uk-first time questions......
 

my wife and i are planning a may/june visit for 1 to 2 weeks. we like medeival towns,churches,great outdoor scenery. will will be in london at least 3 nights. a friend from the uk recommended oxford,york,bath,the cotswolds (bourton-on- the-water?). in scotland, he recommended edinborough and inverness. do people agree? can we take trains to bath,york, and oxford? can anyone map out a loose itinery for us? thank you.

Your list looks fine to me, though of course much depends on taste. I take your list and the Thomas Cook European Timetable, which my be in the reference library of a city near you (When you reach Britain the Exchange window of any Thomas Cook office will sell it to you for 10 pounds 50.

London Paddington at 18 minutes past each hour, buffet car train, 1 hour 2 minute trip, Oxford at about 48 minutes past each hour, 43 minute trip, Moreton in Marsh, bus journeys by service busses to see villages in the Cotswolds, Moreton about 30 minutes past each hour, 43 minutes trip, Oxford, 30 minute trip, Reading, one hour trip, Bath, leave 1722, London Paddington 1858, dine in the Great Western Hotel, Circle line, London Euston 2105, breakfast in the lounge car as you roll through the woods and mountains of the Highlands, Inverness 0830, leave 1040, buffet car lunch, Edinburgh 1403, Edinburgh 1100, lunch in the restaurant car, views of Durham Cathedral and York railway station, London Kings Cross 1545.

A hotel near the station or bus station in Moreton in Marsh will give you easy access from the rest of your journey and to Cotswold villages. The sleeper to Inverness will save you a hotel bill and a long day on the day train.

[email protected]

Inverness itself is not worth much. Great location and great gateway but stay somewhere else. How long will you be in Scotland and how will you travel?

See www.thetrainline.com for times & prices of trains anywhere in the UK. Although tickets for next May/June won't be on sale yet, it will give you an idea. I think tickets generally go on sale c.3 months in advance & the earlier you book, the cheaper.

Bear in mind you can also fly between Edinburgh & London - with BA, bmi (my preference), Easyjet & Ryanair. The last 2 are so-called budget airlines but frequently the tickets aren't any cheaper then BA/bmi. And some of the airports they use, notably Luton, are much further from London & have poorer connections. Again, it's cheaper the earlier you book.

Flying doesn't necessarily save much time over the train, though, since you have to travel to & from the airports & there is check-in time etc. Plus as Ben said, you get some nice views from the train, particularly of the Northumberland coast (so try to book seats on the right side of the train from London or the left side from Edinburgh).

On our first trip we spent time in York, North Wales, and the cotswolds (with a brief visit to London) and it was quite memorable. For us, although the Cotswolds were lovely, we LOVED York and N. Wales. Edinburgh (we visited on our 2nd trip) was also amazing!

Ani, how did you get around?

Ludlow and Shrewsbury in the lovely shropshire countryside!

Ludlow has also mone of the best reputations for dining outside London. In fact as far as density of restaurants go it is arguably the best town in England to eat.

We just returned from England and Scotland. Ben's recommendation for England are excellent. We did the trip out to Bath, which was well worth the train ride. I would recommend taking the night train up to Scotland. The Caledonian Sleeper from London Euston station is the best way to go. BritRail will be able to make reservations for you and depending on when you travel, the cost can be as low as 29 GBP. We went all the way to Fort William and then on the Malliag on the East Coast, a very peaceful little fishing village. From there we took the train over the Edinburgh. I don't know about Inverness, but Edinburgh was great. Lots to see and the resturants are plentiful. We did some driving and flying while we were there, but neither was worth the hassel. Have a good trip.

Greg

If I may ask a similar question of anglophiles here, we're thinking of about 7-8 days in England. Is there enough to see in and around Bath to warrant three nights there? I thought we might visit Bristol and perhaps Wales, too. We'd rather travel by train, though aren't adamantly opposed to renting a car.

Any suggestions for such a short visit? Of course, we'd spend some time in London, too.

flsd:

IMHO there's about enough in Bath for a day (though I'm a fast visitor), and for most visitors rather less in Bristol.

That's without a car. You can get to great places like Wells and Glastonbury by quite short bus journeys, but it's a real planning challenge to get to more than one or, at best two, places a day by bus. And if you're thinking of hiring a driver, remember you're paying British wages, in the area of Britain with just about the lowest unemployment.

With a car, OTOH, there are thousands of just lovely places within a hour or so's drive of Bath, and you'd easily fill a week. Unless you've a particular interest (like gardens, or churches, or Roman Britain, or stately homes) it's pointless recommending any one or ten 'must sees': nothing's that spectacular - but almost nothing's mediocre either

Ditto Wales. There's a regular poster on this site (naming no names, Mucky) who'll tell you about the wonders of Cardiff. Hmmm. Frankly third-division compared to South Wales' Brecon Beacons, the Mumbles, the Roman stuff round Newport or - if you like Dylan Thomas - the boathouse at Laugharne. And that's just South Wales.

Accept you're going to hire a car. Then tell this board what would interest you