and has a great youth hotel near the student bit (so nice and cheap accommodation). Loads to see and do and a short train ride to Bristol which is a much bigger city.

Also don't forget Wales, Cardiff has a great city center and the docks is very impressive. Plus check out the Gower Peninsula (just past Swansea) has some of the best beaches and surf in the UK.

What about Switzerland, stunning scenery, beautiful lakes (perfect for swimming/diving), amazing mountains, perfect public transport and friendly people. Although probably not the cheapest place in the world :}

[Lt.Fubar]

Oh boy... Poland... in September...

Well for one thing, prices will not be too high (food especially) and not so crowded like in previous "summer" months. Although the weather may not be the best (more British-like ;) ).

So, Poland... welcome to the battlefield :}
Seriously, these lands were always a place all European powers had to cross on their way for known-world domination. French, Russians, Germans, Swedes and Turks, they all had to fight here. But in the times between conflicts, trading routs had also go through these lands... remains of both you will see in this country.

I'm not a tour guide type... especially for women (It's so easier to tour men here, it needs only one sentence ! :E). You would have to say what interest you.

If its sightseeing, than going to Tatra mountains will be a good choice. If you are interested in history, than Krakow is the first thing to see (especially as there is an international airport). That city is a good place to start anyway as it is not far to Tatras, there are some very good restaurants, and lots of small caffes, pubs and clubs. There is an old salt mine, converted into museum (Wieliczka), and not far away from there - Auschwitz (That Nazi holocaust camp converted into museum is not really recommended, unless someone want to deeply think about the humanity and what its 'dark side' is capable of).

If someone want to have a good time, Krakow, and Wroclaw are good places in that time - but it may be a bit to late for going see Mazury - part of northeastern Poland with lots of lakes and forests (and mosquito's). Or the Baltic sea coast line (Sopot, Hel, Leba, Ustka, Kolobrzeg, Swinoujscie).

Few words of advise:
- Even though the city of Lodz is considered a "Fun-loving", that "Fun" part sometimes go to extremes, and I don't recommend it
- If travel by trains, if possible - choose "InterCity". Those are less likely to be late, and represent higher standard... although may be expensive.
- Communication shouldn't be a problem, at least with people bellow 30-some. Olders rarely had English in schools, and if it was, it was teched poorly (the whole Soviet block thing you know ;) )
- Polish language may sound funny - lot's of swish sounds. Trying to pronounce anything leads to tongue cramp, and its one of the toughest to learn (if not 3 different alphabets - even Japanese would be simpler). Although in many restaurants food names are in both Polish, and English. And many different things have their original French or English names.
- Even though it won't be the summer time, it would be wise to look for hotels or lodging-houses and reserve place in advance

[whiteoz]

Hey guys great info thankyou. We do have to be a bit of a tourist and see the great sites eg tower of london, the palace, castles, etc each country has their own and we want to fit as much in as possible 9 countries - 40 days total inclusive of travel. We are'nt into camping its just way too hard, we just want to have a great time meet lots of nice people in the same industry as us and have a great time doing it

[Pandalet]

If you find yourselves out Bristol way, I highly recommend the helicopter museum at Weston-super-Mare - I wish I'd had more time to look around last time we were there! It's not far from Bath, so you could easily do a day trip, or combine the two into a 1-day outing.

[Buitenzorg]

Just to reinforce what Lt. FuBar stated, if you visit Poland, Krakow and the surrounding area are a great destination. Super-friendly people, there is a Polish saying dealing with hospitality which roughly translates as “get in debt, but look your best”. The old inner city of Krakow is gorgeous (although I hope they moved the McDonalds and its sign outside the city walls) and I was told it’s the only one that wasn’t razed to the ground in WWII.

If you do come to Krakow you really ought to plan to take a trip to the nearby town of Oświęcim and visit the remains of the Auschwitz concentration camp; fun it ain’t but terribly moving.

As for Amsterdam, the smallest country in Europe, its main attractions are the excellent connections with the larger adjoining (on all sides) country of the Netherlands, an altogether more civilized sort of place.

[FiveSevenAlpha]

If you find yourselves in south Wales (particularly the Gower/Swansea area) drop me a PM and I'll sort out a visit to the Air Ambulance base at Swansea airport. It's only a Bolkow, but I'm sure the paramedics will find a way to make the visit memorable......

57A

[klaus_a_e]

Wow, that sounds like a busy schedule, anyway I have to say that you shouldn't miss visiting Austria! Salzburg or Innsbruck for example are easy to reach an are nice romantic towns right in the Alps! I found a interesting short clip on Visions of Austria - Videos - Sneak Peak (http://www.visionsof.org/austria/videos/index.htm)
accomodation infos salzburg.info - travel and tourism information (http://www2.salzburg.info)
Cheers, K

[helikiwi34]

check out these two websites, mainly aimed for kiwis/aussies and saffas working travelling in the uk, they have some useful info,

www.gumtree.com (http://www.gumtree.com)

www.tntmagazine.com (http://www.tntmagazine.com)

transport nice and easy thru europe and uk for that matter, if you like fosters you will never run out of it in the uk.

Paris - go on the eurostar
amsterdam - good for a couple of nites
barcelona - awesome
italy - venice, then go down the almafi coast, unreal, great food, drink, scenery,towns, houses built on cliff faces.
germany and austria also nice to travel thru.

also check out www.busabout.com (http://www.busabout.com) hop on hop off travel around europe.

never been to wales, however a english collegue i was working with at the time reckon i was wasteing money going there, full of solo mums, miners and rain he reckons, may be a bit harsh.

anyway enjoy, uk and europe great place.:ok:

[whiteoz]

Hey fellas thanks for all the info, it has been very helpful and if anyone has anymore we will certainly take it on board, for those who have offered accomodation we have a B n B here to for use should you come to OZ .
Should anyone have the time to show us around that would be awesome, have to warn you we do like to have a drink (never known a pilot not to )

[FLY 7]

Early September is one of the best times to visit Europe - late summer, days still quite long, holiday/tourist centres fairly quiet. But, some roads can be busy as the commuter and business traffic starts to pick up again.

Best not to try and cram too much in - 'quality' rather than 'quantity'.

[Jonese]

"never been to wales, however a english collegue i was working with at the time reckon i was wasteing money going there, full of solo mums, miners and rain he reckons, may be a bit harsh."

Then he probably took a wrong turn and visited the Valleys instead of the stunning cities like Cardiff, Swansea and beautiful Gower, St.David's etc.

He was probably still bitter about us whopping him in the Rugby at this year's 5 Nations :ok:

[John Eacott]

whiteoz,

I'm just at the end of a two month trip around Europe/UK, and a couple of ideas:

Buy a Eurail pass before you leave Oz, there are different passes available, we used a 10 days in two months one, which did us very well. If you can afford it, get the 1st Class pass, it's worth it for the better seats and availability. German trains are definitely the best :ok:

Wales is OK, if you can see through the low cloud/drizzle. And 57A didn't help me get a look at the Bo today ;)

Another excellent way of travelling is a hire purchase of a car from Renault, Citroen or Peugot. You can 'buy' a new car, travel anywhere, and then return it to the manufacturer when you've finished with it, at a daily cost about half that of a Hertz/Avis hire car. Must organise from Oz before you leave.

Switzerland is like the curate's egg: good in parts!

Paris: get a motorbike taxi for an hour to see the sights, great fun (about 70 euros for an hour on a GoldWing).

Prague: the most expensive place going :sad: Don't bother with the opera, either.

Rome/Italy in general: cleaned up enormously, no stray cats/gypsies/feral nuisances, and military on the streets to assist the local cops.

Munich: a hidden gem, lots to see, nice place to stay (BMW Museum a must, and the Olympic Tower).

Enjoy yourselves :ok: