Oy, I need help with this mid Sept U.K. trip!
#41
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Well they don't have to be rushed -so many trains it is rare to have to dash to catch some train) sidelines especially on Sundays excepted) - there will usually be on main lines another one shortly.
Certainly can be a leisurely lunch stop if one wants to make it but those who just have to get where they are going ASAP it could be rather hectic rushing to get on the next connecting train - slow down don't rush there will usually be another train shortly.
Look at schedules and if say changing in Birmingham - look at schedules and see connecting train times - see if you must rush for the next connecting train or whether you can have a leisurely half hour or so in between trains.
Certainly can be a leisurely lunch stop if one wants to make it but those who just have to get where they are going ASAP it could be rather hectic rushing to get on the next connecting train - slow down don't rush there will usually be another train shortly.
Look at schedules and if say changing in Birmingham - look at schedules and see connecting train times - see if you must rush for the next connecting train or whether you can have a leisurely half hour or so in between trains.
#42
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Personally, I can think of few things more boring than sitting around a train station lunch or no lunch, but I'm sure that go_laura is quite capable of looking at the various train options from Moreton - in - Marsh to Conwy and making a decision on what works best for her.
#46
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maybe a day trip Friday to either Greenwich or Canterbury (didn't go to either last trip)>
Been to Canterbury dozens of times and except for the great cathedral IMO it is a ho-hum city - great regional town with thriving shopping street but every town has that. Also fairly long train ride.
Greenwich to me is a very neat place - you have the Royal Observatory where you can cross between hemispheres and set your watch to the correct time to the millisecond.
There is also the Cutty Sark and HMS Belfast, originally built for the Royal Navy and now run by the Imperial War Museum as a museum ship permanently moored in the Thames here.
You can also take boats out to see the Thames Barrier the world's largest moveable flood barrier, covering 520 metres across the Thames and meant to protect London from tidal flooding.
You can of course take a boat down the Thames to Greenwich or trains or the Tube.
And there are tghe awesome neo-classical buildings of the Royal Naval College - some of which you can walk thru - an impressive setting on The Thames.
Greenwich has a popular market: http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to...le0CHewT1T0.97.
And to leave (or arrive at) Greenwich you can take the historic Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which, built around 1899, some claim is haunted! Anyway I've found it rather eerie and unique tunnel that goes to the unfortunately named IMO Isle of Dogs.
Just after the tunnel exit you can hop the unique Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and hover above and thru London's impressive Docklands development, which when built starting in the early 1980s was designed to convert Londons abandoned and decaying Docklands into basically an extenstion of the City of London's banking and corporate entities (appropriately the one branch of the DLR goes to the Bank tube station).
Today around Canary Wharf you see remains of the Docks themselves as well as many gleaming new high-rise buildings. (One of London's busiest shopping malls lies under it.)
The DLR was meant to be a driverless elevated metro - if lucky you can nab seats up where the driver would be and fantasize you're driving the trains!
https://www.google.com/search?q=dock...w=1745&bih=864
Anyway Greenwich to me is a fantastic day out of London even though in London and the DLR trip so neat.
Canterbury has one of the world's most famous and neat cathedrals but IMO little else of note - others may disagree.
Been to Canterbury dozens of times and except for the great cathedral IMO it is a ho-hum city - great regional town with thriving shopping street but every town has that. Also fairly long train ride.
Greenwich to me is a very neat place - you have the Royal Observatory where you can cross between hemispheres and set your watch to the correct time to the millisecond.
There is also the Cutty Sark and HMS Belfast, originally built for the Royal Navy and now run by the Imperial War Museum as a museum ship permanently moored in the Thames here.
You can also take boats out to see the Thames Barrier the world's largest moveable flood barrier, covering 520 metres across the Thames and meant to protect London from tidal flooding.
You can of course take a boat down the Thames to Greenwich or trains or the Tube.
And there are tghe awesome neo-classical buildings of the Royal Naval College - some of which you can walk thru - an impressive setting on The Thames.
Greenwich has a popular market: http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to...le0CHewT1T0.97.
And to leave (or arrive at) Greenwich you can take the historic Greenwich Foot Tunnel, which, built around 1899, some claim is haunted! Anyway I've found it rather eerie and unique tunnel that goes to the unfortunately named IMO Isle of Dogs.
Just after the tunnel exit you can hop the unique Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and hover above and thru London's impressive Docklands development, which when built starting in the early 1980s was designed to convert Londons abandoned and decaying Docklands into basically an extenstion of the City of London's banking and corporate entities (appropriately the one branch of the DLR goes to the Bank tube station).
Today around Canary Wharf you see remains of the Docks themselves as well as many gleaming new high-rise buildings. (One of London's busiest shopping malls lies under it.)
The DLR was meant to be a driverless elevated metro - if lucky you can nab seats up where the driver would be and fantasize you're driving the trains!
https://www.google.com/search?q=dock...w=1745&bih=864
Anyway Greenwich to me is a fantastic day out of London even though in London and the DLR trip so neat.
Canterbury has one of the world's most famous and neat cathedrals but IMO little else of note - others may disagree.
#47
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Sunday, Sept. 24, dh heads back to Phila. U.S. from Heathrow, I train to Birmingham for a work related event the next 5 days.>
Well also check National Express buses from airport to Brummie Town.
Well also check National Express buses from airport to Brummie Town.
#48
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Ah, the learning of Welsh. Thanks to the National Assembly all kids have (note the mandate) to learn Welsh at school. For the vast majority who live in non Welsh speaking areas this is an activity of little outward use, though of course the learning of any second language within the UK is to be praised rather than insulted (and if we ever get to fight WW2 again the Germans still will not know what we are talking about). For those who live in areas of high Welsh speaking it is the logical thing to do.
What is interesting is that Welsh attainment in other subjects lies behind similar subjects in England and even Scotland.
There is no such correlation say in France or Germany where a second language is mandatory.
I very much doubt that any of those students can claim DNA "cleanliness" from the tainted blood of the English ;-) While the wars between the Welsh princes are part of legend.
"For nationalists, the only war to win is the last one they lost" as a famous man once said.
What is interesting is that Welsh attainment in other subjects lies behind similar subjects in England and even Scotland.
There is no such correlation say in France or Germany where a second language is mandatory.
I very much doubt that any of those students can claim DNA "cleanliness" from the tainted blood of the English ;-) While the wars between the Welsh princes are part of legend.
"For nationalists, the only war to win is the last one they lost" as a famous man once said.
#51
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Getting back to travel, second Pal's suggestion of Greenwich and the DLR. Last time, walked through the tunnel and caught the DLR to the Dockland's branch of the Museum of London--very interesting exhibit on the British East India Company (although the Museum is on the West India Quay). But I believe you can catch the DLR right in Greenwich.
Planning to visit both again this fall, as my spouse wasn't with me on my first visit. I also want to take a look at Blackheath while out that way.
Planning to visit both again this fall, as my spouse wasn't with me on my first visit. I also want to take a look at Blackheath while out that way.
#55
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https://www.google.com/search?q=wool...w=1745&bih=864
Farther downstream is another under the Thames foot tunnel -dating from 1912 -the Woolwich Foot Tunnel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich_foot_tunnel
Wooliwch also has a ferry crossing the Thames.
Farther downstream is another under the Thames foot tunnel -dating from 1912 -the Woolwich Foot Tunnel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich_foot_tunnel
Wooliwch also has a ferry crossing the Thames.
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I traveled with my family to Scotland and Wales last year, and elected to use Conwy as a base for N. Wales, and found it to be thoroughly delightful. Please check out my TR, http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tlandwales.cfm (under the tag 'Docdan" not 'Docdan1')
The days in Conwy were days 10 - 13, so scroll down the TR to see my comments. Of note, may I commend the Castle Hotel there for lodging, but especially for unusually good cuisine at their restaurant, and Conwy Castle Cab Co. (google-able) whose service and punctuality would impress a grizzled old Sergeant Major. Using bus/rail/cab combinations, you should have a variety of options in that area to keep you busy. Do note: The bus service in Conwy, which is good, involves more than one company, and they do not honor each other's tickets. So on the surface it looks like Switzerland, where a ticket is good for any rail or bus, but in Wales, you can wait 15 min and a bus shows up and "Sorry, mum, that's no good on this bus"
Just a minor set back.
Most the rail passengers will travel, as most trains do NOT stop in Conwy town, to the nearby Llandudno Junction station, which has frequent rail and bus connections to Llandudno (NORTH), Betws-Y-Coed (s), Chester (E) and Bangor/Angseley/Holyhead (W). Getting to/from the station to lodging in Conwy is a bit of a planning challenge, but doable, with cabs as a back-up plan. If one golfs, as enjoyable and desirable as Golfing in Scotland is, golfing in Wales apologizes to no one.
Sumamry: The north coast of Wales is really a jewel to explore, and Conwy is a fine 'base'.
The days in Conwy were days 10 - 13, so scroll down the TR to see my comments. Of note, may I commend the Castle Hotel there for lodging, but especially for unusually good cuisine at their restaurant, and Conwy Castle Cab Co. (google-able) whose service and punctuality would impress a grizzled old Sergeant Major. Using bus/rail/cab combinations, you should have a variety of options in that area to keep you busy. Do note: The bus service in Conwy, which is good, involves more than one company, and they do not honor each other's tickets. So on the surface it looks like Switzerland, where a ticket is good for any rail or bus, but in Wales, you can wait 15 min and a bus shows up and "Sorry, mum, that's no good on this bus"
Just a minor set back.
Most the rail passengers will travel, as most trains do NOT stop in Conwy town, to the nearby Llandudno Junction station, which has frequent rail and bus connections to Llandudno (NORTH), Betws-Y-Coed (s), Chester (E) and Bangor/Angseley/Holyhead (W). Getting to/from the station to lodging in Conwy is a bit of a planning challenge, but doable, with cabs as a back-up plan. If one golfs, as enjoyable and desirable as Golfing in Scotland is, golfing in Wales apologizes to no one.
Sumamry: The north coast of Wales is really a jewel to explore, and Conwy is a fine 'base'.