1st time Ireland, England, Norway; advice?

In My Humble Opinion
1

We’re taking the European vacation once again. You folks were so helpful with Austria, Czech and Poland last time, now it’s Ireland, England and Norway in July. Yes, the latter is a little farther afield, but my grandparents emigrated from Alesund, so here’s my chase. Then again, all of Europe is pretty far if you live in Hawaii.

We’ve got our itinerary pretty much set, thanks to a lot of searches through past Irish and English SDMB threads. So I have more specific questions than “what should I see/do?”

  1. I am renting a car in Heathrow and Bergen, do I need to show anything not to purchase additional insurance? I had no problems in Prague last year, but I read some places force you to buy insurance. I plan on using my Chase Sapphire card for insurance.

  2. My local bank doesn’t have Norwegian Krone currency, but they’re fine with Pounds and Euros. Am I better off A) exchanging dollars in Norway or B) getting extra Euros and exchanging those for Krone in Norway. I won’t get much, figuring credit cards are as universally accepted as Czech and Poland.

  3. I have 2 kids, Anya (14) and Grant (10). Can we go in an Irish pub, eat our food and listen to music? Assuming we’re not doing this after 9pm?

  4. We’re driving amongst the fjords from Bergen to Alesund via Flam, will we see snow in July? (That was Grant’s question)

  5. Any tips for driving on “the wrong side”? We got an automatic, so I won’t have to think about shifting. I should add we won’t be driving in Dublin, aside from the ferry dock to Holyhead. In London, I’m returning the car to Heathrow, taking the train into Paddington daily.

Thanks all!

2

Oh, what are we doing? Some of our highlights: 5 nights in each country:

We wanted more countryside and less city, so Dublin and London are getting limited attention. So, just to head off the “Only two days in London, are you crazy?”

England: 3 days focusing on Oxford and Cotswolds
Oxford campus (after landing in Heathrow at noon), 2 nights at a Bourton-on-the-water B&B, Conwy Castle in Wales (on the way to Holyhead). London is later.

Ireland: 5 days focusing on Limerick and Dingle
Bunratty Castle banquet, St Johns Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Beach horse ride in Ventry, Gap of Dunloe hike, night in Ballyseede Castle. Not doing Cork, Blarney Castle, Burren, Ring of Kerry or extensive Dublin; Dingle Peninsula’s scenery and ruins appealed to us the most and is our base.

Norway: 5 days focusing on Bergen and Alesund
Bergen to Alesund, back through Flam/Aurland. In the latter, we’re doing the Flam Railway and speedboat through the Sognefjord. No Oslo or glacier climbing.

At the end, we set aside a couple days in London, with the Tower Bridge and St Paul’s, plus Tea Time at Grosvenor House. Those are gravy; the main focus on London will be the British Museum and some play for my daughter.
Feel free to add places within those regions and restaurants to eat. We want to eat iconic foods as much as we can: full breakfasts, scotch eggs, savory pies, welsh rarebit, fish & chips, Irish stew, boxty, colcannon, fish stew, reindeer, etc.

3

Got something in my eye…

4

Whenever I’m in London and am in a grocery store I pick up some Kentish apples because it is close enough to London that as an American it feels like I am eating local and they are a good value as a snack compared to eating out, being the same price as apples in America.

5

Just checking, are you taking the car across to Ireland and back on the ferry? If so you should double check terms and conditions because not all companies allow it as a matter of course and there may be additional insurance requirements.

If you don’t need a car in Dublin I’d think hard about getting a cheap return flight instead. The overall cost won’t be much different and you will save yourself a couple of days.

The cost of getting there and back on a plane, if you have a bit of flexibility, can be around £50 per person.

6

A-HA! It was all just an excuse to be able to get tickets! I’m on to your fiendish plan!

7

Question here on the emboldened part - are you planning on staying a couple of nights in Heathrow and travelling into London during the day? Because you’d be MUCH better staying right in London and saving yourself travel time to’ing and fro’ing.

8

Are you aware that the Bergen region is infamous for its crappy weather? Daily highs this week is about 60F, whereas most of Europe is having a heatwave. Where I’m at (southern Sweden) it’s a comfortable low 80’s and likely to stay that way. Budget for buying some lusekofte in case they’re needed, and also as souvenirs.

9

I’d never recommend driving after a transatlantic flight, give yourself a day at least to get over jet leg.

For pubs, most will allow children. Some will have a separate dining area and that’s the only part children are allowed into. And, yes, there is usually a cutoff time, so just ask or look for a sign.

I wish I’d been to Norway to give you a definite answer, but Denmark and Sweden are basically cashless and I’d imagine the same for Norway. I’d just withdraw a small amount from a local ATM. There’s no developed country where exchanging cash for cash gets you a good job exchange rate.

I agree with the above, double and triple check about taking a rental car to Ireland. Flying is much easier.

Finally, I hope you’re not planning on staying at Heathrow and taking the Heathrow express to Paddington every day. That’s a horrible false economy. Yes, the HEX is faster than the tube, but it only runs every 15 minutes and Paddington isn’t close to much of interest to a tourist, so you’ll need to still take the tube to where you want to go. Heathrow is a long way from central London.

As far as food in London, it’s one of the greatest food cities in the world, so you certainly don’t need to limit yourself to traditional British food. Any cuisine you want is available, I’d suggest Indian food if the kids aren’t picky. It is far better than most Indian food I’ve had in the USA.

I know you’ve got your itinerary set, but I’d consider slowing down a bit and cutting a country. I know it’s a long way to Europe from Hawaii and probably quite expensive, but you’re going to be spending a lot of time in transit and waiting around rather than actually seeing things. Checking in and out of places you’re staying in and getting everyone set is going to really eat into time. For example, I did 4 UK cities in my last trip of about 15 days and really wish I’d cut one. And that’s me,
solo traveler and very familiar with London and an experienced UK traveler and everything done by train.

10

I’ll affirm this, with the caveat that it’s been a while since I’ve been to Norway. More and more places simply refuse cash, especially restaurants/bars/places that close late at night. I don’t think I’ve carried cash this year.

Another caveat: Visa/MC works everywhere, I wouldn’t travel carrying only Amex. If you ave a card with a chip, it’s even smoother. For purchases under $20, you just press the card at the terminal and you’re good to go. No PIN needed.

11

Just what I came to say. That very much reads as if you are considering staying out at Heathrow and getting the Heathrow Express in to Paddington. This is a very bad idea.

12

Going to disagree a bit with some of the others- if you’re already in Conwy, getting the ferry from Holyhead is probably less messing around and certainly nicer than flying, assuming you’re not planning on sneaking a rental car overseas when you’re not allowed. No checking in luggage or passport checks (probably, not in the next month anyway) or anything and though the ferry isn’t the most exciting one it is more fun than another plane. It sounds like you’ve already got it all booked anyway.

If you’re not bringing the car across though don’t get caught out like I did a couple of years back; I got a combined ferry/train ticket which included a coach connection, which met the ferry, to the centre of Dublin, all fine on Friday morning on the way out. Unfortunately, it turned out not to run on Sundays when I was coming back, a fact which was not mentioned anywhere on the ticket, website or anywhere else. Tourist info was utterly unhelpful, didn’t know if there was a coach or where it would go from, random locals were more helpful, knew that it wasn’t running and helped me get a taxi, but it was somewhat stressful and I literally got onto the ferry with seconds to spare before they closed up for departure.

13

I’ve only had Indian food there once and it was pretty good, and there are lots of places to choose from, but, of the dozens of them that I’ve clicked on in Google Maps (which is probably only a small portion of them), very few of them are open before 4 pm, (I presume because a lot of them cater to the late night crowd and don’t have the manpower to open earlier.)

14

From Limerick, if you’ve a mind to, I recommend a trip up toward Galway to Moran’s Oyster Cottage. We always stop by there when we’re in the area. If you are heading to Doolin, and thinking about the Aran Islands, it’s not much farther.

15

  1. Ireland is one of the countries with very specific rules on rental car insurance. You should check with your credit card to make sure that it will work as you would expect, get that in writing, and print that out so that you can show it at the counter when you pick up the car.

  2. Use your ATM card to get cash (assuming you actually need cash) - it’s far and away your best option. Otherwise, just use your credit card.

  3. It’s really not a big deal. If it’s at all possible, try to spend your first few drives away from a city so that you can get used to it. (Trying to figure out directions and the slight difference in traffic signals, and the slight difference in everything else while on the wrong side can be a lot). But after a few hours, the biggest issue will be walking confidently up to the passenger side of the car only to discover that the steering wheel is entirely not where it ought to be.

Have a great time!

16

Good call on Dingle. We went to Ireland last year and that was one of the highlights. If you haven’t got a place to stay yet, I recommend the Hillgrove Guest House in Dingle town. Not what I’d call “charming” room- wise, but motor in and family friendly. Easy walk into town, and the best part is your room comes with a full on sit down table service breakfast, where you order off a menu, and one of the choices is a full Irish breakfast complete with both black and white pudding. Nice place. There’s a bookshop next to the tip of the peninsula and the old woman at the counter was cranky when we asked to use the bathroom (I was with my 80 year old mom. She had to GO!) But she brightened right up when we started talking about old books (Mom works in a library) and asked if she had a copy of The Voyage of St Brendan. If you can an, drive down Conor Pass. But take it easy.

Another highlight was Craggaunowen, on the way to Dingle from Dublin. If you haven’t heard of it, look it up. Being able to walk within the various dwellings from different times really brought it home. Sort of like Bunratty I guess, but much more sedate and serene. We were there on a drizzly day and had it pretty much to ourselves. Also recommend if you can fit it The Irish Workhouse Centre near Ennis.

Along with my mom, my 11 year old daughter was along. We never had any problems going into pubs, even later in the evening.

Driving on the wrong side? I won’t sugar coat it. There’ll be some white knuckle moments. There’s not the same kind of interstate system in Ireland like in the US. A lot of what we’d call country roads. And with minimal, as in minuscule, shoulder. You’ll be motoring just a foot or three from a rock wall or a hedgerow right by your side. And a big truck is coming the other way. But don’t panic. Those truck drivers know what they’re doing. Just ease off the accelerator, use the center line as your guide (believe it even if you think it’s trying to kill you), and glide on through. Irish drivers are very courteous. Don’t get me started on the roundabouts. Sat nav saved my life many times.

Also— and this is important— remember the wrong way factor when you’re walking, crossing streets. It’s so easy to forget. You check the wrong direction— look left instead of right— and nearly get flattened.

17

My (limited) experience of car rental is that if you don’t want to buy extra insurance, the car rental company will want to put a hold on your credit card for a fairly large amount (~$2,000) in case you have an accident. That’s what I’ve usually done in the past, but you need to make sure you have enough credit to do so. Golden rule of course is check the terms before you get there.

Yes. Virtually all pubs in the UK and Ireland welcome children. The ones that don’t are generally not ones you’ll want to spend time in anyway :). It’s usually pretty obvious on first look whether a place is likely to be kid-friendly.

Bourton is a classic stereotypical English country village, good choice - it’s very pretty. There is quite a bit to do there such as the bird park, you could easily spend a day just pottering around there if you wish. For days 2 and 3 you will probably want to venture further afield. Cotswold Wildlife Park is nearby and a good zoo/safari type place, if you like that sort of thing. Cotswold Water Park is good for splashing around and messing about in boats. Nice walks are available pretty much everywhere you go.

For a traditional breakfast the B&B should be ideal. Bourton is sure to have bakeries selling pasties, sausage rolls, scotch eggs etc. Don’t forget fish and chips one evening/lunchtime.

18

Can confirm. ( I live in Norway). Everywhere accepts VISA/Mastercard, I can’t remember the last time I paid for something in cash. Amex - less commonly accepted.

One tip - if you get the choice to pay in local currency or converted to USD/Euro, it is almost always cheaper to choose local currency - as the conversion offered is based on whatever exchange rate the payment provider choses, whereas paying in local currency will use your own banks exchange rate - almost always the better deal.

19

As for question 4 - yes there will be snow caps on the highest peaks.

And, make sure to plan enough time on your drive from Bergen to Alesund - alot of narrow roads with a lot of tourist traffic - as well as a lot of breathtaking scenery well worth a stop. Make sure to ask in Bergen for recommendations for scenic routes on the way, it is well worth driving less efficient routes to get the best views up the west coast fo Norway.

20

London is ex-pen-sive. I treated my friend to dinner and a pint, and the bill was 60 pounds, about $110 at the time. He treated the four of us to dinner outside of London, and it only cost him 30 pounds.

Plus, cab fare goes up in the evening. I found that out when I only had exact change for the day rate. Luckily, the driver let it slide.