See Places other People Won't-Ryan Coffey

When traveling it may not always be best to see only the major sites and cities that all the tourists seem to go to. During my time here at the Abbey, I took a weekend trip to Pisa/Rome and over the break went to Scotland, England, and Ireland. While most of the students from the abbey went to Greece and to Italy over their breaks, I decided to take the road less traveled. Knowing I would not be going to Italy over the break, I left on Thursday at lunch, since that was after my last class got out. I went to Pisa, took a train to Rome on Friday and saw the major sites including the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel along with the coliseum. On Saturday I saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and spent the day exploring the museums that surround it (part of the same complex). I flew back to France that night and took a train back to Montrichard on Sunday.
Over the break I went from Paris-Beauvais on RyanAir to Glasgow where I stayed overnight before going on to Edinburgh, the big tourist city. I was amazed by all there was to see, I could've easily spent another week there. There are lots of tours and day trips such as the one I took up to Loch Ness through companies like Scotline Tours. I had bought a Britrail pass so I often went to the Mitchell Library in Glasgow to do homework and then see a show at the King's Theatre or something like that. Newcastle, England was a shopper's paradise (of course I don't shop) as well as being the home to a lot of historical sites and museums. The photo at left is of Hollyrood Palace, the Royal residence of the English monarch when visiting Scotland.
I went to Dublin for three days in the middle of the trip (well, 2 1/2). Paddy's Palace hostel offers their 25 euro highland tour free with two night's stay with them which is what I did. I cannot imagine having a better time over my spring break and because they spoke English, I didn't feel so lost being on my own.
My bottom line is, don't just look at the typical tourist destinations. There are plenty of great places to visit that don't require spending lots of money and you don't need to rush to see everything. Relax, you're on vacation for crying out loud.
http://www.britrail.com/
http://www.ryanair.com/en
http://www.visitscotland.com/
http://www.hostelbookers.com/