As you may or may not know (and probably do not care), I'll be heading to a conference in the UK in September. Since it will be my first time in such a place, I'm going to take a few extra days to visit it.
My problem however, is where to go. My free time starts on Wednesday the 23rd of September (when I'll be leaving Warwick University), and I need to get on the 7:50 pm flight back (from Heathrow) on Saturday the 26th. This gives me 3 full days and part of Saturday.
The more obvious choice seems to be London, but the idea doesn't particularly appeal for several reasons: I'm not particularly fond of cities, I wanted to be able to see more of the country (although I could use the city as a hub if there are other interesting places nearby), and the idea of hanging around by myself in London doesn't seem particularly appealing.
Personally, I would like to go up to Scotland (probably staying at Edinburgh), but that does give me the downside of rather long travel times to and (most importantly) from it. Part of the reason I like it is because there seems to be quite a few historical places nearby, and I would get to see a lot of countryside (if mostly by train on the way back).
I haven't really researched a lot on the other locations. There might be a few interesting location in other regions of England, but I'm given the impression that most major cities are more industrial (and hence, less interesting). I wouldn't mind checking stuff like Stratford upon Avon and similar locations though. What can you guys tell me of England outside London? What could work better as a central hub?
Wales in particular, I know nothing about (other than it probably is a nuclear wasteland by this point).
Oh, and yeah, it is the UK in September, I assume I may expect rain?
Visiting the UK - Where should I go?
I'd recommend York, particularly if you're wanting to travel out to other cities. By train, it's ~20 minutes from Leeds, ~1.5 hours from Manchester, ~2 hours from London, ~2 hours from Birmingham and ~2.5 hours from Edinburgh. And ~30 minutes from Scarborough by bus (in case you wanted to see the sea). 
The city itself has loads of history, doesn't have an overly industrial feel due to keeping it's Viking (and Roman) heritage, plenty of things to do/see, and there are relatively nearby walks through the surrounding countryside. Plus, I may be able to meet up with you.
York Tourist Information: http://www.visityork.org
The city itself has loads of history, doesn't have an overly industrial feel due to keeping it's Viking (and Roman) heritage, plenty of things to do/see, and there are relatively nearby walks through the surrounding countryside. Plus, I may be able to meet up with you.
York Tourist Information: http://www.visityork.org
Montyphy wrote:I'd recommend York, particularly if you're wanting to travel out to other cities. By train, it's ~20 minutes from Leeds, ~1.5 hours from Manchester, ~2 hours from London, ~2 hours from Birmingham and ~2.5 hours from Edinburgh. And ~30 minutes from Scarborough by bus (in case you wanted to see the sea).
The city itself has loads of history, doesn't have an overly industrial feel due to keeping it's Viking (and Roman) heritage, plenty of things to do/see, and there are relatively nearby walks through the surrounding countryside. Plus, I may be able to meet up with you.
York Tourist Information: http://www.visityork.org
Ooohhh... I like that. That's definitely something to consider.
Also, I'm Portuguese, I grew tired of the sea years ago
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DTNC Vicious
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I would suggest London. There's vast amounts to do, both during the day and at night. But then again, I'm a Londoner and love cities... I'd have offered to show you around, but I return from Kiev on the 27th...
York is very nice, but a bit in-the-other-direction given that you're starting in Warwick and leaving via LHR. You may find that to get anywhere further north from Warwick you may have to go via Birmingham. As clarification: If you have to go via Birmingham New Street rail station, the journey is not worth it...
As you're in Warwick, maybe check out Stratford-upon-avon. It's a bit disneyfied and twee, but it's a pretty market town and has all that Shakespeare stuff. You're also within reach of Oxford and Cambridge there (Oxford's a slightly better tourist destination of the two).
I don't know the rail lines too well outisde of London. Check out the map at nationalrail.co.uk:
http://nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/map ... orkmap.pdf
To see where's easy to get to.
Also, if you are travelling by trainin the UK - book early. You can get tickets 1/3 of the price sometimes, even just by booking a day in advance - never get a ticket at the station, book online if you can (there's usually a station pick up option).
Other things to look at are the National Trust and English Heritage who manage most of the historical buildings, castles and some land in the UK. See what's around the places you fancy basing yourself in.
I've said to people before - the UK is just littered with bits of history. You can hardly walk around the country without tripping over a castle or stately home - unless there are things you are desperate to see and do, 3 days isn't very long and can easily be filled by bumming around the countryside and seeing a few castles/houses/roman ruins/market towns etc.
York is very nice, but a bit in-the-other-direction given that you're starting in Warwick and leaving via LHR. You may find that to get anywhere further north from Warwick you may have to go via Birmingham. As clarification: If you have to go via Birmingham New Street rail station, the journey is not worth it...
As you're in Warwick, maybe check out Stratford-upon-avon. It's a bit disneyfied and twee, but it's a pretty market town and has all that Shakespeare stuff. You're also within reach of Oxford and Cambridge there (Oxford's a slightly better tourist destination of the two).
I don't know the rail lines too well outisde of London. Check out the map at nationalrail.co.uk:
http://nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/map ... orkmap.pdf
To see where's easy to get to.
Also, if you are travelling by trainin the UK - book early. You can get tickets 1/3 of the price sometimes, even just by booking a day in advance - never get a ticket at the station, book online if you can (there's usually a station pick up option).
Other things to look at are the National Trust and English Heritage who manage most of the historical buildings, castles and some land in the UK. See what's around the places you fancy basing yourself in.
I've said to people before - the UK is just littered with bits of history. You can hardly walk around the country without tripping over a castle or stately home - unless there are things you are desperate to see and do, 3 days isn't very long and can easily be filled by bumming around the countryside and seeing a few castles/houses/roman ruins/market towns etc.
Whoever you vote for, the government wins.
Cooper42 wrote: If you have to go via Birmingham New Street rail station, the journey is not worth it...
Why is that?
Also, I'll be at Warwick University (which is in Coventry), not Warwick itself. Going to stratford upon Avon from there seems reasonable trickier (though not unfeasible). The main problem however is that I'm not counting with a lot of free time while I'm there, so I'm not really counting using as a hub unless I stay there the remaining days (which I've been told not to do).
It's not that bad, it's just a depressing place. The Heathrow of rail stations. Birmingham itself, around the station with all the flyovers, concrete and wide roads looks a little LA 2012, Blade Runner-esque. If Blade Runner had been designed by brutalist concrete fetishists...
Whoever you vote for, the government wins.
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MikeTheWookiee
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Cooper42 wrote:It's not that bad, it's just a depressing place. The Heathrow of rail stations. Birmingham itself, around the station with all the flyovers, concrete and wide roads looks a little LA 2012, Blade Runner-esque. If Blade Runner had been designed by brutalist concrete fetishists who hate people...
Fixed for you, but the good news is that they're knocking it down in a few years.
It's not as bad as cooper42's saying; you (probably) won't come to any physical harm from going through it just mental trauma. If you end up going north from Coventry there's a 35% chance you'll have to change there anyway.
It may be helpful to check out the relevant wikitravel pages for where ever you decide to go.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Edinburgh
http://wikitravel.org/en/London
http://wikitravel.org/en/York
Not sure how useful the pages are in the other provided languages.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Edinburgh
http://wikitravel.org/en/London
http://wikitravel.org/en/York
Not sure how useful the pages are in the other provided languages.
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Ace Rimmer
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12 years ago, I traveled around the UK for 2 weeks. I spent about a week in/around London; then visited family in Leeds & Liverpool. It sounds like up north is where you want to go, but 3 days isn't much time to explore. You've gotta know exactly where you want to go, and what you want to do, to make that work.
I spent a lot of time on trains, and most of the coach seats are beat up. You'll be enjoying the countryside views from a seat decked out in 80's decor and graffiti... then out of the beautiful rolling hills pops up a nuclear power plant. It gets old, fast. So don't spend too much time traveling.
I forget where we were, but somewhere around Leeds we drove into the countryside, and visited a family dairy farm, where they made fresh milkshakes. Then we went to some HUGE rock formations nearby that had been cut out by a prehistoric river. There were trails around it and you could climb all over the rocks. It was really neat. I can't remember what the area was called to save my life! Anyone know what/where I'm talking about?
London is FULL of stuff to do and see, but I really enjoyed: Westminster Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, The London Dungeon and Portobello Road Market. Stonehenge was pretty cool too, and isn't too far from London.
I spent a lot of time on trains, and most of the coach seats are beat up. You'll be enjoying the countryside views from a seat decked out in 80's decor and graffiti... then out of the beautiful rolling hills pops up a nuclear power plant. It gets old, fast. So don't spend too much time traveling.
I forget where we were, but somewhere around Leeds we drove into the countryside, and visited a family dairy farm, where they made fresh milkshakes. Then we went to some HUGE rock formations nearby that had been cut out by a prehistoric river. There were trails around it and you could climb all over the rocks. It was really neat. I can't remember what the area was called to save my life! Anyone know what/where I'm talking about?
London is FULL of stuff to do and see, but I really enjoyed: Westminster Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, The London Dungeon and Portobello Road Market. Stonehenge was pretty cool too, and isn't too far from London.
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tabasco boy
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shame on all of you... No one even suggested a decent pub and lovely pint of GUINNESS.
ohh and wales is a nice place if your into mountain biking and the locals are damn friendly especially under the influence of happy juice(which is booze to you mere mortals )
ohh and wales is a nice place if your into mountain biking and the locals are damn friendly especially under the influence of happy juice(which is booze to you mere mortals
)Eating without Tabasco® Sauce is like a computer without a OS.
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