em810

@PalenQ I was taking a look at Let's Go Europe the other day and found it helpful! Thanks for the suggestion, I may look into buying it. I took a few photos as well, just in case I don't end up buying it. Thanks for all the advice - I'll have to watch out for those fees.

@ Thank you! I will definitely look out for Lonely Planet and Rick Steves' guides.

@IMDonehere Sounds good! I am mostly looking out for sight guides as that is so, so important. Two of my favorite places are the Met in NYC and the American Museum of Natural History, so I know I'll be in heaven in all the museums and beautiful landscapes.

@adrienne That's a great idea! Eliminates some bulk and I usually find myself skipping pages I don't need anyway.

@bilboburgler Thank you so much! I'm looking into everything you mentioned. While it would be mildly annoying, I'm used to terrible customer service. I'll check reviews and see how bad it is, though. Thanks for mentioning that as well!

@KTtravel Sounds amazing! I will look into those two airlines.

@dwdvagamundo I respect your opinion and while I'm sure it would benefit me, I have no interest in taking finance or business classes at the moment. I am planning on taking an immersion semester abroad in my junior year, most likely, because I wanted more time to study the language before I go. My family is not wealthy. I understand where you are coming from, but I am not afraid to take a bit of a risk. I know you're probably thinking that I'm too young to know how hard it is but I have had to grow up very quickly in the past few years. In my opinion, there are worse things than following your dreams and getting let down. Anyway, I really do appreciate your opinion and hope I didn't come across as disrespectful.

Thank you everyone! I am so glad everyone is giving me input!

IMDonehere

We spent some time traveling with a niece during her semester abroad. Someone in the family had to do it.

It seems many of the better US schools now offer a de rigueur semester abroad. As such the academic requirements are not as not as demanding as on the mother campus, so that the students can enjoy the full experience.

As Bilbo and others have noted, it is imperative that when flying the cheap-o European airlines such as Ryan, Easy Jet, and Vueling that you understand the limitations and the penalties for carrying luggage in excess of their maximums. This is how they supplement their low fares and they are stringently enforced.

One of the reasons we like to slow our trips down is because we take great pleasure at sitting at a cafe for a while or stop in a park and watch a different world pass by.

For me, the best museum cities in Europe are Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Florence, and Amsterdam. That is not to say in other cities and towns don't have world class museums, but those cities have an abundance.

But you will learn to appreciate cities where the art is in the architecture, not in doors. There are far too many to mention but just to be aware of them.

Jean

em810, can I just say your response to dwdvagamundo was very thoughtful and mature and, IMO, not disrespectful at all. I think you're going to do fine whatever you study. I'm 63, and my only educational regrets are that I followed my head and not my heart.

maxima

When you register for you courses in Norwich, you can inquire as to whether they have any travel programs during the Spring Break. Some of the Universities in the UK do this. For example my friends' daughter was at University of Leicester for a semester and during spring break she went with other students and a faculty member for Rome for a week. they did a lot of sightseeing. I cant remember if she had to do a paper for that or if it just a pleasure no school work trip. She also had to empty out her dorm room as the University used that particular building for conferences during the break, which was rather annoying.

In the UK STA travel is a major youth and inexpensive travel operator. They have a store in Norwich and you may get some ideas from their website.

KLM flies daily to Amsterdam from Norwich. You can check out the fares. given the cost and time of going to
another city this may work for you.

Ryan Air and Easy Jet will fly into and out of airports that may not be exactly near where you want to be.. this means taking a bus or train, but the fares are often pretty low.
also you can consider taking the chunnel train from London to Paris if you do, book the cheapest seats. you travel from the center of London to the center of Paris. in about 3 hours.

Don't buy rail passes too early as they must be used within 6 months of purchase. you also you need to figure out how many days you would be using the pass to determine whether it is worth while or whether other types of fares will cost less.

You and your mother should discuss what places you want to visit, how long you want to stay and what you want to see. While its tempting to see as much as you can realistically its not possible, and it may be more satisfying to see a few places in more depth. Even if your mother tells you she will go wherever you want, it may be she always had a desire to see X, and would be disappointed if she didn't. Its also helpful to discus a budget for hotels, transportation, meals and sightseeing so that you can plan your time together.

if you are traveling with a UK student id you may be able to take advantage of student discounts elsewhere in Europe.
BTW in the UK national museums are free, but charge for special exhibits.

for cheap accommodations in London, the university of London rents the dorm space out when classes are not in session.. so does the University of Edinburgh, so if you are with your mother and do not want to stay in a hostel and find the hotels are too expensive this is not too bad an alternative.

em810

@IMDonehere Thank you! I prefer more slowed down trips as well, so hopefully I will be able to convince my mom to clear up our itinerary a bit. I will watch out for those extra fees - I'm sure they try to be sneaky about it.

@Jean Thank you so much for your reply! My mom did the same. I think that things don't always go our way even when we take precautions. However, I really do appreciate dwdvagamundo's sincerity, especially since most of my classmates are much more harsh - as in telling me that English majors are pathetic and useless. It's good to be realistic about life. My generation is not exactly the most realistic bunch.

@maxima Seriously, such great advice! I'm so thankful that you took the time to write that up - I will be using every tip. I have already looked into optional classes and it turns out that some of them offer trips to enrich the learning experience - which could be another option! I will have to ask about spring break opportunities - I hadn't thought about school travel programs for spring break.

PalenQ

Don't buy rail passes too early as they must be used within 6 months of purchase. you also you need to figure out how many days you would be using the pass to determine whether it is worth while or whether other types of fares will cost less.>

another reason not to buy really early is that specials often pop up later - like a free extra day on some passes is not unusual - but if you have already purchased your pass then you cannot change it in for the new promo - you'd have to refund it minus 15 or 20% if after buying you want to change it - things can also happen the preclude traveling to Europe - things you never foresee so yes do not buy a pass too far in advance.

em810

@PalenQ I will definitely keep that in mind! The first day of orientation at the university will be January 8 so I guess I should wait until the late fall/early winter to buy rail passes and such.

Does anyone have any advice on when to book a plane ticket? Also, is booking a roundtrip really the best deal?

Thank you everyone!

PalenQ

so I guess I should wait until the late fall/early winter to buy rail passes and such.>

You can always have someone back home buy a pass and have it shipped to a U.S. address and then they can send it to you - perhaps you will have a better fix on where you want to go once there and meeting others and planning to travel on weekends of breaks with them, etc. So I would not buy months before going.

Railpasses cannot be bought in the U.K. to my knowledge - at least Eurailpasses.

caze17

Good for you for taking the opportunity to study abroad, and trying to get some additional travel in as well! Others have given excellent advice, but since you asked for travel stories, I thought I would pass along my experience with study abroad and travel. My junior year of college, I studied for a semester in Berlin (1998). My school was academically rigorous, but as someone noted above, my study abroad program (through the same school) definitely was a bit less rigorous so that students had more time to immerse themselves in the culture. You would have to contact students that have experienced your specific Norwich program to find out if that's the case for you. As such, we did not have class on Fridays (or maybe just one first thing in the morning, I can't remember), and we were able to travel more easily on weekends. My general schedule was to alternate spending a weekend in Berlin with a weekend traveling. During the semester, I went to places that were closer to Berlin (all by train) - Amsterdam, Prague, Munich for Oktoberfest, Heidelberg, plus Vienna and Zurich over Thanksgiving break. I used the Let's Go Europe book extensively to find hostels once we arrived in each city. Side note: Zurich is not much of a tourist city so don't make the mistake I did which was to say, I want to go to Switzerland, I guess that means Zurich! Research is your friend!

Following my semester program, I spent two weeks traveling to other parts of Europe with my best friend from high school who had flown out to join me. I planned 2 nights each in Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Barcelona, Madrid, and Paris, ending back in Berlin for my flight home. Some overnight train travel was included, since I had a Eurail pass and thought I was so smart to save time and money (no hotel). I was overly ambitious and had no idea how exhausting that type of travel could be, even at age 20. My trip started off well enough in Rome, but since I had not done enough research, I showed up at the Vatican, not knowing that you couldn't enter the Sistine Chapel on a Sunday. We were leaving the next day so I missed it. We showed up in Florence next, and missed the David because the Accademmia is closed on Monday. You get the picture. Once in Cinque Terre, which I loved, there was a train strike the day we were to depart. We had already checked out of our pensione, and just decided to sleep on the beach. We had no camping gear and after drinking a bottle of wine, passed out with only our jackets on. I woke up about 3am freezing to death, and wishing that the sun would come up for several hours. With barely any sleep, we took the long train ride to Barcelona. I was never able to get any sleep on trains, so when we arrived in Barcelona, I slept for most of the day. By then, we were so exhausted, that after a day or two in Barcelona, we skipped Madrid and headed straight for Paris because we had a friend with an apartment there and just wanted to sleep, rest, and relax. After a few days recuperating there, we called the airline once we realized how dumb it was to go all the way back to Berlin for our flight. We were connecting through Brussels back to the US and they let us cancel our first leg, so that we only had to go to Brussels. (I'm sure that would never be allowed today without serious fees!)

I tell you all of this for two reasons. 1) Despite what it might sound like, the trip was an absolute blast and gave me a feel for what traveling in Europe was like. I assumed that I would return so I wasn't too concerned if I missed something in a destination. I have returned to Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, and lots of Italy, so it's not an unrealistic idea. (And I'm only 35 with plenty of years of travel ahead!) 2) You have to be ready for surprises. If it's really important that your mom see specific things, you need to build an itinerary with plenty of wiggle room that doesn't fall apart if you encounter a train strike or unexpected museum closure. If the itinerary is too tight, it falls apart when the slightest thing goes wrong.

And most importantly, seeing the museums and famous sites are worthwhile, but just walking the streets, sitting in cafes, and yes, having bottles of wine on an Italian beach before passing out, can be the best parts of your trip. So leave some time for that too!

Have a terrific time abroad!

em810

@PalenQ Thank you for the advice! I will hold off buying it.

@caze17 Thank you for sharing your story! Sounds like a crazy but amazing time! While I'm sure I'll make plenty of mistakes, I am assured by your story that I can handle them just fine. My mom and I rarely plan much besides the necessary (popular hotels, early bookings) as we prefer to discover most things on our own. I was worried about that, but it sounds like it won't be much of a problem over there... within reason, of course!

maxima

Its hard to say when to book a plane ticket as fares vary so much. You can start looking at the fares now and see how far out you can book and at what price. As for roundtrip fares, often they are cheaper but a lot depends on the airline, what airport, day of the week and the month. You will need to buy a ticket here to go to the UK and for your return home.

Once you are in the uk, you can buy plane tickets from uk websites for your trips from the UK.

One of the things you will want to think about is what will you do with all of your things once the semester ends. You may have books, warmer winter clothing that you won't need in the spring/summer. etc. You won't want to drag all that with you for weeks. You can ask anyone you know who has been on the study abroad program or the academic advisor if they have had experience with this. You can look into the cost of shipping things home.. post office or fed ex.

Would your mother fly in and out of the UK if so, you may want to store things and have her take them back in an extra suitcase.. you can always get a cheap one in the UK and if your mother is using carry on luggage she will probably be able to check one bag for free.

I am sure that you already know that you can buy a cheap phone in Norwich and use the local phone service, pay as you go. It will be much much cheaper than using your present plan overseas. You can skype with friends and family and send emails. Also your family here can buy an international phone card for $20 or $30.. its a set number of minutes that are pre-paid. cards are sold in lots of places including BJs and Costco. Its cheaper than using an international plan with any of the regular carriers. I used to have an overseas plan and then dropped it and only use these cards now when calling friends in London.

If you use a hair dryer or straightener do not take the ones you use here. The electric current is different than north America, and they often don't work or will burn out. You can buy inexpensive ones in Norwich, and ask about using them on the European continent.

Fodorite018

I don't have a whole lot to add since you have already gotten a lot of good advice Mostly I just want to say that I am a mom who joined our DD at the end of her study abroad term and we had a wonderful time. Your mom is like most of us and wants to see everything, but mostly she just wants to spend time with you and so won't really care where that is. Our DS is in the planning stages of his own study abroad term and so it is interesting to hear where he may go.

BTW, DD graduated from college just a year ago, but is in Europe at the moment for work. So yes, you never know when all this traveling around will actually help out in the real world

em810

@maxima Thanks so much for all of your help! I think I will buy a plane ticket when my plans solidify a little more. Also, the extra suitcase is an awesome idea! I think that will be better than shipping stuff back home. I did hear that about the phones so I plan on doing exactly that!

@mms Thank you! I'm glad you had a good time! After discussing the trip with my Mom, I realized how little she cares about getting to go everywhere. She really just wanted the experience of seeing Europe and sharing it with me. And congratulations! I'm hoping that it will!

dwdvagamundo

em810--

Haven't been back in a while. Appreciate your response--not disrespectful at all. "My generation is not exactly the most realistic bunch." Neither was mine. I wish I'd taken advantage of the opportunity to travel abroad when I was in college. Glad you're taking advantage.

IMDonehere

Every generation thinks it invented sex and rebellion.

The following quote is usually attributed to Socrates.

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

em810

@dwdvagamundo Thank you! I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity.

@IMDonehere Yes, that is very true!

PalenQ

Yup youth is indeed wasted on young people! (George Bernard Shaw). When I went to Europe when in college for six weeks I learned a whole lot more about the real world and coping being totally on my own in a foreign coutnry than anything in college.