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19 year old woman travelling alone to London and Düssledorf.. ADVICE

Hey guys, as a girl travelling alone I was hoping you could advise me on:


(I'm travelling early september)


What hotels are cheapest/best to stay in London (I'm staying for 2 days and flying into Stansted)

Best way to travel in London for 2 days (I'm hoping to go to oxford square to do some shopping and visit historical places)

Where would you recommend- historical places wise to visit. I've been to London before and visited St.Paul's Cathedral, The science museum, buckingham palace. I also went on the tour bus. Unfortunately Churchill's War memorial wasn't open so I was unable to visit there. Is it any good?

Regarding Düssledorf (I'm there for 4 days) where are the best places to stay? I'm flying in to Weeze.. (on google maps it looks quite remote)

Also, where are the best places to visit? I'm interested in visiting a concentration camp. Have you had experience visiting one there? I also love historical architectural buildings with character so anything like that is just up my street.


What is the best transport to take to visit these places? Cheap preferably.

Also, any eateries that you would recommend for London or Düssledorf?

Lastly, as a young 19 year old girl travelling alone, what safety precautions would you recommend I take?


THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!
Original post by NicolaM
Hey guys, as a girl travelling alone I was hoping you could advise me on:


(I'm travelling early september)


What hotels are cheapest/best to stay in London (I'm staying for 2 days and flying into Stansted)

Best way to travel in London for 2 days (I'm hoping to go to oxford square to do some shopping and visit historical places)

Where would you recommend- historical places wise to visit. I've been to London before and visited St.Paul's Cathedral, The science museum, buckingham palace. I also went on the tour bus. Unfortunately Churchill's War memorial wasn't open so I was unable to visit there. Is it any good?

Regarding Düssledorf (I'm there for 4 days) where are the best places to stay? I'm flying in to Weeze.. (on google maps it looks quite remote)

Also, where are the best places to visit? I'm interested in visiting a concentration camp. Have you had experience visiting one there? I also love historical architectural buildings with character so anything like that is just up my street.


What is the best transport to take to visit these places? Cheap preferably.

Also, any eateries that you would recommend for London or Düssledorf?

Lastly, as a young 19 year old girl travelling alone, what safety precautions would you recommend I take?


THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!


Hiya,


I personally love the Clink hostels at King's Cross (
http://www.clinkhostels.com/). They have private rooms and dorms, it's cheap and clean and breakfast's included. Plus you're at Kings Cross, so everywhere is easily accessible. Beware though: they've cleaned up the area well, but I'd still be a bit careful at night.

About Duesseldorf: Weeze is bloody far away (excuse the language). You need to take a bus to the actual town and then a train to Duesseldorf. Takes at least 2 hours, I think. I've done it once, never again..
Regarding concentration camps: they are very interesting to visit, and I think it's vital to see one, but from Duesseldorf it would be a very long trip to see one. If you're really interested in them, save it for another trip, fly to Krakow and visit Auschwitz. It's by far the most 'impressive', and Krakow is well worth a trip.

Aachen is quite close to Duesseldorf and it's a very nice city! Apart from that - you could just walk around Duesseldorf, maybe take a train to Cologne (the Dome is worth a visit, even though the city itself isn't very nice...). :smile:


Hope that helped!
Original post by arina162
Hiya,


I personally love the Clink hostels at King's Cross (
http://www.clinkhostels.com/). They have private rooms and dorms, it's cheap and clean and breakfast's included. Plus you're at Kings Cross, so everywhere is easily accessible. Beware though: they've cleaned up the area well, but I'd still be a bit careful at night.

About Duesseldorf: Weeze is bloody far away (excuse the language). You need to take a bus to the actual town and then a train to Duesseldorf. Takes at least 2 hours, I think. I've done it once, never again..
Regarding concentration camps: they are very interesting to visit, and I think it's vital to see one, but from Duesseldorf it would be a very long trip to see one. If you're really interested in them, save it for another trip, fly to Krakow and visit Auschwitz. It's by far the most 'impressive', and Krakow is well worth a trip.

Aachen is quite close to Duesseldorf and it's a very nice city! Apart from that - you could just walk around Duesseldorf, maybe take a train to Cologne (the Dome is worth a visit, even though the city itself isn't very nice...). :smile:


Hope that helped!


Wow, I didn't realise that it was that far out! Should I just take a train out and stay at a hotel there then (in the actual town)

Ah really? :frown: Any other historical places worth a visit?

So there isn't too much to Dussledorf then? What about the natives, are they well spoken in English because I don't know any German.

Any other recommendations?

Thank you so much for your help by the way!
Original post by NicolaM
Wow, I didn't realise that it was that far out! Should I just take a train out and stay at a hotel there then (in the actual town)

Ah really? :frown: Any other historical places worth a visit?

So there isn't too much to Dussledorf then? What about the natives, are they well spoken in English because I don't know any German.

Any other recommendations?

Thank you so much for your help by the way!


Hey,

what do you mean exactly? Stay in Weeze? You actually don't even go there, as the train you need to take to Duesseldorf departs from Kevelaer (they'll be able to tell you all that at the airport though). I'd much rather stay in Duesseldorf if I were you as all the towns surrounding the airport are tiny (hence why flying there is so cheap...).

Oh, don't worry, Dusseldorf is nice enough for a few days! I was just giving you alternatives :smile: You can just explore the old town, walk along the river, go shopping - plenty to do. And don't worry, most Germans speak good English - if in doubt, stick to the younger ones. Nevertheless, it's West Germany, so you should be fine.

Why are you going there, if I may ask? I wouldn't have thought anyone's going to Dusseldorf without a specific reason. :wink:
Original post by arina162
Hey,

what do you mean exactly? Stay in Weeze? You actually don't even go there, as the train you need to take to Duesseldorf departs from Kevelaer (they'll be able to tell you all that at the airport though). I'd much rather stay in Duesseldorf if I were you as all the towns surrounding the airport are tiny (hence why flying there is so cheap...).

Oh, don't worry, Dusseldorf is nice enough for a few days! I was just giving you alternatives :smile: You can just explore the old town, walk along the river, go shopping - plenty to do. And don't worry, most Germans speak good English - if in doubt, stick to the younger ones. Nevertheless, it's West Germany, so you should be fine.

Why are you going there, if I may ask? I wouldn't have thought anyone's going to Dusseldorf without a specific reason. :wink:


Ahh, that makes sense! I think, I might just travel to Dussledorf main city and stay there? :/ I'm sorry I completely booked this on a whim.

How long did you stay in Dussledorf?

Haha, is it a busy city?

Ryanair's cheap flights is the reason :P Always wanted to visit germany so I decided I might do it now while the flights are cheap! :smile:
Can i join you XD jokes i would make sureyou fully plan everything before you go and budget really well! London won't be that hard as you'll but be able to get some help. you need to make sure you have everything sorted whilst in europe
Original post by NicolaM
Ahh, that makes sense! I think, I might just travel to Dussledorf main city and stay there? :/ I'm sorry I completely booked this on a whim.

How long did you stay in Dussledorf?

Haha, is it a busy city?

Ryanair's cheap flights is the reason :P Always wanted to visit germany so I decided I might do it now while the flights are cheap! :smile:


I thought that might be it :wink:

Well, depending on when you're going, you might want to consider doing another city while you're there? Megabus gets you to Hamburg for 15 EUR, for example, and Hamburg's amazing! You could easily do a day in Dusseldorf, go to Hamburg for the night and come back to Dusseldorf :smile: Train is obviously quicker and they also do good deals when you book ahead, but it's worth checking out both. (Oh, and I never stayed there, I just foolishly booked a flight there on my way to Berlin because it was so cheap...)

Budget-wise you should be absolutely fine! Germany isn't nearly as expensive as the UK (except maybe Munich). If you want an example: imagine everything that's a pound here being a Euro in Germany. So a cake that cost you £1 would be 1EUR in Germany; plus the EUR is obviously not very strong atm, so you should be fine! :smile:
Original post by arina162
I thought that might be it :wink:

Well, depending on when you're going, you might want to consider doing another city while you're there? Megabus gets you to Hamburg for 15 EUR, for example, and Hamburg's amazing! You could easily do a day in Dusseldorf, go to Hamburg for the night and come back to Dusseldorf :smile: Train is obviously quicker and they also do good deals when you book ahead, but it's worth checking out both. (Oh, and I never stayed there, I just foolishly booked a flight there on my way to Berlin because it was so cheap...)

Budget-wise you should be absolutely fine! Germany isn't nearly as expensive as the UK (except maybe Munich). If you want an example: imagine everything that's a pound here being a Euro in Germany. So a cake that cost you £1 would be 1EUR in Germany; plus the EUR is obviously not very strong atm, so you should be fine! :smile:



It's reassuring to know at least you have been to this airport haha! I'll have to get looking ASAP.

That's great to here money wise. Is many of their menu's in english? I'm hoping to learn at least a little bit of german before I go but it will be the absolute basics.

Also, should I get travel insurance? I didn't book any with the flight and was thinking of just booking one so i'm covered for other holidays also.
Reply 8
Travel buddy may be the best bet. Safer in a pair, only other advice would be trust your guy instinct when out and about. Stick to well lit main roads. Stay safe have fun, Germany looks like a cool country to visit.
Original post by NicolaM
It's reassuring to know at least you have been to this airport haha! I'll have to get looking ASAP.

That's great to here money wise. Is many of their menu's in english? I'm hoping to learn at least a little bit of german before I go but it will be the absolute basics.

Also, should I get travel insurance? I didn't book any with the flight and was thinking of just booking one so i'm covered for other holidays also.


The menu in the main part of the city will surely be, if not I'm sure they can either give you one or quickly translates it for you. Shouldn't be an issue. :smile:

Sadly German isn't a language you'll pick up quickly and Germans have the tendency to reply to you in English when they notice you're struggling. That isn't meant to be rude, they're simply trying to help. Although they will appreciate if you can say Hallo, but you won't need much more. :wink:

I would definitely get travel insurance! Not because it's not safe, but because accidents happen so quickly (even just considering that they drive on the right side of the road) so it's best to be insured. A broken leg can easily cost thousands of pounds to fix and travel insurance for four days will cost next to nothing. Go for a good provider though and then you'll be fine! :smile:

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