Studying Abroad in London!

[Ravvana]

I just got officially approved by my university to study abroad in London this upcoming winter quarter! I'm very excited and just wanted to let you know XD;

I'll be staying in Kensington, taking three classes, and hopefully traveling around England, to Ireland and Scotland, and maybe the train to Paris. Any natives of those areas have suggestions for things to see, places to stay, etc?

[Wildfilly94]

Whoohoo!!! :DD
Go Ravv!!
Willow's from scotland, I'm pretty sure, so I'd talk to her about sights there.

[Spixy]

Congratulations Rav!!

Dunno much about England to be honest, but if you decide to pop by Denmark - let me know and I'll take you sightseeing =o)

[TheLeet]

Kensington is nice

I don't know if you like museums but there are several free ones in Kensington. The Science museum, the natural history museum and the V&A. The V&A is definitely worth seeing.

Not in Kensington but still in London, you also get the British Museum which is worth seeing for its great architecture alone, and the Wallace collection which is a bit smaller than the other museums but if you like old furniture and art, it's lovely and not as overwhelming as the bigger museums. They're both free, too

If you're into gardens at all, visiting Kew Gardens would make for quite a nice day out but its also pretty expensive for what it is.

London's parks are lovely if you want to get away from the urban-ness of it all. My favourite one is Richmond Park. It's the biggest one of them and there are herds of deer roaming around it and it's generally a little wilder than some of the other parks. There are also several stables around it and lots of bridleways going through it if you want to go riding.

Hope that helps XD

[YourLoveOnly]

That's exciting Ravv, congrats

If you visit the Netherlands, I must meet you =O

I've only been to London for a concert and spend the day before doing some typical tourist stuff like visiting London Bridge so can't help you there xD

[Willow]

If you come to Scotland bring an umbrella |D
It's rained for nearly a solid month where I am xD;

Edinburgh for sure is a city to see, there are tons of things to do there. The dungeons, ghost tours round the vaults, visit the castle, there's an art museum and a natural history museum, and generally the place is a pretty sight, although there are some little alleyways, and a map may be useful for a first timer :'D
Frankenstein's pub is great too, that's near the natural history museum >>;

And out of the city there are still plenty of places to go, but it depends how far up north you'll be going C:

I'm pretty sure Winged knows more about the north of Scotland than me ^__^

Also congrats! I hope you have fun <3

[jojo]

Being in America I have no sightseeing tips for you... all I can say is... I'm SO JEALOUS!!! Have fun

[Ravvana]

Thanks, everyone!

Specific question... Does anyone have a clue how to get from Cork (Ireland) to Clare Island? It seems I can take a bus from Cork to Westport, then a bus from Westport to Louisburgh, then walk 4 miles to Roonagh Quay, then take a ferry to Clare Island. But that seems complicated and exhausting XD; It's on my list because I'm the hugest Grania O'Malley fan, but if it proves too hard I may go to Killarney instead. Just somewhere green and lovely <3

Willow - Edinburgh is definitely where I am going in Scotland I'll probably be there for a long weekend. Do you have any suggestions of a nice hostel that's pretty central?

[Winged]

That's great! Hope you have a really nice time in London I've only been there twice but it's a great city. Don't know England much, like Willow said i'm from central Scotland. Edinburgh is a great city, relly good for shoping as well as seeing the sights. Definately not a place to miss is Princes Street, it's pretty much the main street for the centre of Edinburgh. For hostels, i don't really know any in that area, but the SHYA (Scottish Youth Hostel Association- http://www.syha.org.uk/) has lists of registered hostels so they're all good and trustworth hostels.
For your other question i don't know Ireland well enough to answer but it sounds like a great trip!
Other places in Scotland i could recommend... Depends what you like really. Do you like hillwalking and that sort of outdors stuff? If you do, the cairngorms is a great place to go walking, or the mountains further west about Fort William area are stunning too. Another great city to go to is Aberdeen, that's where i'm going to college this year actually. Don't know it that well yet but once i'm there i can reccommend stuff there.
Any questions let me know, i'm happy to help

[Pinkshadow]

Sounds awesome. Would loove to go to England, buut if you ever visit Denmark xD lol
Take lots of pictures :b Of and btw they are amazing at horse sports in generel, just look how they did in the olympics :b

[Ravvana]

Leet: Forgot to ask this earlier... but have you even tried getting day-of tickets to any West End shows? I'm buying full-price tickets in advance for my few favorites, but I can't afford full price for all the shows I'd love to see while I'm there. I've heard that students and seniors can go to the box office the day of the performance and pay 30% of list price for a remaining seat. Have you (or anyone you know) ever tried that? Or do you have any other advise for me there?

I've been to the British Museum once but may want to go back, and the V&A is on my to-do list It's huge if you want to see everything, though, isn't it? Will I need a strategy of what I want to see before I go? I also want take a bus or something to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court (and any other relatively nearby castles from around the Elizabethan era), Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey), and the -- wait for it -- Harry Potter studio XD So suggestions for any of that would be lovely <3

Winged: I love walking, but I'm not big on hiking -- if that makes sense? So I'm open to suggestions on any nice walks outside of Edinburgh. I'd also love to visit any tourist-y castles, dungeons, attractions... My only problem is I won't have a car and I'm trying to save money by avoiding taxis, so I'm at the mercy of the bus (or train) system and I haven't even started researching that in Scotland yet.

Is it worth £40 and a full day out of my weekend (hopefully I'll have a long weekend) to take a bus tour to Loch Ness? My friend did that this summer and enjoyed it, but I think she had more time to spare. The first bus I found just on Google also stops at several other places along the way, so not a total waste there and back.

[Winged]

Yeah that makes sense xD Outside of Edinburgh the only suggestions i have are the golf courses and parks. Aviemore is a lovely town up north to visit, and there's walking in the forest estate there. You can get the train up there, pretty easily i think but i'd have to check. Train and bus systems are pretty good in Scotland and England, use National Rail- http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ to check times and prices or book tickets.
About the bus tour i'm not really sure. Loch Ness is lovely, and so is Inverness and Fort Augustus. So it depends how much time you have and how much you like bus tours. The scenery to get there is gorgeous, depending what route you take so one that stops off in places are probably worth it. That first link doesn't work for me.

[jojo]

When I stayed in Edinburgh, I stayed at the Backpackers Hostel. It was right near Waverly Station and pretty close to the castle (I never visited it but I could see it!). The hostel was clean and had nice people, it was kind of in a noisy area with a lot of bars. I also stayed in a dorm-like room so I can't speak for their private rooms.

Just a suggestion if you're still looking for a hostel.

[YourLoveOnly]

Harry Potter Studios <3 I wanna go there badly, but it's just too expensive I'm jealous, take lots of pictures!

I've only been in London for two days for a Blue October concert once, so didn't have much time to go sightseeing, but I did see some of the basic tourist things and I really like the architecture

[TheLeet]

Leet: Forgot to ask this earlier... but have you even tried getting day-of tickets to any West End shows? I'm buying full-price tickets in advance for my few favorites, but I can't afford full price for all the shows I'd love to see while I'm there. I've heard that students and seniors can go to the box office the day of the performance and pay 30% of list price for a remaining seat. Have you (or anyone you know) ever tried that? Or do you have any other advise for me there?

I've been to the British Museum once but may want to go back, and the V&A is on my to-do list It's huge if you want to see everything, though, isn't it? Will I need a strategy of what I want to see before I go? I also want take a bus or something to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court (and any other relatively nearby castles from around the Elizabethan era), Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey), and the -- wait for it -- Harry Potter studio XD So suggestions for any of that would be lovely <3

I'm afraid I have no clue on tickets to the West End shows but yes, the V&A is quite overwhelming. I don't think it's much bigger than the British Museum but there are lots of rooms that are full of many tiny things to look at. I suggest that you get a map and go to the most interesting areas first.
I was going to suggest to take a boat from Westminster to Hampton Court but it looks like they only sail in the summer :/