Samo64

Hi All,
From the begining of March 2012 we are looking at doing a self drive around the UK for about 17 - 18 days, Having never been to the UK I am after some advice,
Is it better to base ourselves in certain cities for 3-4 days and look around or keep on the move like a Trafalga coach trip (we were going to use one of their itineraries as a guide),
Any help appreciated

janisj

I general . . . w/ a car you won't want to stay IN any cities. You won't be limited to cities since you can get anywhere by car, which is a good thing since driving in most cities can be quite a hassle. If your trip is mainly 'city-centric', public transport might be the easier option.

17 - 18 days is a nice amount of time -- but a LOT depends on how much territory you want to cover. It really isn't long enough to cover more than 2 or 3 regions in England and a bit of Scotland. Are you going to spend time in London? If so -- you definitely won't want a car there.

One night stands night after night get old fast. You end up spending a lot of time packing/checking out/checking in/unpacking. There are times one night makes sense . . . but one night in a place doesn't mean a full day there.

The UK is a biiiiig place -- what parts are you thinking of visiting??

janisj

Oh --just noticed you tagged this for the UK and Ireland. 17 days definitely is not long enough for extensive travel in England/Wales/Scotland AND Ireland.

Do either Ireland - or - a bit of the UK. Or something like 12-14 days in Ireland and a few days in London would be doable. Don't spread yourselves too thin . . .

Samo64

Hi janisj
I guess Ireland was an add on nice to do and not initially in our planning,
The size of the UK is not a problem living in Australia I do alot of travelling,I think the whole UK fits in South Australia, maybe the traffic may give me headaches.
we were looking at trying to see as much as possible in the time we have Bath and Chester look like they are a must and my wife needs to visit Dundee to see where her Mother was born

janisj

Sorry -- but traveling in the UK is <u>nothing</u> like in the wide open spaces of OZ, or the western USA. Considering that 35 mph on average will be making good time. No exaggeration at all.

OK - Bath, Chester and Dundee. If you also want to spend time in London and/or Edinburgh-- you have just about filled your 2.5 weeks.

eigasuki

Hi there Samo64

You might get a few ideas from my report where I did something similar.

http://tinyurl.com/7onadyz

janisj is right, driving in the UK is nothing like driving at home - it takes much longer to get anywhere unless on the congested motorways where you zoom along with trucks and petrol tankers going at 120km/h. Elsewhere roads are narrow and there's a roundabout every few kms it seems and you are always coming upon a village and slowing to 40km/h.

That said, lots of Aussies do the road trip around the UK and cover a lot of ground as they've come so far. It all depends on what you want to see and your traveling style. I try to mix up one nighters with longer stays. Some people advise a petal approach where each day you do a loop and return to a base - less packing and you know where you'll be sleeping that night. Having your luggage in the car is always a security concern for me, as is that "homeless" feeling you have between bases.

You'll have a fantastic trip I'm sure. First you need to decide which areas you want to concentrate on. I loved Yorkshire and Northumberland and that would be a good combination with Scotland - perhaps Edinburgh and Dundee. Assuming you're starting in London, I'd go Bath 2-3 nights, Chester, head across to Yorkshire - a few nights - into Scotland a few more nights. That's about 14 nights leaving time to add other destinations. Of course you can do open jaw - Emirates flies into several place in the UK.

indy_dad

Agree that you need to decide what you want to see and go from there. It's true that it's not open road driving, but I think 35 mph is overstating it for most point-to-point journeys.

We've been here 8 months and can give you an idea of some of the places. We really enjoyed the Bath area, North Wales, York, North Umberland and Edinburgh it addition to nice walks in the nearby Peak District. Not suggesting you do all of those, but here are some photos and descriptions that might help you decide.

North Wales
http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/2011/05/north-wales.html

Bath & Stonehenge
http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/2011/08/bath-stonehenge.html

Alnwick (North Umberland) & York
http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/2011/05/a...r-weekend.html

Edinburgh
http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/2011/07/edinburgh.html

Peak District Hikes
various, you'll have to poke around the blog

Ireland (for comparison -- looks like you have enough on your plate)
http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/2011/08/ireland.html

Happy Planning.

Maudie

Hi there,
Here's my trip report too, we spent about 3 weeks driving in the UK, once you get past our bit on Paris you'll be into the driving!
http://tinyurl.com/6oebvfr

Hope this gives you some ideas, good luck with your planning.

qwovadis

Several years ago I rented a car carrentals.com LON

did York up to Scotland Wales then Bath RT LON

had a wonderful time stayed in cheaper hotels on

the outskirts of the big cities...

If budget is good best to have a car...

Train is cheaper though did that last time if budget

challenged seat61.com

Have done tours in Europe long ago stale hotel food too many

early AM bus calls and stale hotel food/rooms for me.

Happy Decising!

qwovadis

www.affordabletours.com good site

for tours if you elect more structure

My best experience has been with Globus 40% off

more upscale than Trafalgar for my UK/Europe

whirlwind megabus tour but felt more like work

than a vacation. Getting up at 5:30 AM every day

for a long bus slog was the worst part...

I still enjoyed it and saw a lot though...

sheila

Hi, there. If you decide you want to come to Scotland, let us know your priorities and we'll see what we can advise.

janisj

IndyDad: "<i>but I think 35 mph is overstating it for most point-to-point journeys.</i>"

But how many visitors are on point-to-point, direct itineraries? Bath to Chester on the motorway is one thing. Bath to Chester via scenic bits of Wales or the Cotswolds is a <i>whole</i> 'nuther' thing. Apples and oranges.

DickieG

Here we go again.

I have just driven 160 miles in Scotland and England - average speed 82mph not 35mph.

Avoid peak times and large cities, we have an extremely logical motorway network with very straightforward entry/exits....unlike certain European countries I could mention which have just lost its philandering prime ministe

18 days enough to see whatever you wish in the UK with the correct planning.

What do you want to see?

janisj

Ah -- but Dickie -- you live there and know (usually) where you are headed.

And after you finally/grudgingly conceded my POV before changing screen names last month.

Samo64

Thanks all for your advice its been a great help,

qwovadis - We looked at the Guided tours but no one is running one on the dates we are there, they all seem to start towards the end of March,

DickieG - Anything of note really that you would fly halfway around the world to see, any ideas appreciated, not really into the arts but historical more so

tjhome1

What a fab trip it's going to be. Much depends though on what the places that you most want to see are and then seeing if you can fit them into a sensible route. As much of a fan of staying in a different place each night I am I think that a few nights in your top places is probably going to work best - 17 days of driving/traveling will be a bit relentless.

Let us know what your shortlist is. If it stays as London, Bath, Chester, Dundee then get the train to Bath and pick up the car there. You can get to Chester easily in a day including a couple of sights en route. Maybe overnight in the Lake District, Edinburgh or Glasgow en route to Dundee.

ElendilPickle

We spent 12 days in England and Wales based around historical and literary interests. If you click on my screen name, you can find my trip report by scrolling down.

Lee Ann

Samo64

sheila - yes we are going to Scotland

texasbookworm

I think reading some other trip reports of Fodorites who drove around the British Isle/s would be time well-spent. We're all going to have gone to a bit different sets of places, but you can see what worked and what didn't, etc.

janisj's and elendilpickle's reports would be great to look at. If you click on my screen name and scroll down to my trip reports you will see what we did, too. (Overview: One trip we had 2 weeks, stayed in London, took lots of day trips via trains and bus; this was GREAT! Another trip we had almost 2 weeks, spent some days in London, had about 9 to make a driving loop [didn't make it to Scotland]; this was also GREAT!)

I think planning on about 30 mph is much more what might really happen than any high estimate--for people not familiar with roads or the car, who might be stopping to see stuff along the way. If you use some on-line map service, like Google maps, to plot out some course, mulitply the estimate given by AT LEAST 1.5; I just doubled it and that left us with a little wriggle room.

We live in south Texas and just drove about 350 miles in about 5 hours--but that won't be the case AT ALL in Britain.

Such fun to plan! And just reconcile yourself now to this: You cannot, even in 18 days with a car, see all you will decide you really want to see! But you can plan a marvelous time. So keep planning! (I love London, Oxford, Bath, Chatsworth, Conwy/North Wales, Hadrian's Wall, York--and Winchester and Dover and Canterbury and Bodiam Castle to the south of London--oh my! Choices, choices!)

DickieG

eh up missus!

POV what's that then.

Texasbookworm

I think we are all getting confused (again).

If you want to do, you can drive 350 in 6 hours in Britain. You may be delayed by traffic jams but you can plan around these. Britain's road network is no different to that of any other developed country. I have spent hours in traffic jams all over the world.

There are some countries were the lack of a developed road network, parts of Ireland and Scotland spring to mind... where it is difficult to travel quickly.

It is this "stopping off to see stuff" which confuses matters. Your trip in Texas could have taken 3 days with the same approach same as my trip this weekend of 160 miles.

.....but there is nothing in Britain which prevents travel at an average of 70 miles an hour around much of the country at well planned times of the day.