Without a definite trip on the horizon, let's see if I can just get you well-travelled folks to share some of your best tips for planning a cost-effective trip. I'm not thinking so much of the little "bring your own teabags" type of tips, but of ways to plan your trip from the get-go so that you can spend time in Britain without breaking the bank.<BR><BR>I'm thinking we might try a week at a self-catering place and take day trips, but wonder if it wouldn't seem dull in comparison to travelling around from town to town.<BR><BR>Thanks, and let's get those tips rolling!<BR>Julie

We've done basically what you are thinking about. Stayed in the countryside in one place for 5-6 days at a time and did day trips. Always nice to have a place to come home to! Also do that in London, we rent an apartment, do things in the city, go to the theater and also take day trips out. With an apt. we eat breakfast in and occasionally a dinner (something that takes no effort to fix, or takeout) when we are really tired out! I splurge on theater tickets ordering in advance via Ticketmaster, but you can always go to the 1/2 price booth and try your luck if you are in London<BR>.<BR>We hate being on the go every minute and a different hotel every night would drive us nuts! (each to their own). For saving money without being too cheap, eat a substantial lunch (even in fancy places lunch is less money then dinner) then have a lighter dinner. There are always pub lunches and/or picnic in the parks if the weather is nice too. <BR><BR>If you buy train tickets check and see if you can get them for less if you travel after 9 a.m. - or if you order them in advance. We saved a lot on tickets from London to York by ordering in advance something called a Daypex ticket (reserved seating too).<BR><BR>If you are driving plan your routes carefully, gas is frightfully expensive in Britain.<BR><BR>

The absolute best money-saver is to do a home exchange -- get your lodgings and car for free! Last summer, we had a lovely London townhouse and minivan ("people mover") for three weeks, at no cost to us. This setup has not only the advantages of self-catering (access to a kitchen, laundry, plenty of room, etc.) but also helps to steep you in the cultural experience. <BR><BR>If you are flexible about your travel dates, and if you're willing to drive a standard transmission, you're sure to find someone. We used HomeLink, which is at www.swapnow.com. We could never have made this trip at all without the home exchange.

My one money saving tip is to buy the British Heritage Pass. While costly upfront it will save you 2x/3x times its cost in entrance fees.<BR><BR>jpm<BR>England Travleogues at www.appleberryroad.com

Before buying any of the travel passes, be sure to visit their web sites to check on where they're actually good for and how well this meshes wtih youriterests and itinerary. They can be a good deal, but aren't always. <BR><BR>The Great British Heritage Pass, for instance, doesn't cover many places in London, but is indeed "great" if you're going to be traipsing about the countryside looking at stately homes and historic sites.<BR><BR>Likewise, the London Pass, much discussed on these boards, is not a good buy for most one-week visitors, because so many of London's best museums are free.<BR><BR>

If your staying at a B&B you will get a large breakfast. So go easy on lunch and go to the local pub for dinner.

Here's a site that has gathered links to most of the free (or under &pound;3) things to do in London. You could put together a wonderful vacation just around free things to do!<BR><BR>http://www.londonfreelist.com/home.asp

Shop at the grocery store instead of eating at restaurants. Buy tickets at the last minute to plays, especially Globe Theater. Best museums are free. Get a Tube pass and avoid taxis.

A car is usually cheaper than trains for three or more people (it breaks even at two people, usually); a standard is a lot cheaper than an automatic; rent the smallest car that's recommended for the # of people.<BR><BR>The less baggage (as in, just carryons), the cheaper it is: you can take public transportation i/o taxis; you don't need to rent luggage carts or hire a skycap at airports or train stations; you can choose 4th floor walkup i/o a modern hotel w/elevator.<BR><BR>Grocery store food is always cheaper than restaurant food; tap water is free; lunch is cheaper than dinner at the same restaurant; prix fixe is a good bargain if you want all the courses, otherwise, just order off the menu (or mix and match; if you don't want the dessert, but your companion does, then you order the prix fixe, s/he orders a la carte and eats your dessert); the further from the tourist sights you can get, the cheaper the food.<BR><BR>Churches are free (for the most part) and contain wonderful artwork (put money in the poor box, it's good for your soul); they often have free concerts (children's choirs, organ recitals, etc.); in small towns, look for locally sponsored events like fairs and white elephant sales.<BR><BR>A home is usually cheaper than a hotel - the biggest savings are on food (it's possible to never eat in a restaurant - buy picnic food and make sandwiches for lunch, keep beer and soda and wine in the fridge i/o going out to a bar or pub, make breakfast and dinner at home), laundry if there's a washer/dryer, and space - a small apartment for a week is cheaper than a large hotel room with the same square footage, especially if you factor in the cost of getting out of a claustrophobic room (and there's no price tag on being able to separate - in a double room, you can only escape into the bathroom; in a house, you can hide out in the kitchen or out on the terrace - which can save a relationship often strained by travel).<BR><BR>Get a goooood road map if you're driving; the savings on gasoline and psyches more than pay for the map. Plan your itinerary so your routes are well-thought out and efficient, that you are not arriving at a museum that's closed, or at a town whose fair starts the *next* day.

have never been to Britain, but we always take cheap trips and have been able to manage quite a few of them. Greatest money saving tip is to go off-season. You will really save on airfare which is such a big chunk of each trip. In Feb. we found a package from Minneapolis to Paris that included airfare, all taxes, and 3 nights in a 3 star hotel in the Latin Quarter for $420 a person. obviously, some of this pricing was in response to 9/11, but you would never see a price like that in prime season. Also, check to see if the train or car renatl is cheaper. we always say we are going to use the train but then mange to find such a cheap car rental that it becomes more economical.

1. Stay at B&Bs or Guesthouses rather than hotels. B&Bs in the countryside are generally cheaper than those in towns and usually in lovely locations. Also if you are staying at a B&B, the breakfasts are usually so substantial that all you need at lunch is a snack.<BR>2. Eat at Pubs and ethnic restaurants.<BR>3. Get REALLY GOOD road maps

topping

I'll second (or third, or whatever) the suggestion that B&Bs are the best deal going in the UK. Except in urban centres, you can get very nice accomodation for an average of 20 L per person per night. And take advantage of the full English breakfast.<BR><BR>Or, if you really want to save even more, there are *tons* of good hostels in the UK. This gives you the choice of self-catering or restaurants. And once there you can swap travel tips with your fellow travellers. Hostels aren't for everyone, though; many people would rather pay more for higher comfort and privacy.<BR><BR>I would *not* recommend buying the Heritage/National Trust passes unless you plan on doing a *lot* of castles and museums. They're a good deal for the die-hard history buffs who are doing 2 castles a day, but for most visitors they're not cost-effective.<BR>

We were very pleased to discover a site called londontown.com. They act as brokers for hotels, other London stuff. You plug in your dates and the type of accommodation you want, and they bring back a list with very good prices, plus lots of supporting information such as maps and photos. We booked an excellent hotel for a very good price, would use them again. (The hotel, Millenium Baileys, is next to Gloucester Rd tube -- a real neighborhood, close to cafes and supermarkets where you can eat cheaply.)

If you are going to be outside of London, consider the Great British Heritage Pass it doesn't take two castles a day to make sense. Figure out what you want to see and do the math.

I'm trying to get information on which sites are included in the Heritage Pass but their website won't give me access. Don't think I can wait for the mail to deliver the information as we are leaving in 3 weeks. Can you buy the pass at Glasgow airport or somewhere in Edinburgh. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Deborah

these two sites have the info Deborah<BR>www.britishtravel.com/greatbritpass.htm<BR>And http://213.86.179.120/uk/attractions/gbhp.htm<BR>

1. Self catering is the best option for money saving. How about going for a character cottage somewhere like the Cotswolds.Self catering might not seem so dull if you have a charming house to come back to. Try and get somewhere in walking distance of the local village. Research the village and make sure it has a few nice places to eat and drink and you will have somewhere to go out for a relaxing drink at the end of a days sight seeing.The other bonus to self catering is privacy. It's great to have the run of a house and the comfort of your own lounge etc without feeling that you need to call room serivce for every little thing.<BR><BR>2. Use large supermarkets such as Tesco, Safeway, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda, Somerfield.<BR>For gourmet meals at home look at their ready meals Tesco do a 'finest' range of products which are excellant. Also if you see a Marks and Spencer look at their ready meals. You can put together an excellent starter, main course and dessert from these foods which would rival any restaurant meal.<BR><BR>3.Buy in plenty of snacks and drinks for the house and items for breakfast.<BR><BR>4. When out for the day look in supermarkets and bakeries for ready filled sanwiches and baguettes for lunch.<BR><BR>5. When using public transport ask about a travelcard which gives you a days travel around London for a set price each.<BR><BR>6. If you have to pay to enter an attraction make sure you are really interested in it and are not simply going just because it's there. Many of the main attractions are a rip off and it's often just visiting the area itself that gives you the most pleasure. Eg Bourton On The Water Gloucester - most publicised attraction The Motor Museum - more satisfaction gained by simply walking around the town. Windsor- Most publicised attraction - Windsor Castle- Most satisfaction to be had walking around Windsor Town and seeing the little shops and teashops.Many of these attraction are over sold by glossy leaflets. It can save you a lot of money in entrance fees if you are realistic about what you actually want to see. I've lost count of the number of times in the past when I paid for my family of 5 to get into an attraction and came out feeling that it was over rated and a waste of money.<BR><BR>Try the following websites:<BR><BR>www.blakes-cottages.co.uk <BR>www.expresscottages.co.uk<BR>The cream of English cottages are to be found in a brochure called English Country Cottages. They do have a website if you want to do a search for it. They are slightly more expensive but the quality of their accommodation is great.<BR>

Elaine, Thank you for the help.

Biggest place to save is airfare. From Phoenix, you can easily save $300 over normal 'good' fares by booking thru a consolidator.<BR><BR>Next Place to save is lodging. If you are a family (or 2 couples), then self catering is a big saver. We booked a very nice cottage in Scotland for less than $100 a night. We would have easily spent 50% more by staying at a b&b of equal quality. <BR><BR>Don't worry about staying in one place being 'dull'. I think that staying in one place lets you get to know it well. Anyways, you will not really be spending alot of time there. You will have plenty of places to see in a week. Our week in Scotland, we had no trouble taking day trips. A year later, I stayed in the COtswolds for a week with excellent day trips each day - in fact, next trip to england, I will stay there again and easily have another week's worth of trips.<BR><BR>Self catering allows you to save money on food. When you want to eat out, then choose a pub rather than a restaurant. Actually quite good food at some of them.<BR><BR>Hard to save much money on car rental, although by checking around (especially if you have several 'affiliation') you can save 20% or so. Also have a credit card to eliminate the CDW fees.<BR><BR>