Good Day

We are going on a Barge cruise from the 1st-8th October, departure point will be Sawley Marina in Long Eaton.

I would just like to know a few things:
* What is the weather like at this time of year?
* We will be arriving in Nottingham on the 30th to start the barge the next day so we would need to sleep over 1 night, would you recommend we spend one night in Nottingham or Long Eaton, is it easy enough to get from Nottingham to Long Eaton and what is the cost roughly?

That's about it. Hope someone could be of assistance.

Thank You,
Melissa

october in england can be wet and windy, or bright and sunny (but cool. maybe frosty mornings)
where are you arriving FROM?

oh. its a 20 minute taxi ride from central nottingham. If you pre-book I would guess between £8 and £12. you could probably get a bus for a couple of quid each. but might be worth the extra to not struggle with bags

Thank You :-) We are from Cape Town, South Africa but will be arriving from Italy, we'll be there for a short stay before the barge and fly to Birmingham from Milan.

You will probably find it chillier here than we do, especially in the evenings and the early mornings. If you are lucky, you'll have some lovely sunny days....but be prepared to pack for all seasons. Layers are good, and you will almost certainly need waterproof jacket/coat.

It's always chillier on/near water, so a scarf/gloves/hat might be a good idea; you'll be sitting/standing still whilst you steer.

The site below will give you the Long Eaton forecast up to 14 days in advance. Book mark it and check before you fly to the UK. But be aware that the weather really is pretty unpredictable, and that it can change not only from day-to-day but also during one day (often mnore than once)!

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=long%20eaton

With just one change on the train from Birmingham Airport you could take a train just to Long Eaton. I found details of a Novatel there - if you did that you would save some time.www.accorhotels.com/accorhotels/fichehotel/gb/nov/0507/fiche_hotel.shtml

Thank You leics and Brittania.

Would you say it's better to stay over in Nottingham or Long Eaton? We'll only arrive late at night and the barge starts at 14h00 the next day so we wont have much time for sightseeing anyway...

Hi
I would recommend spending the night in Nottingham centre because Long Eaton is not very attractive (it's a bit run-down in fact!)As you have the whole morning you can have a leisurely stroll around the compact shopping, historic area (Market Square and Lace Market/ Hockley) and find a good lunch menu in one of the very many restaurants. As others have said it is probably best to get a taxi to Long Eaton to save hassle of public transport.

You could just go to the hotel in Long Eaton when you arrive in the town and stay there until its time to go to the barge but if you are prepared to travel Saturday I would agree that Nottingham would be the best place to spend Saturday morning. There are regular trains to Long Eaton ( you can take a tram down to Nottingham station from the city centre to save a longish walk too). Or as the poster above said - take a taxi.

I've just checked out the Britannia Nottingham Hotel website as this is very central,160 rooms,next to the castle. A standard double is £59 but I'm sure you could negociate for a better deal. The Hilton costs £80 and is right next to the taxi rank :)

If you going through Audlem in Cheshire I have some photos of the canal on my Audlem page.

I live in Long Eaton, and i'd probably suggest that it'll be best to spend the night in nottingham. there's only about two hotels in long eaton, but they are quite a way from the centre.

If you catch the rainbow 5 from nottingham to long eaton, it costs about £2.20 for a one way ticket. You can catch it from either friar lane (where the market square is) or from broadmarsh bus station.it takes about 30-40 mins. hope this helps!