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I was taking a close look at Google maps and wondered how many of you foreign people travel throughout Europe since its so close. It looks like you could throw a rock and hit Nederlands from the East coast of England. France is just a hop skip and jump. Morrocco, Germany.....do you guys take advantage of your close proximity to history and culture?

Is waking up one morning and saying Im going to Italy cost prohibitive or is it within the average foreign type persons realm?

People nip across to Europe all the time Nomad.

Do you think we foreigners are too far behind times to travel? Granted the horses don't load onto the ferries all that well from what I've heard.

I don't because I am miles away down the other end of the country, although it would be possible to get there easily enough... if I had the money to :wah:

Betty Boop;1267091 wrote: People nip across to Europe all the time Nomad.

Do you think we foreigners are too far behind times to travel? Granted the horses don't load onto the ferries all that well from what I've heard.

I don't because I am miles away down the other end of the country, although it would be possible to get there easily enough... if I had the money to :wah:


Well how much might it cost to travel from London to Paris for a weekend?

Nomad;1267090 wrote: I was taking a close look at Google maps and wondered how many of you foreign people travel throughout Europe since its so close. It looks like you could throw a rock and hit Nederlands from the East coast of England. France is just a hop skip and jump. Morrocco, Germany.....do you guys take advantage of your close proximity to history and culture?

Is waking up one morning and saying Im going to Italy cost prohibitive or is it within the average foreign type persons realm?
Hop, skip and jump? :yh_rotfl You nutter. It's 22 miles to France from here. Lets see you hop, skip and jump that far!:rolleyes:

I can't afford to travel to Europe anymore :-1

Nomad;1267098 wrote: Well how much might it cost to travel from London to Paris for a weekend?


Three pairs of shoes for the horse.

Raven;1267099 wrote: Hop, skip and jump? :yh_rotfl You nutter. It's 22 miles to France from here. Lets see you hop, skip and jump that far!:rolleyes:


22 miles? So it would be a painless thing to pop over on a whim?

Nomad;1267102 wrote: 22 miles? So it would be a painless thing to pop over on a whim?
Pretty much. The EuroStar is a bit expensive, especially now, but there is always the ferry. Dover to Calais. 22 miles.

People in the UK go on what they call Booze Cruise, to France to top up with alcohol and tobacco and other local produce to avoid the UK's high duties, but the duties are coming closer as our links with Europe get closer.

There are ferries from various ports in the UK to continental ports that do cheap deals, but from the south east coast it is close enough to do day trips.

You can catch a train in London and go all the way to Brussels in a matter of hours, through the Channel Tunnel on Eurostar

Bruv;1267110 wrote: People in the UK go on what they call Booze Cruise, to France to top up with alcohol and tobacco and other local produce to avoid the UK's high duties, but the duties are coming closer as our links with Europe get closer.

There are ferries from various ports in the UK to continental ports that do cheap deals, but from the south east coast it is close enough to do day trips.

You can catch a train in London and go all the way to Brussels in a matter of hours, through the Channel Tunnel on Eurostar


Ok but dont people go exploring in search of the rich history?

You guys are so lucky. Id be beside myself with all of the opportunities available.

Or is it taken for granted?

:yh_rotfl Here in San Diego we call it a run across the Mexican border to buy booze, medications, and anything else we can get our hands on about 40 minutes round trip. Then we stop for Lobster Dinner in Puerto Nuevo "Lobster Village" been going there since I was a child. :-6:-6



[QUOTE]Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruv

People in the UK go on what they call Booze Cruise, to France to top up with alcohol and tobacco and other local produce to avoid the UK's high duties, but the duties are coming closer as our links with Europe get closer.

There are ferries from various ports in the UK to continental ports that do cheap deals, but from the south east coast it is close enough to do day trips.

You can catch a train in London and go all the way to Brussels in a matter of hours, through the Channel Tunnel on Eurostar[/QUOTE]

Nomad;1267112 wrote:

Or is it taken for granted?


Yes mostly.

I was born and raised in London, not until many years after moving out did I visit many of the 'attractions'

There are all sorts of special deals, Nomie. From London, for instance. Weekend in Pisa £20. You see the ads in the Underground trains. The Eurostar takes 2 1/2 hours from London to Paris. Cheaper if you book in advance, online. You can get amazing airfares too. I got a Ryan air flight last year from Berlin to Stansed UK, for 1 Euro plus tax. It's neat having stuff close. My husband was stationed at one time in Geneva in Switzerland, but preferred to live in France, so commuted. Chamonix is a fantastic place to ski in the French Alps... you can ski the same day into Italy and Switzerland. When my youngest daughter worked in Paris, she often did day work trips to Milan, Italy. Even from Oz, Europe is only one day away. Less to go to the States. I've always had to wander, luckily I love it.

I had to go to Europe a few times for my work and found that you could get a rail pass and if you like public transportation, you can get around pretty good for a little money.

Right on, LarsMac. And rail travel is fantastic in Europe. Everything from TGV really fast trains to little local ones that putter about dropping off school kids and produce (rode one of those once in Brittany). Buy online from outside Europe for the best bargains.

I really like rail travel. I wish the US had the same kind of rail system.

Except for the Eastern Seaboard, rail travel in the US is usually worse than riding the bus.

So would we be better doing rail tours rather then coach/bus tours?

Is it easy to find your way around ?

Are there guided tours by rail?

Remembering that we come from a very small town in the middle of Australia.

I like rail travel & people watching:-6

mrsK;1267208 wrote: So would we be better doing rail tours rather then coach/bus tours?

Is it easy to find your way around ?

Are there guided tours by rail?

Remembering that we come from a very small town in the middle of Australia.

I like rail travel & people watching:-6


The Bus is slow and go out of the way for the convenience of locals.

There are Intercity buses that are cheap and regular maybe not as fast as rail but a lot cheaper. Pre Ordered Bus or trains can be very good value, but paying as you board can push prices up ridiculously.

I travel from south England to Scotland at least twice a year, the bus/coach can be as cheap as a few pounds, booked moths in advance , the train as much as £900 (yes it is a crime) But if pre booked can be almost silly prices, tens of pounds rather than hundreds. Flying is fast and cheap at about £80 or less depending on season or time of week.

There are many tourist bus type trips to places of interest, but no Train guided tours as far as I know.

If you come from 'Small Town' Australia you may be amazed at how easy to get around it is.

Yes, we don't have a good railway support here in the States except along the Eastern seaboard. I like to drive my car to an area south of DC and catch the auto train to Florida. It lets us off outside of Orlando and then we just have to drive 2 hours to Siesta Key on the Gulf coast.



In Ireland, we'd take the train from Dublin to Dun Laoghaire and then take a ferry across to Wales and then a train to London. When we went to Europe then we had to fly. Now that they've build the Chunnel it must be so much easier. Once you're on the continent, you can go by rail or bus to most places.

Bruv;1267216 wrote: The Bus is slow and go out of the way for the convenience of locals.

There are Intercity buses that are cheap and regular maybe not as fast as rail but a lot cheaper. Pre Ordered Bus or trains can be very good value, but paying as you board can push prices up ridiculously.

I travel from south England to Scotland at least twice a year, the bus/coach can be as cheap as a few pounds, booked moths in advance , the train as much as £900 (yes it is a crime) But if pre booked can be almost silly prices, tens of pounds rather than hundreds. Flying is fast and cheap at about £80 or less depending on season or time of week.

There are many tourist bus type trips to places of interest, but no Train guided tours as far as I know.

If you come from 'Small Town' Australia you may be amazed at how easy to get around it is.


Thanks for the info:-6

Planning a trip at the moment & can use all the info I can get.

I want to see as much as possible without rushing & needing another holiday when we get home:wah:

We will have 6 weeks.

mrsK;1267235 wrote: Thanks for the info

Planning a trip at the moment & can use all the info I can get.

I want to see as much as possible without rushing & needing another holiday when we get home

We will have 6 weeks.


If they still offer the Eurail passes, that is the way to go. Then, you can 'plan' some spontaneity into the trip, because the rail pass let's get tickets on the fly.

Nomad;1267090 wrote: Is waking up one morning and saying Im going to Italy cost prohibitive or is it within the average foreign type persons realm?
You can generally reckon to get to most places in Europe for US$100 return all-in, including the landing fees, so long as you book a few weeks ahead. Ryanair shows one of the cheaper no-frills operators, Easyjet is another. Both fly out of my local airport, I've used them to get to different parts of the Mediterranean, they're reliable and convenient.

You mentioned Italy. I just checked on Easyjet. US$70 return, taxes included, Bristol to Rome and back, 968 miles each way. That's not for all days, it's for the days they're trying to get customers to book but it looks like at least a couple of flights a week there and back.

As others have said, it's pretty easy to get around. I just haven't, largely because when I think of travel, there is sooooo much I haven't seen in my own country. When I was a young lad I went further afield, thinking that Europe would always be easy to get to, with the result that I have seen more of India and Australia than Europe.

Still plan to go to the Rodin Garden one day, though.

I love to travel, don't tend to go to Europe so much, for my foreign holidays I like to go a bit further, experience a bit more of the world.



We take short holidays in the UK quite a bit too, we have so much just on our doorstep.



We are planning to go to Normandy next year though and it will be to soak up some of the fairly recent history of the area.



BTW Spot, I've been back to the National Gallery this weekend, thanks for introducing me too it!

Nomad;1267090 wrote: I was taking a close look at Google maps and wondered how many of you foreign people travel throughout Europe since its so close. It looks like you could throw a rock and hit Nederlands from the East coast of England. France is just a hop skip and jump. Morrocco, Germany.....do you guys take advantage of your close proximity to history and culture?

Is waking up one morning and saying Im going to Italy cost prohibitive or is it within the average foreign type persons realm?


I have know people make a day trip to Malta, Spain, Germany, etc for a break but it is not common. Far better to take a week or two and do it properly

I have made day trips to Scandinavia, Switzerland, Italy, etc for work meetings but it does become tedious and I prefer to split it over two days.

Nomad;1267112 wrote: Ok but dont people go exploring in search of the rich history?

You guys are so lucky. Id be beside myself with all of the opportunities available.

Or is it taken for granted?


I guess the same could be said about anyone who doesn't explore the history of their own countries and areas. Lots in America havent travelled outside of their own states.

fuzzywuzzy;1267591 wrote: I guess the same could be said about anyone who doesn't explore the history of their own countries and areas. Lots in America havent travelled outside of their own states.


Very true. Good point. The difference being people are part of the culture to experience in visiting European countries, here the people generally are the same with some slight variations. Also we havent had time to develop ancient history the way Italy, Greece, China etc. have. Thats the allure for me.

You get a lot of people who go abroad every year but have hardly ever been anywhere in their own country other than the neighbouring towns. A lot just go because of the better weather rather than any interest in the countries or their history. I spent a holiday on malta and there was a woman lamenting there was only one decent beach and spent the whole time complaining there was nothing to do. This on a place with some of the oldest archaeologiocal remains ever found, where St Paul allegedly got shipwrecked where Odysseus is supposed to have met calypso etc etc.

A bit ironic considering I'm about to look up the price to travel to England to see Fulham play. I'm probably wasting my time because it's probably grossly expensive. :wah:

But I'm curious all the same.

K.Snyder;1267688 wrote: A bit ironic considering I'm about to look up the price to travel to England to see Fulham play. I'm probably wasting my time because it's probably grossly expensive. :wah:

But I'm curious all the same.


The last time I checked, it was cheaper to fly UK-USA-UK than to fly USA-UK-USA. I'd be interested to hear whether that's still the case.

I have been around Continental Europe quite a bit, I lived in Munich for year, and in Prague for a summer, I went to University in England as well, and I was born in the UK before my family moved back to Ireland. I don't know Scandinavia at all though, or Southern Europe, so that's the next thing.

I think people on the continent move around more than people in Britain and Ireland do, (obviously we live on Islands, and we kinda have island mentalities) but most people from round here would have some experience of being on the continent, even if it is only having sausage and chips in Benidorm.

You're right though, in terms of its Cultural heritage and the diversity and richness of its civilization Europe is a pretty amazing continent. If you consider it stretches from Katerinasburg in the Ural Mts in Russia, to Lisbon in Portugal; and from Iceland to Istanbul (or Constantinople as it was once known) its hard to beat. Most Europeans totally take this for granted though, and tend to think about Europe in terms of their own little bit of it.

What I find incredibly interesting is that, it seems the further away you are the more likely you are to travel to that destination. take a look at aussies for instance. I believe we have the most travelled people in the world (holiday and 'just to have a look' wise) Yet there are things here I live right next to that I don't ever plan to travel to.

fuzzywuzzy;1267824 wrote: What I find incredibly interesting is that, it seems the further away you are the more likely you are to travel to that destination. take a look at aussies for instance. I believe we have the most travelled people in the world (holiday and 'just to have a look' wise) Yet there are things here I live right next to that I don't ever plan to travel to.


We have tons of aussies all around our ski areas.

Its fun to talk travel within Canada when you consider the UK fits into my province alone... almost 5 times.

Nomad they are lucky they can travel from country to country at times in just a bit of a day.

For me here it is nearly 12 hours to travel from my city to the west coast and I am only 1.2 provinces away.

It take me just over 3 hours to cross the Canada US border mind you.

minks;1267829 wrote: We have tons of aussies all around our ski areas.

Its fun to talk travel within Canada when you consider the UK fits into my province alone... almost 5 times.

Nomad they are lucky they can travel from country to country at times in just a bit of a day.

For me here it is nearly 12 hours to travel from my city to the west coast and I am only 1.2 provinces away.

It take me just over 3 hours to cross the Canada US border mind you.


You've got to be kidding, it can take me three hours just to travel 30 miles in the rush hour round here.

This would be a great time to take advantage of seeing the eye doctor...:wah:...no more maps for you!

minks;1267829 wrote: We have tons of aussies all around our ski areas.



Its fun to talk travel within Canada when you consider the UK fits into my province alone... almost 5 times.



Nomad they are lucky they can travel from country to country at times in just a bit of a day.

For me here it is nearly 12 hours to travel from my city to the west coast and I am only 1.2 provinces away.

It take me just over 3 hours to cross the Canada US border mind you.


Well 3 hrs isnt that much of a sacrifice is it? I mean for a country bumpkin it must be pretty heady stuff to hob nob with Americans.

Nomad;1267955 wrote: Well 3 hrs isnt that much of a sacrifice is it? I mean for a country bumpkin it must be pretty heady stuff to hob nob with Americans.


Indeed Nomie. Hobnobbing just makes us "foreigner type people" more acutely aware of what we are missing by being "foreigner type people".



sigh...

Believe it or not, it is cheaper overall to buy a plane ticket and head off to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy etc for a week than it is to take a week’s holiday here in my own country¦. Therefore to answer your question, at least once per year if not twice we head off.

spot;1267691 wrote: The last time I checked, it was cheaper to fly UK-USA-UK than to fly USA-UK-USA. I'd be interested to hear whether that's still the case.


Well I have to consider the price of the game tickets and a nights stay so I remain cynical.

Aside from getting past the point of stepping foot on the plane I'm seeing that my first search for a round trip to London and back is roughly $600/363 pounds.

My second search has ended with an average price of $750/454 pounds for a round trip ticket from Ohio to London.

I'm losing interest quickly here! :wah:

I'll call up Clint Dempsey and see if he'll hook me up! :wah: