Manchester, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Salisbury... Where should I visit?
 

Hey everyone,
I have enough time and money to visit 2 places, preferably for a day trip. I.e. A day for one particular area. I really need some advice and suggestions on which of the above would be nice for someone who is new to the UK to see. Would it be more economical to rent a car, or take a train? I will be traveling on the 2nd week of dec. A rather last minute arrangment.

hi hisashi,

you say you want to do 2 day trips - from where?

assuming you are staying in London, you could easily visit any of them by train, but Oxford and Cambridge will be the easiest, being the closest and served by very good rail routes organised by all those civil servants who want to get back for their college dinners.

IMO there's no point in hiring a car just for one day trips like these.

Hi annhig,

Thanks for the reply. I'm staying in Nottingham.

I've been browsing the UK travel guides, and really can't decide, aside from London, where would be most worthwhile to visit. More so, for such short trips.

You should pick either Oxford or Cambridge, by train for Cambridge or bus for Oxford (see www.oxfordtube.com), and then consider a coach tour to the west, e.g. http://www.evanevanstours.co.uk/winc...henge-bath.htm

I agree a day trip to Oxbridge - either one - they are not peas in pods but both rather similar in the neat old colleges and college atmosphere and they are quick to reach and much cheaper than say a day out in Bath. I have visited both Cam and Ox several times and my favorite is always the last one i have visited.

hi hisashi,

aha Nottingham - my daughter is a student there so I know a bit about it. [only a bit]. there is lovely countryside in the area to the east of the city in the region of Southwell and Newark.

rather than going south, you could go to Newark or Lincoln to the east, or York to the north east, all on the train. I suspect that getting to Oxford or Cambridge would be a lot more complicated.

they would all be nice for a day trip.

You're the wrong side of London for Bath, Oxford or Salisbury.

Manchester and York are both about two hours away by train.

Another option might be Ely, which has an impressive cathedral and is on a direct train route from Nottingham (about an hour and a half) - Cambridge is only half an hour from Ely by train, so you could manage both in a rather long day.

not sure this link will work, but if it doesn't if you go to www.thetrainline.com and look for Nottingham to York, you can do a day trip for £38 return and it's take from 1hr 50 mins to 2 1/2 hours each way, depending which train you get.

http://www.thetrainline.com/buyticke...mand=TimeTable

you can use the same site to look up Lincoln and Newark.

Oxford doesn't make sense from Nottingham. And Bath/Salisbury - no way.

I'd probably choose York for one day, and Ely/Cambridge for the 2nd days trip. Both would be looooong days but doable. You don't need to faff about w/ a car. Trains are faster and easier.

Or closer, you could go into Derbyshire and see the Peak District. But in winter, I'd personally opt for city visits like York and Ely/Cambridge just for some indoors options.

If you use

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

rather than thetrainline.com you don't pay charges for tickets

" You don't need to faff about w/ a car. Trains are faster and easier. "

Not from Nottingham, they're not.

Oxford, Cambridge and York all take longer by train than by car, since Nottingham's on Britain's major road, but on a minor railway, and to get practically anywhere but Derby or Ely by train you've got to change somewhere and hang around waiting for the connection.

Cambridge is just 10 miles closer than Oxford to Nottingham: although the route planners say there's a 5-10 min journey time difference, the reality is that it's almost always quicker to drive to Oxford than to Cambridge because the roads to Cambridge are awful.

What you can't do, by train or car, is a daytrip to Bath or Salisbury. You CAN do a two-dayer to Oxford, Bath and Salisbury (though it's pushing it) and that HAS to be done by car: the most sensible thing though is obviously one day to Cambridge/Ely, the other to York.

For two separate one-dayers, the train/car argument is pretty evenly balanced: though the train takes longer (and probably costs more), many foreign visitors might find coping with parking problems in York and Cambridge more trouble than it's worth.

But personally, I'd drive. The scenery is ho-hum whichever you do.

many foreign visitors might find coping with parking problems in York and Cambridge more trouble than it's worth.

Both cities have Park and Ride.
We have used the York one and saved a lot of hassle.

Thanks everyone for the amazing suggestions. Based on the discussion above, I think I'll stick to Ely/cambridge for a day, and york for another!

To annhig, thanks for suggesting Lincoln. Train fares are not too expensive to get there. Would be worth a visit!


CHeers everybody!!

my pleasure hisashi.

hope you have a great trip