BMXer979

Hi there,

I am a 35 year old male from the New York City area traveling to London this Summer to work at the Olympic Games. My work schedule ends around August 16th and I plan on renting a car and heading North to Glasgow. I've always wanted to see the beautiful landscapes of the UK and this is a perfect opportunity.

I am looking for some must see spots along the way to map out my trip. I have about 7-10 days off, and need to return to London to fly home. I love the rock music that comes out of that region (Oasis, Embrace, The Smiths, etc). I like nightlife, but I want to spend my days wandering about taking amazing photographs.

My budget is a little bit of a concern. I don't need to stay in luxurious hotels, but I also don't want to sleep in fear of bed bugs or cockroaches.

I am interested in passing through Leeds. Probably Drive up the North Sea coast and back down to London by way of the Eastern coast.

Any advice you can give me is appreciated. I have never been to the UK before.

Thanks!

John

Hooameye

Are you comfortable with the prospect of driving in the UK?

thursdaysd

You might want to search for previous threads here on long distance driving trips in the UK. At least consider driving only one way - flying home from Edinburgh or Glasgow, or taking the train. See seat61.com for tips on train travel.

bilboburgler

Well the Smiths are a Manchester Band, The Artic Monkeys are Sheffield (if of any interest. You'll see from google maps that the motorways are basically east or west coast but you can cross in towo or three places.

So I guess you are thinking Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and then Edinburgh Leeds, Sheffield, London.

Basically some of the most boring driving in the country and in the south tends to be pretty busy (slow moving etc).

Accomodation, well there are hostels and universities (with rooms to rent out of school, which fits in with your timescales) there is the Youth hostelling Association which is a great deal http://www.yha.org.uk/.

Then there are various hotel chains. I recommend Premier http://www.premierinn.com/ which is top of the bottom feeders, IBIS which is a French brand in the UK http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/home/index.shtml and travel lodge http://www.travelodge.co.uk/.

You might like to also look at B&B which can be an experience but cover from better than cockroach to pretty posh. You may end up staying in a small "hotel" of 2 to 12 bedrooms with your host.

I live in Leeds but know nothing of the music scene, come back if you need more info

bilboburgler

My typing is getting worse. My comments about motorways are very valid in the South. It does get better in the North but even here the roads are very fast and it is hard to look at the view.

Don't ignore the train system. It is clean (relatively busy) and you also get to see the view. The business structure of the rail system is a bit complicated but look at this www.nationalrail.co.uk/ to get a good idea of what it can do for you. Tickets are cheap if booked early and comparable with car rental and the price of fuel (£1.45/litre is pretty common here).