Are there any handy hints for first time travellers to UK.
My husband and I plan to travel to the UK next May. We are in our mid 50's but have a budget to stick to. We would like to fly into London and spent about a week visiting the sights including the Chelsea Flower Show. We will then pick up a hire car and travel throughout England Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Does anyone have suggestions as to what route we take, car hire companies and accommodation ideas. We would love to hear your experiences and any hints on the best way to do this. Thanking, those that reply, in advance!
Reply to this You dont say how long you will be travelling the UK for? The reasons i say that are twofold firstly if its only three weeks then hire a car from budget or if you propose to travel for longer look at buying a secondhand car they are really cheap in the uk at the moment and you can sell it when you are leaving. Must see sights include the the lake district in the northwest Liverpool (Beatles museum cavern etc) Manchester ( i hate to say it being a blue but Old Trafford Manchester Uniteds ground and football museum is a must as is the Manchester Museum) a fantastic city I digress proposed route from London head south towards Dover from Dover head west as far as you can go into Cornwall Newquay beaches are legendary head up the M5 into Bristol a fantastic city with a rich naval history and many tall ships to be seen. Then head across to Wales up through Cardiff on to Carneavagn castle is a sight to see as is Conways railtrack which runs right alongside the sea from north Wales head to Liverpool (see above)from Liverpool take the ferry over to Ireland Dublin is a lively place take at least a week to see rural Ireland you wont be dissapointed back to Dublin or Belfast for the ferry back to Liverpool and then on to Manchester and then on into the lake district from there keep heading north up through Carlisle and into Scotland the first stop should be Gretna green famous for eloping couples getting married the marriage laws are different in Scotland than they are in England. Keep going up the west coast into Glasgow and loch Lomond the Clyde docks and all round architecture are worth going to Glasgow alone again a fantastic vibrant city, stick to the west coast up through central Scotland into the Highlands stopping off at the numerous lochs and villages along the way over the to through Wick Inverness and on down the East coast stopping at Aberdeen the Ggranite city a sight to see as the buildings shimmer at the break of dawn or the setting of the sun. Carry on down into Edinbrough the castle alone is worth travelling from Austrailia to see and Princess street is amazing carry on down into the borders through Berwick on Tweed the town in England with a football team in Scotland? Then just kepp going south through Newcastle another amazing city down to Hull to see the Humber bridge through Yorkshire into Nottinghamshire and carry on south Back into London for your flight home. I know this is long and drawn out but it will give you an idea of the distances and time needed to do the whole trip my only advice really is to spend a while on the net and pick where you want to see the most then plan your trip using theaa.com route planner that way you can get an exact route with details of local points of intrest, also I have found that when travelling in the UK as long as I have plenty of notice of dates etc then www.travelodge.co.uk are very innexpesive at only £29 a night providing you book early they are a decent standard hotel/motel and often have good restraunts attatched. good luck and enjoy the journey Billy
Reply to this Thanks for the info Billy. We will take you suggestions on board when finalising out route.
Pam
Reply to this Good that you planning your trip in advance, hiring car is the cheapest way to roam around UK
i hired a mid-size family car for 14 days adn paid 300 quid, i guess your are only 2 members and mid-size car is the best choice
you can find lots of car-hire agents around UK and you can do it online, few best are ebooker, Auto Europe
to save time you can surf on price comparison websites
i have listed few below
www.smartraveluk.com
www.auto-europe.co.uk
hope you will have a great trip
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