I want to visit the Motherland

[Humodour]

Anybody have any advice/tips for an Aussie wishing to visit the UK? Looking for any information at this point - where to visit, what to do, cost, what an Aussie has to do (when I visited New Zealand I just booked my flight and then hopped on the plane a few months later - same thing for England?)

 

Everything is very tentative at this point so I'm not even sure how long I'd be staying, but I'd say at least 2 weeks - I think I'd prefer a longer though. Wouldn't mind visiting the rest of Europe while I'm there considering the proximity - how viable is that?

[Rosbjerg]

Wouldn't mind visiting the rest of Europe while I'm there considering the proximity - how viable is that?

 

Very. Trains are cheap and so are airplanes (if you book them ahead of time). Check out Ryan air for flights out of UK or Norwegian if you are thinking about Scandinavia.

[Nepenthe]

Not sure how much you can get done in two weeks. Might be enough for two big cities, and that's about it. Unless you just want to rush through the maximum amount of cities for bragging rights.

[Humodour]

Yeah I'm thinking more like a month or more. It really depends on how strict travel is between Aus and UK and then from the UK to Europe.

 

And money... although a weak Pound helps, the return flight there is probably going to be ungodly expensive like $2000.

[Humodour]

Wouldn't mind visiting the rest of Europe while I'm there considering the proximity - how viable is that?

 

Very. Trains are cheap and so are airplanes (if you book them ahead of time). Check out Ryan air for flights out of UK or Norwegian if you are thinking about Scandinavia.

 

Very inclined to take a train. Airplanes are so expensive.

 

I'm keen on seeing all of Europe, but particularly: Scotland/UK in general, Poland/Czech, Germany/Netherlands, Portugal/Spain, France/Italy. I've paired them like that because each pair has a distinct 'flavour' of culture which I would like to experience but wouldn't have time to visit all 8 countries so might choose one from each. That may sound laughably naive to a European.

[Moose]

Best place for tourists is London.

 

p.s, bring lots of money

Edited November 16, 2010 by Moose

[Rosbjerg]

I'm keen on seeing all of Europe, but particularly: Scotland/UK in general, Poland/Czech, Germany/Netherlands, Portugal/Spain, France/Italy. I've paired them like that because each pair has a distinct 'flavour' of culture which I would like to experience but wouldn't have time to visit all 8 countries so might choose one from each. That may sound laughably naive to a European.

 

It's as hopeless as trying to see everything Australia has to offer in a month as well, I guess but it's better than 2 weeks - a month means you get time to acclimatize and get to see the interesting parts.. But I really recommend steering away from the obvious tourist traps/famous city parts - because then you won't experience Europe at all, you'll just see the presented face of a commercial sales pitch. Paris is a lot more than "The City of Love" and Rome is infinitely more than layers of ruins and caf

[Humanoid]

Never been there but I don't think you need a Visa for the UK as an Aussie citizen. However the UK does have different rules to the rest of western Europe regarding entry - I vaguely remember being told before I went to Spain that if I were to head on to the UK I'd have to be mindful of the passport/length-of-stay rules which are not shared. This will only be relevant when entering France from the UK I imagine (unless you hop on a plane instead of a train), should you choose to do so. Once in France you'd be able to travel unhindered to any neighbouring countries. Depending on how much time you spend on the continent, one of those infinite-use train passes might be good value - Eurail I think it's called.

 

 

The sum total of my overseas travelling in the past 15 years has been one month in Northern Spain, so I'm not an authoritative source. San Sebastian is lovely though.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Humanoid

[mkreku]

I agree about San Sebastian. Having a mile long beach in the middle of the city is never a bad thing.

 

And I would still recommend going by plane. Ryan Air is probably cheaper than going by train, especially if you're not going to visit many places. If you want to stop everywhere, train is the better choice, but if you're just going to concentrate on a few cities, then planes is the obvious choice. Not to mention that planes take like one fifth of the time to get anywhere compared to trains.

[Rosbjerg]

I agree about San Sebastian. Having a mile long beach in the middle of the city is never a bad thing.

 

And I would still recommend going by plane. Ryan Air is probably cheaper than going by train, especially if you're not going to visit many places. If you want to stop everywhere, train is the better choice, but if you're just going to concentrate on a few cities, then planes is the obvious choice. Not to mention that planes take like one fifth of the time to get anywhere compared to trains.

 

But trains are in themselves a much better way to get in contact with other travellers - and the Interrail tickets simply gives a set number of days to travel, rather than fixed destinations. So it is vastly more flexible (as you can stay for as long as you like in one destination) and will be cheaper, unless the whole trip is planned with fixed travel days. If the latter is the case, then flying is a lot cheaper.

[Walsingham]

What time of year are we talking? Because England in Autumn is ****, quite frankly.

[Monte Carlo]

Obviously the issue for Krezack is that our seasons are reversed. Personally, because our climate is so wet, I'd plan on late May into early June or late August into early September. You might incur high shoulder fares late summer though because of the school holidays.

 

London needs a week at least. Plan carefully and you might even get half decent accommodation. The majority of the important galleries and museums are free. As for useful int, well London is full of Antipodeans with their own extremely complex and extensive survival network. If you come to London I will buy you a beer.

 

I am biased, but you would be a fool to miss out on Italy. Paris? Meh. Florence, Sienna, Rome? Yes.

 

A September trip would of course allow you to travel to Italy via Munich for that feral Aussie rite of passage, the Oktoberfest. I am going next year, I might see you there.

[Walsingham]

I don't wish to sound racist, but I'll take Italy over France any day. particularly at this time of year. In fact, if I knew I was going to Italy I wouldn't even eat in England, just drink beer and nibble bar snacks.

 

As far as tourism goes, it depends what you find interesting.

[Humodour]

I don't wish to sound racist, but I'll take Italy over France any day. particularly at this time of year. In fact, if I knew I was going to Italy I wouldn't even eat in England, just drink beer and nibble bar snacks.

 

Italians are actually the second largest ethnic group in Australia after the inhabitants of the British Isles, so I'm really interested in Italy. France has that historically 'romantic' aspect to it from pop culture, but I must admit there's no real 'pull' factor of interest.

 

And if British food is anything like the cosmopolitan mish-mash of cultures here (which, let's be honest, is directly imported from Britain) then it tastes ****ing fantastic. It's your beer I'm more concerned about, actually.

 

As far as tourism goes, it depends what you find interesting.

 

Science, nature, adventure sports (bushwalking, caving, climbing, rafting, skiing), ancient ruins, beautiful things, exotic culture in general, parties and night-life. I definitely place an emphasis on outdoorsy nature stuff but frankly - I'm going to another country... I naturally plan to do crazy stuff and try new things.

 

What time of year are we talking? Because England in Autumn is ****, quite frankly.

 

Ideally between August 2011 and February 2012, because during this period my contract at work will be over and the uni semester won't have started.

 

What're the job prospects for an Aussie living in the UK for a few months? And according to Wikipedia, Australians can stay in the Schengen area of Europe without a visa for 3 months, and the UK for 6 months. But if I wanted to work I'd probably still need one I guess.

 

Obviously the issue for Krezack is that our seasons are reversed. Personally, because our climate is so wet, I'd plan on late May into early June or late August into early September. You might incur high shoulder fares late summer though because of the school holidays.

 

London needs a week at least. Plan carefully and you might even get half decent accommodation. The majority of the important galleries and museums are free. As for useful int, well London is full of Antipodeans with their own extremely complex and extensive survival network. If you come to London I will buy you a beer.

 

I am biased, but you would be a fool to miss out on Italy. Paris? Meh. Florence, Sienna, Rome? Yes.

 

A September trip would of course allow you to travel to Italy via Munich for that feral Aussie rite of passage, the Oktoberfest. I am going next year, I might see you there.

 

There is not one part of this post I dislike (Oktoberrrrfest!). Cheers mate!

 

Well Glasgow and London are definitely on my visitation list. Certainly I'd like to visit Europe but not at the expense of visiting the UK properly.

[Monte Carlo]

I like Glasgow more than Edinburgh, actually. Edinburgh is so pleased with itself, I'm not sure why. Glasgow, on the other hand, is fabulous. Go to Hillhead, enjoy the architecture then have a curry.

[mkreku]

Sweden has the prettiest girls..

[Rosbjerg]

Ideally between August 2011 and February 2012.

 

Then head to the Mediterranean as your last stops - because England and northern Europe is very cold (I would imagine double so for an Australian) from november-feb. August through Oktoberfest is beautiful in Germany and England - but it usually starts raining a lot during the transition to winter.

[Walsingham]

Make sure you visit Bath. I have to say it's pretty cool. Especially if you can hit in early August while it's sunny.

[Humodour]

Cheers Rosbjerg - Portugal or Spain or both?

 

Make sure you visit Bath. I have to say it's pretty cool. Especially if you can hit in early August while it's sunny.

 

Looks cool:

[Rosbjerg]

Cheers Rosbjerg - Portugal or Spain or both?

 

I'd pick Spain personally and head down to Andalusia to see the Moorish forts and the old Islamic Europe.

 

Some of the mosques and forts down there are very beautiful - with clear Spanish/Roman and Islamic inspiration.

 

[Pidesco]

In Portugal and Spain, like in the rest of Europe there are plenty of cities that are worth a visit.

 

Lisbon, Oporto, And Guimar

[Rostere]

Cheers Rosbjerg - Portugal or Spain or both?

 

I'd pick Spain personally and head down to Andalusia to see the Moorish forts and the old Islamic Europe.

 

Some of the mosques and forts down there are very beautiful - with clear Spanish/Roman and Islamic inspiration.

 

 

I've been there myself, and although there were some places worth visiting, the countryside (where I lived) felt very spoiled and polluted. The Spanish you'll hear in Spain is also absolutely dreadful, nothing like the Spanish you'll hear in Latin America or the Caribbean, where you can actually make out what they're saying.

 

I've also spent some time a spring two years ago in an old castle in southern Italy (in Campania, I think), and I've also visited Rome. I must say that I'd take Italy over Spain any day, because of the higher density of sites of archaeological interest. The coast if Italy is also very beautiful throughout, and nothing like the Spanish (mainland) coast. To resort to a clich

[Humanoid]

I'm awful at planning and contrived to miss whole lot of cultural centres. Knowing I only had a month to spend I don't regret the decision to chop the entirety of southern Spain (sucks missing Moorish centres like Cordoba and Sevilla but wasn't practical), but somehow contrived to also run out of time to visit important northern cities like Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela and yes, Barcelona.

 

From memory, I only managed to hit a rough triangle - started from Madrid (obligatory day-trip to old capital Toledo) and struck off towards Salamanca via Segovia (particularly liked this). Turned north to what was originally planned to be Bilbao via Burgos but days lost already meant chopping out Bilbao and going straight to San Sebastian. Time spent there in turn ruled out Barcelona so I headed back down south via the sleepy small cities of Logrono and Soria to Zaragosa and finished in Valencia.

 

 

This isn't meant to be travel advice by any means since it's a very small subset of what there is to see. I guess I was backpacking though I don't like to admit it. All travel domestically was by bus, I think about 10EUR per trip (bit vague on that), and stayed at small family run ..."pensions" I think the term was - small establishments of a half-dozen rooms or so for 10-15EUR a night. Mainly avoiding youth hostels and the usual stereotypical "ugly Aussie tourist" hangouts. I think I only met one or two other Aussies on the whole trip, and I liked it that way.

 

 

 

I guess in the end I rationalised that I could always go back and fill in the gaps, but in the end I don't think I've got the stomach to be a regular tourist - time, money, travel - and in the 5 yearsish since then I haven't been out of the country. My sister on the other hand spent almost a year there (a large part of which in breach of the 90 day stay limitation which apparently wasn't enforced at all) and still wants to go back.

Edited November 19, 2010 by Humanoid

[Monte Carlo]

I like Spain. A lot. But I can't visit anymore because of the bloody siestas. This Northern European cannot sleep all afternoon, go back to work for a couple of hours then have dinner at midnight. Not anymore.

 

And why do they have siestas in February when it's snowing?

[Pidesco]

I like Spain. A lot. But I can't visit anymore because of the bloody siestas. This Northern European cannot sleep all afternoon, go back to work for a couple of hours then have dinner at midnight. Not anymore.

 

And why do they have siestas in February when it's snowing?

 

 

Portugal doesn't have siestas, so come visit us, instead. Also, no annoying Spaniards to be found here.