passportplus

I traveled alone to London this past Sept (Im 68 - female). Oh, I had a wonderful time. I like staying in the same hotel the whole time and just being on my own. I took a lot of time to pick out my hotel, and sights ahead of time. I felt extremely safe. So my question is...where can I go next summer? Preferences are English speaking city, safe, good sightseeing.

lennyba

Edinburgh is fantastic. I think you would feel quite safe and comfortable there.

janisj

IMHO Dublin is nice and "worth" 2 or 3 days. Edinburgh is fantastic and "worth" days and days.

Nothing wrong w/ Dublin - but for a single-city destination, Edinburgh is 10 times better.

danon

another vote for Edinburgh !

letsgo39

I've been to both. Really didn't like Dublin but absolutely love Edinburgh. It is on my list of places to return to.

sheila

Well, you're really restricting yourself to the UK, aren't you?

Given that London is England, you would want a slightly different experience, and I would suggest Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin or Cork.

As an off the wall suggestion you might look at Paphos on Cyprus. Clarly Cyprus isn't English speaking, but many many people do speak English since it was a UK protectorate for such a long time

They're all safe, and all can provide good sightseeing.

Edinburgh must come out top of that list, and they all have different charms.

If you can get a good rate, I doubt you could beat the Scotsman. If you can't, think about Malmaison in Leith.

hetismij

Amsterdam. You will feel right at home speaking English there. Just watch out for the trams!

isabel

First, I do agree that Edinburgh is much better than Dublin. I was not that impressed with Dublin - nothing wrong with it, just it was kind of boring. Edinburgh was great. I spent 6 nights there, alone, this past summer. If you get tired being in the city the whole time there are lots of one day tours you can take. I took one to Stirling, Loc Lamond (I think I spelled that wrong), etc. I usually hate tours but it did get me to several places in one day without having to worry about public transportation. But trains in Scotland are fine and you could do several day trips by yourself (not a tour) if you choose. I had several planned but the weather was so rainy I spent most of the time in Edinburgh.

But I also agree that there are plenty of cities that are not English speaking but in which almost everyone speaks English. Amsterdam is a good example and also has a lot to do with many possible day trips. Copenhagen and Stockholm are also good.

None of these cities are as big as London. How long a trip do you have planned?

passportplus

I'd like to spend 7-8 nights in the city I choose. I'm really looking at Edinburgh now that I've gotten such great replies. Expedia can book me a hotel - Grassmarket - and flight for about $1800. Isn't that an incredible price!? The reviews on the hotel seem to be pretty good. Im not one to spend a lot of my travel $$ on a place to sleep. So, now, I must look at transportation to and from the airport. Day trips seem like something I would like. I've tentively scheduled for Sept, but I don't know if i can wait that long! But the rates are cheaper then.

amyb

I love both Dublin and Edinburgh, have been to both several times.

But go to Amsterdam. Seriously! I went there in April and absolutely fell in love with it. We don't speak Dutch and never had a problem (and I'm not just saying that like people always say about Italy or France!) Everyone we encountered spoke English and I'm not even sure we heard any Dutch! It was a wonderful trip with so much to do both in the city and in daytrips around it. Try and shoot for April or early May though, so you can enjoy the tulips too! This way, you'll get a taste of something that's not the UK and maybe it'll broaden your horizons further for "next year"! (I have a rather lengthy trip report if you click on my name and scan back to April...)

isabel

That $1800 might be a good deal, but it doesn't sound that great. Where are you flying from? I just checked kayak.com and they have flights next Sept for $727 fro JFK. Other airports would be more of course but that gives you a stating point.

Another option you might consider would be going in July, when flights would be a couple hundred more but you could stay in the Edinburgh Metro Hostal. It's only available in July and August as it is dorm housing for the university the rest of the time. But this particular hostal has single, lockable rooms in a flat type arrangement. I stayed there last July, there were 6 rooms which shared two bathrooms and a large kitchen. It was only £18 a night and you could cook complete meals - it was a full kitchen. Marks and Spencer (large dept store in the UK) has a fabulous food store with lots of prepared foods that just need to be cooked (fresh not frozen). I was very happy with the whole arrangement. The room was quite large and adequately furnished. There is no lift, and no TV if those things are important to you. It is technically a "youth" hostal, but at least 25% of the people there had grey hair, and many more were families. It was not a backpacking, drinking crowd kind of place. There were certainly a good number of young people but you wouldn't feel out of place.

travel2live2

If you want to stick with the UK I too would suggest Edinburgh for 7-8 nights. However, we have found Prague to be delightful, safe and many people there speak English. Tons of sightseeing opportunities!

janisj

Where are you flying from? Makes a huge difference re airfare. Many times a flight/hotel package is not as good a deal as booking them separately yourself.

IMHO it is much too early to be booking flights for next Sept - but w/ the fuel price situation it might be good to lock in flights. Who knows??

If you get a flight for $650-$800, that means paying $145-$165 per night for the hotel which isn't bad at all - but isn't terrific either. There are lots of good hotels/B&Bs in/near central Edinburgh for less than that.

Transport in Edinburgh is no problem at all - wonderful bus service to just about everywhere that isn't w/i walking distance. There is alos a very inexpensive express airport bus from EDI to the very center of the city.

jamikins

Another vote for Edinburgh...it is so beautiful and there is so much to see and do. Very safe. Have a great time!

carolinetaylor

If you want to stay in the same place, i'd vote for Edingburgh too.

I love Dublin but its a weekend break type of place imo

passportplus

First, Janisj, what does IMHO mean? I haven't traveled much so I don't know some of the terms. Thanks, Isabel, for the info on the hostel, but I really want my own bathroom. Ive got Edinburgh stuck in my head now, but 2009 - Amsterdam. Escorted tours are just too much for me, running all day, and a different room every night. I'm married to a great guy who isn't interested in a lot of travel...he says "go, have fun!" My reasons for loving to travel alone are (1) my own schedule (2) not responsible what it costs others (3) and really, #1 - do not have to consult anyone about anything...I can change my plans in an instant. Have you ever seen a group of women on the street corner, saying "well, what do you want to do now, should be go to the movie? Which one should we see? Should we eat before or after? should we go to the Palace first?" 6 yrs ago, at age 62, I got selfish and started just taking care of myself. Most friends say "Oh, my gosh, Sandy, I couldn't do that!" PS, I do have friends :-}

sheila

It means "in my humble opinion" and derives from the days when bandwidth on the internet was important.

Janis doesn't REALLY do "humble"

isabel

passportplus - I also usually want my own bathroom, certainly am not willing to have "bathroom down the hall" kind of situation. But I was just so impressed with the value of this place that I want to tell people about it. (I found out about it from a fodor post). The way it works is that when you check in you get two keys, one is to your "flat", the other to your room. When you open the door to the flat there are two short halls, each with three rooms and a bathroom. Then there is the large kitchen/sitting area. So the only people who could use the bathrooms are your flatmates, not just anyone staying in the hostal. When I was there last July there was one single woman (about 80 years old) for a few nights, two sisters from India for a few nights and a couple (don't know if they were married or not) for several nights. So much of the time there was only one or two other rooms occupied. But even if they all were, there would still not be very many (3 at most) people using your bath room, which had a lock. I'm just telling you this because I was really kind of concerned about the place too but it was just too good a deal to not take it, and it turned out to be so much nicer than I expected. And a great location.

There are some photos of it on my website (which also has lots of Edinburgh itself): www.pbase.com/annforcier/image/84335204

bellini

Passportplus I too love to travel alone and would heartily recommend Edinburgh. The city is so fantastic woth iconic buildings, great restaurants and the sea on the doorstep. The train journey to another major Scottish city, Glasgow, takes about 1 hour and you can easily take coach/train trips to Loch Lomond, Perth, St Andrews, Dunfermline and so on. Have fun!!

SeanOg

Visited Edinburgh only last week for the first time - what a city. Dublin has nothing to offer in comparison. The castle and the Royal Mile - fantastic. Go there and enjoy it you will not be disappointed.

Three days in the city is enough but one drawback, it is more expensive than Dublin.