Going to europe

[ThinkPad]

I will be taking a trip to London close to christmas, tend to work for a couple days, then I have the rest of the week free so I might as well do something entertaining while im there. What are some must-do things?

I was thinking of going to spain a little south or taking the train to france as staying in london would come out to be very expensive, epecially with the pound killing the dollar as well as the euro.

Any ideas? suggestions?

[JHEM]

Do NOT take the Chunnel Train to the Continent! Costs a smegging fortune.

Check into airfares to your ultimate destination or consider using Rotterdam or Amsterdam as a hub. You can fly from Gatwick or Heathrow to Amsterdam for as little as $57 ROUNDTRIP!!!

Your dollars won't go any further in FR than they will in London, unless you add in the benefit of being treated like a leper. (Don't take it personally, the French hate everyone!)

Definitely head south to Spain and or Portugal, both magnificent places to visit and eat some amazing local foods.

Do you speak other than english? What are your interests? History? Art? Girl watching? Girl chasing? Etc., etc.? (I'm presuming you're male and a hetero!)

More info please.

Regards,

James

[ThinkPad]

I will be taking my lady as well, so I will have to leave the girl watching/chasing for another trip

I was looking at tickets, and I can get round-trip tickets to barcelona for under $200 from heathrow so that is probably what I plan on doing, spend 3-4 days there, relax and come back.

While in England, I want to do some exploring as well. I do speak a few broken languages, but none that would help me there. Primarily I would like a mix of things to doing including historical, entertaining and leisure, including some pubs. So I plan on staying in central london, where I hear all the action is.

Barcelona, I will stay at a place near the city center and hopefully I can catch some nice climates, atleast better than here London is suppose to be just as cold as it is here (chicago) except no snow.

p.s did you get my PM?

[Elhabash]

If you go to France, Each word of French you speak (even a few) makes the people act friendlier. I guess you could go practice in Quebec, since this attitude seems to come from the language. Once you know them, they are the friendliest people in Europe, seriously (I am not sure about Paris, though)!

I haven't been in Barcelona yet, but without exception everyone who has been there was enthusiastic! I also recommend this option if you don't like cold weather; in Middle Europe it will probably be cold & wet.
Enjoy.

[TOSSN]

Ive been to barcelona twice. There are some amazing structures there (la sagrada familia etc) You should definently pay them a visit. You should read some "professional guides" rather then asking random people like me on a hardware-forum=P.

Allthough, if you are into football (soccer), I highly recommend going to a footballmatch in either London or Barcelona. Here you will find 3 of the best teams in the world (Chelsea, Arsenal in London and Barcelona FC). I have been on a Barcelona match with 97000 att. The atmosphere and noise was crazy and worth experiencing even if youre not into sports. It doesn't have to be expensive. Try catching some tickets a few weeks before the match.

[ThinkPad]

Thanks for the input

I made the bookings and reservations, I fly out on the 24th Dec to london and fly back on the 31st. In the middle, on the 28, I fly to barcelona and spend a couple days there, then fly back to london. Hopefully this will give enough time to explore what is needed to, and get work done.