First International Trip

[calypso726]

I have done both the London/Paris ABD (old itinerary with Stonehenge) and the Italy ABD with Rome, Florence, Venice. Both are wonderful. However, the one DH and I would happily repeat again is the Italy adventure. If I had to choose to have had only one of those experiences, Italy would be the one.

 

[calypso726]

The idea of of leaving the U.S. and being on a different Continent & countries for the first time.

I was pretty nervous the first time I visited another continent and country outside of North America too. ABD does a beautiful job of holding your hand and the nerves just melt away. Now, whether I am traveling with or without ABD my nerves don't interfere and I don't hink twice anymore about visiting some other part of the world.

Have done a bit of reading. We also know a couple that swears taking daytime flights to the UK helps.

I'm the opposite. I like taking a night flight out of Miami, going to sleep and waking up in the UK in the morning. No jet lag for me that way.

 

[Eastridge]

The idea of of leaving the U.S. and being on a different Continent & countries for the first time.

Then taking your trip through ABD is a good idea. They handle all the logistics. You have a local guide who speaks the language and knows the culture, plus additional local experts to guide you through the sights. If anything goes wrong, Disney has your back. I talked with our guides and without getting into details here, I was impressed at the resources available and preparation in case of any problems. And they spoil and pamper you so much that traveling on our own seems spartan in comparison. I normally wouldn't buy elaborate breakfast buffets or pay for rooms with great views, so getting those on the ABD trips helped make the ABD trips feel special.

But that doesn't help you with your primary question, which is choosing between London/Paris vs. Rome/Florence/Venice. I have done the Rome/Florence/Venice trip. It was our first ABD and is still the best vacation we have ever taken. I have talked to other guests who have been on London/Paris and they said it was spectacular also. Based on the number of offerings, these two trips seem to be among the most popular ABD trips so they are doing something right.

Starting with London might be easier because there are fewer language and cultural barriers. But I don't think you can go wrong with either trip.

 

[pahoben]

NOTE Guinness is an Irish Co. & started in Dublin

London has ..... far more to eat than Fish & chips

As for TV ...... BBC has NO ADD Breaks . Football ( NOT USA TYPE ) is played for 45 min a half. without interruption

For God’s sake. I worked in Dublin for two years. I know where Guinness started. It’s just that drink so much of it in London that it is hard to find anyone sober after 9 pm.

Yes of course they do but same as in the US but 30% more expensive and with worse service. I think they do good fish and chips because the cod is fresh and Guinness because that also is fresher than the US. Otherwise meh.

I didn’t say anything about football. If you spent much time in London through the years you would know that previously the sheep dog trials were featured traditionally on TV Fridays but no longer are.

Some people like British pretentiousness and have some illusions about the monarchy-in that case fine have fun.

 

[Networth]

So it looks like we will be doing the Italy Rome/Florence/Venice trip. My wife seems to know a few more of the sites in Italy than London/Paris and thus has a bit more interest. I took a Roman history course while obtaining my undergrad years ago, so Italy works for me.

The plan is to fly in to London and spend 2-3 days exploring then grab a cheap flight over to Rome for the ABD. We would both love to visit DLP but it appears it won’t fit in our cards this trip. She doesn’t want to be gone for more than 10 days. Seeing as she is willing to try international travel even with her fears. I am willing to respect that time limit.

I see ABD does a short London trip, it’s seems a bit steep for just 2 full days. Thinking we may do London by ourselves hmm. Has anyone done the short London ABD and felt the cost was worth it?

Haven’t decide for sure if we will even stay in London proper, or try and see a bit of the countryside instead.

 

[sayhello]

So it looks like we will be doing the Italy Rome/Florence/Venice trip. My wife seems to know a few more of the sites in Italy than London/Paris and thus has a bit more interest. I took a Roman history course while obtaining my undergrad years ago, so Italy works for me.

The plan is to fly in to London and spend 2-3 days exploring then grab a cheap flight over to Rome for the ABD. We would both love to visit DLP but it appears it won’t fit in our cards this trip. She doesn’t want to be gone for more than 10 days. Seeing as she is willing to try international travel even with her fears. I am willing to respect that time limit.

I see ABD does a short London trip, it’s seems a bit steep for just 2 full days. Thinking we may do London by ourselves hmm. Has anyone done the short London ABD and felt the cost was worth it?

Haven’t decide for sure if we will even stay in London proper, or try and see a bit the of countryside instead.

Good job! I'm sure ABD will help overcome her fears, and you may have less of a challenge getting her to agree to the next International trip.

The London Short Escape is new this year and the first departure isn't until July, so no-one has done that itinerary yet.

There are several people on this Forum who have spent a great deal of time in London and the surrounding areas, so feel free to ask any questions you might have! There's a *lot* of great sites to see not that far from London, and many could be done as day trips from London if you wanted to do it that way.

I feel a lot of the Short Escapes are over-priced for what they are. This one is actually only a day and a half, and part of Day 2 is OYO. You could probably book most of these activities on your own. You might not get the exclusive access that you get with ABD, but it would be way cheaper.

HOWEVER, since you are *starting* your trip in London, and your wife is already pretty leery about the whole thing, it might be very worth it to have ABD meet you at the airport, transport you to the hotel, get you access to all the sites (and probably bypass a lot of lines) and then get you to the airport to fly to Rome. In your case, I think those intangible benefits might make it worth it for you!

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

HOWEVER, since you are *starting* your trip in London, and your wife is already pretty leery about the whole thing, it might be very worth it to have ABD meet you at the airport, transport you to the hotel, get you access to all the sites (and probably bypass a lot of lines) and then get you to the airport to fly to Rome. In your case, I think those intangible benefits might make it worth it for you!

SUCH good advice! Our first international trip ABD started in Budapest and it was such a relief to see a sign with my name in the airport. It was such a relief to have them drive us to the hotel.

 

[Networth]

I understand having ABD as a “safety net” and that sounds quite nice given her hestiancy. I am just undecided based on the price and what is offered. We could do quite a few more things with $4000-4500 dollars. Hmm another decision...

 

[lila]

I’ve never been on an ABD but I travel internationally extensively - both solo and tours. I’d suggest you reverse the itinerary and do Italy first, in an accompanied group and THEN a short stop to London on your own. Everyone speaks English, it’s super easy to navigate and ask for help, and by then hopefully you’ll both have a level of comfort with Europe. You’ll save a lot of money and can still stay at a hotel with a strong concierge staff that can help you if you need input. I think it would be very empowering for future trips if you navigate an English speaking city on your own. Given 2 days I would stick to the many great sites in the city, or do one day in the city and a day trip outside (which could easily be a tour).

Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[Cousin Orville]

I'm the opposite. I like taking a night flight out of Miami, going to sleep and waking up in the UK in the morning. No jet lag for me that way.

.

I’d completely agree with this approach. When traveling overseas it helps to travel in the evening so you can fall asleep more easily on the plane. For me, sleeping on the plane is everything when it comes to overcoming jet lag quickly.

 

[sayhello]

I’d completely agree with this approach. When traveling overseas it helps to travel in the evening so you can fall asleep more easily on the plane. For me, sleeping on the plane is everything when it comes to overcoming jet lag quickly.

That would be so helpful if I could actually fall asleep on a plane!! Even on the 16 hour flight to Hong Kong, I only dozed for a couple of hours!

Sayhello

 

[kaseyC]

I understand having ABD as a “safety net” and that sounds quite nice given her hestiancy. I am just undecided based on the price and what is offered. We could do quite a few more things with $4000-4500 dollars. Hmm another decision...

Something else to consider. There are some fantastic private tour companies and tour guides in London. You could arrange some amazing private tours for price of the ABD short escape. We’ve used Yellow Moon Tours a number of times and they have always been outstanding. Totally private tours tailored to our wants and needs. We’ve used them for Stonehenge and Windsor. We had a custom Street Art tour as well as general London highlights tour.

 

[Woodview]

So it looks like we will be doing the Italy Rome/Florence/Venice trip. My wife seems to know a few more of the sites in Italy than London/Paris and thus has a bit more interest. I took a Roman history course while obtaining my undergrad years ago, so Italy works for me.

The plan is to fly in to London and spend 2-3 days exploring then grab a cheap flight over to Rome for the ABD. We would both love to visit DLP but it appears it won’t fit in our cards this trip. She doesn’t want to be gone for more than 10 days. Seeing as she is willing to try international travel even with her fears. I am willing to respect that time limit.

I see ABD does a short London trip, it’s seems a bit steep for just 2 full days. Thinking we may do London by ourselves hmm. Has anyone done the short London ABD and felt the cost was worth it?

Haven’t decide for sure if we will even stay in London proper, or try and see a bit of the countryside instead.

HOLD ON ........... MAX time away from home 10 days


Travel time to & from Europe 2 days ..... including getting to airports ( 3 hours before departure time )

Travel time from Europe to UK take away another day

Actual Vacation time 7 days

DO the Italy Trip ............ & save a lot of Hassle


THINK

Fly out from U.S.A Friday Night ... arrive London Saturday Morning ( Tired ) Get to Hotel at Lunch Time

Do a bit of sightseeing then dinner & bed .

Sunday Sightseeing .

Monday go to airport ( Stansted , Heathrow or Gatwick ) for flight to Rome Departing about 2pm U.K. time

Arrive Rome 5 pm Rome time Find Hotel ...... Now Monday is gone

Tuesday , Wednesday ,Thursday , Friday ........ In Italy ..

Saturday pack up and go to Airport for Flight back to London (Time 1 hour less = Time change )

Saturday or Sunday morning flight Back to USA.

Also note that there is security & Passport to be done at every departure & Baggage check in & collection

Hope this helps to give some idea of Travelling

 

[sayhello]

I hate to say it, but Woodview actually has a point. If your wife doesn't want to be gone more than 10 days, that would include 2 full days of flying. If you take away a full day for travel on either end of 10 days, that only leaves you 8 days of travel. The Italy trip is 8 days/7 nights (although "Day 8" is really your travel home day). So 2 days ahead of the trip plus the 8 days of the trip that includes your flight home is 10 days. You really wouldn't be able to spend much more than half a day in London. And then you'd have to spend Day one of the ABD flying to Rome for the ABD. Even if the days lined up perfectly, you don't have enough travel days to do the London Short escape before the Italy trip. That would require a *minimum* of 11 days.

Unless you can expand this trip to 11 or 12 days, I highly recommend that you just go straight to Rome, enjoy some wandering around that area (or maybe a day trip to Sorrento or something) and then join your ABD. It would certainly be less stressful.

Sayhello

 

[mapsd]

So it looks like we will be doing the Italy Rome/Florence/Venice trip. My wife seems to know a few more of the sites in Italy than London/Paris and thus has a bit more interest. I took a Roman history course while obtaining my undergrad years ago, so Italy works for me.
The plan is to fly in to London and spend 2-3 days exploring then grab a cheap flight over to Rome for the ABD. We would both love to visit DLP but it appears it won’t fit in our cards this trip. She doesn’t want to be gone for more than 10 days. Seeing as she is willing to try international travel even with her fears. I am willing to respect that time limit.
I see ABD does a short London trip, it’s seems a bit steep for just 2 full days. Thinking we may do London by ourselves hmm. Has anyone done the short London ABD and felt the cost was worth it?
Haven’t decide for sure if we will even stay in London proper, or try and see a bit of the countryside instead.

We did exactly what you're doing as our first trip to Europe, except in reverse order.
We did the ABD Italy trip and then flew from Venice to London and spent some time there on our own before returning home (we also took a few pre-days to see the Amalfi Coast/Pompeii).

Our thinking for the order was:
1) We'd have ABD's excellent guides at the beginning and also would have most of the agenda pre-planned for us while we were still "rookies."
2) We'd be going from escorted travel, where the language was foreign TO self-guided in an English-speaking country after we were comfortable with Europe.
3) We figured we'd be ready to escape a larger group by the time ABD was done (we were) and it might be harder go from small group (just our family) TO a large group.

We loved loved our ABD trip, but some things can't be avoided with large group travel (meals take much longer, waiting for all to board the bus, etc).
I figured my patience level would be higher if we did ABD first.

You're going to love it no matter what order you do it in!

Shoot me a PM if you want our London on our own itinerary.

 

[Networth]

Thank you everyone for the idea about the travel days eating up our time if we limit to 10 days from home. I will talk to my wife and see if we can add on a couple days since we really are not doing anything on travel days so they shouldn’t count...makes perfect sense to me! See if she agrees lol.

We have trouble sleeping on planes (red eyes from LA etc) so I assumed flying to London from D.C. during the day would be a better fit for us. As it may be a sleepless night in the air otherwise, at least the first time on an international flight.

 

[aggiedog]

There's really no good way to make the jet lag issue perfect, just ways to mitigate it some. Shoot, I get jet lag just flying from one coast to the other. Do what you can then power thru it once you get there. Find some either natural, or even prescription, sleep aids to help you get on the right sleep cycle once you're there.

Definitely be cautious of the American pitfall of "I'm all the way across the ocean, so we're going to fit in as many countries as we can." That will eat up travel days and leave you with a little taste of a location, and a series of impressions of airports, taxis, and train stations.

 

[Networth]

So got the go ahead to spend more than 10 days away, considered we will be traveling some days. However we have started looking at the Amalfi Coast Italy ABD. Apparently we want to do Italy for sure but now are looking at Viva Italia or Amalfi.

 

[Networth]

Definitely be cautious of the American pitfall of "I'm all the way across the ocean, so we're going to fit in as many countries as we can." That will eat up travel days and leave you with a little taste of a location, and a series of impressions of airports, taxis, and train stations.

Good note, as I am finding it easy to walk into that trap.

 

[Woodview]

Good choice .... now go and get your passports & travel Insurance