Thayls train from Brussels to Paris, Brussels to Amsterdam, Brussels to Koln...

https://www.thalys.com/be/en/

When in Brussels, be sure to go the Grand Place, find the Delerium Brewery and drink delerium on tap for 3.5E, have a belgian waffle with nutela and strawberries, and get your ass some chocolate!

I'd recommend seeing Paris for a day. It's pretty amazing. Go to Flam's in the 2nd Arrondissement. France's take on Pizza. It's pretty damn awesome. The Paris metro system is a bit crazy to learn, so I'd recommend downloading maps to your phone.

There is wifi all over the place in Europe so you should be able to keep your phone in airplane mode with wifi turned on, or pay ridiculous service fees.

_________________
@audioidkid

Can you do it lefty?

_________________
Elections have consequences.

Along these lines I would prefer two trips. One for the entire UK and one for mainland.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

what about taking the tour where you storm the beaches at Normandy? My parents did that and said it was amazing. Much of the infrasctructure and destruction of D-Day is still there. Its also the only place in Europe where Americans are treated like heroes.

_________________

Why not? I have been driving a stick everyday for 16 years.

_________________
Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Europe's wifi is terrible. T-Mobile has a legit pre-paid international plan. You just pop in the sim card and you're good to go. It worked flawlessly last summer for us and we went everywhere.

On newer plans, most T-Mobil international stuff is free. I get free data, free wifi calling, free texting, and free incoming calls. Outgoting calls were only 10 cents per minute. This is basically available in every country except for places that are hell on earth.

_________________

Go to Monaco. I just stared at yachts with helipads for a while.

Go to Disneyland Paris.

_________________

I don't think he is taking the boat over the Irish Sea.

By the way Kirkwood, if you are planning on using Eurail, that boat from Waterford, Ireland to Cherborg, France is within the system and considered the same as a train trip (at least it was 20 years ago). That might be an inexpensive alternative and IIRC it is a night boat so you don't really lose time (and you don't have to pay for a hotel room that night). The boat is kind of fun. It is like a cruise ship with a bar, casino and movie theater. You can rent an inexpensive cabin. Truckers use it as the ferryboat and get lit. On rough nights (and there are many of those on the Irish Sea) you can watch people puking from the alcohol and movement of the boat.

Waterford is a little south of Dublin so you can go there, take a look at the crystal making company then hop the boat.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Wait as long as you can to buy anything, EURO could get to .90 by year end,

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Go here: http://www.citylab.com/politics/2012/02 ... orld/1267/

If you have T-Mobile then you should have nothing to worry about.
Last May wifi was fine in Paris & Brussels...our friends had no complaints with the wifi in London, Dubrovnik, Switzerland, or Barcelona.

.9E per $1 would be great! I think we did 1.37E per 1$. A guy I work with is from Italy, so I didn't have to pay an exchange fee.

You can go from Brussels to Paris at 8:00am and be back in Brussels by 5:00pm on the Thayls train. It was like an hour and half ride at 185mph. Pretty sweet.

_________________
@audioidkid

Maybe the wifi was shit because we stayed in hostels mostly. The Airbnb apartments in Paris, Munich, and Venice – wifi was a bit better. I think the security of having that T-Mobile prepaid data is worth it. Only one person needs to have it.

_________________
Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

The itinerary has been finalized. We went with a southern swing:

London Layover to Shannon
Shannon to Galway
Galway to Dublin
Dublin to Amsterdam
Amsterdam to Brussels
Brussels to Basel
Basel to Zurich
Zurich to Salzburg
Salzburg to Vienna
Vienna to Prague
Prague to Warsaw Layover to Chicago

Amsterdam/Brussels/Prague are two-day and change stays.

Everything else is day and change.

How much time are you in Ireland? I grew up 20 miles from Shannon and went to college in Galway. I can give a few pointers of what pubs to go to if you have the time...

Shannon - not much. We fly in Thurs 9pm, sleeping and driving up to Galway. We'll be in Galway full day Friday and partially Saturday before we drive to Dublin. Any Galway area suggestions would be great.

If at all possible, stay in Ennis, not Shannon. It's only 20 minutes away (the way the locals drive!) and has lots of options for places to have a pint. And hotels. And it's on the way to Galway. It was founded 800-odd years ago and would be a decent place to walk around for an hour on the Friday morning before departing to Galway - there will be a local outdoor market set up where you can bullshit and haggle with the vendors.

If you want to spend lots of money, stay at Dromoland Castle. One of the best hotels in the country - it's in between Shannon and Ennis.

If you do get to Ennis, find Steele's Pub for great local trad music. There a great singer and musician called Felim Collins who plays there 2-3 nights a week for part of the year. Brogan's pub would be another excellent choice. Cruise's has live music every night, I believe. Knox's is another - good restaurant upstairs there too.

The Old Ground Hotel is a fine establishment that has been there for 80 years. There is an excellent restaurant next door and the Poet's Corner Pub on the premises. The Auburn Lodge Hotel and West County Inn are also good options, and there are lots of B&B's for a bit more personal character.

Getting in at 9pm - you should have time to get to a hotel and out to check out the local scene for an hour or two.

Galway is an easy drive if you take the direct route - maybe an hour from Ennis. However, if you wish to see countryside, I recommend the coast road. Drive west from Ennis to the Cliffs of Moher and go for a windy walk. Go to Gus O'Connor's Pub in Doolin or Monk's in Ballyvaughan for lunch. If you want a longer hill walk, you can walk to the top of Glenineagh North near Ballyvaughan, where you can see much of the rocky Burren to the East and West, a lush green valley to the South, and Galway Bay to the North. It's a gorgeous place, and is only about a two hour hike up and down the "mountains."

If you take the coast road with no stops, Galway is about 2 1/2 hours from Ennis. With a couple of stops and a walk it could be 5-6 hours, bringing you to Galway in the late afternoon - still plenty of time to walk around a bit and get settled in a pub.

Taaffe's pub in Galway is the place to get the best pint of Guinness you'll ever have, in my estimation and experience.

The King's Head and the Quay's used to always have live music - not sure if they still do. Eyre Square and Shop Street is where everyone walks and talks and hangs out and you'll likely see live music on the street. There are a bunch of places along Shop Street to eat and drink and shop. The original Claddagh rings were made at Dillon's - they'll happily take your money if you're so inclined. There will be a market on Saturday - not sure of what the location would be these days. Crafts, food, stuff...

There are a couple of hotels around Eyre Square that are all decent. That makes everything walking distance.

In Dublin, if you have any interest in history or literature at all, I cannot recommend highly enough the Book of Kells and the Long Room at Trinity College. Unique places.

Grafton Street is a must see also.

Don't underestimate the traffic to Dublin Airport - it sucks.

sounds like Rick's kind of trip

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.