Some questions for those who have traveled in the British Isles

[FaithManor]

My dear quilting buddy and I have been planning for quite some time that we would like to travel together to the British Isles to explore quilt stores and castles....yes, odd combination but this pretty much represents us in a nut-shell!

 

How easy is it to travel between the countries?

 

We'd prefer to stay in cheap, homey places and wondered about country inns/pubs. Are these walk in establishments or can we make reservations ahead? Experiences?

 

Cheap eats.....we'd prefer to spend our money on fabric so that we can make quilts commemorating the trip...one for each country.

 

And just how hard is it to reverse driving habits and cruise the opposite side of the road? Should we plan on public transportation and is there public transit into the smaller towns in the countryside?

 

We will probably fly into Heathrow and will need to spend the night in London and also the night before the return flight. Any suggestions of places to stay that are neat, clean, and friendly....nothing posh and reasonably priced would be great.

 

Thanks a bunch Hive,

Faith

[Laura Corin]

My dear quilting buddy and I have been planning for quite some time that we would like to travel together to the British Isles to explore quilt stores and castles....yes, odd combination but this pretty much represents us in a nut-shell!

 

How easy is it to travel between the countries? There are only two countries: the UK and Ireland/Eire. You'll need to check out visas/visa waivers for crossing those borders. Travelling between the nations of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) is seamless.

 

We'd prefer to stay in cheap, homey places and wondered about country inns/pubs. Are these walk in establishments or can we make reservations ahead? Experiences? When are you travelling? That will influence availability.

 

Cheap eats.....we'd prefer to spend our money on fabric so that we can make quilts commemorating the trip...one for each country.

 

And just how hard is it to reverse driving habits and cruise the opposite side of the road? Should we plan on public transportation and is there public transit into the smaller towns in the countryside? I swap back and forth pretty easily, as do most British people who take the ferry to mainland Europe. If you are an experienced driver, with a co-pilot to keep you straight if your mind wanders, then you should be fine. There is public transport in the countryside, but it's often rather intermittent - if you are on a tight schedule, a car might be better. Remember to ask for an automatic, if that is what you are used to. Most cars around here are manual.

 

We will probably fly into Heathrow and will need to spend the night in London and also the night before the return flight. Any suggestions of places to stay that are neat, clean, and friendly....nothing posh and reasonably priced would be great. There are lots of small B&Bs near Heathrow. I can't recommend one in particular, but there are tons.

Thanks a bunch Hive,

Faith

 

Where are you planning on going and how long do you have? Americans tend to think that they can get around much faster than is actually possible: the British Isles look so small, but they are are crowded and the roads are often not very fast. Google Maps is a good (although not infallible) resource for working out timing.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[mazakaal]

Hmmmm. I'll do my best with your questions.

 

Traveling between countries is as easy as traveling between states in the US. There is no border crossing between England and Scotland or Wales. If you want to go into Ireland, I'm not sure if you need to go through passport control or not. I can't remember.

 

Driving on the left is very easy for me now, but was very intimidating for me at first. Also, keep in mind that most rental cars manual transmission, so if you can't drive a stick-shift, you'll have to take public transport. Public transportation in big cities is generally good, but it's very, very bad in rural areas. So you may want to not rent a car while you're in London, but rent one for the rest of your travels, depending on where you want to go.

 

I would recommend that you go with B&Bs for accommodation. These can be booked in advance and can be found by google searching B&B town name or accommodation town name. You can also look for a tourist information centre in the towns your visiting, and the folks at the TIC are usually very helpful with booking accommodation for you (they take a cut from the B&B owner). If you google search tourist information centre for a particular town, make sure you spell 'centre' the British way. :-)

 

Probably your cheapest option for meals is to pick up food from a grocery store and picnic. There are pre-made sandwiches and salads that would be cheaper than any restaurant. When we're out for a day, we'll frequently go into Tesco, buy a big French stick, a package of ham, a bag of crisps, and a pack of juice boxes and feed the family for £8, half what we'd spend for fast food, and a fourth what we'd spend in a restaurant.

 

I can't help with a place to stay in London. Sorry. We always stay with friends.

 

If you make it down to Cornwall, you'll have to call in for a cream tea! I'm not far from the legendary birthplace of King Arthur as well. :D

[saw]

Are you planning to go into London and stay at a hotel there, or do you prefer something near Heathrow? If the former, I can give you some recommendations (we're in London a couple of times a month to visit ds9 at school).

 

Sophie

[FaithManor]

Thanks Megan, it's good to know that the B & B's will be easy to book in advance.

 

I am very nervous about driving but thankfully both of us can drive a stick shift quite well. I think we need to practice thinking in terms of kilometers. I also think we should get some sort of driver's license study booklet for the UK so we will have a better understanding of the local traffic laws. I'd hate to end up arrested for driving stupidity!

 

Right now we will definitely be checking out fabric stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We are trying to find out what would be in the towns nearby so that we can use the trains. We haven't really started researching the castles yet. Would I be right to assume that since castles are highly touristy places, there will be more reliable public transport to and from these locations or am I totally off base there?

 

Faith

[PiCO]

We'd prefer to stay in cheap, homey places and wondered about country inns/pubs. Are these walk in establishments or can we make reservations ahead? Experiences?

 

I was in the UK a few years ago. If you're not in a big city, you can just go to the TI and find a place to stay. I found a wonderful place outside Stirling that way.

 

I had reservations in Edinburgh, but I saw people just walking in to B&Bs with no reservations. I wish I had done that, because the B&B I stayed in there was not good.

 

And just how hard is it to reverse driving habits and cruise the opposite side of the road? Should we plan on public transportation and is there public transit into the smaller towns in the countryside?

 

Wasn't difficult for me. I do drive a stick shift, but I decided to reserve a automatic so I'd have one less thing to think about. I probably could have managed shifting just fine.

 

Do get the insurance, though. The roads are so narrow, and there are lots of tour buses on them if you're there in the summer. I was driving in the bushes a bit!

 

Sounds like you're planning a great trip- have fun! I love castles also, especially ruins!

[mazakaal]

Do get the insurance, though. The roads are so narrow, and there are lots of tour buses on them if you're there in the summer. I was driving in the bushes a bit!

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I have to disagree about booking a B&B in advance, though, if you're in a more rural area. When we first moved here, we drove down from the airport and must have stopped into 5 or 6 B&B's before we found one that would give us a room for the night. Not fun with a 2yo and a 4yo after an overnight flight and a 5 hour drive. :glare:

 

Don't worry about kilometers. Road signs are given in miles and driving speeds as well.

 

This is the book you want, or something similar, if you want to brush up on British road regulations. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Theory-Test-Drivers-Highway/dp/0115524509/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284390421&sr=8-4 or this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Highway-Code-Department-Transport/dp/0115528148/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284390507&sr=1-1.

 

I think it depends on which castle you're talking about when it comes to public transport options. All tourist attractions will have a web site you can check that will tell you 'how to get here' and will let you know about public transport options to their attraction in addition to directions if you're traveling by car.

[Sun]

Also, keep in mind that most rental cars manual transmission, so if you can't drive a stick-shift, you'll have to take public transport. Public transportation in big cities is generally good, but it's very, very bad in rural areas. So you may want to not rent a car while you're in London, but rent one for the rest of your travels, depending on where you want to go.

 

 

 

We're also going to be touring the UK this year, and I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but this might be helpful for her as well!

 

I hadn't thought about manual transmissions! We are accustomed to driving a stick, but how hard is it switching from driving stick with the right hand (US) to doing so with the left hand, as I assume is done in the UK? If we are proficient at driving a manual transmission here, will we be able to adapt quickly there?

[Laura Corin]

Thanks Megan, it's good to know that the B & B's will be easy to book in advance.

 

I am very nervous about driving but thankfully both of us can drive a stick shift quite well. I think we need to practice thinking in terms of kilometers.

 

Ireland is signposted in kilometres, but the UK is still in miles.

 

I also think we should get some sort of driver's license study booklet for the UK so we will have a better understanding of the local traffic laws. I'd hate to end up arrested for driving stupidity!

 

The main things to know are the main speed limits (30mph in town, 60mph out of town and 70mph on motorways/dual carriageways), how to deal with roundabouts, and to remember that there is no turning on red unless you have a green arrow. Oh, and you only overtake by using the 'faster' lane - you can't weave through on either side of a car in the middle lane.

 

Right now we will definitely be checking out fabric stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow. We are trying to find out what would be in the towns nearby so that we can use the trains. We haven't really started researching the castles yet. Would I be right to assume that since castles are highly touristy places, there will be more reliable public transport to and from these locations or am I totally off base there?

 

It really depends. From Edinburgh, you can do Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle - the latter by train. Stirling is one of my favourite castles ever and the town is very picturesque. Within Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse is a wonderful location, full of Mary Queen of Scots (and other) history.

 

Faith

 

When are you thinking of coming?

 

Laura

[mazakaal]

We're also going to be touring the UK this year, and I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but this might be helpful for her as well!

 

I hadn't thought about manual transmissions! We are accustomed to driving a stick, but how hard is it switching from driving stick with the right hand (US) to doing so with the left hand, as I assume is done in the UK? If we are proficient at driving a manual transmission here, will we be able to adapt quickly there?

 

Shifting gears with the left hand is no problem. If you can drive a manual in the States, you'll be fine here. The hardest thing for me, when I was getting used to driving on the left, was making sure that, when I turned onto a road, I turned into the left lane and not the right as was my natural inclination after years of driving on the right.

[FaithManor]

Oh my word.....I tried to imagine driving in the left lane and making a right hand turn....IT DID NOT GO WELL!!!!

 

I better find some deserted country road around here and practice this kind of thing before leaving.

 

We aren't sure when we will be going yet. Probably not this next year although the airfare in April 2011 is quite good which is why I have begun checking into our other travel costs and details more seriously....just to see if we could possibly eke it out. We both need to save quite a bit more money than we have now. We could manage the airfare but not the hotels, meals, and car rentals yet. (I swear my horse is actually eating twenty dollar bills these days instead of grass!!) The other issue is that dear friend's hubby, on board with this idea for the past three years, is now wavering quite a bit......oh, it's fine to spend two or three weeks alone with the kidlets in theory, but not in practice apparently. So, if she backs out....I'll be taking Dh and we'll call it our 25th wedding anniversary trip even if it is a couple of years early. Dh is hilarious though, he said that if friend and I go, I have to sign a contract promising to return on schedule. He believes we might have toooooo much fun and leave him single for an extended period.

 

Love Dh, he's the best. But, sometimes I just have to wonder how he functioned in life before I came along!!!!LOL

 

Faith

[Violet Crown]

Our family spent most of the summer in Scotland, with no car. Travel by public transit was very easy. Use this site:

 

http://www.travelline.co.uk/Traveline/Welcome.html

 

(Now we actually used this one:

 

http://www.travelinescotland.com/welcome.do )

 

Every place in the UK has a postcode. These are much more precise than American zip codes: for instance, the code for the place we stayed covered two houses and the farm across the road. Google will give you the postcode for wherever you want to go. Enter these postcodes into Traveline, and it will tell you exactly how to get where you're going via public transit. Get bus and train passes (and in our case, a little umbrella stroller that could be easily stuck in the storage compartments of trains and coaches), and you're good to go.

 

ETA: It wasn't so much the left-side driving that convinced me not to rent a car, as it was watching the Scots flying through the roundabouts with mysterious rules for yielding (apparently mysterious to some of the Scots, too). No thank you.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Sharon in Austin

[Melinda in VT]

I made DH drive. He doesn't usually drive a stick, so the first few days of our first trip were . . . interesting. We ended up skipping Glastonbury entirely because we could not find parking and the hills were just too much to handle that early in the trip. By the end of the trip, he was a pro.

 

We always made reservations ahead of time, because we were traveling with one or more small children.

 

But I do have a recommendation for a cheap meal. Jacket potato (baked potato) with cheese is available in almost every pub and is hot, filling, and cheap. This was my go-to meal when it was too cold or wet to grab a sandwich and picnic.

[amey311]

We just did 3 weeks in England and have these observations.

 

A. our flight was 8 hours and DH didn't really sleep on the plane. this made the initial driving out of the airport a bit streesful for him. he is a very capable driver with a standard transmission (the foot pedals and gears are arranged in the same order as in the US, FYI), but there were MULTIPLE round-abouts to get out of the airport and heading towards Oxford and those were VERY stress inducing. While we had a GPS with UK maps, it was still quite stress inducing to have to keep track of which exit AND shift gears AND stay on the correct side of the road on very little sleep.

 

B. Most of the street signs are wordless and speed limits aren't clearly marked (apparently UK residents just know that dual carriageways have a 70 MPH speed limit unless otherwise labeled). The GPS knew the speed limit for the various roads. It's definitely worth reading up on the signs/printing out a list so you know what's what.

 

C. We could've rented an automatic transmission car (we rented at the airport), but it was more expensive. We rented at the airport because the day we were returning was a bank holiday, so the local car rental places were closed that Monday as well as the Sunday.

 

D. Crossing from England to Wales is akin to crossing from NY to NJ - you might see a sign, but there isn't border control.

 

E. Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all use the Great British pound. Ireland uses Euros. We were able to get GBP at our local bank. I'm in a major city, though. My mom lives in a smaller city and she had to mail away for some. You can also change money in the airports. My local bank will also "Buy back" GBP notes (not change). The smallest bill is a 5 pound note. You will get 1 and 2 pound coins. The bills are all different colors and sizes - the 20 pound note won't fit in a standard American man's wallet FYI :) DH had to fold them if he carried them - they're taller than his wallet.

 

F. Do read the fine print on your credit cards and bank cards. We found out after we got here that our 2 credit cards charge and "overseas" charge every time we used the card out of the country. We ended up withdrawing cash from an ATM instead because the fee was lower with our bank account.

 

G. Some country roads are REALLY narrow and don't have a shoulder.

 

H. The countryside is GORGEOUS. I loved seeing sheep everywhere.

 

I. Assume it will rain.

 

J. We often got lunch from Tesco as well (they have a $2 meal deal thing that gets you a sandwich or salad, chips or fruit and a drink - it's not the healthiest thing ever, but LOTS cheaper than food at the tourist attractions). Do get "Cream Tea" at some point. Maybe this is touristy, but aside from seeing the Tower of London, that was the one thing I wanted to do. Typical cream tea gets you a pot of tea (roughly 2-3 cups), 2 scones and clotted cream and jam. I found it to be rather filling, and could fill in for lunch depending on how active you were. I had mine in a little tea shop in the Cotswolds. It was lovely.

 

K. Often the major tourist attractions will have information on how to reach them via public transport. Look them up ahead of time. Also look for vouchers for reduced admission. I found the bus drivers in Oxford to be pretty helpful when we needed help on how to get places/when to get off. You don't have to have exact change, but smaller notes and coins do help the process go smoother. There is an extensive underground system in London. Any hotel that you pick in London should be able to tell you how to get to them from the airport.

 

Have a great time!!

[Harriet Vane]

You've gotten some great advice. I'll add my two cents as well.

 

In London, we stayed at a wonderful B&B in the Pimlico neighborhood, called The Blades. Wonderful! It was right off the tube as well, so even though it wasn't as close to Heathrow, it was still easy to get to the airport from the tube.

 

I would NOT recommend the Corbigoe, right across the street from The Blades.

 

In Dartmouth we stayed in a lovely farm B&B called Cott Farm. I recommend it enthusiastically. Lovely area, with a great pub near the farm for dinner needs, and lovely town.

 

Dh has no issues driving in the UK, but he's got a knack for that sort of thing. It was harder to drive in the Dartmouth area because of the high, narrow hedges everywhere. Dh thought it was fun though.

 

Edinburgh and London are expensive!!!

 

In Edinburgh, one of my most favorite historical tours is Mary King's Close. It's totally unique, and absolutely fascinating.

 

I too really liked Stirling Castle.

 

My favorite historical tour, ever, of anywhere I have ever been, is the Tower in London. The Beefeaters make the tour funny and memorable.

 

We were soooo grateful for British pubs--there was always decent food there. A word of warning though--we found Scotland to be a culinary wasteland. Everything was deep fried. We ordered a pizza once, and it was deep fried. Same with some hamburgers we ordered on another occasion. We relied on the local grocery store a lot more in Scotland. We had lots of good food in England (London, Dartmouth, and Leicestershire) though.

 

Bring rain gear. We bought lightweight, good quality rain pants and jackets, and wore waterproof hiking shoes every day. That was a good decision, as it rains in the UK frequently. Dh carried our rain gear in a backpack everywhere we went.

[Violet Crown]

A word of warning though--we found Scotland to be a culinary wasteland. Everything was deep fried. We ordered a pizza once, and it was deep fried. Same with some hamburgers we ordered on another occasion. We relied on the local grocery store a lot more in Scotland.

Unless you're from Texas; we felt right at home.:D The incredible fried fish made up for the absence of chicken-fried steak. But yes, we were often dropping by the Tesco's for carrots and broccoli.

 

Seriously, dh had a colleague there who does research involving stroke victims, who told dh that he does all his work in Scotland, the diet and alcohol usage there leading to high rates of stroke.