London Trip with which other country?

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amother

Sapphire

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 8:04 am

We are thinking of going to London this summer and was wondering where is the best place to stay during the week? My husband wants a minyan. We would prefer staying in brand name hotels and using points. How many days do we need in London? Also what other country would you go to for two - three days when going on this trip? Also I need a minyan there.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 9:18 am

Scotland! Edinburgh(sp?) is absolutely lovely, and the Scottish people are super nice and welcoming. I like it much better than England.

Contact the Chabad there, and ask for advice about hotels, minyanim, and kosher food. It's a big city, I'm sure you can find what you need there.

amother

Mustard

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 11:10 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

If you go to Scotland you will not find a brand name hotel near the minyan. There is only one shul there that has a minyan during the week and there is one hotel nearby (anon because I have just planned a surprise trip for my dh and will be staying at said hotel) which looks pretty ok. Nothing super trendy but good enough.

Edinburgh is on our list to, but we will not have a minyan there as from what I can tell the shul barely has a minyan even on Shabbat. We will be there for a few days and staying at "The Chester Residence" I am not sure about points but it has TOP reviews.

I am really excited about Scotland, if you are going to London it is a 1 hour flight or a 6 hour train ride to Glasgow/Edinburgh and if our trip will be as good as it has been planning it, definitely worth the trip.

greenfire

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 11:32 am

where is that leaning tower of ~~pizza~~ pisa ... somewhere in italy ~ that's a classic place to go

Zehava

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 11:41 am

I would do Spain Italy Greece... All places with gorgeous ocean views and rich history. I'm sure you'll find minyan and brand name hotels in all of them.

Raisin

Thu, Apr 14 2016, 12:56 pm

There is a holiday inn in NW London, does that count?

Also there are shuls in west end (marble arch is one) don't know if they have daily minyanim. Rabbi Yisrael Lew lives in Bloomsbury, you can contact him for info. More eating options in NW london though and plenty of minyanim there.

Other places to go can be Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland - all very close and you can take the train. You can also fly quite cheaply to other places in Europe.

amother

Sapphire

Tue, May 03 2016, 11:46 pm

Has anyone been to Gibralter? How many days would you need in Ireland?

amother

Gray

Wed, May 04 2016, 5:52 am

amother wrote:

Has anyone been to Gibralter? How many days would you need in Ireland?

Yes, we loved gibralter. You can combine it with the south of spain. We were in spain and I've always wanted to see gibralter so we went there for the day. We were not there for long enough but its tiny, so you don't really need more then a day or two there. It was pretty amazing seeing a thriving frum community right there in the middle of nowhere. You need to park your car on the spanish side and walk across the border.

Ireland - you can spend however long there. Probably up to two weeks there. But 2 or 3 days is also good. There is only minyanim in Dublin, possibly Belfast. (call the shuls and check - belfast might only have shachris on mon/thursday) Lots of the good things to see are far from the cities though. (far - up to four hours drive - its a small island) The Giants Causeway is spectacular but its 3 or 4 hours drive from Dublin, 1.5 hours from Belfast.

Mrs Bissli

Thu, May 05 2016, 2:23 am

Yes, been to Gib and spend Shabbatot there. The Rock is a rather small place so need at most 2 days. What most people do is to stay on closeby Spanish communities with miniyan and kosher amenities like Marbella or Malaga or Torremolinos. You can make a sortie to Granada or Cordoba, or even to Toledo. Though it is very hot in summer esp mid day. (The same as Greece. ) Monarch flies to Gib from London cheap if you book in advance.

For 2-3 days out of England, Paris or Amsterdam would be a good choice if you need kosher resto and daily miniyan. Venice or Prague would work though they will be crowded with peak tourism season.

amother

Sapphire

Mon, May 16 2016, 11:09 pm

Do you think seven - eight days including flying is enough time to go to London and Gilbrater?

Raisin

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:29 am

yes, but obviously you won't see as much as you could in London. I think you need one night/2 days in Gibralter.

Personally if I was only spending a week in London I would not fly to Gibralter (which is quite a long flight) but go somewhere much closer. Unless you really really want to see Gibralter.

Brownies

Tue, May 17 2016, 7:33 am

I agree with raisin - you could theoretically do it but it would be a shame to spend 2 days out of 7 or 8 dealing with travel and airport stress! It would make more sense to visit Gibraltar on a Spain trip.

Mrs Bissli

Tue, May 17 2016, 8:15 pm

Agree. If 7-8 days include flying time I suggest sticking to England. Though actual flight time between London and Spain /Gib is just over 2hrs , you'll lose at least half a day each considering time to travel to and from airport, passport control, wait for suitcases etc. I'd say you can easily spend 4 days in London with just the basics, plus there is shabbat. So it would make more sense to do either a couple of day trips or one overnight trip out of London.
Eurostar day trip to Paris or Bruge or Brussels is doable though.

dancingqueen

Tue, May 17 2016, 8:19 pm

Gibraltar is cute but it's not super close to London so I think you waste travel time with that plan. Paris is an easy add on to a London trip.

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