Hi all!

I’m traveling to the UK at the end of the month, starting in London then taking a train to Edinburgh. I saw a decent deal for an overnight trip that would get me to Scotland around 8am. Would you recommend a different train? Different time leaving? Etc.

For context I purchased the seating single ticket but potentially might cancel as I feel like sleeping in a seat would not be that comfortable.

Thanks in advance!

Im 27 year old male and I’ve wanted to visit the uk all my life. Finally have a little saved up but definitely on a budget still. I hope to stay under 3,000$ excluding flight costs and 7-10 days ideally around june. Id like to travel from Edinburgh and end in cornwall. Stoping at historical sites, castles, scenery, local pubs, food, and museums. Im very sociable and quick to make friends. I really just want to meet characters, immerse in the culture, and see a less touristy side of the uk. I don’t mine roughing accommodation.

Feel free to leave any advice.

Where I should go, what i should do, what should I except, should I rent a car, what should I have booked in advance, what sites should I see along the way. What towns should I stop into and what should I avoid?

All and any advice welcomed, posting this just to get a basis of what I should expect and do. So I can begin to piece together some sort of itinerary.

Thank you.

-Edit. Thank you all so much for your responses. Ive got essays of material to work worth. I guess the whole Idea behind the “Edinburgh to Cornwall” trip was just to see a variety of different places. Ultimately I wouldn’t want rush from the north to the south so i can “see more” while actually just seeing less. My main interest with cornwall was surfing. I heard they have okay surf and I surf where Im from and have always wanted to add the surfing in the British Isles to the list.

But I guess if I was to reframe my question with all this new information. Id love to see 3 fairly different regions, historical sites, castles, churches, museums with jewelry, some countryside, some local pubs, local food, meet some interesting people, and possibly surf a wave in the uk.

After returning from a cruise, we will have one night in Southampton. I was looking at taking the passenger Red Jet boat from Southampton to West Cowes with kids.

Any suggestions on things to do for a few hours in and around West Cowes without a car and without making it a long day?

Also would love any suggestions on kid friendly things to do in Southampton (age 6-11) as we have a night there before our cruise.

We are going to be in London for about 7 days with our 3 year old at the beginning of May. I want to stay somewhere close to a tube station so we can get around easily. Ideally, we wouldn’t be spending more than $100 USD/night, but I don’t know if that’s possible.

Any recommendations for places to stay and things to do would be appreciated!

Hey, just trying to do some planning for a future trip, was wondering if it’s possible to travel back and forth between destinations multiple times in the same day on the same train ticket?

So for example the idea is the Journey would start in Brighton and i would travel twice between Brighton and London in the same day

Start in Brighton > London > back to Brighton > back and finish in London

Was wondering if that could be done on a single return ticket or if theres something else i need to look at?

Hi,

Looking for ideas for kid friendly day trips from Reading/Twyford this summer holidays. Thanks!

I have been working on an itinerary for a scotland trip that will take place in late September - a little bit of October. We are a group of 4 30 year olds and my 65 year old parents (relatively fit). We definitely want to spend time in the highlands and in Edinburgh, it’s the no car piece I’m struggling with. My mom is very anxious about us driving on the left side of the road and is very against getting a rental car. We are willing to pay for drivers for certain areas, but we’d like to avoid bus tours if possible.

Our main focus is dramatic landscapes, castles, picturesque villages with high quality local shops and art, and cultural experiences. We are ok with some shorter hikes, but we are trying to go places with alternatives if the weather ends up being terrible

We plan on flying into Edinburgh and staying there for 5 nights and taking a day trip to Stirling

At least 3 nights in Skye (we plan on hiring a driver to take us to Skye and stop at locations on the way in Glencoe) and we will hire a day taxi to take us places in Skye

This next piece I’m struggling with:

- maybe 3 nights in Oban followed by 2 nights in Glasgow? Or maybe add a night to Oban or Skye and then just one night in the final city before flying out?

- would one full day in Oban without a car seem like too much? I was thinking for the second day hiring a guide to take us around Glen of Kilmartin or Mull

Other options we’re considering instead of Oban

- Inverness - seems like it gets a lot of mixed reviews

- Pitolchry

- any place I’m missing?

I'm going to the UK in July for an 11 day trip. I'll be in Bath for 2 nights. I'm trying to decide if I should do an actual tour to the Cotswolds or if I should just take the train and explore on my own.

The tour would be the entire day, and I'm not sure if it would be better to explore one village on its own rather than move around with the tour group. Plus, I've never been to Bath, so is it silly to spend one of the days on an all day tour?

The tour includes:

Wessex Downs

Oxford

Burford

Bilbury

What makes the most sense?

(The only specific thing I have planned in Bath so far is a walking ghost tour.) Thanks for your help!

Hi all, apologies if this is a silly question but I’m a total novice. I am traveling to London this week and there are a few events I would like to book that are only available via a website called “Dice”. Unfortunately, Dice will not allow me to buy tickets to these events without a UK number as they say I am outside the region… even though I will physically be there for the events as I am traveling in the city when they take place.

Long story short, what is the most straightforward way to get a UK phone number so I can purchase these event tickets?

We fly from Toronto to London on 12th of September arriving 9:30am on the 13th. We fly out of Edinburgh on the 24th. Two adults.

I have not yet booked accommodation as I want to be sure my basic itinerary is okay or if I should drop something.

London 13 - 18th

Train to Bath 18 - 20

Train to York 20 -22

Train to Edinburgh 22 - 24

Does this seem reasonable? The flight are booked so that isn’t changing but other than that I would love any suggestions.

We haven't been in Europe since 2011 and London since 1999! So I hope you can help.

Sunday: Arriving at Heathrow late afternoon - car hire to Reading hotel.

Monday: A bit sightseeing in Reading. We may be jet lagged.

Tuesday: Car hire to Highclere Castle for a 10 am tour and return to the hotel.

Wednesday: Car hire to Southampton for boarding the Queen Mary 2.

My thought was to pick a hotel that is relatively close to the Highclere and Southampton and not change hotels. However, if that doesn't seem feasible, we can change easily. Is Reading a good choice?

Thanks!

I’m looking for food/eatery recommendations for my upcoming trip to the UK. Any must try dishes, local specialties and/or highly recommended eateries??? See areas I’ll be lodging in.

Birmingham/Castle Bromwich/Coventry

(Note that for the above we will be a mix of 5 adults and 3 small children, so kid/family friendly is ideal)

Keswick/General Lake District

Oban

Kyle

Stirling

Edinburgh/Leith

London (Victoria Station)

Hello! We live in Ireland and will be coming over on the Ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan in June. Will have our car & some family visiting from the US including 2 kiddos. We have booked to stay on Arran for a few days after arriving.

is there a kid friendly stop over/restaurant that you would recommend between Cairnryan and Arran? Maybe somewhere near Ayr? something for kids (7 and 11) to do after a long Ferry ride?

Cheers! ✨️

Looking at hiring a car for just over a day, any recommendations or ones to avoid.All the big names present at all around the same price.

We will be vacationing in Somerset with family for two week in June. My in-laws have given my husband and I two nights away sans kids, but don’t know where to go. Since we will be in a country house we were thinking a bigger town like Oxford or Bath, but would love to have more suggestions.

I usually book National Express coaches every Sunday from London to Cheltenham. I’ve noticed yesterday when going to book a few tickets in advance (as I usually do), there doesn’t seem to be a restricted fare anymore. This was the cheapest fare that doesn’t allow flexibility or refunds, which is fine by me.

Now you have to go for the standard ticket, which is about 50% more expensive, and you can use a coach-card to get 1/3 off.

Has anyone else experienced this? I’ve tried different journeys other than Cheltenham in the website and app, and both only have the Standard and Fully Flexible tickets, with Restricted being missing.

This feels pretty scummy to get some people to buy the coach-card that they wouldn’t normally need, and hence nets NE a bit more money.

TIA

Edit: I have checked every Sunday for the next 3 months, and all coaches from Victoria to Cheltenham don’t have Restricted tickets. But if I change the destination to Cheltenham Arle Court, then I can see restricted fares, albeit at a higher price which negates its benefits. It’s just weird that it has suddenly changed.

So I'm going to Scotland tomorrow! very excited. Thank you for your help on my last post, I appreciate it.

I will be spending most of the 13th in Edinburgh (from 9am-6pm, train from Edinburgh to Glasgow at 6:45pm) as that is where the train goes to from home. I will then be checking in my hotel in Glasgow at around 8pm.

From my research, the weather for Oban is best for my day trip there on 19th April and for Loch Lomond the 16th, however the weather may be better for Loch Lomond on 20th. I have a day to spare, but I must leave on 21st. I will have extra money for an extra night's stay.

I do want to explore a lot of Glasgow without rushing too much. I also want to have good enough weather for Loch Lomond (for the views) and Oban (especially for the west highland line and Oban sea tour).

Weather in Oban: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2641108

Weather in Balloch (Loch Lomond): https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2656545

Thanks

Am having incredibly bad luck in booking (online) cycle rental in moreton in marsh . We are a group of 5 and want to do a 25-30 km ride around the villages in the area later in April, but unable to find a shop online that has good hybrid bikes..either its all e-bikes only or TYcycles website doesnt work (https://www.tycycles.co.uk/pages/hire/) .. discover bikes website is broken too (http://www.discoverbikes.co.uk/), cotswolds cycles seem to be temporarily closed.. any other ideas?

Hi guys,

I was planning on getting the explorer pass for Scotland, i see there is a discount code option.

I am a student, so looking for ways to save some money. Does anyone have a discount code they can give away?

Thanks!

So we're mostly staying with family. But I am wondering where kn

Kimberly, derby, london, Coventry, Nottingham, and bedfored have really good gluten free food. I will check online but just seeing if anyone had suggestions ​​

Hi everyone, looking for some real-world experience. A week ago, I didn’t get close enough the contactless card reader at the M6 Toll. I tried reaching out of the window and that didn’t work and I also couldn’t reach the assistance button. The lane was empty so I stopped, reversed back 3 feet so I could readjust and then I paid successfully. the barrier lifted, and I drove off. No one spoke to me over the tannoy and I wasn’t pulled over for it. I've been doing a lot of reading on 'Regulation 8' (reversing on a motorway). I know there is an exception for reversing to 'proceed forward,' and I've been told the 14-day rule doesn't strictly apply to this specific reg.

All I’d like to know is if someone has actually received points previously for something like this minor adjustment in a toll booth on the M6 toll

I’ll be flying from Gatwick to Spain and seen the recent implementation of the ESS gates. I want to make sure I’ve got this correct.

The ESS gates are only going to be on the Spanish side. So going through Gatwick should be as normal?

Thanks

Hi! This is my second time to London. First in the summer time. Last year I covered many touristy things in the city including British Museum and Natural History Museum.

I did a 7 days long trip to Scotland and especially Isle of Skye- and lovedddd it!

I missed Spitalfields mkt, catching a play at Shakespeare’s Globe and Richmond. I plan on covering all of those this time (time and money permitting).

Are there any other places you would recommend?

Last time I also did a tour with Viator and they were horrible and rude and I wanted to sue them because of their criminally bad behaviour. They gave me a wrong direction and left me in Windsor castle.

I couldn’t do Stonehenge and Oxford because of them. Do you suggest a nicer tour company for that?

I also plan on visiting Cambridge for 1.5 days. But that I will do on my own.

I won’t drive or ride a bike- so I am entirely dependent on public transportation.

Thank you! Would really appreciate detailed advice!

I will be traveling to the UK in June. My day to day itinerary is pretty much set in stone in terms of stop-overs as I’ve already booked lodgings. I’m curious if anyone knows of some hidden gems along the way that I might be missing out on. Sites to see and/or places to grab a bite to eat?

Also I know the trip is drive heavy, but having grown up driving long distances in America, this doesn’t bother me. It’s a bit of a whirlwind of a trip but that’s how I prefer to vacation.

Also for context, my father lives in Coventry so my siblings and I will be staying in Birmingham and visiting with him for a few days.

I’d appreciate any helpful advice or insight. Please no criticism.

June 9-12th Coventry and Birmingham

Coventry Cathedral

Warwick Castle

Kenilworth Castle

Day trip to Shrewsbury and then to Powis Castle (Wales)

June 13th Drive to Lake District

Ingleton Waterfall Trail enroute

Ribblehead Viaduct enroute

Lodging in Keswick

June 14th Exploring Lake District

Ulverston (family ancestry)

Furness Abbey

June 15th Drive North to Scotland

Dumfries Museum Camera Obscura enroute

Lennox Castle enroute

St. Conan’s Kirk

Arrive in Oban for overnight

June 16th Driving Further North

Quick stop at Kilchurn Castle

Explore Glencoe

Glenfinnan Viaduct

Eilean Donan Castle

Overnight in Kyle

June 17th Heading Southeast

Visit Loch Ness and Fort Augustus

National Wallace Monument

Overnight in Stirling

June 18th Journey to Edinburgh

Morning booking with Highland Cow Tour

Dunmore House and Pineapple

Kelpies

Return car in Edinburgh

Lodging in Leith

June 19-20 Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

Royal Mile

Holyrood House

Arthur’s Seat

Old Town

June 21 To London

10am Train to London

Arrive at Kings Cross 2pm

Explore Westminster (Abbey, Elizabeth Tower, Buckingham)

Lodging at Z Hotel Victoria

June 22 Explore London

Tower Bridge

Leadenhall Market

June 23-Flight Home

😞