[alt146]

Attention all UK Malazanites!

The girlfriend and I have been planning a trip overseas for a while and are looking at spending two weeks in the UK in July. Provisionally we will be leaving SA the evening of the third and arriving in Paris on the morning of the fourth. We will then spend a day or two in Paris before hopping across the channel to spend the rest of the week in London. We have been graciously invited to spend the weekend with Bill and Hazel (possibly to attend the BBQ, but that still needs to be finalised). From there we would like to head up to Edinburgh for a day or two before heading back through London to Paris and our flight home on the Saturday evening.

Nothing is set in stone as yet and I'd like some advice/tips/suggestions before we go about finalising our plans. Our main constraints at this point are time and money - we only have two weeks and about 400 quid each after we've paid for our plane tickets. We'd like to see and do as much as possible, so we're looking for cheap places to stay and cool things to do while we're there, as well as an idea of the time and costs involved with travelling along our itinerary. So suggestions please!

[pathos]

Well i have offered you my sisters place but must confirm if you can give me the dates...plus i might be there so you can just follow me into the house

[alt146]

Pathos, on 11 March 2011 - 06:02 PM, said:

Well i have offered you my sisters place but must confirm if you can give me the dates...plus i might be there so you can just follow me into the house

At this point Edinburgh would be somewhere around the 10th -12th, if we actually have enough money to travel so far north.

[RodeoRanch]

Youth Hostels are cheap and clean, particularly if you have an International Youth Hostel membership. The Edinburgh Youth Hostel is fantastic.

[Tsundoku]

You have to meet up with Sir Thursday and take a pic! Test my theory about you guys being twins separated at birth.

Your GF may be intrigued by the possibilities ...

[Silencer]

I suppose here and now would be as good a place as any to announce that I'm heading over to England via Paris during June-July too?

[alt146]

Sombra, on 11 March 2011 - 08:47 PM, said:

You have to meet up with Sir Thursday and take a pic! Test my theory about you guys being twins separated at birth.

Your GF may be intrigued by the possibilities ...

I would like to meet him - Pathos says ST reminds him of me in an eery way.

Silencer, on 12 March 2011 - 01:59 AM, said:

I suppose here and now would be as good a place as any to announce that I'm heading over to England via Paris during June-July too?

Sweet! We're trying to plan so that the middle of our trip is the weekend of the BBQ. How long are you planning on staying? I'll assume you're also going to try make it to the BBQ. Sounds good though, we should definitely meet up.



Could someone give me a rough estimate on the prices and travel times of trains around the UK? I also want to buy a sim card so that I don't have to pay massive roaming fees while I'm there - which network should I be looking at getting and how much will a pre-paid sim card cost?

[Silencer]

I'm leaving here (NZ) on the 28th (arrive 29th), flying to Paris via Hong Kong, staying in Paris for 3 nights, then taking the Chunnel on the 2nd of July to London. Then I'll be in England until the 15th of July.

So I'll beat you there, but other than that it should all overlap. And ofc I'm going to try and attend the BBQ! Just didn't know when it would be on.

[Menandore]

alt146, on 12 March 2011 - 05:58 AM, said:

Sombra, on 11 March 2011 - 08:47 PM, said:

You have to meet up with Sir Thursday and take a pic! Test my theory about you guys being twins separated at birth.

Your GF may be intrigued by the possibilities ...

I would like to meet him - Pathos says ST reminds him of me in an eery way.

Silencer, on 12 March 2011 - 01:59 AM, said:

I suppose here and now would be as good a place as any to announce that I'm heading over to England via Paris during June-July too?

Sweet! We're trying to plan so that the middle of our trip is the weekend of the BBQ. How long are you planning on staying? I'll assume you're also going to try make it to the BBQ. Sounds good though, we should definitely meet up.



Could someone give me a rough estimate on the prices and travel times of trains around the UK? I also want to buy a sim card so that I don't have to pay massive roaming fees while I'm there - which network should I be looking at getting and how much will a pre-paid sim card cost?

I used to travel quite a lot between Edinburgh and London and prices can vary quite a lot. You have to shop around and get lucky. Trains can be really cheap, especially if you're flexible on dates. Try these sites: Trainline.com and National Express. National Express also do coaches which are even cheaper (I once travelled from Liverpool to London for only £10) but you would lose an entire day travelling. I think the fast train to Edinburgh only takes about 4 1/2 hours.

It might also be worth looking at flights, sometimes you can get a decent deal and it's a bit faster. Easyjet fly from Gatwick, Stansted and Luton but watch out for prices with them or any other cheapie airline, you'll need to go through the booking process to the point where they ask for payment to see all the add-on charges they sneak in there.

As for sim cards, I have a tesco mobile sim that I use when I'm in the UK and I find it quite a good deal. When you top up you get lots of free credit. I don't find I need to spend too much on it.

Hope that helps And if you do manage to get up to Edinburgh you won't regret it, it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Make sure you check out one of the tours of the vaults, very cool.

[Mezla PigDog]

So definitely use the trainline link that Menandore posted. The way train fares work in this country are as follows:

1. Turn up on the day you wish to travel and buy an open return ticket that is valid for up to a month = horrendously eyewateringly expensive, particularly if you travel into or out of London at peak time (before 10am on a week day iirc)
2. Book an open return in advance for any train at any time = Also expensive but marginally less so
3. Book tickets on a specific train, at a specific time, in a specific seat, up to 3 months in advance = you can find some real bargains. I have travelled Manchester to London for about £12 each way using this method, with option 2 it costs about £37 each way. The train companies release these tickets 3 months in advance, Mondays, Fridays and Sunday night cheap fares are snapped up quickly, but if you travel mid-week, you should be ok.

Decide which days(ish) you want to travel, ~12 weeks ahead of time go to the trainline.com and search for fares to your liking, pay by credit card, choose the option of "Collect tickets at station" and on the day you want to travel, take the credit card you paid with and the booking code they send you and pick them up at automatic ticket machines. I do it all the time and it's no trouble at all, just don't miss the exact train you booked!!

There might be some special tourist ticket you can get though...there are so many bloody South Africans in London, there must be some website somewhere!!

If you are on a budget, Youth Hostels are definitely the way to go like Rodeo said. Popular tourist destinations are London, Edinburgh, Bath, Cambridge, Oxford, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon; good for Roman stuff are Hadrian's Wall, York and Chester; pretty countryside places like Yorkshire and Somerset; the Lake District; Manchester and Liverpool are good for a short stop and some nightlife and have the benefit of not being as expensive as the other places mentioned!

London is horribly expensive, particularly around the tourist spots (don't eat at anywhere remotely tourist looking, it will be vile and cost a small fortune). Most of the museums are free though, which is a bonus. The British Museum is brilliant, it houses all the stuff we've nicked and won't give back from around the world Of all the London tourist places you do have to pay to get in, I heartily recommend the Tower of London. I think most of the major sites have online discounts if you are organised enough to book in advance, it saves the queues at that time of year too.

Other than that, hopefully I'll see you and Silencer at Hetan & Mal's place for the BBQ

[Adjutant Stormy~]

My advice: RUN, RUN AWAY.

That is all.

[caladanbrood]

When I saw this thread, I was wondering who GF was... Gerveza_fiesta? D'oh!

But yeah - listen to mezla, she knows of what she talks. Definitely try to make it to the BBQ, should be another good one this year!

[Sir Thursday]

alt146, on 12 March 2011 - 05:58 AM, said:

Sombra, on 11 March 2011 - 08:47 PM, said:

You have to meet up with Sir Thursday and take a pic! Test my theory about you guys being twins separated at birth.

Your GF may be intrigued by the possibilities ...

I would like to meet him - Pathos says ST reminds him of me in an eery way.

Silencer, on 12 March 2011 - 01:59 AM, said:

I suppose here and now would be as good a place as any to announce that I'm heading over to England via Paris during June-July too?

Sweet! We're trying to plan so that the middle of our trip is the weekend of the BBQ. How long are you planning on staying? I'll assume you're also going to try make it to the BBQ. Sounds good though, we should definitely meet up.



Could someone give me a rough estimate on the prices and travel times of trains around the UK? I also want to buy a sim card so that I don't have to pay massive roaming fees while I'm there - which network should I be looking at getting and how much will a pre-paid sim card cost?

Well I'm always up for meeting travelling Malazites! TT and I have done the welcoming party a couple of times now, always good fun. Just let me know when you'll be here. I'll probably be at the BBQ as well.


I can't give you great estimates on pricing, because it's been a few years since I did extensive train travel and prices are going up all the time (4 years ago I could get up to Aberdeen for £20...now, I imagine not). Takes about 5 hours to get to Edinburgh on the train from London though, there's a nice fast one that takes you up there.

ST

[RodeoRanch]

http://www.britrail....s/britrail-pass


The Brit Rail Pass is awesome and designed for foreigners.

[alt146]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

That rail pass looks convenient, does it also work for the London Underground?

When we first looked at flights, connecting through Paris was the cheapest option, but now it is significantly more expensive. It looks like we will be stopping over in Dubai instead, but we still have a couple more places to check for flights.

Our to-do list at the moment is to spend a couple of days wandering around central London, go look at the cathedrals, the palace and some museums. My GF wants to go to the Tower, so we will do that. In Edinburgh we definitely want to visit the castle and if possible take a day trip up to Speyside to visit a distillery or two if we can.

If there are any big concerts happening during the two weeks that we're there we'd also love to do that.

[caladanbrood]

The Tower of London is a good place to visit - and Edinburgh Castle is the scottish version, more or less, since they both have the Crown Jewels

[Macros]

t in the park will fall in that window I think, but it would probably blow your budget, tickets are dear and everything for sale at the festival is a shocking price.
For distilleries I'd say just visit one, they're all the same.
Edi Castle is a must imo, been to a right few around the UK and its definitely the best, although stirling has this big bastard of a sword that they claim was wallaces, its about 6ft long

[Mott]

Glenturret Distillery is about 60 miles from Edinburgh in Perthshire, not as far as Speyside but it is one of the busiest in the country and offers a few different types of tours. I'm not sure how easy it will be to get to on public transport its just outside of Crieff, a little closer still in Pershire there's Tullibardine Distillery in Blackford. There is also a distillery south of Edinburgh itself near the borders I think it would be closer and probably easier to get to but if you have a look on the web you should be able to see which is more suited.

http://www.famousgrouse.com/lda/
http://www.tullibardine.com/front.aspx
http://www.discoveri...om/glenkinchie/

If you are travelling in Scotland on coaches like Citylink it can be really expensive so you're best checking beforehand and seeing if you can get discounts on the tickets, super singles are hard to get in summer but they can really reduce the cost of travel. In Edinburgh the Scottish National Museum and The Royal Museum are right beside each other and are free to get into, and from the roof you get a really good view over the city.

[Fid]

Mott, on 13 March 2011 - 04:55 PM, said:

Glenturret Distillery is about 60 miles from Edinburgh in Perthshire, not as far as Speyside but it is one of the busiest in the country and offers a few different types of tours. I'm not sure how easy it will be to get to on public transport its just outside of Crieff, a little closer still in Pershire there's Tullibardine Distillery in Blackford. There is also a distillery south of Edinburgh itself near the borders I think it would be closer and probably easier to get to but if you have a look on the web you should be able to see which is more suited.

http://www.famousgrouse.com/lda/
http://www.tullibardine.com/front.aspx
http://www.discoveri...om/glenkinchie/

If you are travelling in Scotland on coaches like Citylink it can be really expensive so you're best checking beforehand and seeing if you can get discounts on the tickets, super singles are hard to get in summer but they can really reduce the cost of travel. In Edinburgh the Scottish National Museum and The Royal Museum are right beside each other and are free to get into, and from the roof you get a really good view over the city.

T in the Park tix already gone I am pretty sure - so would be secondary market so even more expensive

Hopefully see you in Cambridge

This post has been edited by Fid: 13 March 2011 - 05:31 PM

[Shiara]

Got an email from Rail Europe re: their birthday sale.

Check it out
http://www.raileurop...id_article=5439