Judyrem

Hello All, just firming up our 2 week trip to the UK in Sept. Flying into London, our goal is to see Wales for 3(or 4days?) days, Cotswolds for 2 days, York for 3 days, Lake District for 2 days, then what would you suggest? Fly out of London(Gatwick) or fly out of Manchester? We will have a rental, and I cam imagine it would be pricier to have a differant drop off location. What are the pros and cons of either airport? Any and all comments appreciated. Judy

Maira

We flew out of Manchester and believed that given your itinerary, it is a far more convenient departure airport. The British Airways check-out was kind of chaotic, be there with plenty, plenty time. We rented in Dover (we were coming from Calais, France) and dropped off the night before departure in Manchester (Hertz). We stayed at a Holiday Inn at the Manchester Airport and the hotel complimentary van took us to the airport.

Maira

judy-- I forgot to mention-- try to gather some cost information on drop-off charges, this may become a mute issue if that is prohibitive to begin with. I don't recalled how much we paid for dropping the car at Manchester; if it had been a lot, we would not have done it, though (1998).

By the way, I would allocate more days to the Lake District. Hadrian's Wall is an absolute MUST! This is the website of the place we stayed: http://www.abbeybridge.co.uk/. The Abbey Bridge Inn, located within walking distance to Naworth Castle, Lanercost Priory (1166), Hadrian's Wall. The Irthing River runs a few meters from the entrance door. Lovely setting, quiet, great food.

Judyrem

Maira, I was wondering aout the time frame for the Lake district. Thanks so much for the info about where you stayed too. I think Manchester will be the way to go for departure. I would have picked Manchester for both, but I felt London would be best for Wales and the Cotswolds. Any other info you have about any of the places would be greatly appreciated. Judy

janis

judyrem: If you have no interest in visiting London I would just fly into/out of Manchester. It is by far the most convenient airport for North Wales, etc.

For the places you list I would do something like Manchester > N. Wales > the Cotswolds > York > Northumberland (Hadrian's Wall) > Cumbria (Lake District) > Back to Manchester. This circle route means no back-tracking and you don't have to deal w/ the tough drive down to LGW.

Judyrem

Actually we are going to London in March, so, no London is not on our list this time. You are right about N. Wales and Snowdonia ,,,,mmmm, have to figure this thing out.....

KS452

You probably already have a particular airline in mind but I'll throw this into the mix anyway.

Continental has nonstop flights to Glasgow and Manchester from Newark. You could fly into Glasgow go south to the Lake District > go through Liverpool > see Chester > enter North Wales > exit South Wales > Cotswolds > York > Manchester.

I just plugged in some dates (9/16 - 9/30) and it priced at $584.17 tx incl per person r/t.

AAFrequentFlyer

We just did the same car rental thing, (pick-up at LHR, drop-off at MAN) and the drop-off charge was 20BP. If you're flying BA or AA or one of the OneWorld Alliance planes then it's a looooonnnnnggggggg walk from the drop-off parking garage to the check-in desks at MAN. Also, if it's an early morning drop-off for any one of the rental companies, it's kind of strange drop-off. You basically go into the parking garage, find some reserved parking spaces for your rental company and leave the car there, drop the keys in a mail slot at the office of the rental company. There is nobody there to check-out the car, so it's based on the trust as far as any damage or lack of to the car. It worked out ok for us (National Car Rental) but I thought it was odd.

Also, I would be careful with Continental on these routes. They may have a non-stop but on the Glasgow route they will be using a narrow body 757, not the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd choice of planes to fly across the big pond IMHO. The CO Boeing 757 in coach is very uncomfortable on the domestic routes, and I can't imagine sitting on that thing for 7 hours. I'm not sure what they use on the MAN route.

AAFrequentFlyer

AA is pricing out at $585 out of Chicago to Manchester and it's a comfortable "more room throughout coach" widebody Boeing 767

Judyrem

AA frequentflyer: thanks for the feedback about the drop off fees.....we will be flying Delta with FF miles. That is why I was considering an open jaw ticket. But I THINK Manchester may be the thing. Delta has a non stop from Atlanta to Manchester. I agree with you about the 757 however. We will flying AA on a 757 from Miami to Vegas in 3 weeks from now(have 2 aisle seats across from each other). We also will be flying AA from Miami to London in late Feb, early March on a 777. I am very excited about about the more legroom in coach on AA. I am studying my UK map, fervently trying to figure this out!

AAFrequentFlyer

Just so you know, the 757 MIA-LAS flight may not have MRTC . AA is putting back more seats on all their 757s and A300. It's a good thing you got 2 aisle seats on the 757. On the 777 you will have MRTC, but try to get 31AB or JK. The best coach seats in the house.

For more info checkout:

www.seatguru.com

Have wonderful trips!!!

mvor

Hi Judyrem, we flew out of Manchester in October and found Manchester to be a breeze compared to LHR. Like AA, we dropped off our car (Hertz) in the early a.m. and were surprised to find the desk unattended but it was fine--no unforseen charges when the bill came in. Also, we flew BA but didn't find the walk to check in onerous. Probably because the terminal was empty... Finally, we stayed at the airport's Crowne Plaza and found it to be seedy. I wouldn't stay there again. Enjoy!