steve_Australia

Hello again fellow fodorites.

My wife and I are planning to tour the UK sometime mid-2017. We usually like to travel from late April or mid-May but given some comments from other posts, we are happy to move to July or later if the weather would be better.

I recently read a post from a fellow Aussie who planned an "extremely" ambitious itinerary and was very impressed with the helpful comments from a number of posters, most notably "janisj" and "annhig".

I would be grateful for similar help for a workable itinerary for our trip.

With regard to pace, we prefer to spend an extra night somewhere rather than not have enough time to enjoy where we are. For example, over the past four years we have made 3 trips to continental Europe - 8-weeks, 6-weeks and finally a 9-week trip that we completed in June this year.

Although an absolutely wonderful trip, we found that we were quite weary by the end of the 9 weeks. We would therefore like to complete this trip in 5 weeks (35 or so nights on the ground) if possible - but a few extra nights would be fine if needed.

Our rough itinerary:

1. Fly in and out of London
2. See London (all the major sites), the Harry Potter Park, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court etc
3. See the south of England: Bath, Stonehenge, St Ives, Portsmouth etc
4. Possibly see Wales - don't know much about "must sees"
5. Visit Stratford Upon Avon, Oxford, Cambridge, Cotswalds, York, Liverpool (Beatles tour) and anything else that are must-sees
6. Visit Scotland: Edinburgh, Stirling, St Andrews, Loch Ness, Isle of Skye, Glasgow (?), The best of the Highlands. Again, don't know enough about must-sees.
7. Visit best of Northern Ireland (Belfast, Giant's Causeway)
8. Visit best of Republic of Ireland
9. Head back to London from Dublin

I had originally planned to drive but on reading the other posts it seems that a lot can be done via train. With our other 3 trips we didn't use a car because the train was so easy, comfortable and affordable. I would appreciate comments about the best way to manage our trip with regard to transport.

Again with pace, we work on the theory that if you need 2 full days to visit a location, then book for 3 nights. We prefer to stay in at least some places for 5 nights or more just to get our wind and just spend a day people watching while having a coffee

Sorry that my request is so long-winded but I didn't know how to condense with so much to see and do. I look forward to your comments and suggestions and thank you in advance!

Kind regards,

Steve

janisj

Hi,

I can't post too much right now -- it is late where I am and its been a loooooong day. But just one very quick comment. 5 weeks sounds like a long time -- but it isn't for covering that much territory. Just a basic overview would require 1 week in London, a week for part of the south coast, a week for the Cotswolds/Bath/Oxford/Stratford area, and 10 days to 2 weeks in Scotland.

You would have some wiggle room w/ that - maybe 5 days for the Cotswolds/Bath/Oxford/Stratford, 3 or 4 days in North Wales and a week for Edinburgh and a teensy bit of Scotland.

But its definitely not enough time to include Ireland/northern Ireland. In fact you'd need two full weeks just for a lightning tour of Ireland/NI/Dublin.

So I would cut my expectations way back and think in terms of London, the south coast, Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds, and Scotland.

steve_Australia

Hi janisj,

Thanks for the prompt response. Sorry, I thought you were living in the UK so it would be early there rather than late

Hmmm - I was afraid you might say that it wasn't enough time. This is precisely why our previous trips have ballooned out to 8 or 9 weeks in the past - both started out as 5-week trips, ha ha.

The problem for me is that I have seen a lot of UK in my youth (I was on a working holiday for 18 months when I was 21 - spent a lot of time in Luton working at Vauxhall Motors - but didn't get to see Ireland (N or S) during all that time! I was really hoping to get there this trip.

I am guessing I have only three options:

1. Extend the trip and see it all
2. Forego Scotland or a lot of other places
3. Once again, defer Ireland for another time

It's a tough one. I'll need to speak with my wife and see what we come up with.

Thanks again and hope tomorrow is an easier day for you!

Regards,

Steve

thursdaysd

I agree with janisj, and you have indeed figured out your options, although if Ireland is a priority you could skip Scotland instead. Can't help with the decision, I tend to plan long trips and then start dragging towards the end.

I spent a month in the UK this year, traveling almost entirely by train and bus - the cross country train situation is much better than when I lived in the UK. You can click on my name for the TR, although I didn't cover many of the places you list.

(My elder sister's husband also worked at Vauxhaul, at various locations including Luton.)

annhig

Hi steve,

you've set the bar high, but I'll try to be as helpful as i was to the last enquirer!

I have to agree with JJ and Thursdaysd that you are being overambitious with the amount of the UK that you can see in 5 weeks, so either you need to plan a longer trip or to cut down your destinations.

IMO in 5 weeks you can see 3- 4 places really well with some shorter stops in between.

So [not necessarily in this exact order] a week in London - 3-4 nights en route to the West Country - a week in Devon/Cornwall - 3-4 nights in the Cotswolds - 3-4 nights in Manchester/York - a week in Scotland - and you're done.

janisj

annhig's general plan is good. Does cut Scotland pretty short . . . but then you have just TONS of options. Just not TONS of time

annhig

JJ - I think that they might have more time, but are reluctant to be away from home for too long.

I know that feeling - we did a 5 ½ week trip to Aus and NV and even though we had some quite long stays in some places, by the end we were beginning to flag.

historytraveler

Agree with the other posters but would add that I think late April/ May or even into early June would be best. July/August gets very crowded and besides weather is always unpredictable.

janisj

Oh -- I know -- I was just dealing w/ the 5 weeks criteria.

IMO it is better to take a 4 or 5 week trip and then another 3 or 4 or 5 week trip in the future than an enormously long trip trying to squeeze in everything in one bite.

I have taken as long as a 6.5 week trip to the UK (not counting when I lived there and went somewhere just about every weekend). It was all by car except London. 2.5 weeks in a loop from Edinburgh up around some parts of Scotland and down through the Borders, Hadrian's Wall, a week in North Yorkshire, a week staying in the northern Cotswolds as a base for Warwick/Stratford/Oxford/etc, a couple of days in Bath and a week in London.

It was great but very tiring by the end -- I now take more frequent but shorter trips. I know traveling all the way from OZ you want to squeeze in as much as possible - but I travel from the US west coast -- not as long as from Australia but pretty far

PalenQ

I would appreciate comments about the best way to manage our trip with regard to transport.>

Trains are great and go everywhere all the time - for info on UK trains check: www.nationalrail.co.uk; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

If doing all that by train be sure to check out BritRail Passes.

bilboburgler

June is the best time, before the kids holidays start so limit yourself up to say 10 July.

Times as JJ (janisj a new name?) and ann say.

Certainly one of the hotspots is the whole Oxford/Salisbury/Stonehenge/Cotswald/Bath zone. As well as the cities there is some fine walking with ancient barrows along the way. You will know that the UK has thousands of miles of public footpaths that seem to go everywhere, try and link up with some of them.

You mention North Yorkshire (which is splendid) but look to incorporate some of West Yorkshire as well. Apart from the (now long gone) dark satanic mills, there are some world class art galleries and ancient abbeys. Bolton Abbey (no where near Bolton) is an especially fine example

steve_Australia

Thank you all for your helpful responses. Reading through them all the Penny finally dropped - I realized that I was seeing UK/Ireland as a single trip.

Earlier this year we did the same for Spain/Portugal (it made sense to see the Iberian Peninsula as a single trip), although we did spend close to 6 weeks doing that. Also we plan to see Scandinavia as a single trip - but clearly UK/Ireland should be visited over two trips.

And yes, janisj, the reason for our long trips in the past is definitely due to the long haul flight from Australia. We like to get over there and then stay as long as we are able. The recent 9 week trip was quite tiring though as I mentioned. Could you suggest perhaps a reasonable itinerary for two trips?

Also, I would like suggestions for some base locations. For example: <a week staying in the northern Cotswolds as a base for Warwick/Stratford/Oxford/etc>

Where did you stay in the northern Cotswolds?

And thank you PalenQ, we have been very happy with trains during our previous trips - and we are just about on a first name basis with "the man in seat61".

Thanks again for setting me straight and I look forward to more helpful suggestions and advice.

Regards,

Steve

janisj

I'm sitting in an arena (before an NBA game) so my wifi is iffy. So I'll post more when I get home - but I think a 5 or 6 week trip for England and Scotland plus maybe a bit of Wales . . . Then a separate say 3 week trip for Ireland / Northern Ireland would be very nice.

Southam

April-May and September-October are comfortable months for touring Britain and Ireland. Especially in London the line-ups for major attractions may be less daunting too.

Your flexibility seems to make you an ideal candidate for a multi-city plane ticket. You can fly into (or home from) London while using another city such as Manchester, Glasgow or Dublin as the other gateway. A multi-destination search function will show possibilities. You save the time and the costs of backtracking.

Intercontinental airlines connecting Australia and the UK may offer intermediate stop-overs in such places as the Emirates or Qatar. A couple of easy days on one of these schemes will provide contrast and are certainly better done in spring or fall rather than the long hot summer.

PalenQ

IME of having many BritRail Passes going first class though much more than 2nd class is invaluable at least to me - always just show up and get seats-long-distance trains you often get lots of food and drink the whole way and the difference between the classes is a whole lot more IME than on the Continent. If over 60 I think there is a discounted first-class pass.

dwdvagamundo

bookmarking. Thanks everyone for the suggestions

thursdaysd

If you are over 60 you can buy a Senior Rail Card for 30 GBP that gets you reduced fares on all trains in all classes. I bought one last year after doing the arithmetic to establish that it would save me more than 30 GBP, I haven't bothered previously. I have never ridden in first class on a UK train, and rarely anywhere else. All the carriages arrive at the same time.

annhig

All the carriages arrive at the same time.>>

lol, thursdaysd - good point though I used to travel First class to work sometimes - there used to be a fantastic first class fare from my local station to Plymouth of only £7.50, which included free coffee and cake AND a newspaper with free wifi connection too. They were almost paying me to travel!

Thanks for mentioning the OAP railcard [oops, I mean over 60 railcard, I'm certainly not an OAP - perish the thought!] - I ought to go and get one. I'll buy one next time i use the train.

PalenQ

All the carriages arrive at the same time.>

First class carriages are at the front of the train so folks get to the station itself a bit quicker - a few milliseconds.

annhigh -your take on the difference between first and second class - it does vary on various franchises.

historytraveler

First class carriages are not always at the front of the train. Believe me. I often travel first class when it's available. Not all routes even offer it. I do not travel first class for the food which is almost always disappointing. The carriages are a bit quieter, and I usually have the option of booking a single seat. You can save by buying advance fares, but it'll still cost more than second class. A senior rail card or family rail card can get one reduced fares, but you need to do the math. I've traveled second class too, and it's perfectly fine.