Vacation Thread

[Kor]

Re: Vacation Thread

Looking at doing this in early 2014 - any suggestions on finding a $500 flight? Cheapest flights I've seen are around $750-$800 for a round trip.

Hipmunk says the cheapest in the next 90 days is 669 to Gatwick but I think there are often last minute deals that are sub-600$. They are never to Heathrow, always one of the other airports. My brother went about 6mo ago for around 550 round trip.

Maybe Blair will help you

[Natty54]

Re: Vacation Thread

Still love the $280 flight I got

[liquid]

Re: Vacation Thread

Hipmunk says the cheapest in the next 90 days is 669 to Gatwick but I think there are often last minute deals that are sub-600$. They are never to Heathrow, always one of the other airports. My brother went about 6mo ago for around 550 round trip.

Maybe Blair will help you

Thanks for the tip on that site - never used it before. I'm hoping to go in March.....but we'll see how things go.

[R_Ethug]

Re: Vacation Thread

keep your eyes posted with KLM as they have direct flights calgary to amsterdam and have seat sales a lot and then you can hub to wherever you want

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Vacation Thread

Flying to London will indeed be cheapest heading to Gatwick and most certainly on Air Transat via Canadian Affair is what you want to keep your eyes on. Flights at $500 are indeed possible but may not offer the most flexibility, but I think there is usually some very good prices in February/March before the spring/summer season takes off. Flying to and from Gatwick is not too bad at all either, there is still the Gatwick Express to get you into the city and lots of train access around there. For us it is the closer airport than Heathrow so we prefer to use it now and the cheaper airlines like Easyjet or Monarch fly out of there so if you are going on to Europe it can be done from there, just watch the baggage charges with the cheap airlines.

I personally think anything under $700 is a good price for Calgary to London so if you can be patient and flexible just keep your eyes open. Some people do complain about Air Transat but my recent trip to Calgary was on them (October) and the service was fine and on the way back they had a totally re-done plane with nice touch screens and new seats and such and this route is one of their most prominent so it has gotten the newly fitted planes first. Club class is also a reasonable upgrade for a little more space and comfort if you are not so thrifty, but very limited so book early if you want it.

[liquid]

Re: Vacation Thread

So we've made the decision to head to London in April -arriving late on the 5th.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for things to make sure I see and do? Right now I think we'll be spending 4 or 5 days in London, and then another 2 or 3 days in Edinburgh or elsewhere.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Vacation Thread

Well let me know your interests and such and I can help you plan out your London time a bit, getting to know things pretty well and have been to a lot of the main spots a few times now

If I am not working still I might even be able to play tour guide for a day!

[Kor]

Re: Vacation Thread

Just my opinion, have visited the UK a few times - I'd say its worth it to go up to Edinburgh as its a beautiful city with lots to do, the surrounding countryside is also quite beautiful.

In London if you are an art fan the Tate museum is awesome, I would say the best modern art museum I have been to including MoMA in NYC. British museum is also OK.

The thames area between Westminster Abby and the Tower of London is pretty packed with sights, london eye, etc, touristy but fun especially on a nice day.

Piccadilly circus is like the times square of london. Of course also plenty of shopping in London and I recommend doing some!

Covent Garden is where I most enjoy hitting the pubs, easily worth spending a day just enjoying the beer and pub food.

I'd say that my trip out to see Stonehenge was kinda a let down, it is a highly rated destination but IMO not worth the time to travel there.

Wish I had seen a play at the Globe Theatre.

Last time I was in London I didn't get to eat anywhere nice BUT I would say make a point to hit some restaurants as well.

[RONDAL]

Re: Vacation Thread

blair is a wicked tour guide, knows all the good spots. i'll be there as well then so we should try and meet up.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: Vacation Thread

Tate Modern is definitely one of my favorite museums in London, but the National Gallery, British Museum, Victoria & Albert, Science Museum and Natural History Museum are all pretty good and free except for special exhibitions, but with only so many days you will not be able to see them all. The V&A is like a maze, I think I have been there maybe 6-7 times now and I cannot even figure out how the layout works yet, massive place.

Most things in London are actually pretty close together and you can in fact walk from one to another pretty easily and do many things on the way. For example if you start near Victoria you can see Buckingham Palace, then walk towards Westminster, see Big Ben, Parliament, then cross the Thames and see the London Eye, make your way down the river and see many more sights, get to the Tate Modern eventually. After that you can keep going and eventually make your way to City Hall, Tower Bridge and The Tower, but this would be a fairly long day of walking but you would get a lot of attractions in.

Food and drinks can get expensive quickly, the Mrs and I went out for a few cocktails a couple weeks ago and I think we were paying £9-10 a drink. There are however lots of great reasonable dining experiences if you search a bit and avoid tourist chains and clone pubs, we have several places we frequent in the Soho/Oxford area for Mexican, Asian and a great burger.

Anyway it is a fantastic place and you will have fun and I can offer any help you may want/need so just ask!! I have not been to Scotland at all, but I hear good things, just with the price of train tickets and the time sometimes it is cheaper to go into Europe.