Greetings! I am planning a trip to the UK late this year and after perusing some of the very helpful information on some of the various posts, I thought I would try to enlist your help.<BR>We are flying into London on the 26th of September and staying three days at a B&B in Ealing. I figured on taking the Tube into London, thereby avoiding the infamous London traffic. I would love to hear some suggestions for the best way to spend those three days. I figured to spend part of the time in Lodon proper, and then venture out a little into the surrounding areas. I am a bit of an Arthurian buff, so the implications for this area are obvious.<BR>Frome there we move to Nottingham for a week cruising on the Trent and Mersey canal. We will have a rental car during the entire holiday so diversions into Wales and the surrounding areas are not out of the question.<BR>From there we are moving north for a week in Scotland at Carrbridge before returing the rental car at Inverness and taking the train back to London for departure.<BR>Some help with:<BR>1. Must see items in our various locations<BR>2. What to expect weatherwise Sept 26 - Oct 12<BR>3. Suggested itineraries for each area<BR>4. Local knowledge of good pubs, etc on the T&M Canal (or the River Trent of the River Soar - suggestions which would be time best spent?)<BR>5. We are very outdoor oriented people and generally spend most of our time hiking, fishing and sightseeing. During a recent 2-1/2 week trip to Austria and Italy we logged 2500 miles on our rental car as well, so distances are generally not a deterent.<BR>Thanks for ant help and suggestions you might have.<BR>Shawn

Have you been to England before? On your way north from Nottingham to Scottland, head west and drive through the Lake District. It's unlike any other part of England and being a hiker, you'll appreciate the mountains. Yes, mountains in England. Stunning views, picturesque villages (ok, most are). One of my favorite stops is The Fish Inn nestled between the lake Buttermere and Crummock Water.<BR>http://www.cumbrialakedistrict.com/aspects_of_cumbria.htm<BR>http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/hiking/hikedest/butter/

Thanks Adevturetwin.<BR>No, we have not been to England before. The Lakes District sounds great. Would you say that the area would be within a reasonable distance for day trips from Nottingham? We aren't tied to the boat, just trying something new, so we plan on day tripping at least part of the time during our stay near Nottingham.

Carrbridge is a nice area - you could easily explore from there, heading into Speyside for the whisky distilleries. There is another post elsewhere on "Scotland in November" or something like that - I know that you're not going at the same time but there are some good ideas of things which you could look at.<BR><BR>Also, unless you have any particular reason for going by train (admittedly it is more scenic!) you could look at flying with Easyjet from Inverness to London Luton - it would give you a few more hours in Scotland.

Hi Shawn,<BR>I do not think the Lake District would be a reasonable day trip from Nottingham. My experience with traffic in England is that the motorways are always overcrowded and it takes longer to get somewhere than I anticipate. Further, once you get into the Lake District, driving is slower due to the challenging, narrow, twisty roads. I, for one, would not day trip it.

For 3 days in London, Ealing is a terrible place to stay. You have plenty of time to change that though. Ealing is out in west London and you will waste a LOT of time "to-ing and fro-ing" into the city. Plus the extra you will need to pay for transport out to Ealing means it is actually more expensive to stay out there.<BR><BR>You say you will have a car the entire time - well do not get a car for the London portion. Stay in the very center and then go out to LHR to pick up a car the day you drive up to Nottingham. <BR><BR>You would not be driving in or around London anyway so save the money for 3 days of car rental. (AND - Ealing is very congested. You would not avoid London traffic)

Janis: Thanks for the input. It sounds like you have some first hand experience with the area. Let me add a little more info and some of my presumptions to see if your opinion changes at all.<BR>The B&B in Ealing is within walking distance of the Tube station. I planned on riding the Tube into the city on all London forays (best course of action with any major city with public transport as far as I've seen).<BR>We also planned on taking in some of the countryside areas in the south, therefore the car. We are not organized tour people and I would like to at least spend 1 day before we move on scouting around the outlying areas. Plus I guess I just feel naked without a car when I'm on vacation. Tell me what you think. Thanks

Shawn: First of all, you are only going to be in London 3 days. The first day will be pretty much shot to jet lag. You will be able to do something but not much. So now you are down to two days - two days is not enough to even scratch the surface in London -- especially if you are spending a lot of time on the tube just getting into the city. I seriously doubt you will have the time or inclination to tour anywhere outside of London. It might be different if you had a week in London - but then the trip in from ealing would be even more frustrating.<BR><BR>Also, Ealing is not convenient to the south. it is on the west side of London so it is convenient to LHR and Oxford and Windsor - but not to anything south of London.<BR><BR>And Ealing is on the outskirts (I don't have my zone map with me but it is probably in zone 5) so your transport pass will cost at least twice as much as it would for zone 1 in the city center.<BR><BR>All in all, staying in Ealing is a false economy - both in time and money.

Hi Shawn<BR>Ealing is convenient for escaping quickly to places west of London e.g. Windsor Castle, Oxford, Bath but, with only 3 days, you're not going to manage to cover much of that. When I travel to London from Stratford-upon-Avon I drive to Ealing (M40/A40) and park there, getting the tube via Central Line or District Line into central London -it takes about 45 minutes and a one day travel card costs about 5 GBP. So you may want to reconsider your choice of hotel and go for something much more central (e.g. Bloomsbury or Kensington), use public transport around the city and hire your car from Avis or Hertz in North London- then you're OK for heading out of London on the M1 for Nottingham. Nottingham is not the most scenically beautiful place but has character and is lively (it;s a University town) The Lake District is definitely not day trip material from Nottingham- I'd suggest that you take in that area on your drive to Scotland. The weather in late Sept can be quite warm with sunny days (Indian Summer) on the other hand it can be wet but mild- quite often it's both in the same day!! That's English weather for you!<BR>Have fun. You'll enjoy the canal cruising. Try to buy the 'Good Pub Guide 2002' or Nicholson's guides to the canals which also list god pubs by the canalside.