Traveling to England
polycounter lvl 18
My wife and I are thinking about flying over to england for a week or so in may next year. Were thinking of visiting the Cardiff area (for doctor who, yeah were all kinds of nerdy) and were wondering what other places and things we should see. Not just in Cardiff but anywhere in england thats easy to get to by train, taxi, and by foot. Any events that we should know about, places to go to, and not to go to. Good places to stay would be great to know too.
We were originally planning on going over in late October this year but seemed like the cold might put a damper on the fun we could have. Good idea bad idea?
So now were in the planning stages for what to see and where to stay while were there.
Lets have it!
We were originally planning on going over in late October this year but seemed like the cold might put a damper on the fun we could have. Good idea bad idea?
So now were in the planning stages for what to see and where to stay while were there.
Lets have it!
Replies
styled after popular travel guides, wikitravel is a very good place to start for a high-level overview of any country you plan to visit. i used it many times while traveling around the world.
there are enough UK pcounters to give you more particular recommendations; sadly i cut my trip short before making it to england.
Were thinking of visiting the Cardiff area
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You've just mortally offended any Welsh pc'ers since Cardiff isn't actually in England at all and is in fact the capital of Wales
As for England, it's really entirely subjective what touristy stuff is up your alley and what isn't.
Some of my personal faves in terms of stunning scenery would be the Lake District, and other parts of Cumbria and Northumberland where you can walk along the remnants of Hadrians Wall, and the new forest down south. But seeing as you'll be in Cardiff, it would be a reasonably short jaunt across the Severn to visit historic Bath (there be Roman stuff 'ere), or maybe the Cotswolds (very quaint ye olde worlde feel). It really depends on how much travelling you want to do to from your base, since you should really do a London trip too.
Step 2: Rent a very fast car.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: FUN
Depends on what you're planning to do of course. There's plenty to do and see in cities as well, I just think you get a nicer feeling of the UK if you steer clear of the big cities
october is just getting in to the damp rainy weather , but sometimes the nice weather holds out until then.
On the north yorkshire moors (think american werewolf in london) between pickering and whitby (think dracula), there's a particular road that pulls off the main route and heads down into the valley towards goathland (think heartbeat, a horrible cosy sunday evening retro drama thing). Swerving to avoid sheep (you have to pay if you hit one), you arrive at he valley floor and wind past thatched houses with smoke rising fro chimneys, and the steam trains at the station, into the village. The village isn't anything, its just full of heartbeat fans taking photos of nothing, so ignore that and just park up. Then head out on foot down an ace tree lined walk along the valley towards Beck Hole, which is nothing more than a couple of houses, a gorge with a waterfall and train line that the steam trains thunder along, and one of the best pubs in the north - its just two tiny rooms, all flagstones and fire and dogs lying down, seperated by a shop which doubles as the bar, serving brilliant beer and pork pies to hatches on either side while also serving kids their sweets and postcards.
Ticks all the boxes
And agree with MoP about big cities (especially London! <:P Ruz>).
I say that as almost everyone I speak to (from the UK) hates London, myself included when I was last there too. Also doesn't give a good impression of the UK I think. As MoP said you'd get a much better feel of the country and enjoy yourself more I reckon in places previously suggested.
What would looking up some "independent research" entail?
You've just mortally offended any Welsh pc'ers since Cardiff isn't actually in England at all and is in fact the capital of Wales
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It was a little offensive the other way to, really.
That said most Americans being able to actually point to the UK on a map (atleast a few years ago) and get it correct was a small achievement in itself.
I'd recommend if you're looking for Sights, Cambridge (although very driver unfriendly) has some beautiful architecture.
Close to Wales, you have Bath, Lemington-Spar, Coventry (avoid Birmingham unless you fancy being mugged while in the middle of a traffic jam :P) the Lake District is also quite nice.
Just depends on what you want to see. I mean the beauty of the UK is cause of our size, you can get pretty much anywhere in under 6-7hours driving.. there's also 4 distinct cultures (Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh)
London has a nice tourist side to it, but if you do visit I'd recommend getting the Arriva Trains from Cardiff as it's £20 return, a 1.5hr trip and drops you off at Victoria pretty much in the middle of the tourist shopping area, and the Wharf.
Driving in/out of London just frankly isn't recommend... EVER. Good days you're looking at only 25minutes to get in/out, plus the congestion charge which is getting silly money now that often tourists don't know about let alone know how to actually pay it.
Plus good luck finding parking. hehe
Not putting you off going, just recommending public transport and walking.
Unless you're really into the study of concrete and birdshit, there really is nothing in coventry. The luftwaffe saw to that. Nothing much to leamington either, but warwick is next door and that has a whacking great castle that's worth a visit. Stratford upon avon is nearby too and really popular for some reason (the shakespeare attraction), there's not a great deal to actually do, but again its worth a visit. Just don't move to live there, you'll spend the next 10 years trying to get out
Pretty much what we want to do is;
Check out lots for doctor who stuff.
Take lots of pictures.
See some castles, and Hadrians Wall.
Were really not into museums, so not that.
Thanks for the ideas so far!
Ah, so the UK? One week? Two? Skip Northern Ireland, it's rubbish. I can send you photo, you can look at it while standing under a cold shower wearing clothes that 20 years out of date.
(Actually the North East coast of Norn Irn is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. When it's not raining.)
Travel - the trains are REALLY expensive unless you book in advance, booking well in advance makes them pretty cheap. I'd recommend flying at times though, Easy Jet is no frills, but you can get single fares from London to Edinburgh for 20 quid.
Car hire is a must for most places unless you want to wander around cities.
I can do the Scotland end of the recommendations.
If you head to North East England up Northumbria way like young Mop suggested, then Alnwick castle and Bamburgh castle and all the beaches around Seahouses is worth seeing. Head eastwards up into Scotland for Edinburgh (there is a castle there too), then north to the big country.
Skip the east coast of Scotland pretty much anywhere north of Edinburgh and south of Aberdeen. Instead you'd be better to cut westwards across in the direction of Fort William (a shit place on it's own), pretty much the gateway to the highlands. That'll give you dozens of castles and lochs, Loch Ness having Urquhart castle, plus the Munroes. It's worth taking the ski lift up Aonach Mor (http://www.nevisrange.co.uk/summer/index.asp) even during the summer.
Heading up the west coast of Scotland is highly recommended, with the Gulf stream there are palm trees. And white sandy beaches. It's just like Miami without the alligators and drug wars.
Flickr is down, but I have a few images of the beaches and mountains.
The Tor is magical!
I'll cut in on ricks northumberland recommendations - between alnwick and bamburgh castles is dunstanburgh castle, my favourite. Not so much for the ruin itself although its still good, more for the fact you can't drive to it - you have to park in the village a couple of miles south, and walk up the coast to it. Its a great sight, but gets overlooked in favour of the more famous ones
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You can't go wrong with pretty much any of Northumberland's castles and ruins (we have plenty, some of them over 1000 years old). The castles/abbeys range from just a few ancient stones covered in grass, to castles people actually live in but are often open to the public and have antiques/armour/art collections on display.
Dunstanburgh is really good, it's been a while since I've been there but there was a pretty decent pub in Craster (the village Dan mentions) if I remember right.
Alnwick castle has become a bit more of a touristy place since it was featured as a set location for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter movies, but it's a very nice place and they have some interesting gardens and a sort of treehouse restaurant.
If you're going around those parts though it's probably worth packing a waterproof jacket since it's often raining...
So far this has been great information!
I also wanted to add to my list seeing a few polycounters that are near our destinations.
Armor displays are always cool to see as well.
Stonehenge is a must as well. (Even more so sense we have a full scale fake one in the middle of Washington. Can you say tacky?)
Trains are really expensive? Hmmm then I'll have to look into that. I was really planning on using trains to get around from town to town.
For a place like Stonehenge thats in the middle of nowhere how would we get there?
trains are really expensive but if you book well in advance it helps a lot
edit: there's always the megabus
edit again: this should give you an idea of train costs: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
There are often special holidaymaking "rail card" passes you can buy, often they're discounted for families and usually bundle in reduced/free entry to various attractions at whatever place you're heading too, might be worth researching them.
You've just mortally offended any Welsh pc'ers since Cardiff isn't actually in England at all and is in fact the capital of Wales
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I am indeed mortally offended. I'll let you off though - I have to correct the guys at work about once every three days on average - and some of them know damn well I'm not English.
Some of the following stuff may not be to your taste, so ignore anything you think sounds uninteresting (natch)
So, Cardiff eh? Do the Castle while you're there - it's not a rundown affair, and is kept in excellent condition with regular tours. Been a long time since I visited it sadly.
A few miles outside Cardiff (West along the M4) you'll find Castell Coch ("Red Castle"), which has popped up in numerous TV shows and films . It's a fairly modern castle (1880's), built on the ruins of an original medieval one. Check out the Wikipedia article for more info
Carrying on West along the M4 can lead to all sorts of wonderful places - but it's abit out of the way for a whirlwind tour (plus you'd end up in Swansea, my home town, and Port Talbot - you'll likely want to avoid that). If you do head in that general direction though, take time to split off and go North to the Brecon Beacons. Not only are they beatuifull, and packed with many small little towns, but they're also where the beginning of American Werewolf in London was filmed (standing in for the Yorkshire Dales - they look fairly alike until you've seen both), and the SAS do a chunk of their training there - not that you'll see them
Most of rural Wales is basically disgustingly pretty countryside (if the weather's good), so even if you can't make the Beacons just head north from Cardiff for half an hour and you'll see some great stuff.
As far as England goes I can't comment on a lot of it, since it's bigger than you'd think and I haven't been everywhere. Yorkshire is a great place for visit though (as is York itself), as is London. London's a dump to stay in for long - but it really is quite unlike anywhere else in the UK, or the world for that matter, and short stays are pretty awesome if insanely expensive.
Places to avoid: Bradford (unless you're visiting Leeds anyway), Manchester, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Sheffield, Liverpool (unless you're a Beatles fan), Kingston Upon Hull, Swansea/Port Talbot (I like it, but I grew up there) and Anywhere known solely for it's costal location (such as Weston Super Mare, or Brighton) unless the weather's good.
I can't think of anything else (sadly I've never been to Scotland, and my brief trip to Ireland was marred by the 12 pints I drank on the way there - I plan to rectify this before I die, but for now, there yah go).
Oh, and try a Full Cooked English Breakfast for me while you're there - not one from a hotel or buffet though they always suck arse (TNSLB says don't eat the sausage either).
Oh, and about the train - we always get a rental car now, even despite the insane cost of petrol (gas) - mostly because unless you plan *very carefully the trains work out even more expensive, limit your freedom, and mean you don't stumble upon amazing views or fabulous pokey villages by mistake. But that's just us. A lot of the place slisted above are reachable by train.
soul, i lived in AZ for almost 3 years so i could go for some extra rain after living there.
harl, great ideas, but i'm not sure me or my wife would want to be driving over there. I hate driving already so driving on the other side of the road would really suck for me.
flaagan, whats wrong with drinking bath water, its not like its shower water.
rooster, if i'm in your area i would love to grab a drink with you.
mop, I think i'll have to look into getting a rail card if were going to be using the trains as much as i think we will be. Too bad there isn't a rail pass for like one weeks travels.
I do think its settled that were going over there in may next year now. I would rather have warm May showers than cold ones in October.
However due to the age of the city it does have some amazing arctechture and history,worth a visit if your going from cardiff to London and can stop off.
Im gonna start my own traval thread now
Cheers
John
So i am coming over to the UK! Good god flying over to the UK is fucking expensive! I'll be flying over for the first week of June. I'm really looking forward to being over there.
I need to look over this info again...
So railcards will pay for themselves in two trips it seems so i guess i'll get one of those. Would it be a good idea to get a travelcard for getting around in London or just pay as we go?
The plan is currently to spend a few days in London and a few in Cardiff then back to London before heading back.
BTW whats with the CO2 numbers on things?
1. Imperial War Museum,lots of really cool war artifacts and displays. If you love world war 2 stuff its the place to go and they let you take pictures inside which i found brilliant.
2. Tower of London,tons of history,overlooks the tower bridge and houses the crown jewels as well as having a huge collection of medieval weapons,armor and other interesting things
3. Pubs,go to the pubs,try all the different types of Ales!! I lived on Ale while on London as well as pub food. Its cheap and really good in alot of places. I loved the cumberland sausages the best.
4. London Eye,Parliment(aka Big Ben) and wesminster abbey. London eye is great for pics of London from real high above,Parliment is just an mazing looking building and Wesminster abbey has to be one of the most impressive structures i have seen in my life.
And if you look there are a few Americans honored inside of Wesminster abbey,was surprised by this myself.
5. For shopping check out Covent Garden.
6. For art Tate modern is pretty good
7. History in general , British national musuem is ace.
8. Tower Bridge
9. Trafalgar Square has alot to do in the Area
10. Harrods for more shopping
This is my photostream on flickr when i went to London.It had pics of alot of the places i went to.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7675643@N03/sets/72157607823749264/
I went to London for a week,had a brilliant time and met up and got pissed with a few polycounters too.
Cheers
Javier
So great news! I'll be in the UK now for almost two weeks! This means that i will get to go up north, how far i'm not sure... but i'm thinking maybe as far as Edinburgh.
edit. East. I'm a spastic today.
Also, hello Polycount, I will be posting work later this evening after work.
you can jsut top them up at any newsagents or tube station.
really cheap - use them on the bus as well.
schmung,
For the most part Cardiff sites will be the Dr. who museum , and other various sites, but the more ideas the better. No idea how long the sites we want to see will take us.
Rick,
Northumbria, sounds like a must see.
Found this helpful as well..