An English Vacation

[Stoliman]

Mr. and Mrs. Stoliman, along with the two daughters Stoliman, are heading to England for a 10 day vacation in late July - early August.  We intend to fly into London, then head to Bath, rent a car and drive a counter-clockwise route around the island.  No Ireland, and maybe no Scotland due to time constraints.  Do any of you Brits have any recommendations on what to do and not do?  Further, we would like to do the B&B thing, any recommendations there?

[mietla]

Not a Brit, but I loved my trip there. See London, York, Edinburgh and Lake District.

There is sure much more to see, but I just loved the places I've seen. Have to go back some time.

[mietla]

BTW, Beet1e was kind enough to meet me at the Heathrow airport. Good times.

[Furball]

Should take in Cambridge, go to Duxford and go to some ex-8th AF bases while you are around that area.

Stonehenge while you are in the south west, also Cornwall/Devon is really nice, London (so much to see and do, will need a few days i think), Dover castle in the south east, lake district in NW.  Also, if you wanted you could go over the channel to France for the day, it doesn't take long at all from Dover on the ferry.  After being in the vastness of America, i think you will find the difference in culture in the space of 20 miles or so quite incredible

When i went round the States, i had a lonely planet guide which helped me a lot - they do one for England too.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/england/

Good choice avoiding the barbarians in Wales and Scotland, although i hear Wales is good for seeing English castles.

[Dowding]

Go see Durham, I was at university there. I think you'll appreciate it - especially the huge cathedral, castle and river. Really picturesque - Bill Bryson is a big fan and is Chancellor of the university.





Don't go see Doncaster. It's rubbish.

[Wobbly]

10 days for driving round the whole of England? - whilst its pretty small by US standards, you need to be aware of the density of the traffic and average speeds, otherwise you will spend most of the time in the car and wont see much. Unless you want to stick to Motorways (boring), the A Roads can get clogged, I'm in the south west and you are lucky to average 40mph due to trucks, caravans, tractors, old biddies in Nissan Micras etc.

I am just saying just dont be too ambitious.

July/August is school holidays here so make sure you book accomodation in good time. A fall back would be the souless Travel Lodges which are about £50 per room per night (no food)

Depends what you are looking for, scenery, culture, old stuff etc. I wouldnt go further north than Birmingham in that time (but dont go to Birmingham)

Scenery - Cotswolds, Cheddar Gorge, Brecon Beacons, North Devon Coast, South Devon/Dorset Coast
Old Stuff - Bath, Wells Cathedral, Warwick Castle, Windsor Castle, Stone Henge, Portsmouth Dockyard (Victory/Mary Rose)

Military - Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset, aircraft museums

Obvioulsy if you are venturing in to London there is loads of stuff to do

Anyway, have a great time, hope it doesnt rain like it did last summer 

[Stoliman]

Thanks very much for the input!

[ROX]

Stoli...PM gpwurzel or make contact with him on this thread.

Gary is GREAT PEOPLE and might know some good cost places...of course, give him a wish list of the things you want to accomplish.

10 Flippin days and you dont have time to see Scotland or Ireland?  Jeesh!  Are you walking the whole time with your luggege duct taped to your back??   Your not swimming there are you?   

London is a given, Plymouth is a given, Glasgow/Edinbourough is a given.  Depending on how much of a history nut you are dictates the rest.  To quote Eddie Izzard..."Europe, because...uhhhmmm...that where all the history is."

You know about trains & car ferries, right?  Check the cost/times and see if you can make it.

Their highway system is as good or better than ours, they just drive on the other side of the road is all.

[mietla]

  To quote Eddie Izzard..."Europe, because...uhhhmmm...that where all the history is."

Eddie on American English:

You say "erbs" we says "herbs" ... because there a f*ng "h" in it.

[Angus]

London, York, Durham, Edinburgh then depending...Scotland or not, if, then past Loch Ness, down to Loch Lomond, past or through Glasgow, ..down the other side Lake district Past or through Liverpool, Wales or not? If so, all the way to Angelsey and theneither south, but Chester is also a nice city, thengo down to Cornwall and along the south coast.
From what I've heard, the Lake district is pretty crowded in the summer.
Just my 5 pence....

[rogerdee]

remember when you are driving there are a lot of different speed limits.
Trucks can only go at the most 40mph on a single lane road so if you get behind one on a country road
dont get too stressed.Alot of the towns have 30mph limits.

If you get a chance try the london eye on a great day you get a really good view of london,then of course you got buckingham palace and big ben.Duxford is a nice family friendly place to visit and you can get up close to a few of the planes.There's a nice 8th airforce hall there now.

The lake area is nice if you in to countryside.
You should be lucky with the weather we suppose to be hot and sunny for a while

[gpwurzel]

Stoliman, if I can be of any help, lemme know fella. London Eye is a definite good thing to do, dont know much about Bath however.

Wurzel

[ghi]

, rent a car and drive a counterclockwise route around the island. 

Driving was my worst experience in UK, i used to work for Princess Cruises , in the Summer of "97, we used to run cruises on Royal Princess ,from Dover as base port to Scandinavia,Baltic Sea,Mediterranean and i rented a car, in Dover: i drove it to the first first intersection and when i seen all traffic HOing, i took it easy back to rental place  and got a cab. I did drive some of those bike motorscuter in Bermuda on left side before that, but was different not so much traffic. Be careful driving there, i think it takes time to get used driving on left side of the road.

[Angus]

London:
IWM
HMS Belfast
British Museum
The Eye
Tower Castle
Buckingham Palace
Arrrghhh, it goes on for ever....Madame Tussaud's, The theaters, Piccadilly and Leicester Square at night, Tower Bridge, Big Ben and Westminster, non-stop.....

[AWMac]

The London Bridge is a must see!