United Kingdom Travel Forum

We are coming in by cruise ship in September. What is the fastest way to get to Edinburgh?

I'd like to know the best things for us to see during a short trip to Chester. Are there any must-see National Trust places, museums etc.? Also, if someone could recommend a terrific restaurant in the city itself for dinner, that would also be welcome.

Thanks!

I have no idea what to ask, but I might be visiting Belfast some time in August. All I know is that I'll be setting sail from Bergen, and if the wind permits, I might make it all the way to Belfast. I won't ask about the beer since I know I'll enjoy anything the tap will give me. I also know I will enjoy any type of Irish whisky....oppps sorry, whiskEy as it's bound to be good. And I don't need to ask about the people as I already have met a few of them here and there. The nature and countryside will also guaranteed be welcoming to the eye. So what is there left to ask???

Our family plans to visit London. Is it safe, to park our car for 1 week at Leatherhead railway station ?, so we can visit London by train, bus and metro. We are willing to pay for a safe parking place.
Greetings from Holland,
Aries.

Thanks ...we are staying in Chigwell, zone 4...it is a bit if a trip in to the center but this is where we have exchanged houses with another family.
I'll check the transport site but as we are not native Londoners I don't always understand everything. Would it pay to buy from there? We will have a car after the 7 days as we are doing some touring and return to the airport by car.
Is Heathrow in zone 4? The transport authority gave us two routes to get the Heathrow to Chigwell. They did not answer about the coinnection of buying a ticket for the tube at a railway station as we have been advised by VT members.

Hi There,

I am trying to arrange a 30th bday trip away in Early December for a group of 7 males.......The pre-requisite is "not a City a city break". so have found some awsome accomidation in chale on the south coast of the island.

We plan to spend a couple of nights at the lodge playing cards etc but would like one big night out with a classy lively friendly atmosphere till the wee hours of the morning.

What is Isle of white like in December?

Where do the youngish people go?

Does anyone have any ideas?

Any help would be really appreciated as i have exhausted google with not much joy :-(

Many thanks
Jonnie&Jessie

is there a railway station at Heathrow?

I am taking my 2 13-year old grandchildren on a "Capital European Capitals" tour in two weeks. We start in London, and I have a question about Speaker's Corner and about the London Eye.
Does anyone know how early in the morning the "speakers" gather in Hyde Park? I read somewhere in the afternoon, most sites say in the morning, but they don't say how early. 10:00? 9:00? Earlier?
Also I wonder how dependable the "flight times" are for the London Eye. If we book a flight for 2:00, how good are our chances of boarding anywhere near that time? I'm sure this attraction is mobbed, but I don't know whether they really stay on schedule. Anybody who's experienced this adventure?
Thanks,
Pat

Can you advise me at what times the monks chant days and times thankyou.

We are leaving from USA to Scotland tonight for 4 days.
The rough plan is:
Day 1: arriving in Edinburgh at about 8am, walk around Edinburgh whole day, stay overnight.
Day 2: take a morning train to Stirling, walk around for 2-3 hours, rent a car and drive towards Inverness. Overnight at Inverness.
Day 3: Drive towards Isle of Skye, overnight there
Day 4: Drive towards Glasgow, arrive in the evening, sleep and fly out next morning

These are just end stops. What will be the best places to visit along this route? Any detours worth taking? Any "must see" places?
Any other advices?

Hi !

I´m going to London on SaturdaY and I´m staying there for about three weeks.Can you please advise and recommend me any cheap car rentals or any web page that is good to rent cars? Thanks

so, easyjet is not so cheap!! any other way to get to berlin that you know about? i live in the the us, so am not familiar with ferry system, would it be any less expensive to take the ferry and train? fares for dates i need on easyjet are about 70 quid each way! thanks for any help! susan

Could anyone tell me the approx fare from the Holiday Inn Heathrow to Heathrow Airport please.
Thanks

Hello Everyone!

We will fly into Heathrow T1 on Cyprus Airways and out of T5 on BA in Sept with about a 10-hour delay in between. And then on the way back from Canada vice versa. Into T5 and out of T1 again with a long delay.

Does anyone know about luggage storage at either Heathrow or Paddington Station? We would likely use the time to take the Paddington Express into London, and more than likely it would be too early to check-in directly ahead of time. Or would it be?

Thank you for your advice. Cheers. MrBill.

As it is almost July, am wondering if anyone knows of additional deals or discounts available from July 13th to 23rd for tourist sites? Have seen the national rail ones. (anything else?)
Someone said if you buy a 7 day paper ticket for metro
at a railway station this is good enough. Is this true? What if we
buy it at Heathrow? Can we use this 7 day ticket (we'll need a 4 zone) as we are with friends in Chigwell, from the airport? Also is it good on buses and trams?
Lastly is thereanything near Chigwell worth doing? Our friends are new to the area.

am at a bit of a loss as to which hotel to book in Brighton. will be staying alone but can’t imagine spending too much to me in room as heading to Brighton to go to a friend’s wedding but will be staying for a week has . Is there any hotels that are apartment style with kitchenette don’t want to have to go out for something to eat every morning. Moderate price bracket looking for September

Does anyone know if the St. Giles is a nice place to stay? Any ideas for rooms for seven, preferably with kitchen facilities? We would all like to be together in an apartment style situation.
Thanks!!

My husband and I will be in Scotland for a week at the end of October. I really need help making a schedule. This is a rough idea of what we are planning, but I am thinking that we may be planning way too much. October 24 Arrive Edinburgh pick up car at airport-drive to Pitlochry, dinner and overnight
October 25-drive through Inverness, then on to Skye, overnight in Skye
October 26-Spend the day in Skye, overnight in Skye
October 27-leave early and drive to Oban-do a day trip to Mull and Iona, overnight in Oban area
October 28-drive from Oban to Edinburgh, overnight in Edinburgh
October 29-Edinburgh
October 30-Edinburgh
October 31-Leave for home My husband has a work conference in Edinburgh October 29 and 30.

Any advice on this schedule? I am considering skipping Inverness, but had read that the drive from Inverness to Skye is beautiful. My husband loves Laphroaig scotch and would love to visit Islay, but we are having a hard time trying to squeeze that in-lots of travel time. If we stick to the route above could someone suggest a distillery that has a good tour. Thanks so much!

Have you any idea where this photo is?
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/Z92Pos16iYLhfp9XjwW8KA?feat=directlink

It looks like London, but could equally well be anywhere, such as Edinburgh. There's no traffic, so roads might be closed for eg a cycle race. The Chinese character (upside down) next to the word SEVEN means 'warm'.

Found on the internet - my gilfriend (name of Seven) would like to know!

Can anyone tell me if there is any public bus service around Gatwick Airport. At Heathrow, if you want to get to one of the nearby hotels, the public bus service is free. Can anyone tell me if it is the same at Gatwick. I know there is a shuttle service but this costs £4 each way and I am on a tight budget. I need to get to the Mercure hotel very near the airport.
Thank you. Graham

Hi,
I am planning a trip to Scotland in Aug. Will be arriving into maybe Inverness frm Dublin on 01ug. I have slightly more than 1wk to spend in Scotland. Any suggestions as to where I should go? I intend to hve my final stop in Edinburg before flying to london. I do intend to drive around while in Scotland. Pse..VT members any suggestions on routing and also accomodations will be of great help. Hear from you soon...many thanks. Cheers!

Hi

When is the best time to visit the Houses of Parliament? As a UK resident, I applied to my MP last year for a free visit, but the waiting list is that long that their office said it will be this winter at the earliest before I get a visit.

I've seen that in the parliamentary summer recess you can pay to book tickets for around £12.

I wonder if anyone has visited Parliament or has any knowledge of it and could advise me as to whether I should take a summer paid-for visit, or wait until winter for my freebie. At £12 , the cost isn't that much of an issue, but I wondered about the atmosphere of Parliament in the summer recess as Parliament won't be sitting and that means also that there will be no MP's milling about which I would imagine adds to the sense of occasion for want of a better phrase.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Maria

Hi,
Another question sorry,
How does the mobile phone system work in europe? Can we buy a phone card to cover the whole of western europe,and does this give us a new number?
Thanks again

Hi,
we will be arriving in london late afternoon, and staying close by victoria station. Is this a good and safe area to stay? Also,we wont be arriving to our hotel until maybe 5pm, are all the sunday markets closed by then?
Thank you

Hi all. My wife and I will be in York in February of 2010 and then possibly on to Whitby for a couple of days. From there we are not sure. I am a big fan of all things Roman and would love to see Hadrian's Wall. My question is- Would this be a good time to visit the wall ( dead of winter ) or should I save this for another trip? If you think its a good time what city or town would you recommend staying in for 2 nights in order to catch this wonderful piece of world history?
Thanks in advance
Dirk Hansen

Hello everyone,

First of all thank you to all that post extremely helpful info for advice seekers such as myself. I came across this website and have been reading a lot but, also am lost at the same time. I figured the best thing to do will be to ask direct qtns, maybe get specific help.

So as title says, my fiancee and I getting married in july and will begin our honeymoon in london where we will spend 5 days and 5 nights in august. We are still students and are on a modest budget. Hence, need to find possibly best deals on hotels for our accomodation and do as much research as possible to avoid paying for tour guides etc so we can do most of the touring ourselves.

Qtn # 1. I wanted to treat my wife to a very special day on our first day in london. I thought I would pick one of the better quality hotels out there where we can spend the day (spa service, flowers etc...). Are there any recommendations??? The budget would be say 150-300 U.S. dollars for that day and night???

Qtn # 2. Following this first day, I wanted to move into a more average hotel where the price would be substantially lower but, still worthy of a honeymoon stay. Any recommendations for this??? I have seen so many several hotels that I am truly lost as to which one is better over the other.

Qtn # 3. Where can I get an online train map as well as a city map of london? Does anybody know of a resourceful site where I can obtain this so I can map out my visit prior to arriving there?

Qtn # 4. Will it be wise within this 4 days to visit Dover (I heard it is really beautiful there). Maybe spend the night there. Also, are there any cruises that we can go out on for 1 day or so? I think it would be really romantic to spend some time on the water.

Lots of material. I hope ppl still read these posts. Any answers to qtns will be much much much appreciated by both of us!!!!!!!!!!! It would mean a lot. God Bless, I hope to hear from all of you.

does anybody know if heathrow terminal 1 has free wifi access?

I am looking at an apartment for a week in mid December for a family with young adult children.Is this a good area for night life and public transport?
Or would the city be better?
Thank you

Hi guys,

I am cathing a international flight out from Gatwick Airport (North Terminal)at 6.30am and thus need to get to the airport around 4.30am. What is the best way to get to the airport?

So far the best way I found was to catch a National Express Coach bus from London Victoria but the bus only gets to Gatwick Airport and not the Gatwick Airport (North Terminal). Is it easy to get to the North Terminal from where the bus stop? Has anyone taken this route and are able to share some info?

Thanks

Is the battle a worthwhile day trip? Would you be able to add a stop in Rye all in one day?