Help with our first trip to the UK !!!

[Ron from Michigan]

Hi, I'm new to this board and am hoping to get some great advice from everyone in the U.K. My wife and myself will be taking our first trip to London this coming Aug./Sept. We are nervous about the trip since it will be our first time visiting a different country. We are going to be baseing our stay in London for 10 days and exploring London and other parts of England from there. We have plans to travel to Althorp ( Diana's Home ) Bath, Oxford and maybe Isle of Wright. We would like to know what tips we can get from everyone about food, travel, places to see, restrooms etc. We already have tickets for Buckingham Palace and have bought the great heritage pass.Thanks so much for any help, Ron....

 

[florry]

Hello Ron

First of all are you wishing to drive over here ?

Driving in Central London -- best avoided -- we have quite a good underground system which covers most of the main attractions within the city. Also to take a car into the centre of London incurs the congestion charge which I think is about £5 per day. This does not include parking and parking charges in London can be very high.

To get to the other places you mention I think that you will be better off hiring a car.
A good site to visit is www.theaa.com there is a very good route planner on there which gives you the mileage and prefered route to take. they also recommend hotels and car hire companies.

My only piece of advice would be to avoid the M25
This is the main motorway which circles london. It gets very busy at peak times especially.

Food plentifull ! many places to eat at various prices. The service stations on the motorways do tend to be pricey and basic.

There are some beautiful village pubs who do fantastic food near Althrop.

The Isle of Wight ferry runs all the time you can either take your car or go as a foot passenger. You could cover the whole Island in a day if you were in a car.

London, like any major city, gets very busy. Our schools return on 2nd September.
Are you planning on staying in London and taking day trips or are you going to stay over in other towns and Cities ?

I am sure that you will have lots of replies but if I can be of any further help please feel free to ask.

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Ron,

As Florry says, parking is near impossible in Central London. The city is compact though and the underground (subway system) is extensive. Lots of London buses and you can buy tickets that allow unlimited travel within central London. London 'Black Cabs' are everywhere, and unlike in New York, the cab drivers speak English and Know where they are going.There are also open top tourist buses that run between all the major London attractions all day - you buy a ticket and then get on & off wherever you want. I can even give you the name & phone number (PM please) of a London Black cab driver who is also a registered London Tourist guide.

If you are going to rent a car, remember we drive on the left. Remember traffic will be coming at you from the other side and watch out especially at road junctions. If you do decide to drive, Isle of Wight is a bit too far to do as a day trip, if you intend to take your car over. Best take the train from Waterloo to Portsmouth and then the ferry to Ryde. Bath & Oxford have frequent train services too. If you are only here for ten days and are spending most of your time in London, I wouldn't bother with a hire car - just use the regular train service, or have your hotel book you onto an organised coach excursion.

Food: Everything from Macdonalds to fancy French restaurants. Try also a traditional 'pub lunch'.

Restrooms are called toilets over here, or just plain 'ladies' or 'gents'. Public toilets are all over. Some right off the street, plus all tourist attractions, all restaurants & department stores all rail stations and many subway stations.

Tons to see: Don't miss the London Eye for views of central London.

Andrew

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We will not be driving a car while we are there. Florry weare planning on staying in London for our whole trip and just taking day trips to various sites. We have been reading up on your trains and they seem like a great way to go. We have always wanted to travel to the UK so we are very excited. Andrew we are going to do the London Eye, I've heard you should buy tickets well in advance do you know if this is true ? Thanks Again...

 

[Andrew Bichard]

There can be long lines for London Eye at the height of the Tourist Season.

If you buy tickets in advance ( http://www.ba-londoneye.com/ ) you just pick up your tickets when you arrive, then walk to the head of the line at your pre-booked time.

Andrew

 

[witchypoo]

Hi Ron.
I was born and bred in Bath ( and still live in the area) and if you have any questions about the city, I'll be only too happy to help.
Lin xxxxxxxx

 

[londonpenguin]

Ron:

In my travels to England, I've found that the cafeterias/restaurants at museums and other major sights are surprisingly good and reasonably priced. Also, for a quick and inexpensive lunch or even dinner, check out the refrigerator section at a Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's or Boots: the pre-made sandwiches aren't bad, and you can get a bag of crisps, a drink and a chocolate bar for around £5-6. The dollar-to-pound exchange rate currently (excuse my vocabulary) sucks, so value for money really counts.

Also, two other fun day (or half-day) trips out of London are Windsor and Hampton Court. The train fare is cheap too!

Teresa

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for all the help everybody. We have been planning this trip for quite a while and our really excited. We know we will be doing a lot of the so called tourist things, but we are also looking forward to relaxing and just going for long walks and seeing the non tourist parts of the U.K.

 

[florry]

Call in to St Albans if you get a chance.. 20 min train ride from Kings cross station in London.

We have a beautiful cathedral, tudor buildings and the infamous Verulanium with the Roman ruins, including a roman theatre and museum.

We have a fabulous street market on Wednesdays and Saturdays which attracts folk from all over the country. We also have some lovely little street cafes aswell as some fine restuarants.

For more information visit www.stalbans.gov.uk

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Florry , St Albans sounds great. We will have to make a point of doing it one day. We are going to be staying at the Abbey Court Hotel in London.

 

[TZMOM]

Hi Ron - my DS & I are travelling to London this August as well and I can certainly share your excitement/planning anxiety as this, too, is our first trip abroad.

From what I've read, pre-book tix at London Eye are a must. I've also been browsing the bulletin boards at Frommers.com and Trafalgar & Insight Tours which have also been of benefit.

I have booked a 1/2 day tour w/Astral Travel to go to Stonehenge only. This particular tour lets you walk within the "rocks" after the rest of the visitors have left. Not sure if that would interest you - but my DS (14) is "mad excited" to do that.

You could also write to the Tower of London for tickets (free) to the Ceremony of the Keys which takes place every night at 9:30 p.m. There are only a certain number of tickets available for this ceremony each night. Not sure what this will be, but it just seems like a different and "neat" (for lack of a better word) thing to do.

Also check out London walks - some of which seem pretty interesting and inexpensive!!!

The people on this board are extremely helpful, as I'm sure you've already seen, and will answer your questions as well.

Good Luck planning & have a fantastic time!!

Jane

 

[florry]

Just a thought- our bank holiday is on Monday 30th August.


It means that some of the main train services in and out of London run a Sunday service which are not as frequent as weekdays.

Also some smaller shops will close but the larger ones remain open but for shorter hours e.g 11 - 5 or 10 - 4

Because most people have this day off work it also means that the main attrations will be busy. It is also the last week of the school holidays here.

Personally, I think it would be a good day to get out of the city and visit some of the places you mentioned Ron.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks TZMOM for the advice. Glad to hear that you are also going to be in the UK for the first time this summer. I am going to book the London Eye later tonight so I will have that taken care of. The Tour to Stonehenge sure sounds neat, that is one of the things we were thinking of doing so I will have to give it a thought. We recieved our tickets in the mail last week for touring Buckingham palace so that is one thing out of the way. We have also booked Althorp & Windsor castle. Do you know where you are going to be staying yet ? From what I hear the train transportation in the UK is very good, so I am thinking maybe we will travel that way. My wife says we have got to go to Harrod's, so we will be doing that one day also. We bought The Great Heritage pass off of Rick Steves website also last week, it sounded like a great pass to get since it covers so many places.



florry ,thanks for the tip about the holiday, maybe we will head up your way on the Sunday before. From viewing the website about your area it sure does sound like a great place to visit. I see you will be at the Animal Kingdom Lodge before long, is this your first time staying here ?

 

[Andrew Bichard]

Ron,

One more website for you to check out. The National Railways website at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk allows you to check out train timetables & ticket prices in advance, including special discounts. You can even book tickets online. There is also a section on engineering works, which are often carried out at weekends or public holidays when there are fewer commuters.

I will offer an alternative view to florry's. Beware of sundays and public holidays especially when the weather is hot & sunny. On such days all the locals come out to play and tourist numbers can double. A lot of Londoners will abandon the city on weekends and holidays and head for the country or the seaside. Traffic on the roads heading out of London on late afternoon & evening on Friday and back again Sunday can be a nightmare - another good reason not to drive. You will also get the 'day trippers' adding to numbers at weekends and public holidays.

Tourist attractions both in London and outside will alway be quietest mid week when the locals are at work.

Andrew

 

[florry]

Yes Ron this will be our first visit to AKL and Bahama Bay.

We have stayed along the I27 at Highlands Reserve last year.



Really looking forward to this trip because we have planned almost every day so that we don't miss anything !






my counters not moving fast enough !

 

[vernon]

For travelling outside of London on public transport I would echo the ideas on checking timetables etc, Sundays and bank holidays run reduced services. You will get drastically reduced fares if you travel after 10.00 on weekdays or at anytime on the weekends. The subway (tube) do run less frequently at weekends, but it's still a pretty good service.

If you're planning on visiting Bath I would suggest thinking about staying over night to give yourself at least a day and a half to explore the city. If you want to spoil yourself Bath has a fantastic hotel in the shape of the Royal Cresent Hotel for one night it shouldnt hurt the bank balance too much. http://www.royalcrescent.co.uk/ .

London itself has so much to do I would advise caution over trying to spread yourself too thin by trying to cover too much ground. you could easily find you spend all your time travelling and little enjoying what's on offer. There are some fantastic places to visit that are an hour or so's journey from central London. These would include Hampton Court Palace ( http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/home.asp ) , Leed's Castle ( http://www.leeds-castle.com/ ) , Hever castle ( http://www.hevercastle.co.uk/ ) and Windsor. If you look at 3 or 4 day trips from London, Buckingham Palace, a day at Harrods (strongly recommended ) and some time in the excellent (FREE) museums and art galleries around London you're pretty much filled up your time. A walking trip you might like to consider is the "Jack the Ripper" guided walk. This can easily be worked into any visits to the Tower of London as they are within a very short distance of each other. http://www.britainexpress.com/London/ripper-walk.htm .

Food, London has become one of the foodie capitals of the world with some wonderful restaurants ( with prices to match) if you're interested in trying some on the best feel free to email me with your preferences and I'll try to give you some ideas (including costs).

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the wonderful info vernon. I have been looking over the places to see that are just a short trip from central London.

We are hoping to find good places to eat that our resonably priced, local places that we can not eat at home. With the difference in value of our money to yours, we want to try and eat at good restaurants but not pay a fortune. We will eat any kind of food but my wife does not like chinesse. We are staying at The Abbey Court 174 Sussex Gardens , London

 

[TZMOM]

Hey again Ron!! We're getting in on 8/22/04 & leaving 8/28/04 & staying at the Rubens at the Palace (?). I think it's across the street from Buckingham Palace - got a pretty good deal (or so I'd like to think) on an "Insight Independent Tour". I bought the London Pass - not sure if it was a "deal" or not, but what's done is done. . . . .

We'll be using Hotel Link to take us from the airport to the hotel & back. That was included w/our tour, but I think they also have a website.

I have no clue what to expect - but can't wait to get there. Have a fantastic time!!! Send me a PM if you'd like - we can talk about our trips!!!!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Hey TZMOM , glad to hear from you again. We will be arriving the day after you leave 8/29 till 9/10. When we get home we will have to e-mail each other about our trips. Are you going to tour Buckingham palace? it's only open for tours in Aug./Sept.

 

[TZMOM]

Yep - we'll go see the Queen's house. I haven't ordered tix yet as our London Pass gives us admits to The Queen's Gallery & the Royal Mews. I figured we'd get all three tix at one time since the Palace & Gallery are timed tickets.

Have a wonderful time!!! I can't wait to get there now. Just a little apprehensive about the flight over, but hopefully we'll be able to sleep a bit.

See ya