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Travel to UK, suggestions please?
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Please provide friendly advice to travellers to the UK.
I have found this "Escorted and Self Drive Vacations" site -
www.brendanvacations.com/ireland.asp?id=3
Can anyone suggest any good sites for hotels, B&B, vacation packages... etc?
Thanks
Posted at 7:51PM, 22 October 2005 PDT
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I've used this site quite a few times:
www.s-h-systems.co.uk/
It gives a wide range of places throughout the UK for a wide range of prices.
Posted 80 months ago.
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Which part(s) of the UK will you be visiting? Also, what sort of vacation do you want - cities, sightseeing, countryside, seaside?
Posted 80 months ago.
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Jon© [deleted] says:
Tourist info is the best place to start, England is here
Wales here and Scotland here
Posted 80 months ago.
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Thanks... with this new info, I don't think I'll buy the self-drive package from brendanvacations... Craig, have you rented cars from s-h-systems.co.uk? I'll rent from Nov.19 morning when we arrive at Heathrow till Nov.27. Group A ~ D will costs 18.5 ~ 24 Pounds/day. Seems to be far more expensive than what I can find on yahoo.co.uk... I'll be booking hotel/B&B with that site though.
I'm interesting in sightseeing, some cities/town and countryside. Both my girlfriend and I have been to London before, so we're just going to spend the first day there, since I'll be driving from Heathrow, I'm thinking it'll be cheaper to book a hotel / B&B in the outskirts of London, (Isleworth? Wembley?), drop off the car and luggages and ride the train/tubes to London. (Shopping, London Eye, Millennium Bridge, Swiss Re Headquarters... any other suggestions?)
From the 20th to 26th, we'll do the road trip. I think I'll drive North from London toward Cambridge, Leeds, York/Yorkshire, then up to Edinburgh, Glasgow, then back down South & West to Wales (not sure where go to in Wales), then down to Bath and Stonehenge and Oxford, then back to London. So many places, only 6 days...
I am not too familiar with GB, I just looked at the maps, does my planned route make sense? Is there enough time? Should I give up on going too far North? (No Scotland?). Please also kindly recommend some good places to visit, and I'll do more research. I've bought the Lonely Planet Great Britain guide book and Bill Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island".
Thanks for all your help!!
Posted 80 months ago.
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Clone, May I ask why you insist on driving? You would save yourself a lot of hassle by taking the train or coach, both of which would have much less of an impact on our environment than the equivalent number of car journeys. Even the train would also be cheaper than car hire fees if booked in advance. Coaches are by far the most economical way of getting around other than by cycling.
I do think your plans are a little ambitious given the time available. You could see about a quarter of the country in six days. Please don't ignore Hampshire, Sussex and Kent, the East Midlands, Lancashire and Cumbria, the Cotswolds, Devon and Cornwall...
Given your existing plans I would suggest London-Cambridge-Nottingham-Derby-Sheffield-Leeds-Newcastle and return (or minor variations, depending on your interests). That's do-able (even by car!) and will give you a good taste of eastern England, so that you can come back and see another part of the country next time.
Lonely Planet are generally very good, I've found. I believe they also produce more detailed books for England, Wales and Scotland.
Do enjoy your visit.:)
Posted 80 months ago.
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I agree with Inglian that you are trying to visit too many places for a 6 day holiday. Britain is a small country but not that small and our roads are carefully designed for maximum inconvenience ...
I would suggest going west from London rather than north, because there are more interesting places for visitors within easier range. Places worth visiting in the West Country include Bath, Hay-on-Wye, Glastonbury, Avebury, Stone Henge etc. I'd suggest too that you try to take in some of the North Devon coast, which is beatiful.
More info on southwest England here: www.visitsouthwest.co.uk/
Posted 80 months ago.
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Just a point
I note your intention of using the tube in London and I thought "that way you will not have to pay the congestion charge"
But I'm not sure how that charge affects foreigners in rented cars!!
Then it occurred to me you could also fall foul of all the speed cameras which are all over the UK! - but if you are in a rental how are they going to get the money? - So unless the Hire company take some sort of deposit! the only other way would be via credit card details! - so don't pay by credit card - use a cheque.
Posted 80 months ago.
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May I suggest you look at www.activehotels.com for your hotel reservations. Lots of small b&B type accomodation as well as larger hotels.
Posted 80 months ago.
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I would recommend Ealing as a good base between Heathrow and central London, if you can find a good B&B there. You can take a Central Line tube train into town from Ealing Broadway station. Or take a District Line train and change to the (faster) Picadilly Line at Acton Town. Be sure to buy a One Day Travelcard, for unlimited travel at a bargain price.
Originally posted 80 months ago.
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inglian edited this topic 80 months ago.
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Harry, most companies will want payment by credit card for just that reason - to pass on any speeding fines! They'll also want copies of driving permits and passports.
Also, you can't pay by cheque unless it's a Sterling cheque drawns on a UK bank.
clone, once you've left London, head up the M1 to Leeds, then to York. Then get on the A59 and head west, stop at Harrogate, Clitheroe (small unknown Lancashire market town), Blackburn or Preston (for typical Lancashire towns) (the A59 trip is doable in a day).
Then get on the M6, think about a visit to Liverpool if you have time, pick a small town by the sea in Wales, (you'll see a huge amount of countryside over the A59 route anyway), then back to the M6 to head south to see Bath & Stonehenge.
I'd suggest 20-22 Nov based in Leeds, it's only 1/2 hour drive to York and you can also get into the Dales & North Yorkshire Moors in no time, check out English Heritage for some great places to visit round here. Do the A59 trip on 23rd, Harrogate, Skipton, Clitheroe and Blackburn all have busy markets, especially on Wednesdays which is traditional market day up north!
Then head back south down the M6 to complete your trip.
Think about taking the train as well though, theres really good conenctions between London & Leeds, York - Leeds - Blackburn/Preston, Preson - Blackburn - Manchester - London, Preston/Manchester - Liverpool/Wales...
National Rail Enquiries.
If you goto Scotland you'll be spending a lot more time travelling and less time seeing the places you want to visit. It might be an idea to see Scotland on a seperate visit.
Posted 80 months ago.
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WOW! Thank you so much for everyone's input! I had prepared to cut out the Scotland and only go as far North as Leeds / York. Tony I think your itinerary is fantastic! I'll look into it, thanks!!
I hope this thread will help other travelers to GB as well. BTW, I've cross posted this thread to Google Groups (rec.travel.europe) The replies are not as helpful as the ones I got here though. :)
Posted 80 months ago.
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I just returned from England. Although alot of my trip focused around London because I had never been before, during our time outside of London was based out of the Cotswolds. Very close to Stratford upon Avon and a very beautiful area in general. 2 hour trip from Bath/Stonehenge.
During my planning stages, I too, had an itinerary such of yours (Scotland, Wales, etc) but realized there was too much to see and not enough time to see it. My suggestion to you is to pick a general area and see as much as you can around there and come back in a year or 2 and see more.
Good luck and have fun.
Posted 80 months ago.
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inglian, I looked up Ealing on Google Maps. Very nice!
The Kenton House Hotel on 1 - 7 Hillcrest Road, Ealing, London, Greater London, W5 2JL seems like the kind of small, family own hotel / B&B that I would like. (Found on www.activehotels.com) But that's only the first choice that came out that looked right. I think I'll choose something that's closer to the Ealing Broadway station. (BTW, how do you pronounce "Ealing"? :D Like "Eel-ling"?)
Tony, I looked into the first part of the trip from London to Leeds/York. Looks like driving will take 3.5+ hrs, while Train will take 2.75 hrs. I think for the later part of the trip, espcially in Wales, a car is required. Also, we'll have 3 people travelling together, so a car may turn out to be cheaper than train.
Posted 80 months ago.
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Ah, Ealing's lovely (OK I'm biased - I live there). Known as the Queen of the Suburbs, it's wonderfully leafy and has a pretty strong cultural life, including a good theatre.
It's also very close to Southall, where you will find a massive profusion of Asian restaurants; any Asian cuisine you care to name, Southall will have it.
I especially recommend Madhu's (Punjabi) and the Brilliant (Kenyan Asian).
Oh yes, and it is indeed pronounced Eel-ling
Have fun!
Originally posted 80 months ago.
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Michael Smith edited this topic 80 months ago.
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When deciding on places to visit, you might also want to look at the National Tust website, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ and the national trist flickr group
Posted 80 months ago.
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Is there any good discount car hire sites in UK? Like priceline.com or hotwire.com in the US... I can typically get $40 car rentals in NYC through hotwire, the actual rental companies are usually Hertz or Avis.
Posted 80 months ago.
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OK, getting more specific now. First of all, I'm looking at my guide book and it says: "In north Wales and the hills of northern England, roads can sometimes be closed by snow." So this means I need to have a back up plan.
I was think of this:
11/19 Arrive, London (Ealing stay)
11/20 Drive A1 North to Leeds, York (York stay)
11/21 A59 west, stop at Harrogate, Clitheroe (small unknown Lancashire market town), Blackburn or Preston (for typical Lancashire towns) (Stay at outskirts of Liverpool or Manchester)
11/22 If weather permits, then drive West to Caernarfon Castle, then round south to drive by Snowdonia and come back East to meet M6. If not, then I can stay in Liverpool for a day. (Stay at same outskits of Liverpool.)
11/23 Manchester, then South to Cardiff.
11/24 Cardiff. (2nd night)
11/25 Bath, Stonehenge, Winchester (stay at Winchester)
11/26 Winchester, Oxford, London
11/27 Leave London in the morning.
How's this sound? Any small town along the way that I must stop by? I'm willing to spend less time in Liverpool/Manchester in exchange for the small town charm... but only if the weather is nice enough and things stay open... (The guide book is scaring me!)
Posted 80 months ago.
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Hi, You would be very unlucky to find roads closed by snow before Christmas, that sort of thing is more usual early in the new year.
Hope you enjoy your trip
Posted 80 months ago.
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Thanks, slight changes and more detailed now: (Google group's thread helped a lot.)
- 11/19 Arrive London, tubes to South Ealing, stays at Ealing Guest House.
- 11/20 7 am train departs from King's Cross to York, arrive 8:55. York all day. stays in York.
- 11/21 Pick up hired car at York train station, drives A59 west, Harrogate, Clitheroe, Blackburn or Preston. Stay at Chester.
- 11/22 West to Caernarfon Castle, South to Snowdonia. (Stay at Pen y Gwydd, Snowdonia?)
- 11/23 drive through Snowdonia, Llanberis pass next to Snowdon IIRC (A4086 rather than
A5) then to Betws y Coed and out. South to Bath. Stays at Bath.
- 11/24 Bath, Stonehenge (Cotswolds or the Wylie valley?) Stays at Bath again.
- 11/25 Winchester, Oxford (or ditch Oxford and check back at hotel in Ealing. More time for London.)
- 11/26 London, stays in Ealing.
- 11/27 Heathrow, early morning.
I think it's starting to sound pretty awsome now! :D
Posted 80 months ago.
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If you go to Stonehenge it would make sense to carry on to Winchester, rather than going back, since Winchester is a two-hour drive from Bath, whereas 'henge to Winch is about 40 minutes. I hope you like my home town. :)
www.flickr.com/photos/inglian/sets/1286585/
Posted 80 months ago.
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