Channy

I'm traveling UK this late June~mid July and wanted advice from the forum.
Also, will be traveling by bus and rail.
The itinerary draft is like

London
Stratford Upon Avon
Oxford
Bath
Cardiff
Birmingham
Newcastle
Edinburgh
York
Cambridge
London

1. I'm planning to sleep for at least 1 night in each city, is it advisable?
2. Should I buy BritRailPass or 16-25 Railcard? Which will be better?
3. Being an Asian female solo travler(using American accent!), first time to all those cities except London, I'm kinda worried if ppl there might be... idk, hostile? Are those cities safe to travel alone?
thx.

PalenQ

For rail fares - check www.nationalrail.co.uk - and see what discount the rail card would be and how much it would cost.

It seems that a BritRail Youthpass, for anyone under 26, might be a good deal with so many train rides - with the pass you can just hop on any train anytime - no blackouts or restrictions, no need to go to a ticket window.

But do the maths - if the pass is even close to point-points with the Young Person's Railcard then go for the pass and complete flexibility to just show up at stations and jump on the next train.

For lots of great info on British trains: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Buses are cheaper but IME not nearly as comfy as trains and are often slower - being mired in urban traffic. But the National Express Bus Pass could be cheaper than the railpass or rail discounted tickets with the Young Persons Railcard.

http://www.nationalexpress.com/wayst...t-xplorer.aspx

RM67

One night in each place is not very long. I would aim for 2 nights absolute minimum in the smaller cities and more for larger cities like London and Edinburgh, especially if you plan on day trips out of the metropolis. I'd probably scrap Birmingham and Cardiff - maybe even Newcastle - altogether so unless you are visiting family there or have specific attractions lined up in those places, so think long and hard about what you are expecting to see and/or hoping to get out of them.

No, you shouldn't encounter any hostility and no none of those cities are dangerous. Btw, I have to say it is somewhat frustrating to read questions like this as I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people to have some basic awareness of culture, lifestyle etc if they are planning on visiting. Obviously anywhere in the world has its idiots and racists but you should be no more concerned about coming to the UK than going anywhere else on the planet.

PalenQ

Yes you will find little or no hostility in Britain, which has long had many large ethnic groups, including a fair number of Asias and South Asian - hole communities of the latter in most larger cities.

Hooameye

" I'm kinda worried if ppl there might be... idk, hostile? "

Why would you think that? Have you read something inaccurate somewhere?

Hooameye

"hole communities of the latter in most larger cities."

Or even whole communities.��

bilboburgler

I can't think of any reason for hostility, though there are a very few who still don't respect the Japanese (luckily most Brits can't tell Chinese from Japanese or Korean).

Also don't be afraid to ask for advice or help, you'll find most people will put you on the right road. Though you may find some of the accents difficult to understand through your American ears

Getting around. this little tool http://www.traveline.info/ is great for combining all the weird local buses with trains etc.

I'd question why Birmingham or Cardiff? Cardiff at least has some good modern parts but Birmingham lacks a fair number of the sort of draws that you might want. I spent a day in Newcastle http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-169673-2.cfm might be worth a read, I was pleasantly surprised by the place. I might only do one night here, unless you want to go to the concert hall (search on line for details) as they get some big shows at reasonable prices for outside London.

Two nights min makes most sense, moving kills half a day what with checking out/in travel and finding the local tourist office plus making a plan. Then somethings only happen at certain times, so if you get there too late you have no choices.

Pegontheroad

The only advice I have is to spend at least two days in each town that you visit. Otherwise, you'll spend too much time in transit and in checking in and out of hotels.

janisj

IT is perfectly safe traveling just about anywhere in the UK but I don't really gett what you are wanting to see/do.

First of all your itinerary is zig zagging all over. Lay it out on a map and you'll see it is shaped more or less like a like a big ampersand plus a figure 8.

2nd: Why have you picked some of these places -- specifically Birmingham, Newcastle?

One night in a city gives you a little over half a day to see/do things. that is a LOT of travel for not much 'bang for the buck'.

Consider cutting back to maybe something like London > Bath > Oxford > Stratford > Edinburgh > York > London. You'd want most time in London, and at least 2 or 3 days in Edinburgh.

Channy

Thank you all for replies!
Sure am feeling safe already.
I added Cardiff solely for Doctor Who experience - should it be just a one day trip?

janisj

I <i>thought</i> that was the reason

Cardiff is an easy detour -- you could either go straight from London to Cardiff and then back to Bath to start the big loop itinerary, or do Bath first then Cardiff.

If the good doctor is all you really want to see/do you could take the train to Cardiff (about 2 hours from Paddington Station), spend the day at the Experience, then take a late afternoon/early evening train to Bath (about 1 hour) and stay two nights there. That would give you one evening and one full day in Bath.

PalenQ

Why not day trip sans luggage to Cardiff from Bath and stay in Bath two nights with one full-day - go to Bath first - spend day there - several hours enough for most - next day day trip to Cardiff which DOES have several nice areas such as the university/Welsh government areas - if going see more than Doctor Who!

PalenQ

Why Birmingham and Newcastle - nice enough for large cities but not that pretty and unless you have some special interest there - scrap those nights and add them to another city - two less bases - two less relocating hotels/hostels.