View Full Version : Visiting your side of the pond
So, I have a question. End of next year, well, December 15th to about January 3, 4, my friend and I want to go on a trip. We're considering a few countries, but England seems to be the cheapest in terms of a ticket. Now, if we want to visit Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and so on, how realistic is that? Whats the easiest way of traveling (I'm allergic to your gas prices)? Any HAVE TO DOs while there? Any avoids?
I do want to see Stonehendge. The archeologist in me is just too damn anxious not to go. I know December is probably not the best time of year, but it will have to do because it is the only time we get off, and it will give us a chance to experience some warm weather in December for a change.
*We're debating the merits of visiting the continent, but, we want to save that for graduation. We want to do that properly in the summer. Maybe spend a month or so over there. So, just for a little breakaway from the cold next year, we were thinking of Great Britain.
** BTW, how is your beaches this time of year?
So, I have a question. End of next year, well, December 15th to about January 3, 4, my friend and I want to go on a trip. We're considering a few countries, but England seems to be the cheapest in terms of a ticket. Now, if we want to visit Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and so on, how realistic is that? Whats the easiest way of traveling
Well if you don't want to go by car the best way to get around would be by train, best is a term I use loosely in connection with the British rail network but I'm sure others can expand on that if needed.
Travelling times would depend on where your staying or if your planning to travel around staying in different cities.
I'll give you some idea by listing London and Manchester as they both have international airports:
Manchester London
Edinburgh (Scotland) 3.5 hours 4.5 hours
Cardiff (Wales) 4.0 hours 2.0 hours
Nottingham (England) 1.5 hours 2.0 hours
Dublin (Ireland) 5.5 hours 6.5 hours
London 3.0 hours 0.0 hours
I'm allergic to your gas prices
We don't have gas powered cars here :D only petrol and diesel :angel:
I do want to see Stonehendge. The archeologist in me is just too damn anxious not to go.
I might be wrong about this but I don't think they let you get very close to the actual stones at Stonehenge anymore but they do have a visitor centre and you can fly over it (http://www.stonehenge.org.uk/acatalog/Stonehenge_Stonehenge_Helicopter_Flights_7.html).
Other places to look out for depends on whether your going to be a typical American tourist and go to all the oldie worlde places or if your here to have fun :)
Fun nights out can be had in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin and Leeds.
Traditional tourist spots include York, Chester, Nottingham and Bath.
So, just for a little breakaway from the cold next year, we were thinking of Great Britain.
I hate to brake the bad news to you but its not exactly a tropical paradise at this time of year over here.
** BTW, how is your beaches this time of year?
Cold and wet mostly.
Well I doubt that was much help, but at least I tried.
/wonders if there are any jobs at the British tourist board?
EDIT: This link might be of some help: http://www.visitbritain.com/
paulyoung666
10-01-2004, 08:39
here (http://www.visitbritain.com/) might be a good place to start :)
timewarrior2001
10-01-2004, 09:31
So, I have a question. End of next year, well, December 15th to about January 3, 4, my friend and I want to go on a trip. We're considering a few countries, but England seems to be the cheapest in terms of a ticket. Now, if we want to visit Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and so on, how realistic is that? Whats the easiest way of traveling (I'm allergic to your gas prices)? Any HAVE TO DOs while there? Any avoids? Its very realistic to visit all the countries of the UK whilst on one trip, but personally I'd rather take more time over it.
If you want a cheap way to move from A to B then you cant beat the National Express coach service. they run regular, tend to be almost on time and you can visit any city and town from any city or town.
I do want to see Stonehendge. The archeologist in me is just too damn anxious not to go. I know December is probably not the best time of year, but it will have to do because it is the only time we get off, and it will give us a chance to experience some warm weather in December for a change.Yes Stone henge is a fantastic site, unfortunately because of damage being done you can no longer get near the stones.
*We're debating the merits of visiting the continent, but, we want to save that for graduation. We want to do that properly in the summer. Maybe spend a month or so over there. So, just for a little breakaway from the cold next year, we were thinking of Great Britain.
** BTW, how is your beaches this time of year?Well if you are in London why not get the train to Paris for a day? travel in style through the channel tunnel lmao. excellent views, well better than the views when you come up in France anyway.
I'd advise not to go to the beach during the winter, however it certainly wont be as cold as Canada. Not much happening and your unlikely to see scantily clad women on the beach.....no thats all available in Newcastles Big market and the local kebab shops, January through december.
A few other pointers for some nice scenery the lake district, ok they arent exactly big mountains or anything but its nice, its rural and the pubs are great.
I'd advise a definate visit to Ireland, especially Dublin, fantastic place, tad expensive though.
London, well I personally detest the place, but for a tourist I'd imagine its quite good.
Dont forget theres a lot of history in the North of the country, We have hadrians wall (roman fortifications to stop the scottish barbarians attacking England), Holy island, loads of castles. Historic York which is a MUST see. You can even visit the grave of Dick turpin!!!!!.
Then we have Whitby which was a basis for Bram stokers dracula, with Whitby abbey ruins. Its also the place Captain Cook set out from on his voyages of discovery. Last time I was in Whitby there was an on going archeological excavatgion going on at the abbey ruins, they had a visitros area and stuff so you could watch them at work.
http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/whitby/whitby.shtml
http://www.salvonet.com/yorkweb/walk/
http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/north.htm
Dave Stones
10-01-2004, 09:35
We don't have gas powered cars here :D only petrol and diesel :angel:
theres LPG for people who dont want a boot ;)
dodgyboy
10-01-2004, 10:34
For the weather infoThe Met office (http://www.met-office.gov.uk/weather/europe/uk/uk.html) its a bit wet and windy all over the country (mind you its like that most of the year :angel: )
If you are going to Stonehenge then in the same area is The Eden Project (http://www.edenproject.com/)
As Timewarrior said York is a must see, it gorgeous :)
If you do come over here ,I hope you have a great time
paulyoung666
10-01-2004, 10:37
deffo york is good to visit , another thing to see is the angel of the north (http://www.angelofthenorth.org.uk/) :)
If you're coming to Ireland, make sure you rent a car, the public transport here is attrocious. If you're into Archeology drive down to New Grange, and have a look here http://www.iol.ie/~sec/sites.htm, don't expect road map's to help you out either, I guarantee if you drive you'll somehow end up at the top of the Wicklow mountains. Obviously you'll want to visit Dublin, I rarely head down there so I'm not really in a position to tell you where to go, apart from Temple Bar ... where you might see someone famous. Most of the beaches are blue flag and very clean, at that time of year I can promise you it'll be bucketing down with rain, be exceptionally cold and very windy (if you want heat in the Winter, go to South Africa). If you've got anything specific you want to know about over here, let me know and I'll do my best to answer for you.
Go on, dare you to go into a pub in Glasgow and in your strongest american accent say "You know, Scotchland is such a lovely part of England" :D
paulyoung666
10-01-2004, 11:17
Go on, dare you to go into a pub in Glasgow and in your strongest american accent say "You know, Scotchland is such a lovely part of England" :D
pmsl @ that , it would be like something out of trainspotting :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
howabout the lake district (http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/) :)
downquark1
10-01-2004, 11:19
Go on, dare you to go into a pub in Glasgow and in your strongest american accent say "You know, Scotchland is such a lovely part of England" :D
Or in a welsh B&B say "do you think we'll get round to see all of wales today".
Becareful when driving- our traffic has been known to drive Americans insane.
Or in a welsh B&B say "do you think we'll get round to see all of wales today".
Or worse - walk in to a pub in Cardiff and congratulate them on winning the rugby world cup :D
Jerrek if you're going to come to Wales, I recommend keeping to the South - there's the capital (Cardiff) and Swansea, plus access is a lot easier than the Northern areas. Transport is fairly well priced and accomodation is usually tasteful and very light on the wallet, but watch out for people talking as if they're gargling custard - they'll actually be speaking Welsh :)
homealone
10-01-2004, 11:25
If you are visiting Scotland in December & get homesick for some snow, one place to try is Aviemore
http://www.aviemore.co.uk/
As well as the snowboarding it's a good starting place for visiting castles, whisky distilleries & Loch Ness.
paulyoung666
10-01-2004, 11:29
If you are visiting Scotland in December & get homesick for some snow, one place to try is Aviemore
http://www.aviemore.co.uk/
As well as the snowboarding it's a good starting place for visiting castles, whisky distilleries & Loch Ness.
at least there shouldnt be any midgies at that time of year :rofl:
Jerrek if you're going to come to Wales, I recommend keeping to the South - there's the capital (Cardiff) and Swansea, plus access is a lot easier than the Northern areas.)
The hardest place to get to south wales form is north wales!
homealone
10-01-2004, 11:46
at least there shouldnt be any midgies at that time of year :rofl:
you're right - they are a right pain in the summer:)
This is a complete joy :)
Someone wants to come over from America/Canada and not see just London. :eek:
If you want to get really close to Stonehenge you could come over on June 20th/21st, dress up in a pseudo KKK outfit and you'll be able to go right up to the stones. :D
Alan Waddington
10-01-2004, 12:00
North Wales maybe harder to get to, but there's the festiniog railway & the slate mine. However I doubt they're open in December. Wales is good for castles (built by the Brits to keep those rebelious welsh in order)
There's a fairly general problem with visiting the UK off-season. Lots of attractions will be shut. Most of the National Trust historic houses will be shut in December.
For archeology, I'd recommend Bath (http://www.visitbath.co.uk/). Most of the main attractions there are open year round.
http://www.visitbath.co.uk/images/rbathw1.jpg
In Sussex, Fishbourne Roman Palace is open all year, but all you will see is the floor mosaics (which are pretty good) http://www.sussexpast.co.uk/fishbo/fishbo.htm. It's about half a day's visit.
http://www.sussexpast.co.uk/fishbo/frp60dig.jpg
There's a roof over these digs now & walkways, so you don't walk over the mosaics.
One other piece of advice - no matter where you are in the UK, when confronted by something which is different to what you're used to, whether it's prices, people, the weather, customs etc, never ever say "Well it's not like that in the states...." ;)
And remember, you're canadian, not american :P
And remember, you're canadian, not american :P
That won't help, believe me ;)
That won't help, believe me ;)
Well it might give him the sympathy vote, you know, having French and American neighbours :p
Yeah but half of the Canadians are just French Americans, there's 2 reason's to not admit you're Canadian :p
So, I have a question. End of next year, well, December 15th to about January 3, 4, my friend and I want to go on a trip. We're considering a few countries, but England seems to be the cheapest in terms of a ticket.
I will probably be repped out of oblivion for this, but do consider that the UK is fairly expensive compared to the continent in terms of hotel prices, travel and food. So, what you save on a ticket might be offset by your local spending.
Regarding travel, trains are -very- expensive, especially if you get your ticket on the day you travel. If you travel by train, get your ticket in advance. Coaches are a cheap alternative. For longer journeys, consider flying (can be far cheaper than trains on no-frills airlines anyway), but you want to book as far in advance as possible.
Having said that, the UK is a great place to visit, and I'm sure you'll have a great time!!!
So, what you save on a ticket might be offset by your local spending.
Two words, "Pound", "Stretcher" (j/k) :D
Theodoric
10-01-2004, 14:18
So, I have a question. End of next year, well, December 15th to about January 3, 4, my friend and I want to go on a trip. We're considering a few countries, but England seems to be the cheapest in terms of a ticket. Now, if we want to visit Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and so on, how realistic is that? Whats the easiest way of traveling (I'm allergic to your gas prices)? Any HAVE TO DOs while there? Any avoids?
I do want to see Stonehendge. The archeologist in me is just too damn anxious not to go. I know December is probably not the best time of year, but it will have to do because it is the only time we get off, and it will give us a chance to experience some warm weather in December for a change.
*We're debating the merits of visiting the continent, but, we want to save that for graduation. We want to do that properly in the summer. Maybe spend a month or so over there. So, just for a little breakaway from the cold next year, we were thinking of Great Britain.
** BTW, how is your beaches this time of year?
First of all you need to make a major decision on whether you're talking culture/shows or history/archaeology or scenic views.
If you're talking culture/shows, then you've got to concentrate on London. Before the rest of the country starts beating me over the head about this claim, let me say that I was originally a provincial myself, but it doesn't alter the fact that the rest of country combined might just about equal London. Sorry, but that's the way it it is.
If you're talking history/archeology, your best bet is to look at web sites such as those of the National Trust or English Heritage, or try the regional web sites. For history we're essentially talking castles, cathedrals and stately homes, but the good news is that if that's want you want, there's more than enough to keep you occupied. Archaeology - nothing really to compare with the Med or the Near East; a few Roman sites, really, but I believe that there is some Viking stuff at York.
Scenic stuff. The bad news is that the UK is a small place and the best places will be very crowed. The good news is that none of the locals would be daft enough to visit them in December! :) There's the West Country but, to be honest, I'd concetrate on Northern England or the Highlands of Scotland if that's your tase.
If you're talking culture/shows, then you've got to concentrate on London. Before the rest of the country starts beating me over the head about this claim, let me say that I was originally a provincial myself, but it doesn't alter the fact that the rest of country combined might just about equal London. Sorry, but that's the way it it is.
Yeah right! As Graham might say, that's just your opinion - the rest of the UK has something for everyone. The 'promised land' (ie London) just has more attraction in a concentrated area, that's all!
Theodoric
10-01-2004, 15:50
Yeah right! As Graham might say, that's just your opinion - the rest of the UK has something for everyone. The 'promised land' (ie London) just has more attraction in a concentrated area, that's all!
However, distasteful it is, I'd argue that it's true.
Theatres: Most big provincial cities have one or two. London has dozens.
Museums: Again, one or two large ones in other cities, literally in double figures in London.
Symphony orchestras. London has 4 (or is it 3 now?). Cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.
Ballet/Opera: London again comes out on top.
Now, I'm not saying that this is right, I'm just saying that it is the way things are; it's the way this country has developed. It doesn't really bother me as I consider central London a dirty, unpleasant place that I wouldn't visit, unless necessary.
However, distasteful it is, I'd argue that it's true.
Theatres: Most big provincial cities have one or two. London has dozens.
Museums: Again, one or two large ones in other cities, literally in double figures in London.
Symphony orchestras. London has 4 (or is it 3 now?). Cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham.
Ballet/Opera: London again comes out on top.
London might have more, but that doesn't make them neccessarily better!
London's good for a few days, but it's always nice to leave :)
I'd recommend only a few days there and spend the rest of the time around the UK.
Theodoric
10-01-2004, 16:03
London might have more, but that doesn't make them neccessarily better!
London's good for a few days, but it's always nice to leave :)
I'd recommend only a few days there and spend the rest of the time around the UK.
Well, as I said, I don't find central London particularly attractive, but if that's what you really want, thats were you'll find the most. With the UK being structured the way it is, it's one of those decisions you need to make. Despite having lived there for a fair number of years I still haven't visited the Tower of London and I suspect that I may well never get round to it. To be honest, I too would go for a few days only in London.
I'd recommend only a few days there and spend the rest of the time around the UK.
I was under the impression most americans thought London was the UK? :D
Thanks for all the feedback. See, while I want to spend some time in London (like going to see the queen or something), I tend to avoid big cities and tourist areas. I do prefer country side and smaller towns or villages. :) I'll definitely be doing my research, but I'm rather anxious to visit all four countries.
paulyoung666
10-01-2004, 16:24
Thanks for all the feedback. See, while I want to spend some time in London (like going to see the queen or something), I tend to avoid big cities and tourist areas. I do prefer country side and smaller towns or villages. :) I'll definitely be doing my research, but I'm rather anxious to visit all four countries.
you will love the lake district then , the only problem is going to be our weather :(
Thanks for all the feedback. See, while I want to spend some time in London (like going to see the queen or something
Yeah, knock on the door, I'm sure she'll be in :)
Thanks for all the feedback. See, while I want to spend some time in London (like going to see the queen or something), I tend to avoid big cities and tourist areas. I do prefer country side and smaller towns or villages. :) I'll definitely be doing my research, but I'm rather anxious to visit all four countries.
Remeber to phone the (your ;)) queen to let her know you're coming, otherwise she might be out when you call.
edit: tsk, beaten to it
paulyoung666
10-01-2004, 16:29
Yeah, knock on the door, I'm sure she'll be in :)
now now russ dont take the p{ss :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
Atomic22
10-01-2004, 18:47
peak district is nice..........its like wales without the welsh :rofl:
york is nice for a olde worlde day out sightseeing.....
forget about poncy culture and visit old trafford and watch a game of football (thats soccer btw not girly american football)....
its cheaper to fly around britains major cities than it is to drive......
and remember food is served in portions relative to mouth size , so the amount of food you get served will seem small compared to the american continent....:rofl:
Forget all that crap about getting trains or coaches around the U.K. Its too expensive and uncomfortable (on the coach) the only way to travel is by air. I traveled to Edinburgh in the summer on easyjey, it cost me GBP 30.00 return from East Midlands airport (Nottingham/Leicester), to Edinburgh International, 40 min in the air. The equivalent to go by train would have bee around GBP 100.00 and a late and unreliable train that takes 8 hours!!:rolleyes:
Some examples of cheap airlines are:
Easyjey (http://www.easyjet.com/)
Bmi Baby (http://www.bmibaby.com/)
Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com/)
Oh and for flights into the country try :
Bmi (http://www.flybmi.com/)
But shop around because they don't all fly from every airport! :)
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