Hello everybody,
I'm a 23 year old student from Switzerland. I'm planning a three and a half week trip to England this July. I'm flying into London, plan on going down to South England then somehow work my way up and fly home from Manchester.
Since I'm travelling by myself, I'm looking to visit places where there is a lot going on, good shows, clubs etc., basically the places to be for young people in England.
So I was wondering if someone could name me a few places except for London and Brighton. Thank you very much.
Also I'm planning on using public transport to get around. I'm thinking of using buses and coaches or trains. What do you think is more convenient? If I decide to take the train I can use an offer from my homecoutry (Interrail). With that I can travel on 8 days for 320 swiss francs, wich equals about 180 pounds/210 euros. Do you think that's a good possibility or am I better off using buses/coaches?
Thanks for everything!
Reply to this Bristol is trendy and got a good music/club/art scene, but the centre of town at the weekend is full of blokes starting fights. Its where Banksy is from and a lot of drum&bass music came out of there in the 90's as well as Massive Attack.
Leeds used to be good too and i'm sure it still is.
Newcastle is amazing for nightlife - any night of the week is party night for Newcastle and there are pubs, bars and clubs everywhere, plus the friendliest people you are likely to meet.
Try getting to a music festival while you are here - there are lots of one day/weekend things near main cities like Reading and Oxford and thats what most people seem to be doing this summer!
When you're in London: Jump on the tube to Old Street and follow the trendy haircuts down to Hoxton/shoreditch. This area has changed so much over the past few years and is constantly throwing up new bars, art galleries, grafitti artists and odd little shops. Curtain road, kingsland road, shoreditch high street make up this area and you can just explore and ask around.
Brick Lane is nearby and is a trendy/gritty area with bars and a great weekend market, and lots of curry houses... thats the beauty of London, its all mixed up!
As for transport - a train ticket from London to bristol is about 30pounds - 40euro? - nationalrail.co.uk - but you can get national express coaches which are really cheap and take you everywhere - www.nationalexpress.com i think.
pm me if you have any detailed q's
have fun!!
Reply to this Regarding train fares, it really depends where you're going. For 8 days you'd have to do quite a lot of travelling for the £180 to be worth it, if you're bouncing between the north and the south then it definitely would be, because a ticket from London to Newcastle bought on the day of travel is going to cost you nearly £100. Intercity tickets can be a lot cheaper if you book them in advance on the internet, try thetrainline.co.uk
Another option for if you're going to be railling around a lot is get a young person's railcard, which costs £24, lasts for a year and gives you a third off train tickets when you buy them. It's for people aged 16-25 and you can get them at train stations.
As for cities - as above, I definitely recommend Bristol and Leeds for the music scenes and nightlife - and though you seem to already know this, a night out in Brighton is like nothing else 😊 Have a look out for free music festivals, as there are usually a few around every summer in London (don't know about other cities) and UK festivals generally are horrifically overpriced.
Reply to this British train tickets, I've bought a few of those recently... here's what I've found out from experience.
(1) For anything more than local trains, book at least two days in advance to get the best fares, often about 75% off walkup fares. (popular trains can sell out, so futher in advance may be needed). Use nationalrail.co.uk to start; it takes a bit of getting used to, and directs you to the individual train operators to actually buy the tickets, which you pick up from the stations. My most expensive ticket is 17 pounds (Exeter to London).
(2) Third-party sites like thetrainline only have the same info, and usually add their fee (a couple of pounds) to the ticket.
(3) nationalrail.co.uk isn't always good at finding the best fares. Try different times of day; the fares sometimes change considerably. If your journey requires a change-of-trains (and especially change-of-operator) it may well be best to buy two separate tickets. Also, advance fares aren't always published to minor destinations, so you have to buy to/from the next main stations, and just get off where you want.
(4) I wouldn't bother with the buses. They may be slightly less expensive than trains (if you jump through the same hoops) but they'll take much longer and are less frequent. "Cheap" is not an adjective that should be applied to any ground transportation option in Britain.
Also, if you're planning on staying in hostels and things, you probably want to start booking those. I've got stuck once or twice in May/June, July will likely be worse.
Reply to this We haven't been in the UK for a while and haven't used them but we heard that a company called Megabus do really cheap rates from 1 pound if you book in advance. You'd have to plan your travel a bit but it may be worth looking into...good luck and enjoy England!
Reply to this Yeah, megabus and National Express have cheap tickets and run directly between the major destinations in the UK. Whether they are significantly cheaper than the train depends on when you want to travel and where. In the summer, when the routes are busy and the prices are higher, the bus will be a good option to consider.
Reply to this I live in Bristol and love it! I would definately recommend a visit here. Yes, the weekend can get a little rouhg but only if you go to the chain bars along the waterfront. There are some great alternatives that have live music etc where you won't find trouble. If you're still here in August there are a couple of great free festivals too! It's also not too far from Manchester for the end of your trip. Manchester is also a great city although I don't know it too well myself.
Buses are cheaper than trains although trains aren't too bad if you book in advance. It might also be worth looking into hiring a car if you have a licence as this can work out fairly reasonable if you're going to be travelling a lot. Although petrol isn't that cheap right now!
Hope this helps. Let me know if you do decide to hit Bristol!
Reply to this definitely check out megabus, I had some great experiences by just booking tickets to cheap destinations!
Reply to this http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8096000/8096891.stm
is bristol the trendiest place right now?
Reply to this 
