We're going to the UK for our 25th anniversary this Spring. However, some conflicts: We'd planned originally on 3 weeks to see Dublin region of Ireland & London/environs & part of Scotland. However, our office is on forced overtime indefinitely and we can't take 3 weeks at a time (we work together). So we'll probably just have a total of 12 days to get from Wisconsin to the UK & back. My husband wants to run a race while overseas, probably the Hastings Half Marathon March 21. And our son will meet us somewhere over there for part of the trip. His university break is from March 26 until April 5. So, how can we reasonably schedule this? Forced OT has not helped our organizational skills! We've been to London & western Ireland before. Is flying within the UK cheap & easy as I've heard? We won't have a private car while in England; is it hard to get between Hastings & London?

I know this is a lot to ask at once, sorry! We put off planning this as long as possible, hoping to be allowed more time off for the trip. Thanks for any info.
Sue

OK - 12 days minus travel days = 10 days. Minus one day to sort of recover from jet lag and you are down to about nine days actually free. Then, your husband will want to be in country at least 2 full days before the race. 4 would be better.

So leaving Wisconsin on Mar 18 gets you there on the 19th. You'd have to leave the UK on Mar 29. Your son's school break starts on the 26th so he can't arrive until the Mar 27. You'd really only have 2 days together.

London to Hastings is easy - trains in the southeast will get you just about anywhere. But w/ your set dates - you really don't have time to run all over 3 countries.

Kent/East Sussex is a no brainer since there is soooooo much to see in the area and that is where the race is. So If it was me - I'd split my time -- half in Kent/East Sussex, and half in London.

That would have you in London when your son arrives and also convenient to flying out.

Is there a reason you won't have a car? Not in London of course, but it would be much easier to tour the SE by car. If that is impossible, there is decent rail service.

"is it hard to get between Hastings & London? "

No, but it takes a hell of a long time. Trains are reasonably frequent (every half hour or so) but typically take two hours. Early on Sunday mornings, they can take up to four hours. So it might not be practical to run the marathon from a London base.

Similarly, the rail service within SE England is arguably outstanding (in terms of frequency and density at any rate) by practically any standards. But only if you want to get to and from London. For journeys within SE England that don't involve London, trains are useful only between certain points (route map at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system...dSouthEast.pdf).

You CAN devise a non-London holiday that relies on trains - but if you're trying to shoehorn a lot into a few days, you need a lot of playing with train timetables (changing trains is painless, but a couple of changes each way in a daytrip wipes out a huge amount of a day).

Hastings, incidentally, is pretty grim: it absolutely would not be my choice of somewhere to base myself. Brighton and Canterbury are both pleasant places with decent trains both to London and elsewhere in the region (though not necessarily early on Sundays).

Frankly: if you don't want to spend time in London, and think you're short of planning time right now, not having a car is plain silly. There are people on this forum who like pottering round English trains in a semi-organised way. That doesn't seem your objective.


"Is flying within the UK cheap & easy as I've heard? "

No idea. Only you know what you've heard. With a couple of exceptions, flying makes sense only between SE England, Scotland and Ireland. For useful information (as opposed to trite inanities), go to the Dublin airport website (or the site for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen or Prestwick, depending where you want to be in Scotland), see which airlines service which English airports then check their frequency and costs.

Do remember, though, that SE England is messy to get round. Getting to an airport from outside London can take a while if you've chosden the wring placed to start from.

If you're going to be based south of the Thames, you generally need flights from Gatwick or Southampton (both airports have decent railway connection to many towns in the region that aren't London), though Aer Lingus operates low-cost flights to Dublin from Heathrow.

<<< If you're going to be based south of the Thames, you generally need flights from Gatwick or Southampton >>>

BUT that doesn't guarantee that you can easily get to where you are staying from either of them as many of the public transport routes are based on going towards London - so in a worst case you might have to go all the way into London, change to a different London station then go all the way out again just to get 10 or 20 miles from the airport.

ok runner,

with your new timetable, your trip looks like this:

March 19 - arrive UK
March 20?
March 21 - Hastings
March 22-26 - ?
March 27 - London to meet son
March 29 - fly home.

so you really only have time to do sotuhern england and London - but that's a pretty good option!

Assuming you are arriving at about breakfast time, I would go straight from Heathrow to your chosen destination in Southern england; if you're going by train that won't be particularly quick but you'll get there eventually.

places convenient for Hastings would be Brighton, Lewes, Tunbridge Wells, even Rye. If you have a car, you'll have so much more choice and flexibility for touring, but all things are possible.

IMHO Brighton would be an excellent choice - it's easy to get to east [Lewes, Battle and of couse Hastings] and west [Arundal, Chichester, Petworth]. then you could return the car, and jump on the train for London.

don't try to shoe-horn Ireland and Scotland into the trip - you just haven't got time, and you'll be able to see southern england in the spring. simples!

Yikes! We got the London portion done awhile ago, w/help from Fodorites. Then I got sick. Now our trip starts in less than 3 weeks, and we have NO IRELAND plans/reservations yet! We saw the light about not trying to squeeze Scotland into this trip though. Thanks. I have been off work awhile, unable to even sit at a computer & concentrate/stay awake. My energy is finally coming back, so better get to it: DH & I leave England Thursday March 26 for Dublin where we meet our son. Ferry would be nicer than flying, from Holyhead to Dublin. Any comments/suggestions about that? Then all I know is that we want to see Dublin & Belfast & some scenery along the coast. We don't want to drive ourselves, but have no problems w/buses or trains and even hiring a tour/car. Getting close to a waterfall or two would be nice. Also chances to enjoy traditional Irish folk music. We'd fly out of Dublin March 31. Unfortunately, not quite as active a trip as usual is possible. Thanks for any itinerary suggestions. Sue

I just answered some of your questions about Ireland on your other post.