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Travel in England

Hi fellow travellers!

I recently returned from a two-week adventure across England, and I couldn't wait to share my experience, along with some valuable tips and recommendations for anyone planning a trip to the country.

Destinations I Visited:
London: Classic must-see! I explored the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and Borough Market and enjoyed a scenic ride on the London Eye. Public transport was super convenient, definitely get an Oyster card.

Bath: Loved the Roman Baths and the Georgian architecture. It’s such a charming and walkable city.

Oxford: A dream for history lovers! The university buildings are beautiful, and the libraries are straight out of a movie.

Lake District: If you're into hiking, this is paradise. The landscapes are stunning — peaceful lakes, rolling hills, and cosy pubs.

Food & Drink Highlights:
Try fish and chips at a local pub (with mushy peas, of course).

I eat a beef steak grilled on Himalayan pink salt tiles.

Afternoon tea is a must. I had a great one at The Orangery in Kensington.

Don’t miss local ciders and ales if you’re visiting the countryside.

Travel Tips:
The train system is reliable, but it can get pricey—book in advance for better deals.

The weather is unpredictable, bring layers and always have a rain jacket.

Locals are friendly and helpful, especially outside of major cities.

If you're planning a trip to England and have questions, feel free to ask! Happy to share more recommendations.

Cheers,
Hendraedward

Posted by
2911 posts

I love traveling in England too! I share your observations and am glad to hear you had a wonderful trip.

Posted by
6285 posts

As a first time poster i suggest you remove that link, or risk having your post deleted by the webmaster

Posted by
1595 posts

link removed - I reported it to webmaster. Still not convinced this is a legit post. Reference to tiles still in place.

In case it is real, Oyster is often not the preferred payment method for public transit. Tap and go credit card is more often used by locals and preferred by many tourists.

As for trains, reliable????? We ended up stuck due to a tree on two tracks followed by signal outage last week. "Do not travel" advisory came too late for us to heed. One of our train connections became an express through to London before the stop we needed - announced as we sat on the train. We followed the locals and lept off with them. Found the replacement bus to our station. Returning "home" was worse. Trains were shown as "on time" and tickets sold, then canceled as the departure time arrived. National Rail and carrier websites were not very helpful; train personnel had no accurate information. Ended up on two different bus lines - locals that took 2.5 hours versus a 45 minute train had it been running. (Thank goodness for those buses and the help from local residents and bus employees. Long slow ride, but we managed.)

This was not the first train upset in a 2.5 week trip. At least the other was a "simple" delay of over an hour. Different carrier.

Yes, I have applied for refunds and "Delay Repay".

Last trip, April this year - delay on still another line. Maybe I just have bad luck.

Posted by
9665 posts

Hendraedward1, thanks for the quick trip report! I agree with all your recs, although I will pass on the London Eye, lol (I have a bad fear of heights). But London and the rest of England are wonderful and always worth another trip back there.

Posted by
9789 posts

As for train reliability I have 33 years of data, in which I have been 'round the world' 3 times by UK train.
The long run figure is currently 1 minute delay per 9.77 miles travelled. Often delays come in big lumps so very good months balance out rotten ones. But the headline figure is very consistent. That's the figure I use in trip planning.
I started keeping the data (also for Overseas Rail, bus, drive, ship and air) when I had an (expletive deleted) boss, always fault finding on timekeeping.