2-week trip to Britain, Yanks need advice
 

Is it possible to cover the island in a 2-week trip. We have been to London before, so we would not need to spend more than a day or two there. The problem is that we want to see it all, but I don't want to spend all my time driving from place to place without living the experience. As of now our ambitious itinerary includes Bath, Shakespeare Country, North Wales, Lake District, Edinburgh, and Highlands. Any way to work all that into 2-weeks (keeping in mind that we may not be back for many years to come).

Advice to Americans visiting UK:<BR><BR>1. Talk loudly about how everything is bigger/better in US.<BR>2. Wear shorts and white tennis shoes.<BR>3. Invent new names for parts of the country like, "Shakespeare country."<BR>4. Treat every small village/town as if it was put there for your viewing like some disneyland attraction.<BR>5.Wear Baseball cap.<BR>6.Try and see as much of the country as possible by following a ridiculous itinerary rather than actually getting to know a place or people.<BR>7. Tick places off a big list without getting to know them.<BR>8. Expect England to be all tea, Royal family, cockney slang and buttered muffins.<BR>9. Drive terribly.<BR>10. Generally get in the way, annoy and interfere with people trying to live their lives in peace.

In my opinion, you would "see" more and be less stressed if you did either the first three or the last three destinations or areas. You could easily spend 3 days to a week in each of North Wales, the Lake District, Edinburgh, and the Highlands. Bath doesn't need more than a day (could be a day trip by train from London), and Stratford could be missed entirely imo. But some people thrive on a packed trip! What time of year are you planning on visiting?

hmm, now that someone brought it up...what &lt;i&gt;should&lt;/i&gt; you wear in britain so that you don't look like a tourist. i'm told people are now wearing attire from retailers as far-fetched as abercrombie now! is this true? no one wants to look like a tourist - what's the best way to accomplish this master task??

Very helpful Mr "advice". What's wrong with wearing shorts? I've seen plenty of British people wear shorts. What's wrong with wearing hats? I've seen plenty of people from lots of places wear hats. If you have some legitimate advice, such as "I think your proposed itinerary might be too ambitious", then offer it. If you just want to make yourself and your countrymen look like jerks, then don't waste people's time with your posts. <BR><BR>

Thanks, Ruth. We'd be visiting in September. Personally, I could do without Stratford, but I don't think I can convince my girlfriend to leave it out. Contrary to that other guy's opinion, we are interested in getting to know places and people.

Hmmmm- How to not look like a tourist in Great Britain. Well from what I have seen of the British here in the U.S. you would have to wear really bright neon everything. (Such a compliment to a pastey complexion of posters like advice([email protected])

Yes - you can "cover" it all in 2 weeks. But it is a terrible idea. Many Americans see how small the British Isles are and think they can see/do it all. Well you can do 10 Eurpoean capitals in twelve days - but should you? No.<BR><BR>If you have been to London before consider dropping it entirely. London is one of my fvorite places on earth - but "a day or two" there is not really worth the expense/trouble.<BR><BR>So flip a coin - do you want to see SOME of southern England and Wales, or SOME of the Lake District and Scotland.<BR><BR>Then two weeks is reasonable.<BR><BR>A wonderful itinerary flying into Edinburgh or Glasgow and out of Manchester would get you to Edinburgh, some of the Highlands, Hadrians Wall, the Lake District and maybe a day or two in N. Wales.<BR><BR>Or you could fly into LHR, pick up your rental car and head west. See Avebury, Stonehenge, Bath, 4 to 6 days in Wales, Warwick, Stratford (it is only "touristy" if you go into the gift shops - the RSC theatre ans Shakespeare's grave in St Mary's Church alone are worth the visit), the Cotswolds, Windsor - and maybe the last night in London.

Fair enough Janis, thanks for the suggestions. Your point about trying to do too much is well taken. That's why I asked the question in the first place. Your suggestion about starting in Edinburgh has got me thinking . . .

Consider:<BR> Open-jaw tickets<BR> Using a combination of car rental for the more rural areas and trains between the major cities. We found this to be a nice mix.<BR> I cannot recommend North Wales enough.

Jim<BR><BR>I agree with the Jan-ster. You could do this trip however it would give you only a fleeting glimpse of what the remainder of Britain is like and, as you feared, you'd spend a considerable amount of timebehind the wheel of a car.<BR><BR>Choose a general part of Britain: The south (not london), Scotland and the North, etc.. The rest will still be here next tim you visit. <BR><BR>Tony

Thanks for all your help. Personally, I would really love to experience Scotland and North Wales more than the other areas (no offense to anyone from England!). If I could fashion a two week itinerary with these areas I would be very happy. Janis' proposal sounds pretty good.

Thanks for your help. Based in part on your suggestions, we have reworked our plan. We will now be spending 1-week in Scotland, 4 days in North Wales, and the remaining 3 days visiting Bath, Stratford and Stonehenge. Does this sound better?

Your itinerary looks much improved! Some words of warning if you are planning to drive anywhere near the coast in North Wales<BR><BR>1. Practice driving on the narrowest roads you can find. I mean really narrow. The Welsh had to hack most of their roads out of solid stone and they didn't muck about making them nice and wide. Also, they used the left-over stone to make nice 6-foot stone walls on either side. <BR><BR>2. Don't worry about driving fast along the above roads - there will be between 1 and 50 cars towing caravans in front of you. 2 mile crocodile anyone?<BR><BR>3. Avoid travelling on Fridays, they are the worst for the caravans.<BR><BR>4. Pack patience, and be really, really realistic about how far you can get in one day.<BR><BR>Off the coast, the roads are fine.<BR>Have a great holiday.

Jim: Your new plan is much better.<BR><BR>A week in Scotland (as long as you don't try to see ALL of it but concentrate on Edinburgh and one or two other areas) 3 or 4 days in N Wales and then a route south to the other places is very doable.<BR><BR>From N Wales to Stratford is a reasonable drive. Be sure to also visit Warwick which is only 7 miles from Stratford. The castle, town and St Marys's church are really wonderful. In fact, most people spend more time at Warwick Castle than at all of the Shakespeare properties combined. If you overnight near there you can go to the RSC in the evening.<BR><BR>Then a leisurly drive down through the Cotswolds to Bath - if you stop along the way in a few villages it will take a full day. <BR><BR>Then a day in Bath and on to Stonehenge before driving to either LHR or LGW.<BR><BR>That could be done in 3 days but 4 might be easier. Think about 3 full days in N Wales and 4 for the route south. <BR><BR>But either way it is a nice itinerary.

Thanks. I guess I should have mentioned that we were planning to start in the south, and finish in Scotland. Any advantage to doing it the other way around?

Not really - just do it in reverse. I may have missed it - when are you going? The only (minor) advantage to doing it north to south is if you are going in the Fall since the earlier you are in the north the more likely you'll have nice weather.<BR><BR>The reverse goes for early Spring - south to north makes slightly more sense because the later you get to Scotland the better.<BR><BR>But we are only talking about two weeks here so it really doesn't make much difference.

Jim - I don't know Great Britain well enough to really comment on your itinerary (well, OK, one little comment, if you can fit in York, do it! Well, OK, just another comment - we loved Stratford Upon Avon, the Cotwolds, Warwick, and Bath. If I cut anything it would be Stonhenge - just not my area of interest)<BR><BR>Another comment - many threads on this forum have been devoted to the best way to connect between Edinburgh and London Heathrow and the consensus seems to be train - this could be useful to your planning if you find you cannot do an open jaw ticket in London/out Edinburgh but rather have to fly roundtrip to London.<BR><BR>Last, I think you can safely ignore the unfriendly poster above. I have found the people in the UK to be wonderfully friendly to Yanks and feel the treatment should be returned in kind. I don't think, ultimately, "looking" like an American tourist is the issue. Most important, is how you behave not how you look. I find that I go to see the "sights" but in the end, it's my people-encounters that make for the fondest memories. Go, have fun, and represent us well (I'm jeolous!)

Thanks. We are planning to go the first two weeks in September. Incidentally, do you think we are already late when it comes to making reservations for that time?

No, but I'd consider making reservations ASAP for your main arrival city and for your last stop as well as (if you plan to overnight) in Stratford Upon Avon.

Jim: The crowds - especially in most parts of Scotland and Wales are much less in September. You will need to book early for Edinburgh (that is true year round). You also might want book ahead if you stay IN Bath. But for the rest of your trip you don't really have to book anything ahead of time. Most of Scotland and N Wales has more accomodations than visitors that time of year.<BR><BR>This will give you more flexibility to change your plans as you travel. And you won't need to spend a lot of time searching for rooms. Simply go into the tourist information center in any town, tell them where you are travelling to and your price range. Then while you are sightseeing, they will call ahead to the TIC in that area and get you a B&B. This is a terrific service that only costs &pound;2.50 in most TICs. Stop back to the TIC and they will have the reservation and directions to the B&B. Couldn't be simpler.<BR><BR>

If you like relatively wild areas, drive through Northumberland. It's lovely. Go up through the borders into Scotland that route.<BR><BR>Doug

We just found out that if we start our trip in England, and then go to Scotland, we will be in Stratford on Sep. 2. There are no performances at the Royal Shakespeare on that date (or the day after). If we reverse our trip, however, and start in Scotland and work our way down, we will be in Stratford on Sep. 11. The Tempest is playing at the Royal Shakespeare on that date and there are tickets available. Would it be worth it to alter our itinerary so that we could see a performance at the theatre in Stratford? We have no reservations or plane tix yet. It would just be a matter of starting North and going South, instead of vice versa, but I'm not sure whether seeing a performance in Stratford is something that's worthwhile.

Jim: If you are a Shakespears buff there is nothing like attending a performance at the RSC in Stratford. Go early and have dinner at the theater cafe overlooking the river with swans, and narrow boats.<BR><BR>There is not much difference N &gt; S or S &gt; N. I would reverse my route to be in Stratford for a performance.

Thanks. Do I want to sit in the "stalls A" or in the "circle A"? I'm not familiar with those terms at all. Seating chart shows "stalls" are the lowest, circle is like mezzanine level, then there's balcony, the highest.

The stalls is what we call the orchestra - on the main floor.<BR><BR>Circle A is the dress circle -- the first balcony. It is a large theare but not huge. Both would be good seats. <BR><BR>I personally prefer the stalls if I can get into the first ten rows, if not - the first couple of rows in the circle.

Jim, I believe you have good, honest intentions, but why not take Advice Yawn's advice and not visit at all. Spend your money where it's more welcome. Sounds to me like Americans aren't welcome in his country. Maybe he/she shares Prince Philips view about banning tourists. Or maybe he/she is just one big loser for feeling the need to answer you in such a smarta** way.

Surely, Mr. Advice, you jest. If, in fact, you are a Brit, I suggest you visit the Algarve or the Costa del Sol and take a close look at your countrymen (and women), their dress, and their behaviour.<BR><BR>If you really want an eyefull, visit The Rock.

Yes you can, we did it. We had no reservations just did a lot of one night<BR>stays. Did as I remember 2 nights in some areas. We went from Dover to the Highlands, really covered the area you want to cover. On our second trip to England we stayed in two areas and did day trips which is a better way to see things. Like you we were felt we may not be able to get back for a long time and so we saw it all.

My next question concerns where to start the trip. We will be doing a week in Scotland. Our areas of interest include Edinburgh, Fife, Aberdeenshire, Grampians and Tayside. After Scotland we will be going to N. Wales. We can fly into Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Inverness. If we fly into Edinburgh and then tour the other areas, we will have to do some backtracking in order to go to N. Wales. If we start in Inverness that would be better, except that we didn't see any direct flights from Heathrow to Inverness (and would rather not have to connect from Heathrow to Gatwick). A possible compromise would be to fly into Aberdeen, which would require considerably less backtracking than arriving in Edinburgh. We would go through the other areas and conclude in Edinburgh, which we understand is about a 6 1/2 hour drive from N. Wales. Does flying into Aberdeen sound sensible?

Flying into Edinburgh will give you the most options of flights and fares. You won't have to backtrack.<BR><BR>A sample itinerary would include -- fly into Edinburgh and stay a couple of days. Then pick up the car at Edinburgh airport and head north into Fife. Then up along the coast to Aberdeen. West through Grampian. Down the A9 to Tayside then to the M74 (a couple of ways to get there either via Forth Bridge to the M8 or via Stirling to Glasgow) to the M6 to Wales.

Thanks. Can we do all that in a week? To get a true Highland experience, do we need to go all the way up to Inverness area?

A week would be fine - of course 4 weeks would be better :-)<BR><BR>No you don't need to go all the way to I'ness. You can cut over to the A9 from Grantown on Spey.<BR><BR>Or you could drive along the Dee and drive down the Spittal of Glenshee. This is a fabulous drive but slower than the A9.<BR><BR>With one week you could do 2 days in Edinburgh, two days in Fife, 1 or two days near Aberdeen (there is a ton to see - Stonehaven, Dunnottar, many castles, Aberdeen itself), and a day or two in Grampian. This is not really rushed at all. <BR><BR>I might set aside the last day in Scotland either near Stirling or somewhere in Ayrshire. then the drive to N Wales wouldn't be bad at all.

I am from the Grampian region of Scotland (Elgin) and now live in New Jersey. I know that you are trying to fit a lot into your week, but if you are going up to Inverness (I would not spend time here),it really would be a shame to miss driving to the west coast of Scotland (Ullapool for example) otherwise you will miss the whole beautiful Highlands and Islands region. I would fly into Edinburgh, drive up to Perth, take the A9 to Inverness, drive to the west, and come back down the west coast. Fife, the Grampians and Aberdeen are lovely, with rolling hills and farmlands, but for the more rugged scenic views you need to go west.

Thanks for the tips. If I were to follow Aileen's route, would I probably be better off starting in Aberdeen, heading west and then back down towards Edinburgh? This would permit us to see the area near Aberdeen (all those castles), the West Highlands, and Edinburgh. We would be sacrificing Fife and time in Grampian. Now I'm hopelessly confused!

Jim, sorry to confuse you. Starting in Aberdeen would work too. Say hi to my parents as you pass through Elgin (I will be there myself in 2 weeks!) Have a great time!

Jim: Aileen's suggestions are fine - but you are the one who said Fife, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Grampian were your priorities and you want to do it in a week.<BR><BR>There are HUNDREDS of wonderful places in Scotland (the west coast is terrific) but you want to be in N Wales after 7 days so you will not be able to go to all the good places (or even a tiny fraction of them). You need to sit with a map and decide what is REALLY important to you. <BR><BR>The drive over to Ullapool is slow - rewarding - but slow. If you fly into I'ness you will likely want to spend the first night there since you would have flown overnight to the UK and then one or two flights to get to I'ness. You won't want to drive to Ullapool not having slept for 27+ hours. Then a day in Ullapool. A full day to get from Ullapool to Aberdeen. 1 night in A'deenshire. Two nights in Fife and 2 nights in Edinburgh and then south to Wales. This route gets you some amazing scenery - but VERY long driving days and less time for seeing anything in depth.<BR><BR>If you try to do everything/everyplace you won't have time to SEE anything. <BR><BR>Dropping Wales you would have a few more days to play with - I'm not recommending that, but is it something you might think about.<BR><BR>If you ask 10 people what their two favorite parts of Scotland are you will get 17 or 18 different suggestions. Each one sounds better than the the last one - but don't try to bite off too much . . . .<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Janis, you are absolutely right about me being the one who mentioned Fife, Aberdeen, etc. But Aileen made the other areas sound so nice that I was wondering aloud whether I would prefer them over the areas I originally mentioned. Looking at a map, I see that Ulladon is very much out of the way, and while it would be nice to get up that far, it would be very difficult to do Aberdeenshire and Ulladon in the same week, and still have time left over for Edinburgh. But there may be points on the West coast that aren't as far north that we might be able to visit. I will talk this over with my travel planner, who, unlike you, is actually getting paid to answer questions like these. You've been extremely helpful, however.

Jim that bit about your travel planner getting paid was pretty cold. Implying that her suggestions are worth more than those on Fodors. I believe Janis and others on this board are paid for providing travel information. One of her messages mentioned clients. I think she is a travel planner herself. Someone correct me if I am mistaken. Janis???

No, I did NOT at all intend to say anything of the sort and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. The help I have gotten from Janis and others has been extremely valuable and VERY much appreciated. What I meant to say was that maybe I should stop pestering everyone here with these constant questions and direct them to someone whose job it is to deal with me. I did not at all mean to imply that the advice I get here is in any way inferior, and in fact I have found it to be much better.