Ely is one of a handful of the most beautiful medieval towns of Europe. It is located 14 miles northeast of Cambridge and roughly 60 miles northeast of London. The centerpiece of Ely is a cathedral built in 1200 and surrounded by a former Benedictine Monastery founded in 673.
Everything in Ely will be within a 10 minute walk, including the town center, market, train and bus stations for connections. You will not need a car, as there is excellent train and/or bus service to the London airports and to all points of interest.
However for local sightseeing beyond Ely, you may want to rent (hire) a car locally in Ely and team up with others. Further information including brochures are available at the Ely tourist web site. Also of interest may be the King’s School Ely web site.
Weather: England has a maritime rather than a continental climate (think Seattle). Temperatures in Ely in April are normally in the 50’s Fahrenheit (10-15C) during the day and 40’s Fahrenheit (4-9C) at night. The amount of sun varies dramatically with some very sunny days and some drizzly days. Spring arrives early in Northern Europe and it is a pretty time of the year with many flowers.
Money: England uses the English pound, which at the time of writing (December 8, 2024) is worth around $1.28. The best way to exchange dollars is to use ATM machines and to charge purchases to credit cards, preferably ones that have no foreign transaction fees. Banks and currency conversion services, while handy, usually charge about 10% of the money converted for the process.
Contacting us in England/phoning home: We will have an English cell phone (mobile) available as well as a USA cell phone number so that we can always be contacted. We will also be checking our e-mail, text, WhatsApp, iMessages and FB messenger constantly. If you plan to use your cell phone in the UK, then you will need to check with your carrier regarding both roaming costs, costs of phone calls, texts and data. There will be WiFi hot-spots for your use while at the dance week.
