Thread #2867092
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Planning on doing a week-long vacation on my gap year. I've wanted to travel to Europe for a long time and I've pinpointed two locations I most want to go to. I've picked either The Netherlands or Britain for my vacation. I've been interested in both countries for a while now and I can't decide on which one to go to.

Britain is a very tempting choice. I have a lot of British ancestry so I've got a connection to the land and it has a lot of places I'd like to visit, like the Tower of London, the Natural History Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the London Eye but I'm also curious about visiting Nottingham, as I've heard it's got good nightlife and has a bunch of interesting pubs like the "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem" which I hear is one of the oldest pubs in the UK. A British pub is the number one thing I want to experience the most.

The Netherlands also struck me as a good travel destination as it's very similar to the UK but just on a budget. The Netherlands also has some good destinations such as the Rijksmuseum, the Ton Smits Huis and the Anne Frank house but with that said, Amsterdam has a pretty bad reputation with drugs and prostitution so if I did visit, I'd probably stay in Rotterdam or Eindhoven.

Any thoughts?
+Showing all 8 replies.
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>>2867092
Britbong here, thanks for making me disconnect my VPN, your post is that infuriating. Basically great itinerary if your intent is to be bored out of your fucking skull.

Ancestry means jack shit, if there's anything interesting you'll learn its that the UK and the USA are far different, more than you initially think from a surface level. Tower of London and London Eye are both overpriced, the latter has queues but by all means try. Tower of London is managed by Historic Royal Palaces and its worth mentioning that their annual membership fee is £60. Given the castles are expensive if you're going to multiple I would consider just getting a year's membership though you may want to do some research into the topic. Natural History Museum is great, allow half a day and make sure to book in advance. I strongly recommend the free Hunterian Museum if you have any interest in biology. Its part of the Royal College of Surgeons and features all kinds of preserved dissections, that and the Post Office Museum are to me the best in London although the latter is likely going to be less interesting to someone who hasn't grown up with the Post Office as a part of their life.

You say Nottingham... have you made this type of thread before? There was another anon who a few months back either had a friend there or was curious about visiting. I'll tell you now you'll struggle to fill in the day. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem looked like a tourist pub to me but could be good, in daytime there's very little to do there. Some of the neighbouring areas have some good countryside locations but again, you will be stuck for things to do if you go there... and for nightlife yeah London's expensive but you've got endless variety.

Also it funny you say Amsterdam has a pretty bad reputation with drugs and prostitution - try Soho. Its much seedier.

The Netherlands ironically to me is one of my least favourite places because indeed it is very similar to the UK... but its not on a budget!
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>>2867092
>>2867126
Worth noting with the Netherlands, given the density of the country going from place-to-place is very fast and it always surprises me when going from one part of the Low Countries to another, being used to towns having at least some kind of significant distance between them.

Amsterdam is interesting in that it feels like an intersection somewhere between London and NYC. Though of course it doesn't have many tall buildings. The canals are good and the tall townhouses a treat to the eyes. Otherwise I'm not big on the city, it IS expensive to do pretty much anything there. Keep in mind Amsterdam is very popular as a base for international flights - per result hotel prices are jacked up more than arguably any other city in Europe, and museums are not cheap. Honestly given the free museums in London its hard fro me to recommend those in Amsterdam though I tragically missed out on the Rijksmuseum (building is good though, you do have to book in advance on that one too). If you like coffee culture, Amsterdam has it in spades possibly more than London. Also the drug and prostitution scene in the Netherlands is very safe and regulated, even if you do get involved in it you're not going to be taking nearly as many risks as you would in other countries... although prices in Amsterdam are like double everything in Germany anyway which has basically taken Netherland's crown the past like 10 years, even Belgium's better now...

P.S. Make sure to use the Toogoodtogo app if you want to eat on a budget. London food scene is best in Soho imo, markets are SHIT overpriced pay 15 quid for a plate of cheap carbs and sauce. Soho is ironically barely any more expensive if such and you get quality food. Netherlands harder time to rec food but they do Surinamese stuff and more Indonesians if that's your thing.

P.P.S.... You know there's drugs and RLDs in basically every major Low Country city right? Its not just Amsterdam.
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>>2867092
Hang on a minute

>gap year
How long for? I mean if you're just sitting around doing nothing for a year may as well come over for a month or two and hostel it. Meet other people have fun and shit and get to immerse yourself more. Sure UK sucks shit for that (hostels outside London are way pricier than their continental equivalents and the housing of migrants in hotels means guess what? No cheap hotels for you). You really want to be spending at least two weeks if you're going to Europe partly to recoup the price.

Also just some logistical insights for you;
>Flights UK -> Ireland typically £13-20 and vice-versa
>Eindhoven typically has cheapest flights to-from UK, down to about £13 to Stansted.
>Stansted typically cheapest airport for flights UK-Europe, althought Gatwick and Luton sometimes take on that role. No cheap airports in East of country anywhere north of London's airports, for cheap flights oop norf you have to go to Manchester or Liverpool, typically.
>Stansted close to Cambridge and Ely, both scenic towns even if not full of things to do - certainly beats Notts.
>Gatwick close to fuck-all, Luton close to Luton, Heathrow close to Thorpe Park... I guess.
>When in Netherlands, can use Flixbus for bus and train planning, sometimes cheap routes. If in Amsterdam Schiphol got tram into city, don't recall seeing anyone pay for it and indeed people don't seem to pay for the trams there but may be worth checking.
>Again when in Low Countries, quicker to get to Belgium, Germany, France etc. than you may thing... not saying that you have to and by all means enjoy Netherlands - just if you get bored, you have those options.

Oh yeah, should mention;
For hostels I use the Phoenix joint in Marylebone for like a tenner a night, its a SHITHOLE, but it does the job - it is a morbidly funny place to go though as all the floor levels are totally fucked up. Safestays seem to get bedbugs a lot for some reason. YHAs usually good.
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>>2867092
I live near Nottingham and go there quite often, but don't bother. You should go somewhere like Cumbria or Harrogate if you went somewhere nice that isn't London. Manchester or Newcastle for the nightlife.

I might be going to Eindhoven this year. I've never been to the Netherlands before myself I'm looking forward to it if I do.
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>>2867406
>Newcastle for the nightlife
Just went there couple of months ago, the nightlife is not that good.
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>>2867126
>You say Nottingham... have you made this type of thread before?
No, this is my first time.
>The Netherlands ironically to me is one of my least favourite places because indeed it is very similar to the UK... but its not on a budget!
Ok, I'll keep this in mind
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>>2867132
>How long for? I mean if you're just sitting around doing nothing for a year may as well come over for a month or two and hostel it.

Hostels suck but your post has interested me. You do make some good points and there are plenty of places in Europe I'd would love to visit. I really to see the Baltic states, in particular Latvia and Lithuania. There super cheap and have very interesting histories. I would love to see the ruins of the former Soviet occupation and not to mention both of them are like 50% empty and are filled with abandoned buildings and monuments. There the only countries I can think of that have a spooky quality to them which is something they definitely play into for tourism.

The Balkans is also interesting to me because I'd love to see the ruins of Yugoslavia. I'm also very interested in seeing Germany although I imagine it's pretty expensive.

P.S sorry for the late response.
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>>2867523
>I really to see
Want*

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