You may wish to travel on College Sponsored Trips or travel around Europe independently while you are living at Harlaxton College. Please find below a number of useful points to help you with travel while living in the UK.

Faculty and College Sponsored Trips

Visiting Faculty and their families are very welcome to join any College Sponsored Trips. Booking is on a 'first-come-first-served' basis; however preference will be given to students until the first Monday of the semester.

We believe students require extra support on their travels in Europe and may have a limited knowledge of traveling in foreign countries. This, combined with an often sheltered view of life, provides basis for them to have first priority on all College Sponsored Trips.

All of our trips are of a very high standard and are geared towards economical student travel, visiting cultural areas of interest including historic sites.

Overnight Trips

“Overnight Trips” is a title referring to College-organized weekend and long weekend’s trips and the end of semester trips in the UK and to mainland Europe.

Overnight travel includes:

• Transportation
• Accommodation
• Courier Support
• Briefing
• Handout with maps

Transportation:

Transportation for College Sponsored Trips is mostly by coach and often involves long journeys. This mode allows great scenic views of the countryside but may not be suitable for very young children. Our long weekend trips and end of semester trip also involve additional travel via ferry, channel tunnel, or air.

Accommodation:

The accommodations used on all of our trips provide basic clean rooms (not always having a connected bathroom). They are hotels or hostels or B&B (bed and breakfast) lodgings often booked by educational groups. Though of a decent standard, they may not be what you would expect from a hotel in the US.

Often we are not always the only group in the accommodation, and noise levels may be higher than in another type of hotel.

Please Note: Extra charges may be incurred for single or double room occupancy, since the charges quoted by the hotel are based on multiple bedded rooms of three or more.

Courier/Support:

Whilst traveling on a College Sponsored Trip you will have a member of Harlaxton staff as the courier. The courier will assist travelers, particularly in emergencies. Couriers are available at all times by mobile phone, but they are not expected to provide personal services or to be on call all hours for the personal convenience of travelers.

Briefings and Handout:

Each trip will include a briefing covering how the trip will operate, a basic history of the destination, places to see (museums and galleries), fun things to do (walks etc.) and matters of safety and security. A handout will document the cost of admission to a number of museums and galleries and will offer information on itinerary and emergency contact numbers.

Day Trips

College Sponsored Day trips are often very popular with visiting faculty, spouses, and children as they are a relaxing, comfortable, safe, and convenient way to visit historic places.

Day trips include:

• Transportation
• Courier Support
• Briefing
• Handout with maps

Day trips are conducted much as is overnight travel, excluding accommodation (see above).

Summary

All our trips encompass different aspects of history and culture and give the traveler a unique experience of cities in Britain and mainland Europe. We endeavor to provide a safe, comfortable, and fun experience, one that is educational and relaxing to our students and faculty.

Faculty and Independent Travel

Transportation

If you are planning independent travel there a number of transportation options available:

• Rail UK and Europe
• Car Hire UK and Europe
• Air Travel UK and Europe
• Bus/Coach UK

Great Britain and Europe have an extensive rail system which allows you to travel to numerous destinations in a large number of countries. This service often has great deals, including rail-cards for families and students that allow discounted rail travel.

You may also be interested in hiring a car to travel around Europe. This option, of course, gives you more flexibility and lets you go into non-tourist areas. Traveling by bus (coach) is the cheapest way to travel around Great Britain. But connections are only at major cities and the travel time is significantly longer than with other means of transport.

Cheap airlines offer a range of flights to Ireland and mainland Europe and often are the cheapest way to travel. Cheapest tickets are usually Tuesday-Thursday and early morning am or late night pm. You also need to remember to plan how you are traveling from Harlaxton to the airport and back, which is expensive and often inconvenient. Taking this into account, planning ahead is always important in getting cheapest flights and maximum convenience.

Accommodation

British travel agents do not offer the same services as in the US and cater more for package trips. Independent travel means you will have to organize your own hotel arrangements as well as transportation. This means planning and researching destinations, booking hotels, and planning all aspects of your journey. The most popular way to do this is via the internet, but you may also book by phone or fax.

Planning

Traveling independently offers you the choice to visit interesting and historical areas off the beaten track. Whether you are visiting Harlaxton alone, with your spouse, or with your family, independent travel can be lots of fun with a large number of resources available to you to plan the perfect trip. Please see the Harlaxton Travel web pages for information on travel links to a range of accommodation, transportation, and city guide websites. When you arrive at Harlaxton there is also a Travel Resources Area with guidebooks and information for planning independent travel, available to you 24 hours a day.

Faculty and Families with Children

Transportation

Traveling with children is a very enjoyable experience, but sometimes children can be hard to entertain on long journeys. Many previous families have utilized College Sponsored Day trips as this an economical and relaxing day out with the family.

Traveling by train is a very good option when traveling as a family, especially if you purchase the family rail card. Adults save 1/3 on most rail fares and 60% on the cost of child fares. This is a great way for families to travel around the UK and see the countryside while being in a relaxing environment with rest rooms and catering facilities on almost all trains.

You may also be interested in hiring a car to travel around Europe. This gives maximum flexibility when traveling with small children, although you must remember you will be driving on the opposite site of the road in Great Britain.

Accommodation

Family rooms are often available in Hotels and B&B (Bed & Breakfast) accommodations around the UK and Europe. A family room may consist of a double bed, a single and an extra spare pull out bed, though this differs in every establishment. Family rooms are usually slightly cheaper per person than the alternative of booking a double and single or two twin rooms. It is always best to enquire what family rooms a Hotel or B&B may have before booking—you could save yourself a considerable amount of money and also may establish if the premises are children and family friendly.

Travel Tips from previous faculty members and families

• Don’t take too many toys. Pens and coloring books and game-boys are easy to carry and entertaining.
• Do plan ahead on how to entertain your child at the airport.
• Do bring over the counter medicines from home as the UK does not have the same medicines/brands available.
• Do take comfortable clothes--rain hats and hoods are better than an umbrella in the wind.
• Do take comfortable shoes, such as tennis shoes.
• Do take comfort food, e.g., your child’s favorite peanut butter, to keep them happy.
• Do not take too much with you on trips. Carrying bags is never easy.
• Never forget your child’s comfort blanket or cuddly toy.

For further information and advice for family travel please contact the Student Development Office