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Liverpool and Wales Trip Questions

Posted by (Texas, USA) on

First let me say that this forum has been instrumental in providing great info on my travels to many countries in Europe and elsewhere. The advise and suggestions don't make things hassle free, but certainly makes dropping the travel pieces of the puzzle into place much easier.

I've been to the UK before, but we missed doing Liverpool and Wales. So three of us are going back to do that this fall. I have a few questions:

1- We will be flying into London and wish to take a train to Liverpool. Is there a train from the airport direct to Liverpool or do I need to get to Euston Station? If it is Euston, then what is the best way to get there from Heathrow?

2- In Liverpool, my threesome wishes to do the Beatles tour thing and anything else worthwhile. Having done the hop on hop off thing in the UK before, we think it is the best hassle free method to tour that city. Is there one better than the other? Price is not an issue, but we don't want to spend more than it takes to buy the bus.

3- We will again do a train from Liverpool to Wales. Once there we will have a day and half to do the tourist thing. There is so much to see in Wales that I am thinking of renting a car. I have an international DL and have driven manual shift cars in England several times before. So the question is, can I rent a car at the train station. If not, how is that car hire accomplished?

4- My final question has to do with lodging. Since we want to be near the HOHO station and/or near city central in both places, would it be best to do a hotel or a B & B? We prefer a B & B.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Rick

Posted by
16408 posts

You do realize Wales is not a little town? Where do you want to go in Wales?

Posted by
9022 posts

Have you considered flying to Manchester? Much closer to where you're going. There were direct flights from the US at about the same fares as Heathrow, last time I checked.

Wales is a whole country. They have more than one train station. What is your real destination?

Posted by
1334 posts

The train information is still the same as in this thread.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/england-train-info

For a Beatles tour, they are not hop on hop off. There are several Beatles tour. The Magical Mystery Tour is a general interest tour that will show you many Beatles sights including George Harrison's home, Paul McCartney's home, Strawberry Field, and Penny Lane. You don't enter any of them, although you can walk on Penny Lane while you're waiting for a selfie with the Penny Lane sign. You don't need to book in advance, but booking a day ahead or the same day will get you you preferred time.

The National Trust tour will enter John Lennon's and Paul McCartney's childhood homes. They are excellent, and also give you a lot of information on post WWII Liverpool. It wasn't all Leave it To Beaver in Liverpool which was bombed heavily by the Luftwaffe. These tours are only a few days a week and must be booked well in advance.

There are also various taxi tours, it would depend on what level of Beatles interest you have to determine if they're worthwhile

There are HOHO that cover Liverpool city sights. However, Liverpool city centre is pretty compact, so they may not be necessary. They can be useful if you want to see the two cathedrals which are the furthest walk away. The HOHO leave from Albert Dock, which is also where the Magical Mystery tour and the National Trust tour leaves. The Beatles story museum is also located there, along with other excellent museums.

. I have no experience with B&B's since they're not my thing

. For hotels, I can recommend Ibis Styles if you'd like a Beatles themed room. The Z Hotel is also nice, these are budget choices. The Hard Day's Night hotel is quite nice and more expensive, it has a Beatles theme through the entire hotel. I'm looking at this Dream Apartment for my next trip, but I haven't stayed there yet. http://dreamapartments.co.uk/moorfields/

These are all in easy walking distance to the museums, Mathew Street, and Lime Street train station. Liverpool hotel prices can be quite reasonable unless you're hitting a football match or a major event.

Posted by
40 posts

Frank II> I am aware that Wales is a country and a spectacular one at that. The size is why we did not have time to do it on our previous trip to the UK. As far as where we want to go, I put our best guess about site seeing stuff on a piece of paper, then when I get to a town/city I hand it over to a local to add to or scratch off places. We have never been disappointed in what the locals have suggested.

Dale> Really great info. We will do on the hotel and walking thing. Thanks so much.

Stan> From my airport there are no direct flights to Manchester, but there are to Heathrow. Plus one of the people in my group has never seen any of UK to include London. And, we are flying to Norway from London on the back end of the UK trip.

Emma> Liverpool is a get-the-Beatles t-shirt thing. My wife is a fan and insists on going there. Happy wife, happy life. :)

geovagriffith> Thanks for the website. Even if I don't do it that way, it has given me some points of interest that I may want to visit while in Wales. Your comment about renting a car and seeing the beautiful countryside is exactly what we like to do when visiting another country.

With respect to time, I have 19 days of boots on the ground for our two country trip with lots of flexibility. So from everyone's comments, I've made two changes to this part of our plans. I am taking 3 days for Wales and I am driving a rental car from Liverpool to Wales. It's actually quicker than the train due to at least one or two station stops. Plus I can pretty much stop and go at will.

All of you have provided some excellent advise. Thank you very much. England has the best fish and chips in the world. I know that because every resturant in the country has that sign out front. LOL

Posted by
2805 posts

You could take the train from Liverpool to Chester, UK which is on the border of Wales. There is a Europcar rental at the train station. From Chester, Conwy, Wales is 45 miles which is located north coast of Wales if you are interested in going to the north coast.

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