stephpaige

Hello,

I'm planning at trip to England next year with my husband, daughter who will be 13 at the time and in-laws who are both in their mid 60s. MIL is disabled (she can walk but uses a walker/scooter/has a handicapped tag for the car).

My FIL has family in Wallasey, outside of Liverpool, Leicester and Winscombe, which is about an hour SW of Bristol. They would like to visit all three of those places for one day each to see family, and have time in London. I think this seems like a lot for 10 days but would love your input. It looks like a day trip to Liverpool is feasible, and so is a day trip to Leicester, by train. I saw there is a Friends & Family card, not sure if there are better senior/disability discounts for my in-laws. Winscombe seems harder to reach by train. My husband absolutely hated driving in Ireland because we did lots of backroads (narrow, hedges on either side, etc.) If the UK is less stressful for American drivers, then we could potentially rent a large car for all of us. Or, we'd be up for traveling via train as well.

Do you think it makes sense to base in London then day trip to each of the 3 destinations? Or, would you recommend something like London for a few days, then train/drive to Winscombe, then up to Leicester, then Liverpool and fly back to the US from Manchester? Those are the two options floating around my head right now. Of course, eliminating one of the side trips is also an alternative. Thanks!

hetismij2

The second one sounds like the best plan to me.
Winscombe is not far from Glastonbury and Wells, both worth a visit. It is only about 40 minutes from Bristol. The roads will be narrower than you are used to but nowhere near Irish roads.

janisj

Actually Winscombe wouldn't be a difficult day trip. Train to Bristol, change to train to Worle and then a 6 mile cab ride to the village. Total travel time from Paddington to Winscombe about 2.5 hours.

What I'd probably do is a day trip to Winscombe, a day trip to Leicester, and a 1 night (or even 2 nights) trip to Liverpool.

Wallasey Village is a very short train ride from Liverpool Lime Street so could be done as a day trip but would make for a really tiring day IMO when combined with two other long day trips.

stephpaige

Thank you both! It sounds like either option is "do-able" - base in London with day trips/overnight in Liverpool, or rent a car and road trip. I appreciate the details about Wallasey and Winscombe as well, as I've only ever been to London.

janisj

The only place a car would be helpful is in the SW / Winscombe. Wallasey Village is a close in suburb of Liverpool so no need for a car there. Did you want any time IN London? If so, a driving trip would eat up much of the time.

What you could do is a round robin train trip over one or two nights London > Leicester (just over an hour), spend the day there then in the early evening take a train to Liverpool (about 3 hours with a change at Sheffield) spend the next day exploring Wallasey Village/Liverpool and then an evening train back down to London.

annhig

What time of year are you hoping to do this trip, stephpaige? Have you asked your FIL's family what they think? I certainly don't see Liverpool as a day trip from London and IME the more people you have in tow, the harder organisation gets. Also you have a member of your party with reduced mobility so you need to factor in the extra time she - and therefore the rest of you - will need.

I like JJ's idea of a round trip to see the family in Leicester and Liverpool but this would involve taking some luggage with you so you might need to leave the rest with your hotel in London. Also it could make sense then to go from Liverpool/Wallasey to Bristol [perhaps your relatives could pick you up from the station or meet you there and spend the day with you in Bristol?] staying overnight before returning to London. Presumably you would want to have some time in London at the beginning and end of your trip so it would make sense to book the same hotel so as to give you somewhere to leave your main luggage.

But mainly I think that the family should be brought in on this discussion in case they have some other/better ideas.

stephpaige

Thanks all, my in-laws suggested going early next June - daughter's last day of school is 6/6 - but i'm going to bounce spring break past them since I think it would be more cost effective and perhaps less crowded, so that would be late March.

They definitely would like time in London, and I will absolutely ask them about their preferences train vs. drive. I could see something like a couple days in London, one day trip to Winscombe and back, another day in London, 2 days for the round robin trip Leicester/Liverpool, 2-3 days back in London then fly home. That gives us some breaks between trips and now that I think about it, we could do train for the north trip and rent a car for 1 day for Winscombe...it doesn't have to be all train or all car.

annhig

<<That gives us some breaks between trips and now that I think about it, we could do train for the north trip and rent a car for 1 day for Winscombe...it doesn't have to be all train or all car.>>

That's also a good idea, and on the way back you could call in at Stonehenge and/or Salisbury which is a lovely Cathedral town.

uktravelover

Janisj’s idea of a round trip is an option but it could be tiring without reasonable stopovers for your in-laws. I would spend 2 nights in Liverpool which then gives you plenty of time to see some of the sites. My late brother-in-law lived in Walllasey for some years, so I visited on several occasions. It is not the most attractive town however it is in The Wirral which has lovely countryside and hopefully your family could take you for a drive around and lunch in a country pub.
Regarding Winscombe, I would recommend meeting in Bath which is much easier to get around than Bristol and easy access from the station. It is well worth a day trip and will take you about 1 hour 15 minutes by train from London.
With regards to mobility on the trains, you can contact the train provider and they will make arrangements for assistance at each of the stations. You can find details of the various discount railcards on the National Rail website https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ticke...nal-railcards/

annhig

Ref the railcards, as well as the Family and friends card [cost £30, valid one year]

https://www.familyandfriends-railcar...436.1690901726

there is also a group saver which doesn't require purchase of a rail card. Check the limits of the scheme - it really only applies to off peak trains on Monday to Friday but it gives similar discounts to the Family card but without having to buy a railcard on top.

https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/...-train-tickets

stephpaige

Thank you all, so helpful. I really appreciate all the suggestions for interesting stops and alternate meeting points.