I want to see all the castles and historic places and the big touristy places. i'm planning on going out to Bath and Stonehenge one day possibly on a day tour thing (just need to find one), i dont think i could fit both into one day catching the train out there. if i can fit it in i wouldn't mind going up to Yorkshire as well.
I have 2 days before and 7 after so i should be able to fit a lot in. Just trying to plan it all now is the problem.

189 days to go!!!

Yeah i would love to visit Stone Hedge, i also wana visit Scotland and Ireland but that will have to wait for another time

189 days doesn't sound far away away does it!

Are you able to speak any other languages?

You can do an Evan Evans day trip to Bath, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle from London for 69 Pounds. http://www.evanevanstours.co.uk/windsor-stonehenge-bath.htm

Thanks Caitie for that link. it covers everything i wanted to see, so thats great!

ADR: i learnt a little french when in high school but can remember very little.
i have got a small french and italian phrase books i plan to take. hopefully they and some help from others will get me through!
How about you? i'm expecting you can speak Italian?

Yes both my bf and I can speak Italian, 2 different dialects though so we are only useful in the right region!!! but we know the basics so Italy is covered lol

I bought a Lonely Planet Phrase Book which covers about 8 different countries so i try and try to read it but i learn better by talking and listening, so nothing is sinking in!

I am going to learn french soon for a 8 week course so hopefully i'll pick up some good phrases to get me through our day by ourselves, as we all know they dont plan on speaking english any time soon!

Hey did you see on the news that London has been voted the most dirtiest City but best nightlife, Rome has the best looking Locals, Paris has the best shopping and dining experience and Brussels the most Boring City in Europe!

Have you visited the Trip Advisor Website? it lists just about every single hotel there is in the world and has ratings and reviews and details on the hotels.

I found it by going to Google and typing in eg:
'Thistle Victoria Review' and it comes up with the review site and has traveller photos and ratings and its quite good. So now i have seen all the hotels we are staying in and most are all quite nice.

Well i might rely on you for some italian and french then!! Ha-ha LOL.

I saw that article, we don't go to Brussels do we? Rome sounds good!!

Yes i have been to Trip Advisor. it has a heap of stuff in it. Was looking at it for London hotels, but every hotel has both good and bad reviews so doesn't really help.

i had only looked at the Paris hotel. It looks good but its a bit out of town though. Should be interesting to get back to there at night. Do they have a train/tube service like London? What would be the easiest way to get around Paris?
Are you planning on doing any of the Paris day optionals? I was wanting to do one to the Lourve. I think they offer one?

i wonder if i will get my own room. i didn't pay the single supplement so will be interesting!

No we just cross over brussels from London into France. You will love Rome! however it is very very expensive.

Yeah i was more into the traveller photos as hotel photos are always nice! Apparently most of our hotels are a little bit out of town, so we'll see more of the real country and its ppl.

I have no idea about public transport in France, but i read that if we do something on our own, so not choosing the optional then the tour bus person will plan to meet us somewhere to take us home, or you can make your own way home.

I would love to see the Lourve, they are taking us on a night tour of Paris so that will be fantastic, i think that we will be doing almost all of the optionals.

Now thats interesting that you havn't paid the single room supp, jeez does that mean you'll be sharing with someone??? i doubt they would put you with someone else without consulting you first, so thats one for the travel agent!

Have you been able to find a hotel in London yet?

Yep i'll be sharing with someone unless i'm the only single girl or if the other single girls have paid single supplements. The supplement was just too expensive, i would rather share with someone and have the money for spending.

i haven't found one yet, been flat out at work. i think i'm going to stay at the Ibis the nights before though. found a deal thats about 80 pound a night so its far cheaper than booking through trafalgar. i'm just worried about booking through an internet site i have never heard of. Have you heard of booking.com?

i saw Billy Eliot on the weekend which was amazing. i going to see if i can get tickets to see it in London too.

what are you planning to do in the time that is 'free time'? are you going to plan anything or just see what happens on the day?

Umm no i haven't heard of booking.com, but if you booked through them, then i would just make sure that i rang the hotel to confirm they got the booking.

im assuming you mean when we are on the tour and on the 2nd day in each country we have free time? we dont have anything planned as such, i do have places that i would really like to see, but i suppose mostly we will just be wandering around the towns until the optional begins, how about you??
i need to have another good look over our tour itinary i get so excited when i read what we will be doing!

Hey you might or might not know, but, do you know if when we cross each country do we need to go through some sort of customs, like just show our passports? or is it coz its all part of the EU there is no need.

I was planning to have some things planned for the free time just in case there are no optionals happening. With the long weekend this weekend i'm hoping to get a lot of planning done!

that's a good question about the customs thing. i'm not sure. i asked my travel agent about what visas i would need and she said none, but i dont know about customs and stuff. i would think they would still have border controls even with the EU. Maybe someone else on this board knows??

I've been sitting here thinking about something else I can ask but i dont have anything else left i feel like i've done the trip already just by talking about it! LOL.

How about you anything left in the think tank?

quote:

Originally posted by Minniemg:
I was planning to have some things planned for the free time just in case there are no optionals happening. With the long weekend this weekend i'm hoping to get a lot of planning done!

that's a good question about the customs thing. i'm not sure. i asked my travel agent about what visas i would need and she said none, but i dont know about customs and stuff. i would think they would still have border controls even with the EU. Maybe someone else on this board knows??

About the customs thing. There's border control when you leave England to go across the Channel (French Customs on the English side and vice versa!). The only other time in Europe you'll go thru customs is if you go thru Switzerland, as they are not part of the EU. Not sure what countries you go to, as we did the Cavalcade, but I think it would be similar countries.

Thanks Travel freak for that!

Sorry ADR i'm kinda out of ideas!
Maybe we should check back every now and then, and post when we think of something?
But definitely talk again before we depart!

I booked my London hotel for the part before our trip. i ended up booking at the Trafalgar hotel (ibis earls court) but through a site on the net - it was so much cheaper. I want to depart from there now instead of the departure centre. would i have to let trafalgar know about this in advance or when we depart just be there?

hey there, hope you had a good easter break! i think because you booked the Ibis without going through Trafalgar and to be on the safe side, you will need to let them know that you'll be at the Ibis.

Hey do you know if Trafalgar still provide the little travel case thingy as a present, it was on last years brochure but not this years, i was looking forward to a present!! lol

I don't think so anymore. i think they have done away with that. i suppose we will find out when we get our documents.

Are you going to take a second bag on the bus and leave there all day so when you get to the hotel you have a few things ready and don't have to wait for your luggage to come to your room? Seems like a good idea, save wasting time waiting for your bag and you wouldn't have to carry a heap around all day either.

I'm getting even more excited now. it seems so close but so far away at the same time! I can't wait!