Planning stage for a trip to England. Any info appreciated!

[carolfoy]

Hi Jen_UK I agree, I beleive we are staying in the ASMo at the same time?

 

[jen_uk]

Yep, just under 8 months to go! Have you requested a specific building there? I asked for Fantasmic when I booked.

 

[carolfoy]

Asked for toy story, although not really bothered, Me (34) Mum (58 and totally Disney nuts) and my son Callum (10) and our friends Reg (72) Ruth (50) and their son Dan (9). They are total newbies, never even been on a plane so am really looking forward to their first reactions at 'everything Disney'

 

[jen_uk]

Ive been twice before but my husband Alex has never been, he grew up in a small village in Sardinia and doesnt really know anything about Disney World (I think he imagines it as the local fair with people in costumes!!) so I cant wait either to see his reaction when he sees what its really like there!

 

[carolfoy]

BLESS!!! he is going to have THE MOST FANTASTIC TIME!!

 

[SeaSpray]

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't replied sooner. I want you all to know that I appreciate very much all of the info you've posted here. I have started a folder just for this vacation in my "Favorites" section of my computer!

I know this might sound silly, but my entire family loves the movie "A Knight's Tale". How do you all feel about that movie? We don't have royalty over here, and I just LOVE the ending where the prince of England knights Heath Ledger. I love the actor who plays the prince! Heath Ledger isn't too bad either. Heheh. Anyway, we are a family of Americans who love the idea of royalty, chivalry, castles, etc. and are so excited at the thoughts of visiting over there! We also love the Beatles and I think I read on one of the web sites that someone gave, about a tour to visit the Cavern and other old Beatles stomping ground sites. Like I said, we'll be the obvious American tourists while we're there. Even here in our own country when I go visit a new state, I love to check out the typical tourist stuff! I have a feeling that we'll have to make more than one trip over, in order to see everything that we'd like to see.

BONZO! Wow, a blast from the past! I certainly remember you! How have you been??

 

[Clare D]

Hi Seaspray
As you have this love of castles, royalty etc I would check out Amazon as they stock books by Davod Starkey who is the worlds leading royal historian. He has done 3 series here looking at Henry VIII and his wives, Elizabeth 1st and the Monarchy, looking at how the Royal family began in England .
You can also read up on it via the Royals own web site www.royal.gov.uk - very good.
Yes you can tour Liverpool and Sir Paul McCartneys old house is a National Trust property.
Have a great time and happy reading

 

[UK Crowbirds]

Greetings my Lord, Lady, & Young Squires

Being former medieaval re - enactment society members (and Elisa is studying history at University!!) heres our advice for people who want to enjoy Britain and its History.

1) The longer you come the better - the UK is approx. the same size as Florida!!

2) There are hundreds of statley homes and castles across the uk, managed by English Heritage (www.englishheritage.co.uk), The National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) ( I think there is an American branch called the Oak Leaf Foundation) and private see Hudson's Historic Houses & Gardens at www.hudsons.co.uk - they list nearly every private, English Heritage and National Trust castle and house.

3) The Lake District is an excellent area to spend some of your holiday, the whole area is protected and has numorous historical sites including Beatrix Potter's house and Muncaster Castle.

4) if you go to London see a show it is much cheaper than Broadway!!! we would recommend We Will Rock You if you like the rock band Queen, or for more traditional Les Miserables, if you like plays rather than musicals there are many showing in theatres across london, you can even experience Shakespeare's plays, presented as in his time, in the reconstructed Globe Theatre!!!!

5) We have some marvellous world heritage sites such as Stonehenge (definitely worth seeing), Bath, Hadrians Wall (do at same time as lake district) Canterbury and Durham cathedrals etc (listed at http://www.lawhf.gov.uk/LAWHF/inscribed.htm)

6) English Heritage and The National Trust run a programme of events throughtout the summer these can be viewed at the websites and if you plan carefully you could be rubbing shoulders with anyone from cavemen to WW2 soldiers. These events could just involve one or two entertainers, such as our friends Heuristics, or the hundreds involved in the annual Festival of History.

7) we also have a rich sporting heritage and many premiership (soccer) football clubs have museums and stadium tours including our beloved Manchester United, and after which you are always welcome to come for tea!!! (there is also now the new national football museum at Preston North End one of Elisa's regular haunts while at university!!!!!) Preston is also a great base for exploring the north west as the lake district, Manchester, Liverpool and the Blackpool and Fylde coast are all about 1 hour away by car or if you wanna have a day of from driving train.

8) I'd really recomend hiring a car, I Know you're a little reluctant but it does make everything alot more accessible. The exception to this is London, never, ever drive in London.

9) If cost is a consideration, there are lots of nice self catering cottages available.

Please don't hesitate to contact us

 

[dreamflight99]

I would definately agree with Clare that York is a must see if you can come this far north during your trip. The Yorkshire Moors are beautiful and worth a look around too. Make sure you take in some traditional seaside resorts such as Skegness and Blackpool (tacky as anything but they give you a true taste of English holidaying!) Cornwall is an amazing place as are the Scottish highlands and you must take in some old Roman historic sites, St Albans and Chester are brilliant for that, basically you'd need a lifetime to see everything worth seeing! I'm in lovely Leeds which is just south of York, if you need any more info feel free to PM me whenever you want!

Just popping into to say Hello!
DD has received many unconditional offers to universities in England (via UCAS), one was the University of York!! We've heard nothing but wonderful things about the area, and the fabulous reputation of the school (consistently in the top "5" in the UK). Looks like we'll be traveling to England again this fall, helping DD settle-in to begin her college life in her beloved England! There will be many more trips to the mother country over the next 3 years (minimum!)!!

Terry...if you have any queries on traveling, visiting castles, etc., feel free to contact me for any help. We had a lovely 2 1/2 week visit last Nov/Dec., and would be happy to offer any assistance which may benefit you (with planning your own trip across the pond!). From a "meffie" (born in Medford), to a Bostonian...It would be my pleasure. We actually stayed in the Park Lane on Piccadilly, overlooking GREEN park! We could see Buckingham Palace and the London Eye from our windows. The walk to the Palace was about 4 minutes through the park. I could help with transportation, prices, etc. Just give me a shout via PM.

 

[minkydog]

DH & I made a 20th anniversary trip to England a few years ago and we had a blast. Rather than choosing a tour company, we read every trravel book we could get our hands on to get a feel for what we wanted to do. We only had 7 days, so we were somewhat limited. But there were certain things that we really, really wanted to take our time on and I didn't want to be hemmed in by a tour company's schedule.

We opted to stay at a lovely B & B near Victoria Station, not too far from Buckingham Palace. It was an easy walk to the Tube, the trains, the bus station, and several restaurants and pubs. Breakfast was "home-cooked" every morning, which was delightful. The first day we were there, we did buy a Hop On/Hop Off ticket on one of the big red buses so we could get an idea of where we were. Otherwise we used the tube for everything else.and walked. a lot

In 6 days, we saw: Buckingham Palace, Green Park(what's that place where people can give speeches?) Trafalgar square, Cleopatra's needle,the British Museum (twice!) the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Bath, the cathedral in Bath, Cardiff, the Welsh Museum outside of Cardiff(fabulous!), Harrods(!) and I forget what else. The thing my DH keeps talking about is eating lunch in the crypt under St.Pauls.

We are going back next year, in May. We will either go to York or Wales. I love ancient Roman/Viking history and DH wants to see some castles( my feet were hurting from all that walking, so I didn't enjoy the castle in Wales as much). And we want to go back to the British Museum--even though we spent 13 hrs total there, we only saw 40% of the museum. I this time I want to take in a show.

Best of luck. Don't be afraid to strike out on your own. It's the adventure of a lifetime and there is nothing better than getting to talk to the people who live and work there. We even found a young waitress in Bath who offered to make us some sweet tea--she figured out from our accent that we were from the southern US.

cathy--can't wait to go back

 

[Tron[ADS]]

For a good taste of British history, you might want to plan for a day in York, in which you can see a great deal of Roman and Viking stuff (for want of a better word). There is a good underground viking museum place, and the city tour bus is very informative, and well worth doing.

I wouldnt waste your time with Blackpool to be honest...its just full of litter and drunken louts. I could be being overly negative because unfortunately I live there, but I think you would feel you had wasted a day if you visited.