Continuing on our clockwise quest through Europe, we backtracked from Berlin, Germany to Manchester, England. We already spent several days in London just a month prior, so why would we do that? Read on for my Travel Hack Recap: Europe, Part 10 – Manchester & London below!
Full disclosure: I’m not sure how many parts this trip will be split into. Ninety days of continuous travel was a huge undertaking on our part! Documenting the details has been daunting enough for me to procrastinate nearly 6 months to start doing so. But I’ll do my best to share the highlights and travel hacks along the way!
Travel Hack Recaps of Europe so far:
- Europe, Part 1 – Baltic Sea Cruise
- Europe, Part 2 – Baltic Sea Cruise (Part II)
- Europe, Part 3 – London
- Europe, Part 4 – Edinburgh & Dublin
- Europe, Part 5 – Paris
- Europe, Part 6 – Brussels & Amsterdam
- Europe, Part 7 – Stuttgart
- Europe, Part 8 – Munich
- Europe, Part 9 – Berlin
Where We Went
The first thing to note related to our activities through most of this European extravaganza is that we pre-booked a lot of tickets weeks, if not months ahead of time. Given the precarious nature of COVID-19 throughout the world at the time, most attractions were open but requiring advance booking for a specific time slot.
This had its pros and cons: a designated time slot meant guaranteed admission and minimal time waiting in lines, as well as reduced crowds; however, our flexibility was greatly reduced by being locked in to nonrefundable tickets with a particular entrance time. All in all, I’d say the pros outweighed the cons, but note that your experience may be different than ours depending on the restrictions in place.
Day 1 (Day 48 of the trip) – Berlin, Germany to Manchester, England
An early morning Ryanair flight dropped us off at Manchester airport (MAN) around 7:30am local time. From there, we expertly navigated to our home for the next 3 days, the Hyatt Regency Manchester. Located right next to the University of Manchester campus, we jammed ourselves into the city bus with the college kids until arriving at our stop.
The weather in Manchester was dreary and by this time in the trip, so were our spirits. Right around the halfway point of our itinerary, we were hitting a wall. Decision fatigue is a real thing and we missed our dog. We had a few landmarks picked out, but after you’ve seen some of the great cathedrals and government buildings of Western Europe, these didn’t really excite us.
The unrelenting, soaking rain continued to pour down on Manchester. We barely left the hotel the first day and did some serious soul-searching with the help of beverages at the lounge. Just 49 days in, Manchester was our roughly 20th city, not counting day trips.
A weather-imposed break was just what we needed to power through.
Day 2 (Day 49) – Manchester, England
Why were we in Manchester, anyway? I’ll take the blame for this one. Our original itinerary had us heading to Poland next, but my beloved Green Bay Packers were about to play the New York Giants in London the following Sunday. As any die-hard fan would do, I convinced my wife to rearrange our well-constructed European travel plans to accommodate my (American) football fix.
The rain paused (or at least relented) long enough for us to get some fresh air outside the hotel. We visited John Rylands Library, a Harry Potter-esque pseudo-museum of old ass books. After a quick pass through Manchester Cathedral, we moseyed back through Chinatown and splurged on an amazing lunch of Vietnamese fusion (Namii for those curious).
Feeling a bit more energized, we retired to the hotel lounge for more drinks and a fresh look at our remaining itinerary.
Day 3 (Day 50) – Manchester, England
More rain. We did manage to do laundry though.
Day 4 (Day 51) – Manchester, England to London, England
After checking out of the hotel, we walked to Manchester Coach Station. From there, we took a 5+ hour bus ride to London. I think the sun even came out. Things were looking up!
We arrived at Victoria Station in the early afternoon. By this time, we were pros at navigating the London underground transit and made it to the Aldgate East stop in no time. Returning to the Hyatt Place London City East for the next 2 nights, we chose it due to the relatively low price and close proximity to public transit for the game the next day. We were comfortably under our cumulative budget for the trip, so we ordered some fancy drinks at the rooftop bar and enjoyed the view of London.
Day 5 (Day 52) – London, England
Game day! I was pumped (Mrs. FIby35 less so). But we took our positive attitudes on the train to Tottenham using a transit day pass.
Arriving at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the scene could best be described as a spectacle. Set in a neighborhood of neat rowhouses, the futuristic-looking stadium looked out of place. The thousands of mostly green-and-gold clad fans milling about seemed to overrun every inch of the place (in a good way). Energy abounded.
After a bit of milling about ourselves, we ventured into the stadium for concessions and to find our seats. This game was the single most expensive purchase of our entire European adventure, but I contend it was an experience of a lifetime.
For true American football fans, the gameday experience in a European soccer stadium probably leaves something to be desired. The stadium-goers are enthusiastic, but not always the most tactful when it comes to leaving their seats during gameplay, queueing for concessions, etc. And unfortunately for me, the Packers lost. But attending the game was still one of the highlights of my life so far and well worth the price.
Day 6 (Day 53) – London, England to Prague, Czechia
We took our time in the morning, having breakfast at the hotel again. Navigating the Tube to Paddington Station, we then took the Paddington Express straight to London Heathrow Airport for our afternoon flight to Prague.
How Much We Spent (and Saved)
Let’s take a look at the Travel Hack Recap spending breakdown for our 3 nights in Manchester and 2 nights in London. I should note that during our entire 3 months in Europe, the US dollar was extremely strong. The exchange rate with the British Pound was favorable, and the USD-Euro was at or near 1:1 for much of our trip, so everything was at a bit of a discount compared to historical exchange rates.
Spending in Manchester:
| Category | Budget | Actual | Notes |
| Flights | $139.00 | $138.85 | |
| Accommodations | $0.00 | $0.00 | 25,500 Hyatt points for 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Manchester |
| Food/Drink | $210.00 | $157.11 | |
| Entertainment & Misc | $0.00 | $0.00 | |
| Transportation | $34.00 | $4.50 | Bus from MAN to hotel |
| TOTAL | $383.00 | $300.46 |
More savings in Manchester since the rain limited our ambitions.
Total savings from travel hacking:
- 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Manchester would have been $526.
Even excluding the savings of walking everywhere instead of Uber/Taxi/Rental car, we saved over $500 by travel hacking this leg of our trip to Europe in Manchester.
Spending in London:
| Category | Budget | Actual | Notes |
| Flights | $0.00 | $0.00 | |
| Accommodations | $0.00 | $0.00 | 24,000 Hyatt points for 2 nights at the Hyatt Place London City East |
| Food/Drink | $150.00 | $106.13 | |
| Entertainment & Misc | $821.00 | $820.53 | Packer game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
| Transportation | $41.00 | $108.89 | Manchester-London train; Heathrow Express to LHR; Tube around London |
| TOTAL | $1,012.00 | $1,035.55 |
The Packer game was the big ticket item (no pun intended), but we also allowed ourselves to pay more for more convenient transportation. The Heathrow Express was more expensive than what we budgeted for but significantly more convenient.
Total savings from travel hacking:
- 2 nights at the Hyatt Place London City East would have cost $444 and included breakfast.
Even excluding the savings of public transit instead of Uber/Taxi/Rental car, we saved another $400 by travel hacking this leg of our trip to Europe in London.
Conclusion
While our three days in Manchester weren’t the most exciting, they were much-needed. The rain gave us an excuse to just relax for a couple days. We also reexamined the trip budget and concluded that we should spend a little more for convenience going forward.
Our return to London was a memorable one. The area we stayed in was familiar from our first go-around so we were able to focus more on where to go from there. And I still love London’s public transportation. The brief stay in the UK reenergized us for second half of our trip.
Up next: Prague, Czechia!
What is your favorite thing to do (or eat) in London? Comment below!
