advertisement


Trip to England, your advice please

A

ariegur

pfm Member
In the beginning of October my wife and I will tour England for two weeks. It will be my first time in England.
We will be in London for 3 days and will travel for the rest of the days. First, we don't know know if to start in London or to visit London in the last 3 days.
We are wondering if it is a good idea to visit Scotland in this Season (still?) or it is a better idea to go to the south.

It will be helpful to get your advice.

Thanks,
Arye
 
England (UK) is a great place for tourists, it has much history and diversity within a relatively compact landmass, making it easy to cherry pick what interests you most.
London is a must do, if you start with the city, then see places like Cornwall, Bath, Norfolk, the Cotswolds, the Lake District and Yorkshire you will have a very full schedule.
You could then finish off back near London to see Windsor and Hampton Court, leaving you within easy reach of the airport for your return home.
 
Get a train to York and spend a couple of days, hire a car there and drive to Keswick, slowly come south through the Lake district and North Yorkshire.

It's starting to get dark early in October and Scotland is a long way away. It is also easy to get Scotland badly wrong without experience. If you must go, don't stop until you are north and west of Loch Lomand. Or just taste it by going to the isle of Arran which is easier to get to and hard to get wrong.
 
Go straight to Scotland, stunning country, lovely people. Start at Edinburgh, you won't go wrong.
 
In October you are going to have to be careful with the weather, It can be good, if cool and autumnal, or it can be foul with 8 wet days a week. The westof Scotland is extremely unpredictable in this regard. I'm a mountaineer, spent lots of time in Scotland, but I have spent a lot of hours in a car to do nothing that's worth doing, see nothing and get wet. I want to like the place but it has been resisting my efforts for 30 odd years now.

I think it's important not to try to do too much. As a first time visitor I think it comes down to "London-and". I'm no great fan of Lomdon but you can't spend 2 weeks in England as a first time visitor and not go. After that it's up to you - you can do the outdoors bit, in which case Scotland, Lake District, Wales, etc, bring a coat, you will get wet, or you can do other stuff based around theatres, culture, history. What do you like doing?
 
Depends upon both your interests. Bearing in mind that light levels are not brilliant then, from about 7 am+ to 6pm or so.

If for shopping (out of London), I recommend Norwich (<2 hours from L by train), which is also full of history (castle, church on every corner, mediaeval stuff, etc.). Biggest/best shopping in Eastern England. 60 miles from Cambridge, too, if you fancy seeing academia on your way back to Lndon(poor shopping, though).

If rugged country with pretty villages, Devon (Dartmoor) based on Exeter, or the Peak District based on Buxton. The Lake District based on Windermere= both high land and water. Maybe Yorkshire based on York, with its history and antiquity.

Some of these options make a car de rigeur, unfortunately.

Suggest you make a note of priorities, as 1.5 weeks outside of London really only equates to two venues unless you rush it.
 
You only need to spend a night in London, it's not much of a place, then head north to Edinburgh.

If you really want to see England, then do the New Forest, because you should still see the autumn leaves turning, then head west to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. Pretty countryside including three moors, the Eden project, great pubs and mostly friendly people, most of whom aren't local but are escapees from London if the truth be known.

You can do Salisbury, Stonehenge and Avebury on the way.
 
From several 2/3 week holidays touring countries our strategy is always to do the hectic busy trips at the beginning and end with the more leisurely but it will depend on your wants/needs.

So I would start with London while you have energy and enthusiasm as like all big cities there is loads to do and you will want to get round lots of things. Other cities to recommend are the university towns of Oxford or Cambridge (quite close to London) and then an old Roman city of which there are many but I recommend Chester if you are going up north or Bath if you are going south west. For quaint old English villages with tea shops and antique shops it is hard to beat the Cotswolds villages such as Castle Combe and Boughton on the Water.

It will not really be beach weather, also the UK is not an ideal beach location so for outdoor walking and scenery I recommend going to the Lake District.
 
If you do go to Edinburgh, on the way down from Scotland back into England, you might like to go to Manchester, which is near the Peak District too. It's an hour away from Chester too on the train, I used to live in Chester and it's a must if you want to see an idyllic English city.

Bath is a great shout, another stunning city. Lived there for a few years too. :)
 
Try and avoid London at the weekend. It is busy anytime but slightly less so. If you want to tour some of the main sites and take outside pictures it is worth using gather river taxi boats as you get a really good view. They have regular drop off points. Book the London eye with a priority pass as the queues can be very long. The West Country is lovely but miserable in the wind and rain and the same for many of the beauty spots. I would leave planning until as late as possible so that you can do so knowing the weather forecast. Not always accurate but usually fairly close.
 
I suppose where to go outside London is heavily dependent on mode of transport. If going by train everywhere then it'll be best to plan around the train network and ease of getting from one place to another. If hiring a car then you have ultimate flexibility, and the potential to enjoy our wonderful motorway queues.
 
Thank you all. Our interests are in nature and history. After our trip I'll report if England is the paradise as Shakespeare described in his play Henry the 5th (-: .

Arye
 
James Evans said:
I suppose where to go outside London is heavily dependent on mode of transport. If going by train everywhere then it'll be best to plan around the train network and ease of getting from one place to another. If hiring a car then you have ultimate flexibility, and the potential to enjoy our wonderful motorway queues.
Click to expand...

For motorway queues I can travel to Tel Aviv one hour from Haifa......

Arye
 
Large parts of English countryside are paradise if the sun is shining. There is more variety packed into a small island than you will imagine, but it does take longer to get around than you think. Americans compare England to a small part of a US State, but the terrain changes much quicker and the density of roads, cars and people will slow you down.

London is just another international city these days. But do go to one of the ticket outlet places and get a last minute ticket to one of the shows - they are stupidly well done and you will not regret the cost. One of the hop-on and hop-off bus tours is a perfect way for a tourist to get around the best sites and sights.

For Nature - get yourself to the Lake District. There is nothing remotely like it in the US, but you will likely need a car even if you do some light walking. Scotland is good too - but May or September is the time to be there.

For History get yourself to York for a couple of days, you WILL fall in love with it. Do the bus tour as orientation and then get out and walk, around the walls, through the centre, get into theYorvik museum and some ancient pubs and then have a proper afternoon tea at Bettys, you won't find that hard to find. Never mind the cost, you are on holiday.

Then perhaps go north for a few miles and get a ride on the N Yorks steam railway, through some truly lovely country.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top