1st Trip to England - Currency Question

[betsyboop]

Sorry if this is a stupid question.

We are going on our first trip to England next week, and will also be visiting France.

Do I need to by British Pounds for England and Euros for France?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[Ang1e]

Hi Betsy

you're right you need to buy both currencies.

Hope you enjoy your trip :)

[betsyboop]

Thank you!

That's what I thought, but I just wanted to make sure!

Any suggestions for places (other than London) that we absolutely have to see?

[Cyrano]

Do I need to by British Pounds for England and Euros for France?
Yes, unfortunately we have not joined the rest of Europe but maybe one day :woohoo:

[florida sun]

Yes thank goodness, we still have our british pound ;) Enjoy your trip, hope you have a wonderful time :thumbsup2

[Minniespal]

Enjoy your trip ~ Hope you have a fantastic time.

[Lizzy Lemon]

Depends how long you are going to be here. Do you want history, scenery or well known landmarks. Personally I would suggest Lake District it is just beautiful but may be too far for you to go.

Whatever you do, enjoy your visit.

[carolfoy]

Yes thank goodness, we still have our british pound ;) Enjoy your trip, hope you have a wonderful time :thumbsup2

ITA ::yes::

[mehmetdan]

Windsor is a great place and not too far from London. Canterbury is another picturesque place. Both are close to London and easy to travel to. :wave:

[betsyboop]

Thanks for the suggestions.

We'll only be in England for a week. We'll be staying outside of Birmingham, but we'll have a car and a brave husband to do the driving, so we're up to going just about anywhere & doing anything.

Where is the Lake District, and what is in that area?

[kkymmy]

If you're staying near Birmingham definately go for a look around the Bullring Shopping Centre....it's like one of your Malls but its about as good as they get over here!

[carolfoy]

Thanks for the suggestions.

We'll only be in England for a week. We'll be staying outside of Birmingham, but we'll have a car and a brave husband to do the driving, so we're up to going just about anywhere & doing anything.

Where is the Lake District, and what is in that area?

beautiful scenery, Beatrix potter land. its about 3 hours drive north of Birmingham, areas to visit: Lake Windemere, Kendal, Penrith.

[betsyboop]

beautiful scenery, Beatrix potter land. its about 3 hours drive north of Birmingham, areas to visit: Lake Windemere, Kendal, Penrith.

Sounds great! I'll definitely have to do some research!

[Dimplenose]

Warwick Castle is not too far from Birmingham and is stunning. You might also consider a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespear's birthplace). Both would be less than an hour's drive. Oxford (famous for the university) and the nearby Blenheim Palace (Sir Winston Churchill's birth place) would both make an interesting trip for about an hour's drive.

http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/warwick2004/index.asp
http://www.blenheimpalace.com/

Libby

[betsyboop]

Thank you, Libby!

Those are both beautiful!
Would you recommend one over the other, or should we try to see both? Would they take all day, or just a few hours?

[Dimplenose]

At least half a day for each. You might want longer especially if you visit on a special event day (e.g.jousting or birds of prey).

If you have time you could combine Warwick with Stratford, and Blenheim with Oxford as they are near these towns.

They are both very good so if you can't do both just decide if you prefer a castle to a palace!

(If you want to eat at Warwick Castle then go early as the restaurant gets VERY busy at lunch time.)

Libby

[katytrott]

As we are on a Disney site, I thought you might be interested in visiting Pooh Country. Unfortunately it is in the South where as it sounds you will be mostly in the North.
It is a village called Hartfield (near East Grinstead) which stretches into Ashdown Forrest, aka 100 Acre Wood. It is a beautiful walk through the forrest and you can get a map and find all the "enchanted places" that A A Milne wrote about and where the real Christopher Robin (his son) played as a child. You can see the house where Pooh was written, play Pooh sticks on the actual bridge, in fact it's kind of like looking at the map that you see at the start of the classic Disney film. There is a 3 century old shop which Christopher Robin used to visit with his nanny, that has now become a shop dedicated to the stories, called Pooh Corner. Apparently, it has the largest selection of 'Pooh-phernalia' anywhere in the world, partly Disney and partly the original Pooh (my favourite).
If time is short for you though, I would spend it mostly in London, there is SO much to do and see. I love visiting cities all round the world, with New York being my personal favourite, however I still think London beats all the others for tourist attractions. I live an hour from it and regularly do the tourist thing, but I don't think I could ever see it all. My top four not to miss

1: Tower of London

2: Leicester Square/Picadilly Circus/Oxford Street/Trafalgar Square (all close)

3: The museums (Natural History, Science museum, British Museum)

4: The London Eye

I have done the open double decker bus tours quite a few times with visitors, and I really think this is a good way of getting a overview of everything that is worth seeing in a short space of time. You can hop on and off and is well worth the money. I do these kind of tours when I visit cities abroad and I really feel I get a good overall picture of the city, it also helps me to decide where I want to go back to later on in the trip.

Have a great trip.

[betsyboop]

We're trying to decide now what to do in London, so this is good info! Thank you!
On the double decker bus tours, do you need to book those in advance, or is that something we could pick up when we get there?
I've read that we shouldn't try to drive in London - is it really that bad? We could take the train from Birmingham if that would be better.
Is it possible to see your top 4 in one day? I have a map that shows how close they are to one another, but I have no idea how much time we should allow for each one.
Sorry for all the questions - I really do appreciate all the help!

[Lizzy Lemon]

Warwick Castle is magnificent. If you like beautiful buildings Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is lovely, the grounds, scenery and a fabulous stately home. I would give Stratford a miss, don't understand the Americans fascination for Shakespeare.

About London, agree with the choices. London Tour Buses are everywhere, you can hop and off without pre booking, NO don't drive to London, quicker and easier by train. London Eye (the big wheel near Big Ben) is a 40 minutes ride but quite a wait for tickets, museums better in short doses (half a day at a time), Tower of London (all day) shopping in Oxford Street (your choice) a couple of hours is enough for me. I would recommend some time out in one of the parks, just to give you some space. Green Park or Hyde Park near Buckingham Palace, then you can walk down the Mall to Trafalgar Square, art gallery and you will be near to Houses of Parliament and the Wheel. Whatever, enjoy.

[katytrott]

We're trying to decide now what to do in London, so this is good info! Thank you!
On the double decker bus tours, do you need to book those in advance, or is that something we could pick up when we get there?
I've read that we shouldn't try to drive in London - is it really that bad? We could take the train from Birmingham if that would be better.
Is it possible to see your top 4 in one day? I have a map that shows how close they are to one another, but I have no idea how much time we should allow for each one.
Sorry for all the questions - I really do appreciate all the help!

I agree totaly with Lizzy Lemon. DO NOT under any circumstance drive in London. You will not find parking space, and if you do, you will have to remortgage your house to afford to stay in it!! Plus there is congestion charging. Underground is perfectly adequate, however we now use buses as you get places just as quick and get to see all the sights on the way. There are so many sights in London that you pass to get somewhere, you may as well use that time efficiently. There is no physical way you would see all of that in one day, even if you were to stay at each place for an hour. Again, I agree with Lizzie Lemon on the days. I think you could probably do these four in 3 days, depending on how interested you are in British History. However, you would have to pick which museum you want to see. I think you could do just one comfortably in one day maybe two and rush them. Natural History is my personal favourite (but that is a sentimental thing, spent many days as a child in there), if you have ever seen the Disney movie One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing, that was all filmed in there. British Museum is very good and has more ancient Egyptian stuff than the whole of Egypt (obviously not the pyramids etc). I haven't been to the Science museum for years. If doing just one, I would choose The British Museum. If you're not feeling dead on your feet, Covent Garden is a great place for the evening. I'm happy to give more help if needed

[betsyboop]

The London Eye sounds like fun!
I'm not sure about the museums, since we'll have a 17yo and 11yo with us, we may have to just pick one.
Do you have any suggestions for a good place for lunch?

[Lizzy Lemon]

If you want a sit down meal there are loads of places (can't recommend anywhere, we do self catering so we've never done it) but I would grab some sandwiches and have a picnic in the park. The choice is infinite. Hope someone else can help you better than this.

[carolfoy]

The London Eye sounds like fun!
I'm not sure about the museums, since we'll have a 17yo and 11yo with us, we may have to just pick one.
Do you have any suggestions for a good place for lunch?

Theres a rainforest cafe in shaftesbury avenue and there are loads of nice pubs, I'd say go for a real British pub meal, have a pint of old english ale and a hot pot or shepherds pie! or if you want to be really British there are great Indian restaurants at Brick Lane

[Dimplenose]

I usually eat at TGI Friday's near Picadilly Circus if I'm in London for the day, or if I want a cheaper meal Pizza Hut do an all you can eat buffet at lunchtimes for around £5 a person plus drinks (there's one on The Strand but there are a lot about!)

Although very good I'd give the Science Museum and Natural History Museum a miss if you are short of time as a lot of their exhibits are not specific to UK or London. The British Museum is good but my children (12 and 15) can only cope with about 2 hours culture at a time! But you can easily fill your time sight seeing. Tower of London is very interesting, but food in their cafe expensive.

As you've got children I'd recommend Warwick Castle over Blenheim if you have to choose just one.

By the way which side of Birmingham are you staying?

Libby

[mehmetdan]

If you want a good meal try china town....you'll love it. Also make sure you purchase a travel card for zones 1 - 4 so that you can get around quickly. If you fancy something arty go to camden market.

[UKVermonter]

Don't make the same mistake as I did the first time I came To England, I had exchanged to British pounds and got alot of £50 notes, I'm sure at bigger stores you won't have any problem spending them but try and buy fish and chips from a takeaway shop and hand them a £50 note and they will refuse it, unlike the states where you can buy something that is $5 an hand them a $100 bill and won't blink a eye, here they are so worried about fake money they have pens they use to check and even lights they put the money under to check for fakes. never get anything over £20 notes to be safe.

[angel659]

Thank god we still have our british pound.

You will love London. Check out the Natural History Museum its free and the grounds are beautiful. Apparently London Dungoens are good and have a look St Pauls Catherdral where Dianna got married its lovely.

Its probably too far from where your staying but Cornwall has some lovely scenery the beaches are beautiful and Devon has some lovely waterfalls and moors you can look at. If you do go try thier cornish tea (clotted cream and scones with a cup of tea its lovely and thier traditional cornish pasties) I love Cornwall its beautiful and cant wait to go back next year.

Here is a pic of Whipsnade Beach at Newquay Cornwall

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c379/beckhamfan659/P5280009.jpg

:thumbsup2

[aes74]

I love traveling to Europe! We went to France at Christmastime and had a wonderful time. I have desperately wanted to go to England but we couldnt afford it this last time because of the exhange rate. I live here in FL so I see the Brits ponying up big $$$ for stuff here! They make out great!

Thinking about doing the houseswap thing, we live on the water here in Florida with a nice big backyard, so maybe someone will want to switch with us.

Have a GREAT time!!

[betsyboop]

Thank you all for the great responses!

We're getting lots of excellent ideas!

Can anybody tell me realistically how long it will take to drive from north of Birmingham (we'll be in a little place called Barton-under-Needwood) to London?

Where we live, we're used to wide-open spaces, and being able to go about 70-75 miles in an hour. :car:

[Lizzy Lemon]

That little place called Barton under Needwood is 5 minutes away from me. You are about 40 minutes from the centre of Birmingham and we drive at no more than 70 miles an hour on dual carriageways and motorways. Speed cameras all over the place round here. Outskirts of North London I would say about 2 hours.

[betsyboop]

That little place called Barton under Needwood is 5 minutes away from me. You are about 40 minutes from the centre of Birmingham and we drive at no more than 70 miles an hour on dual carriageways and motorways. Speed cameras all over the place round here. Outskirts of North London I would say about 2 hours.

Very Cool!
What is the area like? Are there any open areas around to fly a kite? My older daughter really wants to fly kites :confused3
Thanks for the time estimate. I'll be sure to tell my husband about the cameras -he tends to go a bit faster than he should sometimes :rolleyes:

[kkymmy]

Whilst you are in London if you want some amazing views for free then go to Camden, corss the road and walk past Barclays Bank and Starbucks and keep walking....eventually you will get to Primrose Hill...a very posh area of London and a rather nice park...if you can get to the top of the hill you can see all the panorama of London without spending a ton to get up on the eye or any of the tall buildings. If it's a nice day it'd be great for a picnic but be wary of the wind factor!

Then as a reward for your climb, if you walk down in the direction of the views you see and cross the road you will arrive at London Zoo :woohoo:

[Lizzy Lemon]

Very Cool!
What is the area like? Are there any open areas around to fly a kite? My older daughter really wants to fly kites :confused3
Thanks for the time estimate. I'll be sure to tell my husband about the cameras -he tends to go a bit faster than he should sometimes :rolleyes:
Are you staying with any family or friends that will be able to help you? There are some good kite flying places but not quite sure how to direct you. Calke Abbey (National Trust property) has brilliant grassy kite flying area likewise a place called Foremarke Reservoir which is near to Calke Abbey if you look on the map. In Burton on Trent itself we have a Brewery Museum (Burton is famous for brewing beer) this place also holds the local tourist information office so would be a good place to stop off and pick up some information, shopping is not very clever though, Birmingham is best for that. We are on the border of Derbyshire (peak district - dales and pretty villages). You will also be quite close to Tamworth, they have a Snowdome (indoor skiing, ice skating etc). You will also be able to catch a direct link train to London from Tamworth. When are you coming? I'll PM you if I think of anything else before you leave.

[betsyboop]

Are you staying with any family or friends that will be able to help you? There are some good kite flying places but not quite sure how to direct you. Calke Abbey (National Trust property) has brilliant grassy kite flying area likewise a place called Foremarke Reservoir which is near to Calke Abbey if you look on the map. In Burton on Trent itself we have a Brewery Museum (Burton is famous for brewing beer) this place also holds the local tourist information office so would be a good place to stop off and pick up some information, shopping is not very clever though, Birmingham is best for that. We are on the border of Derbyshire (peak district - dales and pretty villages). You will also be quite close to Tamworth, they have a Snowdome (indoor skiing, ice skating etc). You will also be able to catch a direct link train to London from Tamworth. When are you coming? I'll PM you if I think of anything else before you leave.

We're leaving Friday, and will be there Saturday morning :Pinkbounc :Pinkbounce
Unfortunately, we do not have anyone there that can help us - we'll be on our own.
We'll visit the tourist info place early, and then plan from there!
I am getting so excited!!
You guys have been such a great help, and I very much appreciate everyone's responses :cheer2: :cheer2:

[Lizzy Lemon]

Tourist info in at Coors Museum in Horninglow Street, opposite the Police Station in Burton on Trent. You will be able to follow the brown tourist signs after leaving the A38 at Branston turnoff. There is plenty of parking at this venue. Good luck, enjoy your visit.