Planning for 2015

[artnbarb]

OK, we're back from Italy/Slovenia, and the planning for 2015 can begin - except that I'm very conflicted about where to go! Originally we'd planned to go to England in 2015 - England is my first love, and it's been 10 yrs since we've been. But then we went to Italy, and the thought of not going to Italy is so sad, so now I'm trying to figure out how to visit BOTH England and Italy. It may not happen because it's not logistically practical, or because of time constraints, or, most likely, because of money constraints! Honestly, what makes the pound so damned expensive???

I don't think we'd want to drive to/from Italy/England (altho I'd love to take the chunnel train sometime!), and I'm 99% sure I don't want to fly with Ryan Air, mostly because of the luggage restrictions, but also because I think Mr Ryan is jerk. So - we could fly with other airlines from one country to the other, and we could also fly into Rome and out of London (or vice versa) if needed. We have friends in both countries where we could leave some luggage if we decided not to fly open jaws, but open jaws would seem to be the most logical thing, don't you think?

At this point I'm still tossing around all sorts of ideas, and I'm still not certain that I'd be happy with an abbreviated visit to either country - I'd hate to be in Italy wishing I'd spent more time in England, and/or in England wishing I'd spent more time in Italy! What delicious problems to have, huh? Is this all too vague to ask if anyone has any comments?

Pauline, if you'd like you can also list this in the Italy forum - I wasn't sure where to put it!

 

[Kathy]

Barb, we've found British Airways to offer some decent fares between France and the UK if you buy in advance. They have to be somewhat competitive with Ryanair and Easy Jet. (And Easy Jet is another alternative if you don't want Ryanair... we've flown it a few times.)

I think open jaw is definitely the way to go, to make best use of your time.

Could you go to England in 2015 and make a mental commitment to return to Italy in 2016? Otherwise, sounds like you'd want to include both and hopefully you could have enough time in both places. It shouldn't be a long flight between the UK and Italy...

Kathy

 

[artnbarb]

Thanks Kathy! I think right now what I need to do is talk thru the various scenarios with trusted, experienced travelers like you and the others on this board. My hope is that eventually something will click and I'll have a better sense of direction.......

 

[Pauline]

I second Kathy's recommendation of British Airways. We use them or Easyjet on our trips, but prefer BA.

Didn't you do two countries this summer? How long will you have next summer?

How about a week in England in a cottage in the Cotswolds (or a rural destination of your choice) and a few nights in London, then the rest of the time in Italy just to see if your love of England is as strong as you remember?

I can't quite figure out how to have a thread in 2 forums . Can you post in the Italy forum?

People sometimes say "baby steps" for doing something. But for travel it could be "small bites". Take a small bite of England to see how you like it.

 

[artnbarb]

Well, I already know I love England - I love everything about it - the accents, the history, the charm, the villages - everything except the exchange rate. ( I think it'a about $1.60 right now, isn't it?) That would probably mean a reduction in our time there, no matter what. Before I started waffling - before we left for Italy in June - my plan was for 3-5 days in London, then 2-3 days in Bath, pick up a car, spend a good week in the Cotswolds, then I wanted to go somewhere else, probably for less than a week - either drive to the Lake District OR take a longboat thru a section of the canals for 4-5 days, then return to London for another 2-4 days.

Once I was in Italy I couldn't imagine not gong back next year - but really, it's different once you've lived there. Our hearts our in Umbria, but since we've lived there we've done most of the touristy stuff, and most of our time was spent visiting with friends. There were days when we did some sightseeing to places we hadn't been to for a while, but overall I now think 3 weeks was too long. I think 7-10 days would be fine, unless I win the lottery, and then I could stay 90 days at a time and feel more settled in.

As for how long we'll have - our time is unlimited, it's our money that determines the length of the trip! If we went to England only, if we did as I wrote about above, that would be about 4 weeks (28 nights). We did 37 nights for the Italy/Slovenia trip this summer. If we did include both England and Italy we'd probably have to keep it 5 weeks or less - but that's just off the top of my head.

I won't put this in the Italy forum - too complicated - I thought you could link/add like they do on ST. Thanks again for letting me think out loud!

 

[artnbarb]

A plan is s..l..o..w..l..y take form! Three weeks in England seems about right, but I'm going to divvy up my time differently. I think instead of spending a few days in London at the beginning AND the end, I should do it all in one chunk, probably at the beginning.....

If we followed my original plan of 3-5 days in London, then Bath for 2 nights, pick up rental car and go to the Cotswolds for a week, then 3-5 days on a canalboat (Art says he likes that idea better than more driving!), then back to London for our final 2-3 nights, I'm not sure it would be worth the hassle of finding somewhere (near London) to drop off the car, then haul our luggage via train or Tube into London only to have to haul it all back out to the airport a few days later. One of the things I disliked about our most recent vacation was when we stayed only 1 or 2 nights - too much packing and unpacking, or at least hauling luggage in and out of places just so it would be safe!

So - now I have to figure out what people do with their cars when they take one of those canal boats...do they provide transportation back to your starting point? Is there a starting point where we could turn in our rental car, then end up someplace where we could take the train right to the airport (or there-abouts)?

So my new plan is to do London all at once - I'm thinking at the beginning, because the more relaxing part of the trip (well, except for driving on the other side of the road and taking a boat thru locks for the first time in our lives!) would follow, and if the Cotswolds and the canals are indeed relaxing, I'm not sure going back to the hustle and bustle of London would be a good idea. Thoughts?

 

[Pauline]

London is a major hassle to get in and out of, so staying there once is a good plan. They probably provide parking where you get the canal boat. I can look up trains info for you when you know which canal trip you will take.

Are you going to Italy on the trip?

 

[artnbarb]

London is a major hassle to get in and out of, so staying there once is a good plan. They probably provide parking where you get the canal boat. I can look up trains info for you when you know which canal trip you will take.

Are you going to Italy on the trip?

Yes, the plan now is to fly into Rome, spend 10-14 days in Italy, then fly out of Rome to London.

I have to read up about the canal trips. We really won't need our car once we get on the boat, since we'll be flying back to the states a day or two after finishing the canal trip, so I need to figure out transportation. I may need to select our canal trip based on where it begins and ends for the return of our rental car.

BTW, what's a 'good' price to look for on BA from FCO to London?

 

[jonathan]

It's very rare for canal trips to be one-way: normally, you have to return your boat to the base where you picked it up. That means either an out and back trip, or a circuit (but these circuits, 'rings' in canal-speak, tend to take at least a week).

 

[artnbarb]

Thanks Jonathan - now it makes more sense! I thought I had seen trips shorter than one week, but obviously I still have a lot of research to do.