marmar24

First time to Europe/UK. I'm visiting a friend for a couple of days in Ireland then flying over to England for about 10 days. *I haven't bought my plane ticket to England yet, but I'm probably going to go to London first from Limerick.

Places I want to visit are: London, Oxford (if I can), Liverpool, and York.
Days spent in each city (but flexible still):
London - 4 to 5 days
Oxford - 1-ish, I think I read somewhere that this can be a day trip?
Liverpool - 2 days maybe, I have a friend there
York - 2 days
Be back in London in the end of the trip to fly out.

I am really up for any kind of help! But...
What is the best order to go to these?
How long should I spend in each places?
Best transportation to get from Heathrow airport to London and the other cities? (Preferably most reliable, easiest, and cheapest)

Other things are:
-recommended hostels/hotels/bnbs to stay at
-fun yet cheap things to do
And any other suggestions will be amazing!

Also I'm a female in my 20s who will be traveling most of the time alone.
I like British literature and anything related to history stuff

sofarsogood

From Shannon Airport (Limerick) fly to Manchester. Take the train to Liverpool. After Liverpool take another train across the Pennines to York. After York take the train to London Kings Cross. Do Oxford as a day trip from London.

The cheaper Advance train tickets go on sale about 12 weeks before your travel date.

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

Wherever you stay in central London you’ll use the tube and buses to get around, and to travel out to Heathrow.

bilboburgler

sofar nails it

train read up seat61.com for a full understanding of the best deals.

Hostel; look up https://www.yha.org.uk/ some very good value places in central London (and other cities) including York. Very clean

Cheap things, museums and markets. You'll find most museums (not all) are free with good restaurants/loos etc well worth a drop by especially if it is raining (it rains a lot in Liverpool). Markets, again good value food, people watching etc.

thursdaysd

Where in Ireland? Shannon is a trek from Dublin. There maybe a ferry from Dublin to Liverpool, and there is definitely one to Holyhead where you can connect with a train to Chester and then Liverpool. Details here: https://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm

While you can do Oxford as a day trip, it is much nicer after the day trippers leave. There are direct trains from York taking three hours. When are you going? You may be able to stay in one of the colleges:

https://www.universityrooms.com/en-GB/city/oxford/home

What is your budget for accommodation? In London, if I can't stay at one of the LSE student dorms I stay here:

https://www.ridgemounthotel.co.uk

PalenQ

You may want to look into a National Express Bus Pass though slower than trains go all the time and or a BritEngland Youth railpass which lets you hop on any train anytime -compare against discounted fares at www.nationalrail.co.uk -yes www.seat61.com great site and for general info I like on trains too www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

janisj

OK -- do NOT fly in to London if you are going to fly home from there. As mentioned above -- fly into Manchester and visit your Liverpool friend first. Then York and then London.

When is this trip? advance purchase train tickets are inexpensive and taking buses on these routes doesn't make sense.

And you will not have enough trips for a BritRail pass to pencil out.

The only bus you might consider is the Oxford Tube (not the 'Tube' in London but an express coach from London to Oxford and back. Either the Oxford Tube or a train makes a day trip to Oxford very easy.

PalenQ

And you will not have enough trips for a BritRail pass to pencil out.>

Probably not but at about 30 pounds a day for fully flexible trains a good deal - but probably have to be traveling more - a BritEngland Pass not BritRail Pass.

taking buses on these routes doesn't make sense.> Why not yeh slower but so cheap?

thursdaysd

Why all this talk of flying to Manchester when the OP wants to go to Liverpool?

Liverpool has an airport. There are direct flights from Dublin to Liverpool. But we do not (yet) know where in Ireland the OP will be.

I would take the ferry and train, probably with a stop off in Chester, but if the OP is starting from Dublin a plane will be quicker, provided s/he doesn't fly from Shannon to Manchester.

janisj

Yes - Liverpool works too. Thought I included it in my post but looks not . . .

sofarsogood

<<Why all this talk of flying to Manchester when the OP wants to go to Liverpool?>>

Because the OP refers to Limerick in their opening paragraph. And Limerick is near Shannon Airport which has flights to Manchester but not Liverpool.

janisj

Yes -- it totally depends on where you will be IN Ireland. Manchester has more flights from more places and it is not far from Liverpool. So more than likely you will have more choice flying in to MAN.

thursdaysd

Missed Limerick. However, according to Rome2Rio it is slightly faster to take the bus to Dublin and fly to Liverpool than to fly from Shannon to Manchester and take the train. Not that Rome2Rio is infallible.

PalenQ

Manchester is also a neat city for a day or so.

marmar24

Hey everyone!

Thank you for all your replies! Really appreciate it.

From the comments I see: DON'T fly from Shannon to London? But instead: Shannon to Manchester OR Limerick -> Dublin -> Liverpool is the best route?
I wanted to see Limerick in the morning than leave IR in the late afternoon and arrive to UK in the evening. Wouldn't taking a bus to Dublin will take more time?

My last place in IR is Limerick so I thought Shannon Airport will be the most convenient than taking a bus to Dublin and going to London from there...

Is it better to do Liverpool and York first then London last?

Staying: York and London = YHA and Liverpool = friend's house.


***All of this will be in the month of March***

thursdaysd

You need to check on air fares in order to determine whether you should fly into Ireland and out of the UK, or vice versa, and if the latter, whether it will be cheaper from London or Manchester.

March is a bit early for this itinerary, the weather may be disappointing. Take layers, waterproof footwear and an umbrella.

BigRuss

<<-fun yet cheap things to do>>

Well, we don't know your definition of fun so that hinders the ability to give spot-on recommendations.

Here's some general information: (1) TKTS booth in Leicester Square has discounts for London theater/re shows; (2) Book of Mormon has (as of last July) daily lotteries for super-cheapo tickets in the first couple of rows of the theater, you need to be present at the drawing (and we won, so paying 40 quid instead of 300+ was a good deal); (3) most sites that require admission fees have some sort of discount available if you purchase tickets online (Churchill War Rooms, Tower, St Paul's, the Abbey, Hampton Ct, etc.); (4) the following sites do NOT have admission fees:

British Museum
British Library
National Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
Tate Modern
Tate Britain
Imperial War Museum
National Maritime Museum
Greenwich Observatory
V&A Museum
Museum of London

This list is not exhaustive.

See www.walks.com for walking tour suggestions that would meet your interests.