Bucket list trip to Uk

[Bixby]

My wife and I are planning  a trip to the UK this summer. Planning to lookup any records of our ancestors...

i am related to a man  named " Edward Doty or Doughty" who was on the "Mayflower".

Any way, I was hoping for any tips you Brits you have have for travelling by rental cars along the UK.

[Bixby]

Thing about late June or July

[TyFoo]

Bixby,

I just sent a PM, but it looks like it may not have went through?

[guncrasher]

don't stand in the English rain, you'll get a tan.

have fun



semp

[nrshida]

The Royal Air Force Museum London (for there is another) is well worth a visit for any AH player if Mrs. Bixby can be bribed, blackmailed or otherwise coerced. You can easily spend a solid day there and there is no entrance fee (although you can reserve online). It's just outside of London (North) at the old Hendon Aerodrome (Grahame Park Way, London, NW9 5LL).

The Natural History Museum is also fantastic - I think it is free admission. Central London. Also the the epic British Museum which is internationally Ranked third with a collection of 8 million objects (not all on display at once!). The tank museum way down South in Bovington. There you can see the Tiger from Saving Ryan's Privates, err no Fury.

Got to have a curry. Find an authentic Indian place and brace yourselves. Note that several famous Indian dishes originate in the UK like Balti and Tikka Masala. If you're into archeology take a trip on the London Underground. That's ancient, some of which was originally steam-powered. They have flat-black mice down there that are hard to spot. People lived down there in the Blitz.

There's also an epic Jack the Ripper guided tour. They think now it was Tom Cruise last I heard. It's just generally extremely old and an exercise in entropy, especially after Brexit. Keep your wits about you in cities as there are hominids more ancient and primitive than the Neanderthal wandering around in Adidas track suits.


This is all assuming you're heading South. If you're centred elsewhere there can be interesting things in random places especially the countryside which can be breath-taking. It's not massively large by American standards but it's long. So although you can't be more than about 75-miles from the coast don't underestimate the distances tip to tail.

Doughty sounds Irish / Celtic / Gaelic. All intermingled down through the centuries. Fascinating.

[CptTrips]

Any way, I was hoping for any tips you Brits you have have for travelling by rental cars along the UK.

Are you used to driving on the wrong side of the road? 

I think I could do ok until I came to an intersection.

 

Oh and bring your own ice cubes.  Getting ice cubes out of Brits is like asking for the Crown Jewels. 
Ordered ice tea.  Came with two like two ice cubes.  Aske politely if I could have more ice, they brought it back with like 3 ice cubes.

Bath was a beautiful city though.  Recommend stopping there if you can.

[Rocco]

I've been twice, in 2018 and early 2020 (just before lockdowns started).

For London
- I don't know what the locals would have to say about driving in London but as a visitor it looked like a nightmare. We used transit to get everywhere, it was surprisingly cheap and easy. Just avoid the trains during rush hour (we would just find a pub to wait it out), and check for line closures before you go out for the day.
- as mentioned the RAF London museum is 100% worth it. Free entry but you can sit in a Spit XVI for a fee. Great WW2 and WW1 exhibits. My wife even enjoyed it. Though I still had to go to a musical that night as payment haha
- most public museums are free. We picked up a pass our first trip that covered all the tourist places. Churchill war rooms, tower of London, tower bridge, Westminster, st Paul's, and HMS Belfast were all included I think. Ended up being a lot cheaper than buying tickets individually.
- explore the pubs, if that's your thing. Some great old pubs hidden away, dating back centuries. My faves : prospect of Whitby (pirate pub on the Thames), ten bells (jack the Ripper victims drank there), ye Olde Mitre, Cheshire cheese, and if wine is your drink Gordon's Wine Bar by Charing Cross. Really can't go wrong
-hampton court was really interesting if you're into Tudor England. It's a good day trip. IIRC there is an entrance fee

Outside of London:
- we mostly travelled by train, but that was really easy to do. We have friends in Aberdeen that drove us around a bit. Get used to backwards traffic circles, they go through them kinda aggressively.
- Aberdeen itself is more of an industrial city, mostly supports the offshore oil rigs. Has a really nice beachfront though. And great hiking just out of town
- Leeds is a really cool town during the day with friendly ppl. It becomes a whole different beast at night, at least where we were staying. We stopped in Leeds because my wife's ancestors were from there. Found their marriage records at a local church. Also the royal armory museum was well worth a look.
-if you're going to Scotland (some of my ancestors were from Scotland), highly recommend checking out Isle of Skye. Did a 3 day tour there and it was amazing. Really relaxing and beautiful scenery.
- Edinburgh is a cool city, though only stayed one night. Edinburgh castle is something to see.
- Glasgow is ok. It's a great jumping off point to explore the rest of Scotland

[potsNpans]

Any Castle's worth a tour, take a boxed lunch a have a seat on the thrown.

[Eagler]

Enjoy the tiny car, tiny roads and roundabouts!

Wishing you the rare clear skies over England when you visit..we had them in 2012 when we visted our son at RAF Croughton!

Eagler

[LCADolby]

The Pilgrim Fathers originated in my home town of Boston. Don't go there. Best advise I can give you.

[xbrit]

The other RAF museum Shida mentioned is at RAF Cosford, Lysander Ave, Cosford, Shifnal TF11 8UP. Also well worth the time and money is a trip to the Tower of London.

[Brooke]

I highly recommend:

-- Westminster Abbey
-- British Museum
-- Churchill/Cabinet War Rooms
-- RAF Museum London
-- Tower of London
-- Any British pub that's been around for a long time to get English Breakfast and a beer (we went to the White Horse).
-- Fish and chips
-- A curry

My wife and I visited London in late 2008, and met Wurzel, Mrs. Wurzel, and SF3, who were great to us and are great people:

[fd ski]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b538ndRV9Do



Just kidding.

[LCADolby]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b538ndRV9Do



Just kidding.

 

[GasTeddy]

Are you used to driving on the wrong side of the road? 

I think I could do ok until I came to an intersection.

Last time I drove there I heard traffic warning in radio, which told there was someone driving on a wrong side west of London, on a same road I was driving. Hell no, they told just one car, but I can tell you there were hundreds on a wrong lane!   

To be honest, it's surprisingly easy and when you hit the first roundabout, just look which way the others are doing it. And if there are no others, then it does not matter how you navigate around.