<p>We’re in the very preliminary planning stage and could use some suggestions. Our son has a possible internship in England from January - March. We’re thinking of having him start the trip with his sister (both college students) by visiting Northern Ireland to visit family and the sights. So many questions - they could to see more of Ireland and head to London. They would only have about a week together - maybe 10 days. </p>
<p>Are there other places you would suggest them seeing - would it make sense to squeeze in trips to other countries? What is the best way to travel from place to place? They would stay a couple nights with relatives in N Ireland then it would likely be youth hostels. </p>
<p>What would you consider the must see places in Ireland?</p>
<p>Cost is a issue so we want to be smart. After she leaves he’ll likely be renting a flat for a couple of months.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on how to start planning would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on where to fly out of - Boston or NY? If they are headed to Northern Ireland does it make sense to fly to Belfast or Dublin - looking for pros and cons.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on staying in youth hostels?</p>
<p>Definitely visit around if you’ve got the time! Transportation over there is cheap and easy. Comfy trains that drop you off in the middle of cities, and cheap budget no-frills airlines (like EasyJet and Ryanair) that fly you to top tourist places for the cost of a pair of jeans! And immigrations/customs/security lines are much shorter.</p>
<p>Dublin of course is an easy and obvious destination. Go to the Guinness Factory, or the James Joyce Museum, or just hang out in pubs all day long! Perfect for a small excursion. London is probably a given that son will spend a lot of time in. It’s literally one of the most amazing big cities on Earth, and you’ll need a lifetime. It’s like NYC, but much more relaxed and dignified.</p>
<p>I strongly strongly strongly recommend Scotland! Scottish people are nice and fun. Edinburgh can be so beautiful if you can get up there maybe in March when it’s not complete winter. Go climb up to the peak of Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park - quite an experience!</p>
<p>As for flights - I know that Aer Lingus operates frequent and affordable flights from NY to Dublin. And, considering Boston’s large Irish population, perhaps you may find a lot of trips from Logan to Belfast/Dublin as well. It may also be cheaper to go to London for a connection as well. JFK/LGA to Heathrow is one of the world’s most utilized air routes, so you might get lots of good deals from time to time. When I lived in London and frequently returned to NY, I was able to often get round trips in the $500 and under range and single way journeys in the $200 range. It helps to shop early and often.</p>
<p>They’ll probably have 8 or 9 days to travel and explore. Would you just stick to Dublin or go to Cork too? What about Galway? They’ll spend a day or so in N Ireland and maybe fly out of Belfast to London or Scotland.</p>
<p>Not sure how how they’ll travel with their stuff. He’ll be in London for 8 weeks so he’ll have to decide if his laptop is a requirement or could he get by with an iPhone. </p>
<p>I’m a little concerned about staying in youth hostels with cameras, phones etc. What do you think? If there are 2 of them staying in a youth hostel is it still a good economic choice or is a b&b a better choice?</p>
<p>Dublin is a place that can be explored in just one or two nights if needed. It’s compact and there are not a whole lot of ‘touristy’ things to do besides just live the Irish life ;)</p>
<p>London meanwhile is a different story. Sure you can just go for two days and do the obvious like Buckingham, Parliament, Eye, Tower, Piccadilly, etc, but there’s so much more. I’d try to budget the majority of the time there.</p>
<p>As for hostels - most have lockers. If your kids are the social type - I definitely recommend the hostels if they’ve never been in Europe before. It’s a wonderful experience just living in an European youth hostel and getting to meet backpackers from all over the world travelling across Europe on their study-abroads or gap years.</p>
<p>I stayed at the Avalon House in Dublin and certainly reccommend it. It costs around 15 euro for dorm room with bunks, or a bit more for private rooms with ensuite baths. The rooms are a bit tight, and the internet there was slow, but it has a great atmosphere there I met some wonderful friendly people.</p>
<p>Having lockers makes me feel much better. I don’t think he would travel and leave his laptop at home. </p>
<p>Would you plan everything out ahead of time and have the hostels or b&b’s all set (for instance a night in Cork, a night in Galway, one in Dublin and a night in Belfast) or would you just plan on spending x number of days and figure it out as you go?</p>
<p>How crazy is it to try to squeeze in a night in Paris and if they get that far maybe Italy? Is that any way near reasonable or totally nuts?</p>
<p>Ireland is about seeing family and learning about their roots (and Irish pubs) - the rest is more of an adventure.</p>
<p>Are hostels separated for guys and girls? I understand why they could be but it would be my preference for these two to stay together.</p>
<p>Thanks - I greatly appreciate the suggestions and information. I look forward to reading updates.</p>
<p>Absolutely not crazy trying to squeeze a night in Paris. It’s an hour and a half away from London on the Eurostar, which takes you from Paddington to Gare du Nord, both in the very centers of their respective cities.</p>
<p>Every hostel are not usually separated by gender. All the dorm/bunk bed accommodations I’ve ever visited were co-ed. I think some hostels offer a number of gender specific rooms, but most are mixed.</p>
<p>Thanks - I’ll check into the Eurostar. It sounds pretty cool. The whole idea of an internship in England and a sightseeing trip sounds exciting to me. Hopefully it will all work out.</p>
<p>Are websites the best way to find info about the hostels? Any tips?</p>
<p>I would like to offer a bit of a contrarian view - don’t add too many places or they will be spending most of their time and money on transit from place to place. </p>
<p>Instead, focus on 2-3 places. To really experience London alone is a 10-14 day trip. I’d suggest 2-3 days in Dublin - an incredible city for young people, a couple of days in Belfast (incredible history there) and then the rest in London.</p>
<p>Eurostar goes from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord (it’s never been to Paddington). Takes about 2 hours but actually 3 due to the time difference (if you leave at 9am UK time you arrive in Paris at 11am UK but that is 12 noon FR time. The time zone line is across the channel). If you book tickets 12 weeks in advance it costs about £60. However, if you just turn up and pay on the day, it costs about £200. You can also go to Brussels. </p>
<p>Note that this is so not a big deal and if your son is in England for months he could pop over to Paris any day, any weekend, any evening. I’ve gone for a day just for shopping (and also to Lille and Euro Disneyland!)</p>
<p>Hostels in the UK often have twin rooms and out of the cities these can be very cheap (i do lots of hiking so that’s why I’ve used them). In big cities it’s probably as cheap for 2 to stay at a chain like Travel lodge or Premier Inn. Travel lodge do £19 a night deals sometimes (you can sign up for their email alerts about this). </p>
<p>For Italy a flight will be needed as overground would take more than 24 hours from the UK and would not be cheap.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info about the hotels - I’ll check them out and sign up for email alerts if I can. It looks like hostels are the best deal if you’re traveling alone but maybe comparable to a chain hotel when there are two. </p>
<p>The idea of going to Paris for a day or two just sounds cool. That’s probably as far as they would go. Italy sounds too complicated for this trip.</p>
<p>I appreciate the tips and suggestions.
thanks!</p>
<p>I’m Welsh so I’m biased, but I would say visit Wales We often get ignored by visitors! Cardiff is lots of fun - lots of museums, parks, pubs, bars etc. March 1st is St David’s Day, so there will be lots going on. </p>
<p>West Wales (e.g. Pembrokeshire) is stunning, although Jan-March is probably not the best time to visit. </p>
<p>Wherever you go in the UK or Ireland during that period, it’s going to be cold and wet, with a strong likelihood of snow in northern England and Scotland, so you may want to take that into account.</p>
<p>ITA with Laylah on the weather. Also it’s going to be DARK! This means possibly pitch black at 4pm in January. Not a big deal when you live here. We all go on with our lives as if it’s the day time. But not ideal for sightseeing. Lots of touristy places have a close-at-dusk policy in the winter in any case. </p>
<p>This year Eurostar failed in the snow on a grand scale, leaving thousands of people trapped. It was the coldest winter for 30 years so hopefully this won’t happen again. But in general the UK public transport system takes a hit if the weather is bad.</p>
<p>It would be nice if the weather were nicer - I should have realized it would be dark by 4. We’re from New England so cold and dark is normal although not what I’d choose for traveling. The internship is January - March so no options there.</p>
<p>We’ll add Wales to our list of places to check out.
Thanks</p>
We often get ignored by visitors! Cardiff is lots of fun - lots of museums, parks, pubs, bars etc. March 1st is St David’s Day, so there will be lots going on. </p>