Post by FD1000 on Oct 26, 2022 10:45:46 GMT
We had our typical European vacation of close to 3 weeks.
Driving + roads: this was my highest worry, but it went well driving on the left. I drove in small roads(for hikes) and all the way to the highest speed roads. The countryside roads are some of the worst I have seen. They are extremely narrow, most times the speed limit in 60 MPH, I did about 40, the locals about 45-50. Many times they tell you to slow but don't change the speed limit. Sometimes you drive up the hill and can't see the next 10 ft. Twice I drove in one lane for both coming and going traffic. Luckily, I changed the car to a smaller one, Peugeot 208 auto. The car did well at 49 MPG on diesel. Almost nobody passes the speed limit, which is unique. We do the usual, rent the car at the capital, drive all over the country, return the car at the city and use only public transportation.
Hiking: we hiked 3 days in England, 3 in Scotland and 2 in Wales. All were very nice and different. Always mountains and water falls. We made several mistakes on the first hike until we enter a farm and ask the owner about it. He told us that in the UK you can hike thru someone's property, just close the gates behind you. Later, we saw it was done on our other hikes. Think what would happen if you do it in the US, especially in the south. I have done it once and a farmer pull up a rifle on me.
History: the UK has a long history and plenty of kings, queens, church, wars, and conflicts
Cities:
London-wow, amazing, I rate it second to Rome. I haven't been to Paris. I have never seen so many people in one place. The buildings, museums, history. Easy, one of the most interesting cities to visit. Most of the museums are free in the UK. Real estate is very expensive. London public transportation is pretty good, you can find what you want between, double-deck buses, trains and underground. We spend about $7 daily using several of these. I read so much about the local transportation card, but all I had to do is use my credit card.
Edinburgh, Scotland capital, is second to London. Great city, and history
Bath: small but you can spend a day with a free tour by the city. The guides don't accept money.
The rest, not much.
Food: no fancy food. We loved the fish and chips. Plenty of Mediterraneans food. Pizza + salad in a nice restaurant. Thai food. This time, no Mexican, I don't think we saw many.
Daily walk: about 10 miles.
Politics: England+Wales are a mess, Scotland is much better. It's easier to govern less than 7 million. Scotland's healthcare is much better and university have free tuition.
Google map: by far the best tool a tourist can use. You can use others for driving (Waze isn't better anymore, after google bought it) but I use Google map for city walking and all public transportation. There is no other app that you can ask for direction from point A to B and will tell you the following: walk 4 miles, take bus/train/subway, walk more, change bus/train/subway. It also tells you what time you can catch them, even what platform...and when you ride the bus/train/subway, you can see it in the app or follow the stations. How did we survive before?
Costs all converted to Dollars:
2 flight tickets=1640
Car rental for 18 days = 680 + 210 gas = 890
Hotel: average about $100 daily, think Holiday Inn Express. All had to be close to the center, except London, where we can walk to town, up to 1.5 miles. All had free parking and breakfast. At York, the rooms were over a pub, nice touch and no noise after 11 PM. Total cost about $2000
Tours: we take "free" tour for years. You pay as you like. I pay 20 (Dollars, Euro or pounds). We took 12 of these, 6 in London.
Total cost, close to 3 weeks about $6000.
Organized tour will cost you about 10K, but you won't get the above, no hiking, you don't deal with the locals, which we love. The best thing is to get lost and ask.
I found tour operators who can do my tour, with hikes, they want $12-14K, not including the flight tickets, I still do the driving and pay for gas. They give you maybe 5 daily tours, the rest you are on your own. This is 3 times my costs. How do they come up with this? I don't have an idea...but, it was nice to use some of their ideas.
Sure, I spend hours planning trips, I love doing it. It's a big puzzle of making sure that it all works. As you can expect, I have a daily itinerary.
What's next? I realize now, we must do all the countries where you need to drive on the left, that includes Ireland (next year) and then New Zealand and Australia. It's doable in my 60s, but get tricky in my 70s.
Driving + roads: this was my highest worry, but it went well driving on the left. I drove in small roads(for hikes) and all the way to the highest speed roads. The countryside roads are some of the worst I have seen. They are extremely narrow, most times the speed limit in 60 MPH, I did about 40, the locals about 45-50. Many times they tell you to slow but don't change the speed limit. Sometimes you drive up the hill and can't see the next 10 ft. Twice I drove in one lane for both coming and going traffic. Luckily, I changed the car to a smaller one, Peugeot 208 auto. The car did well at 49 MPG on diesel. Almost nobody passes the speed limit, which is unique. We do the usual, rent the car at the capital, drive all over the country, return the car at the city and use only public transportation.
Hiking: we hiked 3 days in England, 3 in Scotland and 2 in Wales. All were very nice and different. Always mountains and water falls. We made several mistakes on the first hike until we enter a farm and ask the owner about it. He told us that in the UK you can hike thru someone's property, just close the gates behind you. Later, we saw it was done on our other hikes. Think what would happen if you do it in the US, especially in the south. I have done it once and a farmer pull up a rifle on me.
History: the UK has a long history and plenty of kings, queens, church, wars, and conflicts
Cities:
London-wow, amazing, I rate it second to Rome. I haven't been to Paris. I have never seen so many people in one place. The buildings, museums, history. Easy, one of the most interesting cities to visit. Most of the museums are free in the UK. Real estate is very expensive. London public transportation is pretty good, you can find what you want between, double-deck buses, trains and underground. We spend about $7 daily using several of these. I read so much about the local transportation card, but all I had to do is use my credit card.
Edinburgh, Scotland capital, is second to London. Great city, and history
Bath: small but you can spend a day with a free tour by the city. The guides don't accept money.
The rest, not much.
Food: no fancy food. We loved the fish and chips. Plenty of Mediterraneans food. Pizza + salad in a nice restaurant. Thai food. This time, no Mexican, I don't think we saw many.
Daily walk: about 10 miles.
Politics: England+Wales are a mess, Scotland is much better. It's easier to govern less than 7 million. Scotland's healthcare is much better and university have free tuition.
Google map: by far the best tool a tourist can use. You can use others for driving (Waze isn't better anymore, after google bought it) but I use Google map for city walking and all public transportation. There is no other app that you can ask for direction from point A to B and will tell you the following: walk 4 miles, take bus/train/subway, walk more, change bus/train/subway. It also tells you what time you can catch them, even what platform...and when you ride the bus/train/subway, you can see it in the app or follow the stations. How did we survive before?
Costs all converted to Dollars:
2 flight tickets=1640
Car rental for 18 days = 680 + 210 gas = 890
Hotel: average about $100 daily, think Holiday Inn Express. All had to be close to the center, except London, where we can walk to town, up to 1.5 miles. All had free parking and breakfast. At York, the rooms were over a pub, nice touch and no noise after 11 PM. Total cost about $2000
Tours: we take "free" tour for years. You pay as you like. I pay 20 (Dollars, Euro or pounds). We took 12 of these, 6 in London.
Total cost, close to 3 weeks about $6000.
Organized tour will cost you about 10K, but you won't get the above, no hiking, you don't deal with the locals, which we love. The best thing is to get lost and ask.
I found tour operators who can do my tour, with hikes, they want $12-14K, not including the flight tickets, I still do the driving and pay for gas. They give you maybe 5 daily tours, the rest you are on your own. This is 3 times my costs. How do they come up with this? I don't have an idea...but, it was nice to use some of their ideas.
Sure, I spend hours planning trips, I love doing it. It's a big puzzle of making sure that it all works. As you can expect, I have a daily itinerary.
What's next? I realize now, we must do all the countries where you need to drive on the left, that includes Ireland (next year) and then New Zealand and Australia. It's doable in my 60s, but get tricky in my 70s.