UK in May and June

Old Aug 19th, 2017, 07:35 PM
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UK in May and June

Haven't posted here for a while, not since our trip to Eastern Europe in 2015. A lot of water under the bridge and lifestyle changes since then. Looking for help and advice for our trip next year to the UK, leaving OZ on 11 May and spending up to 6 weeks. The current plan is to use hire cars, trains and buses as appropriate. Following is our first draft itinerary.
Fly to Heathrow then Bath 3 nights
Narrow boat from Helperton 3 nights
Cornwall 3 nights
Abergavenny 2 nights
Swansea 1night
Snowdon 1 night
Conwy/Colwyn Bay/Bangor 2 nights
Ferry to Holyhead to Dublin
Dun Laoghaire, the plan is to do Dublin from here 2 nights
Waterford 1 night
Adare 3 nights
Galway 1 night
Londonderry 1 night
Belfast 2 nights
Ferry to Cairnryan
Glasgow 2 nights
Isle of Mull 2 nights
Isle of Skye 2 nights
Fort Augustus 3 nights
Perth or Stirling or Edinburgh 2 nights
Lakes District 2 nights
Cotswold,s 2 nights
Fly out from Heathrow

Having entered this info it looks a little unwieldy a number of 1 nighters.
However, it is a first draft and hopefully with some help we can bash it into shape.
Thanks from Bev and Glenn
PS There will be 4 of us
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Old Aug 19th, 2017, 08:42 PM
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>>Having entered this info it looks a little unwieldy think?? Totally unwieldy.

1 night nest you a few afternoon or evening hours in a place. 2 nights gets you a full day plus maybe a couple of extra hours.

Assuming you mean Hilperton - it is about a 5 hour drive to say Mousehole so you would have 2 full days plus a bit for Cornwall.

>>Snowdon 1 night
Conwy/Colwyn Bay/Bangor 2 nights>Isle of Mull 2 nights
Isle of Skye 2 nights
Fort Augustus 3 nights
Perth or Stirling or Edinburgh 2 nights
Lakes District 2 nights
Cotswold,s 2 nights
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 12:48 AM
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Your car hire could be juggle. There are a couple of companies that will let you cross islands GB/RoI but then you have 2 x car ferry fares to factor. depending on how the cost of 3 rentals and other factors fit the equation (like car hire being 28days a time, deposits, insurances etc etc) bit of heavy maths going on.

GB I will leave to others although I see what you are aiming for. Ireland or the Island of Ireland is a bit of a mash.

What are you aiming to see and do over here? Adare I like but not 3 nights at the expense of other locations. Why Waterford cutting there if its only for Waterford Crystal makes sense.
Galway to Derry is a big Jump.

If you could pinch 2 days from Scotland and hand them to Ireland it would make a difference. or consider the reverse of this 10 day plan I have been offering for many years https://drive.google.com/open?id=13p...L0&usp=sharing

Having a driver for the whole trip might be blowing the budget out of the water but there are some options Northern Ireland & Mull that could make sense. Drivers are typically £€ 400 a day.

You have a lot of things to consider 6 weeks might sound like a long time but you need to either prioritise on what is most important to you and your group or accept a lot of one nights and make it a full blown roadtrip.
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 04:07 AM
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I'd fly and pick up new cars rather than use the ferry.

What a lot of stops, is that really the holiday you like?

Ah Waterford a chance to see what the Finns are doing to the glass works.
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 11:56 AM
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Wow, thanks for the quick feedback. From previous tripping we know that 1 day is a bad idea. However, the first draft was the wish list. Now with help from our Fodor friends we will improve. I'm glad we have a fair bit of planning time. Thanks, Bev and Glenn
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 12:10 PM
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I love Cornwall, but it's not worth going that far just for three nights. (And it may not look far on the map, but it will be on the ground.)
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 12:17 PM
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Dear Bev and Glenn,

I live in Cornwall, and I have to agree that coming to Cornwall for only 3 nights [and long journeys either side, so that really does mean only 2 days] isn't sensible. If you cut out the 3 nights in Cornwall and add them to the Wales part of your trip, it begins to look quite a lot better.
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 12:44 PM
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Conwy, Colwyn Bay or Bangor - first two plus Lladudno are great but Bangor to me seemed like a ho-hum regional town with little to make one linger.

For a discussion of North Wales and Wales in general:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...pt-uk-trip.cfm
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Old Aug 20th, 2017, 01:42 PM
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Glenn and Bev, I've just recently returned to Aus from an eight week jaunt around the uk and Europe. My trip was different to yours in many ways but....the bits I didn't like were the couple of one and two night stops. I have travelled many times to Europe and do it differently each time. This time I was with friends in France and I was trying to "show them" as much as I could. We only had two one nights and one two nights, the rest were three. But even then I'd had enough of lugging the case up tiny steep steps at each B and B or apartment.( I don't really do hotels). I travel reasonably light but for eight weeks I still had 17 kilos which by the end was feeling very heavy!

I can't suggest strongly enough to cut out those short stays, truly you'll end up hating the constant on the move feel...
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Old Aug 21st, 2017, 05:06 AM
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Going by train and having to port all your luggage everywhere makes one-night stands much worse but if with a car and going to smaller places you probably can park at your hotel or B&B making it easier.
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Old Aug 26th, 2017, 05:07 PM
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Thank you all so much, I hope all contributors realise how much they improve the travel experience for those seeking help. Bev and I now have a 2nd draft itinerary.
Arrive Bath stay 3 nights
Hilperton 3 nights on narrow boat
Cornwall 3 nights
Abergavenny 2 nights
Conwy 3 nights
Ferry Holyhead to Dublin drop car Holyhead
Dublin 2 nights
Adare or Limerick 3 nights
Galway 1 or 2 nights
Londonderry 1 or 2 nights
Belfast 2 nights
Ferry Belfast to Cairnryan drop car Belfast
Glasgow 2 nights
Isle of Mull 2 nights
Isle of Skye 2 nights
Fort Augustus 3 nights
Edinburgh 2 nights
Lakes District 2 nights
Cotswolds 2 nights
London
Home- Sunshine Coast QLD Australia
Still looking at combo car/bus/train. Won't take car on Ferries
Some of the 3 night stays will be used as base to visit other places.
Okay - let us have it
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Old Aug 26th, 2017, 05:24 PM
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We spent 5 weeks in May & June in England and a tiny bit of Scotland. I think you are moving around way too much. Aside from the rush rush there is the issue of the weather. We had a fair amount of cloudy weather and rain and we were glad we had a few extra days in some places as it allowed us to have a chance of no rain.
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Old Aug 26th, 2017, 05:42 PM
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The most time you have anywhere is two days - three nights gets you two days. I agree with yestravel, too much travel, not enough being somewhere.

If all you can afford is four days for the Lake District and the Cotswolds, drop one or the other. Same with Glasgow and Edinburgh, Isles of Mull and Skye.
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Old Aug 26th, 2017, 07:07 PM
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Sorry -- back to the drawing board

Just look at this bit:

>><blue>Glasgow 2 nights
Isle of Mull 2 nights
Isle of Skye 2 nights
Fort Augustus 3 nights
Edinburgh 2 nights
Lakes District 2 nights
Cotswolds 2 nights </blue>
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Old Aug 26th, 2017, 07:09 PM
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in re-calibrating -- driving in the UK/Ireland is NOTHING like driving in Australia. Except on motorways (which are few and far between where you are traveling) count on averaging about 35MPH.
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Old Aug 26th, 2017, 07:24 PM
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Good point about the difference between driving in UK & Australia. We were in Australia a few months before being in the UK. The difference was night and day. Driving in the UK was much slower than Australia.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 02:04 AM
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Dear Glenn,

Your itinerary still strikes me as being extremely busy. So far as the Cornwall leg is concerned, I think that I said above that much though I like to encourage people to come to Cornwall, driving all this way just for 2 days [which is all you'll get with 2 nights with the amount of driving you'll have either side] is pretty pointless.

As you are not that far from Bristol at Hilperton, if for some reason you don't fancy spending you extra nights in Wales, you could stay in Bath or Bristol, which is a wonderful city sadly neglected by tourists. My recommendation would be the Avon Gorge Hotel in Bristol; you have the lovely mixture of countryside and city just on your doorstep, the green of Clifton to enjoy, and a car park where you can leave the car while you use public transport to explore the city centre.

http://theavongorgehotel.com

I don't think that you would run out of things to do or regret staying there.
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Old Sep 2nd, 2017, 09:24 PM
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Hi All, thanks again for your insights and advice. We have now drafted itinerary 3. I'm sure most of you will still think it is overly busy. But this may be our first and only trip to the UK and there are places we want to visit and things we want to see. Most of the places we are staying 3 nights we plan on visiting other towns. For example, while at Limerick we hope to see Cork, Blarney, Killarney and the Ring of Kerry. We shall not be taking a car to or from Ireland. But hire one when we get there. We shall not be hiring a car from London and at the end of our holiday we shall drop the car at the Cotswolds and train to London. Don't plan on having a car in Dublin or Belfast. Rather than stay in Dublin we are going to stay at Dun Laoghaire. Similarly for Belfast, thought we would stay at Bangor. Apparently these 2 smaller towns are only 20 minutes out and we like the idea of being in a village rather than a city. I know 'you' won't hesitate to let us know if the above ideas are bad ideas.
10 May - arrive Heathrow, train to Bath.
14 May board canal boat for 3 nights.
17 May drive to Cornwall , don,t know where we'll stay. annhig I know you don't think this a good idea but we all want to visit Cornwall. At least we've made it 3nights. Maybe we can meet up for a beer!
20 May Abergavenny 2 nights, will probably sing the song while we're here
22 May Conwy
25 May ferry Holyhead to Dublin
25 May Dun Laoghaire 3 nights
28 May Limerick (or maybe Adare) 3 nights
31 May Galway 1 night, just a stopover to break journey and quick look
1 June Derry
3 June Bangor
5 June Glasgow, again break journey and quick look
6 June Isle of Skye 3 nights
9 June Fort Augustus 3nights
12 June Edinburgh, plan to do early St Andrews tour, then lunch at Stirling
15 June Lakes District 3 nights
18June Cotswolds 2 nights
20 June Heathrow- home to Sunshine Coast for us and Sydney for our friends

26
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Old Sep 2nd, 2017, 09:51 PM
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I do not understand the logistics of your car hires in the UK.

It appears you are picking up a car at Bath, then dropping it at Holyhead. Then another car from Glasgow and dropping it in the Cotswolds? There is no place in the Cotswolds you can drop a one-way rental -- you would be much better off just keeping it and turning it in at Heathrow.

Note: There is no train from LHR to Bath - you would either have to head in to London and then back out to Bath - OR - take the express coach directly from LHR to central Bath (much the easiest option)

>>12 June Edinburgh, plan to do early St Andrews tour, then lunch at Stirling
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Old Sep 3rd, 2017, 01:28 AM
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17 May drive to Cornwall , don,t know where we'll stay. annhig I know you don't think this a good idea but we all want to visit Cornwall. At least we've made it 3nights. Maybe we can meet up for a beer!>>

OK I get it, you want to come to Cornwall. So be it.

What sort of place are you imagining when you think of Cornwall? small villages, tiny harbours? rugged coastline? Land's End?

I've got 4 suggestions for you, depending on what you have in mind -

1) Polperro - gorgeous fishing village, possibility of coast walks or visits to Plymouth if weather not good.

2) Fowey - lovely coastal town on estuary - boat trips and walks plus good food.

[both of these are about 3 ½ hours from Hilperton and Abergavenny]

3) Port Isaac - on north coast, setting for Doc Martin, very pretty village and lovely coastline with possibility of visits to Padstow, Tintagel, Bodmin Moor.

[only 3 hours from Hilperton and Abergavenny]

4) Penzance - Very interesting characterful town with lots of places to visit nearby including St Ives, Minack Theatre and Land's End. Excellent restaurants and pubs both in town and nearby.

[4 hours from Hilperton and Abergavenny; St Ives is the same distance more or less and gives access to same area so that is also a good option for the far South West]

The good news is that you will be here outside the school hols so the traffic should not be too bad and it should be easy to find nice places to stay.

Please let me know if you've got any queries about any of these places or any others you fancy.
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