Travel

[dancerjodi]

I'm getting really frustrated trying to research/plan this supposed UK vacation we're taking in the spring. We haven't picked a date. We have a source for airfare (though, the price I saw didn't include fees, which costs as much as the tickets) which is good. We have a source for a place to stay in London which is good.

But, how long would we be there (and how long Scotland)? How the hell would we get to Scotland (more flying I'm assuming, to make best use of the time while we're there). Where would we go? What would we do? I'm trying really hard not to give in and do a tour where I just have to smile and give them lots of money. I know we can do this a lot cheaper on our own (and really, its hard to get myself to spend the cash on a weekend trip to NYC - you have no idea what its doing to me watch the numbers for international travel)!

This may come as second nature to a lot of you, but to this gal who has never even been to Disney World or driven over to Canada, its a bit of a task!

Comments

[brigid.livejournal.com]

from london to scotland, you could either fly (I'd suggest either ryanair or easyjet for super cheap airfare, especially if you fly out of either standsted or luton) or you can take a train, which i think departs from either cambridge, though theremight be one from King's Cross too...that will get you to either Edinburgh or Glasgow. we took the train from cambridge..the train was about 5 hours or so i think..

haggis tours is supposed to be -excellent- as far as organized tours go, as they are geared mostly towards students abd backpackers. although we rented a car and drove from edinburgh through the highlands and skipped glasgow

there is so much to see in scotland that it really warrants its own vacation (i know ethan and i are planning on going back, we only spent 5 days and it hardly seemed enough)...if you can take 1.5 or 2 weeks to see england/scotland and maybe wales, thatwould be key, though even then you'd be rushed...though london is fantastic, especially if you've never been before, which has more than enough to entertain you for a week as well...

perhaps you could look into getting an open jaw ticket, so you can fly into london and out of scotland?

[brigid.livejournal.com]

also, depending on wheh you are flying, try icelandair for their lucky fares program. i got tickets to iceland/england for $300 once, but i had to fly in march...in the spring and summer prices will go up horrifically and then you'd be better off going through travelocity or something.

[pir.livejournal.com]

Trains going north from Cambridge are a pain, unless it's local you have to change several times. Leaving from London generally means more direct and faster trains.

UK train timetable stuff;
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/planmyjourney/time_table/journey_requirements.asp

Flying may be faster but it depends on how long it takes to get to and from the airports (and the train gives you a nice view up the coastline), flight might actually be cheaper depends on dates, easyjet (http://www.easyjet.co.uk/), ryanair (http://www.ryanair.co.uk/) and BA (http://www.britishairways.com/) are who I'd check for prices. Personally I prefer the train, should be a bit over 4 hours London->Ed for an express and no early arrivals or check-in or anything like that.

As to timing, even on area the UK is the size of a decent area US state and has 2/5ths of the population of the total US. Density, lots of things to see, I've travelled extensively in England and Scotland all my life and there are still things I want to see...

In 2 weeks you can see a few highlights of London and Edinburgh and perhaps a couple of other small sites... I usually go to England for between 2 and 3 weeks. Two weeks plus the surrounding weekends looks appealing but generally means for more expensive flights (if you fly midweek the prices are often much better).

Don't leave it too late to go, flight prices go up dramaticly as the season changes. I tend to go to England in March or October when it's warmer over there than here and the prices are cheaper. I tend to fly BA or Virgin, they have flight specials periodicly if you get on their email lists now.

I don't do Icelandair because it adds extra time to the flight and an airport change; when you're already going to be on a plane for 6 to 8 hours adding an hour or two and the risk of not making a connection it isn't worth it, IMO (the last time fidgetmonster booked an Iceland air flight she got stuck in Iceland due to weather problems for another 6 hours, I got stuck at the airport in London waiting for her having landed early. Not worth it).

If you're travelling around a lot then I'd pick up a Bed & Breakfast guide at a bookshop (there are many companies selling them, pick the one that has the most listings for the areas you want to be in). B&Bs are cheap and usually nice and comfortable in Scotland but tend to be expensive and "eh" in London (but then everything is expensive in London). I can give you details of the last place I stayed in Edinburgh that I quite liked and was a reasonable walk from the Royal Mile.

If you're not comfortable driving then there are limits on what you can do, but London and Edinburgh are both perfectly doable without (and you really wouldn't want a car in London).

[brigid.livejournal.com]

huh..well when i was staying in england this fall, i was in cambridge, so we took the train from there...it was only 2 changes, but it was nice to getup and stretch so i didn't mind

i agree with the b&b guides..that made our travel around england/wales/scotland markedly cheaper (which was good since we were in cambridge for 4 months, we did lots of weekend trips)

i'm sorry iceland air turned out so bad for you!
i generally don't like their planes too much actually..butthe prices are nice and i love iceland..