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Topic: Travelling while in the UK...  (Read 1927 times)

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Offline oldmanken

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Travelling while in the UK...
« on: September 02, 2004, 04:36:15 pm »
Ok, I have a question for some of our UK members, or even some of the few Europeans we have here.

As some of you know, I am heading to England for four months on Tuesday.  My university has a campus at Harlow, just north of London, and its about 20 - 30 minutes from Stansted.  Luckily for me, our class schedule is rather light, with regular four day weekends and a ten day midterm break from the 15 - 25 of October.  Needless to say, the weekends I won't be spending with my sister I'de like to do a bit of travelling.

At the moment I'm most concerned with my trip over midterm break.  A friend of mine is doing an internship in Vienna, so I have planned to pop down there for a visit.  I've checked RyanAir, and I can get a ticket from Stansted to Graz for GBP 32.97 (CDN 76.73).  I figure this is a good price, though I will have to catch a train from Graz to Vienna.  What do you guys think, and do you know of any cheaper flights?

Also, where can I find ticket prices for trains in Austria?  I've checked their national rail site, and have found the train that I need to take, but it does not list a price.  Is there a central European rail site which can give me prices?

Any help would be apreciated, as I am really not sure where to look.  BTW, I also plan to spend a weekend in Dublin and Amsterdam if possible...so any info you can give me on those places would be helpful.
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Offline Capt. Mike

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2004, 06:52:20 pm »
Travel around London as much as possible...great stuff to see and do...

Take a train to Oxford..well worth a couple of days..

Go to Birmingham, Coventry, and the like..

If you have a car, go to the Cotswolds, just for the scenery (and the good apple cider)...

I enjoyed my three years there, and am hoping to go back some day..

Mike
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Offline Just plain old Punisher

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2004, 06:57:21 pm »
Remember, the Brittish are wierd and drive on the wrong side of the road. I suggest you drive on the right, the correct American way, in order to teach them.
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Offline Sarek

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #3 on: September 02, 2004, 09:16:37 pm »
Quote from: Punisher on September 02, 2004, 06:57:21 pm
Remember, the Brittish are wierd and drive on the wrong side of the road. I suggest you drive on the right, the correct American way, in order to teach them.

Yes, driving on the right is much easier.  I spent a lot of time driving on the sidewalk before I got used to driving on the left.  And don't forget to look right instead of left when crossing the street or you'll wind up on somebody's bonnet.

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Offline Redshift the Kook

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2004, 12:26:02 pm »
Well I've done a bit of travelling in Europe, not a lot though, but enough to advise you. Last year I went to Stockholm for a few days and used RyanAir from stanstead too. I don;t think you'll get a cheaper flight than the price you listed but it's cheap for a reason. Your flight will probably be in the early hours of the morning, (like 4 am), and the flight is uncomfortable, (I think they took out reclining seats in RyanAir cheap flights and no food), but hell, it's good if your on a budget and it gets you there.

The airport you arrive in will almost certainly give you good advice on what transport to take to get you anywhere in the country, (Europe is very travel friendly and tends to have a lot of info in English). I'm betting a bus will be cheaper and easier to get you to your destination and you'll be able to get a return.

ANYwho, found this link on Google. Not sure how old it is but hopefully it is still relevant:

http://www.graz-astrobiology.oeaw.ac.at/files/Graz-Map.pdf

Never been to Dublin, but Amsterdam was the freakiest place I think I've ever been to  ;D I was on a road trip at the time so we were staying at a campsite called Gasperplaz on the outskirts of the city, but the tram service they ran was excellent and cheap. It probably gets more expensive if you want accomodation in the city itself, I suppose you could stay at a hostel, (European hostels tend be cheap AND good quality), but I'm not sure what company you'd expect to share with in Amsterdam!

The strangest thing about amsterdam is the canals have barriers around them but they're less than 1 foot high and seem to me to be more of a trip hazzard than a safety feature. Considering the substances available in this city I thought it was a dumb idea, lol.
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Offline Redshift the Kook

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2004, 12:37:16 pm »
OK, here's a much better link for European Rail info.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travel_services/trvl_rail.cfm

Oh and a friend of mine totaly recommends this book if your planning to go anywhere in Europe. It could be your travel Bible!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1740593146/026-7687757-4646065
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Offline oldmanken

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2004, 05:09:57 pm »
Thanks alot for the links Redshift, I totally forgot to check out the Lonely Planet site.  When I posted the thread I was hoping you would respond, as I knew you were located in England.

I emailed my friend with the details on my flight, and she had a look into the costs of getting from Graz to Vienna.  Taking the train would cost me about 26 Euros for a one way trip, which actually works out to be more expensive than my round trip flight.  I think I'll look into taking a bus, or at least see if they offer a student rate.

I'm not overly concerned about comfert while on the plane, as you get what you pay for.  Luckily the flight I'm looking at would leave at midday, which is very convenient.  If I can just sort out a cheap route from Graz to Vienna I would be set.

This has the makings of an excellent trip.  Even though Vienna is an incredibly expensive city, I've lucked out in that I'll be able to stay with a friend.  She's currently in the process of finding some good dance bars and pubs for us to attend.  I'm also bringing my suit along and hope to go for a really nice dinner and perhaps the opera (suppopsedly you can get some cheap tickets).  Either way, I'm really looking forward to this, especially seeing a friend I haven't laid eyes on in over a year and a half.

So stoked...
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Offline Redshift the Kook

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #7 on: September 03, 2004, 06:08:33 pm »
Lol, I'm so jealous! Going to the opera in Vienna Austria, you lucky dog.   :D
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Offline oldmanken

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Re: Travelling while in the UK...
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2004, 06:36:27 pm »
Haven't posted here in a bit, but I thought I'de let you guys know what I'm planning travel-wise while I am here in the UK.  All of the tickets for these trips have been booked, as RyanAir had a massive seat sale, and it all came in at around $250 CDN or under our program fee.  Damn cheap if you ask me...

First off, will be a trip to Paris in mid-October which is being paid for out of the program fee.  We'll be there for four days, and then I come back to the UK and head to Vienna for ten days to visit a friend of mine.  I get back near the end of October, and then head out again at the beginning of November.  This time we're headed to Brussels for four days, and then a bunch of us from the group are taking a train to Amsterdam for another four days.  I'm totally stoked about this, and it looks as if I will be spending very little time in the UK in October/November.

That's not all though, as I've saved the best for last.  During mid-November we have a five day weekend which a number of us had trouble deciding where to go.  As RyanAir had seatsales, we randomly looked at places to go that were super cheap and ended up deciding on Spain.  For the low low price of £25 we booked tickets to Santander...round trip.  The only problem is that it is in Basque country which may be a bit dangerous...but it was cheap and worth the adventure.  I had no interest in Spain when I first came over here, but Basque country is intriguing and from pictures looks absolutely beautiful.  Really can't wait!

Anyway, just thought I'de share.  I've been here for two weeks now and am having a great time thus far.  Spent a day walking around London and Cambridge, whichare both amazing in completely different ways.  Also spent a couple nights with my sister and my nephew...Josh is getting so big, it's amazing.  Until next time...
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"Purgatory is kinda like the in-betweeny one. You weren't really sh*t, but you weren't all that great either. Like Tottenham." - Ray (Colin Farrell) in In Bruges
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