Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Let me make a few notes in the body of your original post. >>>>>>>>>> "KPETERS" Wrote: Dear Leica friends, I am hoping to go to England this spring for a = photo trip and have a couple questions about 'European' vacations for a = starter! I've never been there before and want to make the right = choice! Would you suggest a 'tour' or would you just go "on your = own"!?? We're trying to debate if a tour would be easier as it would = all be planned out? Any bad experiences with European tours in general? = <<<<<<<<<< The glass in the tour bus window acts as a very effective insulator against the people and culture you are visiting. England is a very easy place to travel. If you are going to be driving keep in mind that there is a learning curve involved...but it really is not that difficult. >>>>>>>>>> KPETERS WROTE: Any experience with buying airline ticketets to England over the = internet? <<<<<<<<<< Watch for the sales that usually happen around the end of January or the first of February. Don't for get to check the smaller airlines like Icelandic, Aer Lingus (SP) sometimes they have outstanding deals. May is a great time of the year to go. >>>>>>>>>> KPETERS WROTE: Any ideas would be helpful, and I know you are all a worldly = bunch!! Anyways, thanks ahead of time. You are a swell = bunch of folks and I shudder to think what I would do without my = "family" of leicavolk! <<<<<<<<<< General tips: The very first thing you want to do is get a copy of the following book. "Where to stay: England Hotels & Guesthouses" by the English Tourist Board. Very few people know about this book, but it is the Bible for all the Brits that travel. It is not an easy book to find here in the US. Your best chance of getting it will be at Amazon; or Tattered Cover in Denver (they have an 800 number); or Powell's in Portland (they also have an 800 number. - - - - - - It is extremely import to remember that you are NOT GOING ON VACATION to England for two weeks (or what ever); rather, you are GOING TO LIVE in England for two weeks. In other words, don't go over there and act like an American. Stay in small British hotels, eat in local British restaurants (Stay out of Mc Donalds, Kentucky Fried, Pizza Hut, etc). Just try to blend in with the locals. - - - - - - - Get as much time off as possible. Remember it take you a day to go over, a day to recover when you get there, and a day to come back. That's three days shot and you haven't even left yet. - - - - - - - Do not try to see too much. London is 4 or 5 days minimum. Oxford is a day or two. Windsor is a day. - - - - - - London tips: Don't even think of getting a car in London. Take the double decker hop-on hop-off bus tour. Get a copy of a "Tube" (the London subway) map and study...I mean really learn and understand it before you go. DO NOT buy any type of a London transit, bus or Tube pass here in the US. It is a lot cheaper there. Take a couple small photos of yourself, you will need them for the pass. The Tube is fast, clean, safe, and on time. It is the only way to travel in London. Where ever you stay, they will have information on "walking tours". They are great...and very inexpensive also. Take 15 or 20 rolls of film and go the the Portabello flee market on Saturday morning. Try to get there about 8:30 or 9:00. Get off of the main streets...you can't get lost. Even if you do...so what? Every church you pass stop and stick you head in the door. I think it's Wednesday evening they permit photography at Westminster Abbey. That's worth going to. If I remember right some time around the end of April is the "Gay Parade". That is the most bizarre thing you have ever seen in your life. Go to lunch in the crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields church at Trafalgar Square...yes, I said the crypt. Walk along the River Thames at sunset. In Chelsea once a year, I think it is in May, they have a parade at the old solders home. The "New England Crab Shack" in Chelsea is a wonderful place to have dinner. It is a very casual, local place and you will meet people there from all over the world. You can have a pint (beer) at the pub where Samuel Johnson use to hang out. The pub is still there just across the Thames from the Tower of London. The Theater in London is great and inexpensive. DO NOT buy your tickets here in the US. The same tickets purchased directly from the Theater will cost you 50% less. Get a copy of The Sunday Times of London and the entertainment section will have all of the theater information along with the individual theater phone and FAX numbers. All you have to do is call them give them your credit card number and pick the tickets up at the box office the night of the show. - - - - - - Call the British tourist board in New York they will send you tons of helpful information. No book or video can adequately prepare you for the magnificent experience you are going to have. You will just have to trust me on that one. Let us know how your planning is coming. Regards, Bill __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place. Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com