Help me figure this all out!

[hezaa]

Hello! This seems to be a very nice board, so I don't feel too nervous about posting here.

Heres the deal. My boyfriend and I are going to Europe next summer (06.) I know thats WAY too far in advance to plan, but I'm obsessive compulsive about planning, so I start early. We were going to go to Spain but aparantly the political climate there is unpleasent at the moment? so we're going to do the UK and Ireland. I want to keep it real basic since neither of us have ever been out of the country, ridden on a train or had to find our ways around cities before, So we decided on London, Dublin and Edinburgh.

I thought it would be simple untill I started looking into things more! Theres so much to travelling and I know i have over a YEAR to plan, but I won't be able to sleep at night untill I understand all this a little more.

SOOO I have some questions for you fine people. First, I was looking at 10 days to do these 3 cities. Is that enough? I keep hearing "London is expensive!" and that Pound scares me a little (they use that in Scotland too, right?) so maybe we should spend the least amount of time there?

Second, Rail. Oh god, all this stuff about rail passes and such gives me a headache. It seems like you need to actually do it befor eyou can understand it. I see that there are britrail passes and I assume they can get me between london and edinburgh, but what about Dublin? Is there a boat that goes there? Would I even need to buy the rail passes since we're only gonna use it like twice? How much do tickets run?

I've never been the kind to just "wing it" I'm very anal and everything needs to be planned out perfectly. This doesn't seem to be the attittude of most backpackers . This is totally "thinking outside the box" for me and I'm determined to do it for my boyfriend and I. Would it be a better idea to buy plane ticket arriving in say, Dublin and leaving from London and try and find a place to stay when we get to each place and decide what to do when we get there? Or would it be wiser to make hotel reservations online beforehand?

I may have a few more later, thanks in advance for your help!

[worldwidemike]

First off, welcome to the Boards, hezaa! Second, relax a bit, there is usually not a 100% "Right Way" or Wrong Way to travel, so don't be afraid that you'll make some big mistake.

As far as political climate in Spain, I urge you to not fall into the "nervous American" trap. We here in the U.S. often tend to think of many countries as dangerous, lawless and unstable places. I advise you to step out of your shoes for a moment, though, and pretend you're in Europe (or wherever) and reading a newspaper page on the U.S. Distill all the bad news in the entire country down onto one page -- all the school shootings, the corrupt politicians, the child kidnappings, etc. Now, if you were reading that, wouldn't you think the U.S. sounded like a war zone? But you live here yourself and know it is not true. The same is true of many, many other countries that Americans feel is unsafe. The media gives us nothing but the worst news about the place. So, I say go to Spain, if you and your boyfriend want to go to Spain. If you're worried about a terrorist attack, well, you're just as likely to be hit HERE as there.

So, that's done. Ten days for three cities is fine. And if you're only doing 3 cities, there's no need for a rail pass. Those are best if you got weeks and weeks and lots of ground to cover. For Dublin, I'd fly. Check out easyjet and Ryannair on the web...their prices are amazing..!

Feel free to post any other questions...

worldwidemike

[hezaa]

I have to note that it wasn't my idea to not go to Spain. Its been a dream of mine since I was very young to check out the country of my Grandfather =D but my boyfriend's mother watch CNN too much and is paranoid. I totally agree that its way worse here in the USA.

Wow, those airlines are WAY cheap. thanks for the advice!

[beergal]

heh hezza welcome to the boards...i would definately try and make it out to spain if that is somewhere you have always wanted to being a british girl i dont know where she has got all this info about how safe britain is because believe me its not like wwm says we also have our fair share of gun/drug crime. Dont let the propaganda of news put you off follow your dreams

[chandy]

Welcome! I will give you a quick tip. I just went to Dublin and London in January. Well I went all over Europe. I would sugguest to fly in to Dublin then fly to London. Then you could worry about a Britrail pass, but if you are only going from London to Edinburgh I don't know if you want to fork out all of that money for one trip. When I was in Dublin I flew to London for only 15 Euro. I bought my ticket on line at a hostel. You want to check out the website www.aerlingus.com this is a cheap airline that goes to all over. Right now you can fly from Dublin to Amsterdam for 14 euro. It will be a bit more with the little extra fees, but not more than 30 euro. My husband and I paid 45 for the 2 of us to fly. We had Eurail passes (which get you through Ireland) and Britrail passes. We didn't even use our britrail pass.

[GoKrazy]

Welcome to the Boards! You will find lots of tips and good advice here, so just take your time, do your research and you'll be fine. If you are worried about traveling as an experience, here is my advice: do a few shorter 4-5 day excursions during this summer to places closer by in US or Canada. This way you'll get used to traveling and in a year's time when you head out to Europe you won't be as worried.

I understand your need to plan, but don't go overboard - have your means of travel figured out, have your nightly accomodations booked, have a rough budget figured out and have an overview of things you would like to do. Once you get there be flexible enough to change your plans a little... We all know that unforseen things happen and the ability to roll with the punches will make your trips more enjoyable. Best of luck!

[kingcrazylegs]

Welcome look like you got the answer to your questions.

Spain is certainly worth your time!

[bluepea]

Yeah, looks like everyone offered some great advice. We booked our OW ticket from Chicago to Dublin on Aer Lingus in June for $240 ish. Uber cheap.

Anyhow, as everyone said, settle down and take it slow! It doesn't have to be so overwhelming.