Study Abroad Aug-December
 

We are three students planning our study abroad trip beginning in August to Harlaxton in Gratham, England. On the weekend we have the opportunity to go wherever we want. If anyone has tips, advice, packing help, or anything else please let us know. We are going to Paris and Versailles, Ireland, London, Berlin to Deseau, Prague, Rome, and Spain. We would appreciate any of it since we are kind of overwhelmed right now. THANKS!

More info please!

How long in each city? What is your budget? Will you be taking trains to each city, or flying? Do you have an itinerary?

We can give you a lot of great advice, but first we need to know more about you, your traveling companions, and your trip.

Just to clarify, are you making several weekend trips over 5 months from England to the Continent and Ireland?

I too am assuming you are making separate trips and you are not visiting all these places in one trip. Is this correct?

We are taking weekend trips over the course of our stay.

September 26-29 is Rome
October 2-6 is Germany
October 10-13 is Prague
October 17-20 is Barcelona
October 24-27 is London
November 31-3 is Ireland
November 13-17 is France

In Germany we want to see Berlin then Dessau then Frankfort. We would like to see a concentration camp also during this time. In Dessau is the Bauhaus which is a graphic design place for me I want to see.

In Prague and Barcelona we really want a nice relaxing weekend. We hear it is beautiful and really have no itinerary of where we would like to be or really see right now. We really want to experience the culture.

In Ireland we thought we would fly into dublin and see the halloween festival that is that night. The next day we would want to go to see the Blarney stone and then go to Galway. We would also like to visit the Aran Islands.

In France we would like to see Paris and Versailles. We also thought is would be cool to go to the beaches of normandy.

We would like to stay under $350 in each place. We figured we would fly to each country since we thought it would be the cheapest but we are open to venture new things. We are three 21 year olds who want to experience the culture of each city more than being tourist. We want to take the most from our experience their especially since all the money is coming from multiple jobs this summer. I hope this is more information to help out.
Thanks

>>><i>November 31-3 is Ireland - In Ireland we thought we would fly into dublin and see the halloween festival that is that night. The next day we would want to go to see the Blarney stone and then go to Galway. We would also like to visit the Aran Islands.</i>

Ugh. So just one *night* in Dublin? For a Halloween Party, of all things? Then off to kiss the Blarney Stone, Galway and The Aran Islands? IMO, stay in Dublin, maybe a day trip to Galway. The Islands will be cold and ferries won't go out there in bad weather anyway.

Where's StCirq? Come help! :D

>>><i>We would like to stay under $350 in each place.</i>

Please tell me you mean $350 EACH.

>>><i> ...who want to experience the culture of each city more than being tourist</i>

Your posts about Ireland and France tell me otherwise.

Hi, Doppio. I'm on the other thread.

StCirq, maybe we should keep it all on this thread? Since the questions are all the same, really. Otherwise we will end up with 7 threads, one for each trip.

Just curious what you think about the other trips here in this thread - budget, etc.

What I think is, if they've only got $350 for each trip and that includes transportation back and forth to Grantham each time, it's just about impossible. It would be smarter to save up those increments of $350 for one longer trip, to eliminate the back and forth to England. Just stay an extra 3+ weeks at the end of the study period.

There's nothing wrong with the places they're going, but they don't seem to have done any research of their own on what's to do and see, or what the actual costs would be. It's all "we've heard that...." and "we'd like to do it for $350..." They need to hit the guidebooks and look at maps and figure out transportation and the logistics. But the destinations themselves are fine.

Agree StCirq. Thanks for chiming in. You've always been a big help and I always value your advice here - even when I'm not the one taking the trip!

I think a reality check is in order for these young travelers. Great idea to save up those increments of $350 for one longer trip.

Imagine you're from England and you're staying in Los Angeles for a few months, and each weekend, taking a trip. Las Vegas one weekend (then back to LA), then Seattle the next weekend (then back to LA), then Oregon the next weekend then Chicago, then Austin, etc, etc.. People would never think of doing that. Ever. You would travel in an itinerary going one place to the next, in an order that would make sense for your time and budget.

All the back and forth seems like a lot of time and money wasted.

I also think that while I know you want to see a lot of stuff while you are over in Europe, anyway, doing only weekend trips every single weekend to all these places is going to be really expensive. And spend a lot of time going back and forth, as well as the air fare. Yes, I know you can get some cheap fares on Easyjet or something, but I wonder if these places have been chosen for that reason. It still is going to eat up a lot of money.

But, if there is no way around that, I personally don't see anything wrong with going to Dublin for some local special events, that's what people do for memorable experiences. I have never heard Halloween in Dublin is amazing, but maybe it is -- someone wouldn't disparage people for going to Carnival in Venice, I wouldn't imagine, or NY eve in Edinburgh, or something like that.

Having said that, I have just done some googling and can find no evidence that Halloween in Dublin is some amazing event. I have found out that Edinburgh is considered to have a fairly good Halloween, so go there instead if you want some event atmosphere. And it coincides with a Gaelic holiday, Samhain or Samhuinn, which I guess is why the big deal in Ireland, if any, but it was revived in Edinburgh. So it is more of an event there, not in Dublin.

Edinburgh is a cool city, anyway, you should go there, it is a lot closer than some of these other places. This is some info on that event last year http://www.edinburghguide.com/events/samhuinn

Have you planned how to get from Harlaxton Manor to all those places or are the trips pre-arranged by the uni?

also why decide to study in England then leave at every weekend?

If you want to go to all these places each weekend that's fine and I wouldn't discourage anyone from traveling. But don't kid yourself you won't be anything other than a tourist, wandering round taking photographs.

If you want to experience the culture of anywhere you need to stick around. You've decided to study in England; great so you should experience England. Go to Lincoln, Cambridge, Norfolk, the Peak District, and there's enough to see in London to last you a lifetime.

At the end of your studies then spend a few months travelling to all the places on your list. That's when you'll get most out of your time. At the moment you're just ticking boxes.

IMO, you are making a mistake planning a trip away every single weekend. Don't you want to do things with the friends you are going to make in the program and get to know the area you will be living in?

You can do these trips on the cheap if you couchsurf and hostels, but even hostels are getting expensive these days, and the good ones can get booked up.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about study abroad students taking advantage of their long weekends to travel to different places. I would make several suggestions: consider using some of your weekends to visit places in England; there is so much to see there. Go to the forums at Lonely Planet; there you will find people your age and in similar situations, and you will get advice that is more appropriate for what you are doing, although you should certainly consider what you get here, also. Finally, if you do some online research, you will find tons of information posted by previous study abroad students directing you toward budget transportation, lodging, etc., and you can probably find a lot of information from previous students at your school in Harlaxton which will be of great help, also. Have a great time!

<<There is nothing out of the ordinary about study abroad students taking advantage of their long weekends to travel to different places>>

Of course not. But there's nothing ordinary about having only $350 to get yourself from the UK to the Continent for 4 days every weekend and expect it to cover the entirety of your costs.

My daughter is a college student currently studying abroad in Rome (Feb - May). She has traveled quite extensively with us prior to this where we usually stay 4-5 days in each location. However, she has been traveling quite a bit with her fellow classmates. They started out traveling to other places in Italy. But then started exploring more of Europe. She has done weekend trips to Budapest, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin, Brussels and Paris.

She has loved all these weekend trips!! While a few times, particularly Berlin she wished she had been there longer she always had a great time and has also really enjoyed seeing other parts of Europe and enjoying the food and culture there, even if for a short time.

They usually fly Ryanair and EasyJet which seem to have the cheapest fares. Just be sure you only bring a backpack or one bag that will fit in the overhead so you don't have to pay any luggage fees. You could consider the train to London and Paris but other than that I would fly.

They have stayed in a combination of hostels, apts and hotels. My daughter has done most of the accommodations for everyone and I've been impressed! She has almost always found something for $25-$50/person per night (except for in Paris). They have traveled in groups of 3-6. Easier to get a private room in a hostel if you have more people you are traveling with.

I would not discourage you from your plan. You are in Europe and I have encouraged my daughter to see as much of the continent as she can. I too assume you mean $350/person per trip. MIGHT be tough, as low as fares are they may not be THAT low. Her cheapest was Rome-Budapest which was $95USD but most are closer to $150-$200. Also keep in mind the cost of transport to the airport - not sure how close you are. I wouldn't plan too many daytrips outside of the city you are choosing because there probably won't be enough time. They generally fly out Thurs night (no classes on Fri). Spend Fri/Sat there and then fly home on Sunday morning.

It won't be that hard to find out what to do when you are there. Read through old trip reports here, there will be other students traveling to these places and if they go before you they can give you good info., or my daughter had friend's who were studying or had studied the previous semester in some of those places. They were particularly helpful for where the best places are for young adults to go in the evening.

Good luck!! My daughter has had an amazing experience- can't believe she's home in just under a month. She just keeps telling me all the places we will need to take her back too!!

I think this would be a lot easier to do if the OP were in London, for example, or any place easier to get to an airport or train station. Because that college is near Leicester and Nottingham, it takes about an hour to just get to London from there by train. So it is just going to add on a lot more time and money to be traveling every weekend when you consider that location, that's all.

Good tip on the hand baggage for Easyjet, as the luggage fee is around 15-20 euro per one-way, as I recall, to check a bag. But if these are weekend trips, that actually makes it easier in that regard. But Easyjet from London to Rome is around 60 GBP (each way), which is close to US$100. That is a fairly typical Easyjet fare, I guess, for some longer routes. I have paid around 50 euro, I guess from some shorter ones I've done. So if you are paying $200 for the airfare RT, that leaves $150 for the weekend. Possible, but one has to be really careful with the accommodations, of course. Well, that may actually be difficult, because that is only $50 a day on a 3-day weekend, and for food and accommodation, and any transport or sightseeing tickets, etc., that is pretty difficult.

I'd also think maybe you don't have to do this every single weekend, sounds a bit exhausting, actually. So I might vary it by closer places. You can get to Edinburgh by train from there fairly easily, it takes a bit less than 4 hours, for example. I don't know about train fare, but obviously going to/from London by train all the time as a departure point (I presume) and then airports will add up in various ways (time and money).

Not to sound too much like a parent here, but when were you planning to study, write papers, etc. You are getting college credit for the courses you are taking? Don't you expect to have to do some work? In most cases you have 4 days each week away from school. You might want to dial it back just a little.

My daughter did two study abroads in college and did do some traveling but less than she anticipated. And I agree with the others who say maybe do some less time consuming weekends to closer destinations that don't require flying.

If you mean $350 per person per weekend that should be doable. But maybe consider just staying in each city rather than trying to see other places (eg in France just stick to Paris, you could do a day trip to Versaille but I would think you'd rather spend the whole time in Paris itself).

How did you come up with which place each weekend? Have you already booked flights? On the one hand you need to book economy flights months ahead in order to get good prices, but that limits your flexibility. I would schedule flights every other weekend at most, and then if you want to go somewhere on the in between weekends go someplace within England that can be done by train.

marking for later comment

another factor in the budget airlines is that the cheapest flights often come very early in the morning so you have to factor in how you will get to and from the airport since public transportation might not be an option so early. That means taxis....

Plus, the time and cost of getting to and from your study abroad city to the airport.

I am also speaking from the experience of someone with a daughter currently studying abroad and traveling, and not in a major airport city.

You may want to look into the various youth railpasses for folks under age 26 - there is one in Britain and the Global Eurail Youthpass valid in every other country and if you buy one of those you get 50% off a BritRailYouthpass, which is already cheap and lets you hop on any train in Britain anytime.

Anyway if going by train check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Passes are not valid on Chuunel trains to Paris or Brussels from London but there is a spcial low rate for youths again under 26 I believe. www.eurostar.com. Early bird doth get the proverbial worm with Cunnel train tickets.

Get a copy of Let's Go Europe - it will save you money just by its unparalleled coverage of budget accommodations - zillions of places covered.

Isabel--I've been wondering the same thing about studying. Perhaps study abroad is not as challenging as college as I remember it (a long time ago).

depends on the type of program - immersion programs are great to learn languages - means living with locals, etc.

But most college trips tend to appeal to touring more than immersion and you are with a large group of Americans.

Try to find one with local immersion or go for the fun of it and travel with a fun-loving group.

I think study abroad courses really vary a lot across colleges and their intent. The best ones are hard work and a student would be going to a particular are for some purpose, not just to have a vacation and travel. The purpose should be a language course, and some major or course that is related and special to the area so there is some reason for it (ie, Italian Renaissance architecture in Italy). Just going to some school in England at Harlaxton really doesn't have any educational purpose, I would imagine, it's just a trip for the kids.

Now maybe I am wrong and there is some well-regarded special program here for which you need to be in England, or at least, that would enhance the coursework. I'd be interested in what it is. A lot of these colleges do this because they make a lot of money off those foreign study abroad students. And the US colleges do it to appeal to students who get excited about a trip abroad. Harlaxton advertises an honors course in British studies, but if that were your major, I would presume you wouldn't be escaping Great Britain every weekend. It isn't really a British university, anyway, it's a US university (University of Evansville, IN) with an office and program over there. Maybe they bought some buildings, but I would think not.

So it is probably a fun experience, but I don't think the goal is really the academics.

Of course a lot of study abroad students are actually attending a foreign university. My daughter's exchange program was through the university she attended here in the US (so that the credit was transferable) but it was at the University of Paris; she attended classes with French students (and other international students), which were taught in French. She lived in the International Students Housing area where there were students from at least 50 countries. She had relatively little interaction with other Americans, and none that she knew before she went.