Dannie

Hello All,

I am a new contributor to this forum but have enjoyed reading your correspondence. It has already changed my mind about trip planning. I am used to relying only on what I read and making my own plans. I hope to use your advice for this trip, it is my first to the UK.

My wife and I have two weeks beginning Aug. 29. We will arrive in London the evening of the 29th and spend the 30th seeing just a few sites. We don't usually enjoy cities but do love history and want to see a couple things in London on this trip. I would like advice on a few good pubs in the old city area. We are both real ale fans and hope to sample some really fresh ale on this trip.

The rest of our trip is in the early planning stages and we have very few items we really want to see. We get great pleasure out of seeing the countryside and small villages and towns and want to focus on not rushing. We do want to see Stonehenge,the Yorkshire Dales, the Samuel Smith Brewery in Tadcaster and Scotland. We plan to take a ferry from Scotland, (Troon I think) on the 10th and finish our vacation in Ireland where we have friends.

My first request is for car rental information. I would like to reserve a rental somewhere outside London and return it at the Dublin airport. I have not yet been able to find a rental agency that will let me do that. Perhaps I have been looking in the wrong place.

I had thought of taking the London train down to Portsmouth to see the Victory on the 31st, and then the train to Salisbury where we would spend the night at some B&B. I have had no luck finding a rental agency allowing Dublin drop off in Salisbury. Do you think I should try Portsmouth or isn't my plan doable at all?

kaudrey

Hi Dannie,

Well, I'm sorry I can't help with your rental car dilemma, but I wanted to let you know that I applaud your choice of Salisbury for an overnight. It is a wonderful small town - the cathedral has the tallest spire in England and it is amazing.

If you need a place to stay in Salisbury, might I suggest the Byways House? It is less than a 10 minute walk to the cathedral, about 6 minutes to the center of town, and it is on a nice quiet street. Very friendly, pretty rooms (bathrooms were kind of small, but that's normal), wonderfully filling English breakfast. You can find information on it by going to www.smoothhound.co.uk, type in Salisbury, and scroll down until you see "Byways House".

Sorry if you didn't need this info, but have a great trip!
Karen

Dannie

Thanks Karen, that's a great tip. I need all the help I can get.

ron

Some comments on your search for city pubs/real ale in London. There are two London brewers, Youngs and Fullers; both companies own a number of pubs throughout London and their beers are available in many other pubs as well. I prefer Youngs Bitter to Fullers main real ale offering, London Pride, but you should try both. Their websites should list their pubs by location.

Generally, London pubs are not too adventuresome in their selection of real ales; they will have one or more of the London ales plus one national brand. The Wetherspoon chain is the exception; they are independent and generally offer six choices on hand pump, often from small local breweries around the country. Beers like Crop Circle (Hop Back Brewery, Salisbury) and Old Thumper (Ringwood Brewery, Hampshire), which I had in Wetherspoon pubs in London a few weeks ago. A Wetherspoon pub to try in the City is the Liberty Bounds, near the Tower of London.

You should have better luck with interesting real beer when you are in the Yorkshire Dales, with product from small brewers like Thwaites and Black Sheep.

Dannie

Thanks a lot Ron, I really appreciate the feedback. I have had London Pride here in Chicago at the Real Ale Fest and enjoyed it. I know about Young's, and may have had the bitter from a bottle, but never cask conditioned. I have heard of the Ringwood brewery, but never tasted Old Thumper. Isn't it a high gravity ale? I never heard of Hop Back, Thwaites or Black Sheep but look forward to taisting their ales. The British are very fortunate to have so many local varieties to choose from. I'm and avid homebrewer and British Bitters are my favorite style. I plan to do pleanty of research for my own recipes on this trip. I will certainly head for the Liberty Bounds while in London.

Dan

janis

There is really no compelling reason to take a rental car to Ireland. If you lived there you might want to do this since you wouldn't have to pay for a rental. But the cost of taking a car on a ferry is pretty high - and if you do take the ferry from Scotland you will land in Belfast NI, not in the Republic.

I would just rent one car in the UK and then rent a different one in Ireland. Unless you want to spend time in Northern Ireland, consider flying from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Dublin.

Dannie

Thanks Janis,

I have thought of that as an alternative. I haven't checked, but wouldn't the cost of flying from Scotland to Ireland be as much or more than the cost of ferrying a car over? I may be forced to fly, but would really rather avoid the extra airport hassle.

emjoy

Dannie, I'm also in Chicago and just returned from a trip to London a few weeks ago. I did find it difficult to find real ale other than a Fuller's or Young's in London, although we did manage to visit 37 different pubs and wine bars in the time we were there so it was not for lack of trying! I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite pubs with you since you're an ale fan...
The Albert at Buckingham Gate and Victoria was a lovely place (off duty palace guards came in for a pint while we were there) near the Victoria tube where I had Bombadier. They once advertised having Wadsworth 6X and Ruddles but I didn't see any.
The Founders Arms is on southbank of the Thames just across Blackfriar's bridge and there I had a lovely Waggledance (5%) and Young's special. Perhaps my favorite place holds maybe 20 people. It's Nell Gwynne's and it's in the alley next to the Aldephi theatre (oddly enough where Chicago is playing). They have a number of Courage (Best, Directors) ales and a good juke box. I also enjoyed Green King IPA. We noticed when we left London to visit a friend near Oxford the traditional country pubs had a wider variety of Ales than in London so if you're planning any day trips-you might find more.

zippo

Cost of flying then renting a car at the other end is usually less than taking a car on the ferry - also, only the larger & more expensive agents let you drop the car off internationally.
Its much faster too, but it must be said that the intervening countryside on both sides is well worth meandering through.
You could also take the train to Troon & cross without a car - ferry company may have a deal on cars in Ireland.Sometimes combination ferry & rail tickets can be had at a good price, worth a quick search for deals.

sheila

A couple of things in response to the responses; I am gobsmacked at problems finding real ale pubs. I don't drink the stuff myself, but CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has a great library, and I'd suggest you check it out or at least invest in the Good Beer Guide.

http://shop.camra.oxi.net/acatalog/C...Guides_25.html

Also, on the car hire front, why don't you drop the car on one side and rehire on the other (having checked the prices, of course) At the very least you could drop a car at Prestwick which is only 4 miles away; and pick up in Belfast (I assume you're taking the Sea Cat).

You obviously would have a premium to pay for the drop offs but the cost svaing on the trip would be hundreds.