Uk trip Itinerary check

Pencilstealer, you're back! And I shouldn't be surprised by your itinerary although I can tell you that the schedule below especially has me cringing. You're going from Bath to Chester to York to Lincoln and back to London in 5 days. I know this is your style, but you will be missing a lot because of all the travel time.

9 bath
10 chester
11 york
12 lincoln
Sat 13 british museum

With regards to the rest, there are some days that are tight and others much looser, so good for you. :-)

Hey mardee! I was just throwing things in dates to make sure i actually had enough time to do the main things. Notice seeing big ben isnt there! I didnt forget it I just figured id have time before things and/or after things to see it.

As for bath/york/chester/lincoln. Those will most likely be spread out more. Except york and lincoln. Im most likely going to stay the night in york and head to lincoln the next morning. I actually might eliminate bath as well. Im not worried about travel time though :P 2 hours ( give or take ) isnt anything especially if you catch the train and get there before most things open anyways. To be fair though, when tossing things into dates I never even thought about the back and fourth the 4 day trips would be lol. Needless to say that is NOT final

But this isnt that set in stone, other than the places. Ive only got my stonehenge trip booked.

Seeing your reply to Mardee, I understand that you are just bookmarking some days for certain activities, and not really planning to do things in this order - which is good - because I was going to suggest not doing all those day trips back-to-back.

One way to extend your days is to figure out if anything is open late on particular days....for example, you can visit St. Paul's in the morning and then the British Museum on a Friday afternoon/evening since it is open late on Fridays.

A suggestion is to visit the National Portrait Gallery - as a lover of history, I think you will find it interesting - and it is open late on Saturdays.

Have a great trip!

As for bath/york/chester/lincoln. Those will most likely be spread out more. Except york and lincoln. Im most likely going to stay the night in york and head to lincoln the next morning.

That would work, I think. I'm one who thinks one day in York is fine, although there are many who disagree with me. :-) I envy you going to Lincoln. That's one place on list of my future destinations in the UK. Also Southwark Cathedral is a gem, but make sure you check when services are, as there is no entry for touring during those times.

I'm a bit less concerned about this if by train, rather than driving. Although extra days at some stops would be useful. It is efficient use of time.
Bath to Chester by train is under 4 hours- so you can sightsee until 5pm and be in Chester by soon after 9pm.
Chester to York about 3 hours- direct train to Leeds hourly, change for stacks of trains to York. So the same principle.
York to Lincoln about 90 minutes, change at Doncaster or Newark.
Then several direct trains a day Lincoln to London including one at around 8pm, and many others change at Newark. So you can stay for Evensong then train to London.

Maplady - the only thing off the top of my head that's open later is the British museum on Fridays. And I know better than to go to a museum like this that late. Depending on the day I can spend 5 plus hours in some. I don't want to be limited by time and feel rushed.

I'll have to check out the hours for a few things national gallary and the portrait gallary to see if they're open later.

Marlee- you can thank a friend for suggesting it. And then inbound out about the dozen or so little roman sites littered around. On top of the Norman, Anglo and cathedral sites. I can't say no lol. I.could do york fairly well in a day. Especially if I spend the night.going to York after is a decently efficient use of my time

isn31c - yes I dont have a license. And I wouldn't be dumb enough to try to drive on the left, or in/out of london. Plus I love trains.

I won't be doing all those trips in the order given. If for instance, I do bath and chester back to back id most likely do so through London. To.chester I found routes as fast as 2.5 or 3 hours. Bath is nothing. Barely an hr (although I might eliminate bath of im having problems fitting in things or find something else). York was 2 to 2.5 but some took longer. York to Lincoln and Lincoln to london is basically what you suggest. I don't mind being back i london late. And with the British rail pass i have the freedom to come and go as I please.

Speaking of I did the math (as you suggested i think) it came up to about 400 to 480CAD FOR Bath, chester and York round trips. So even with those 3, not including Lincoln. The pass pays for itself.

The one thing I can't really find is what a "day" is. Is it 24 hrs from the first use? Or does the day change at midnight that day of use?

You would save time and energy(of checking out of the hotel) if you didn't split up your time in London. Take the train to York the first day you arrive. Do all your days in London at the end of the trip, since you fly home from there.

Cala - I did that tbis past trip to France (off the flight and a train to.avignon) and delays almost made me miss that train. I won't do that to myself again lol.

I already booked the 2 weeks of hotel in London as I didn't (dont) plan on spending more than a night away (maybe 2 but thats not in the cards atm). But I got a rediculous deal (1000cad) for 13 days, so I couldn't say no and didn't want to wait just to see the price increase.

Theres no real time wasted anyways. I get up early. And getting an early train and arriving before or just after things open eliminates any "wasted" time. And there won't be any checking out except the one night im planning in york.

I don't know what a day is on Brittail either. On the domestic equivalent it is midnight to 0429 next day, and a sleeper train is dated on Day of arrival, not day of departure. So you could start a domestic pass on a Monday but take the sleeper on a Sunday night.

Another thing you could do is use some of the money you have saved on hotel costs to upgrade your rail pass to first class. That way there is less issue with crowded trains, you get your meals & alcohol included on Avanti and LNER (time and cost savings) and use of lounges at Euston, Crewe, Birmingham (if you route that way to Chester), Kings Cross, York, Doncaster and Paddington.
GWR is just light snacks included.

Huh that's good to know. I don't drink and meals aren't super important ( but helpful). Although less crowded is always nice. What benefits to the rail lounges have?

Somewhere quiet and warm to wait, also free water/soft drinks, snacks, tea and coffee.

You know that's tempting. But its another 300 bucks. Mind you comparing the first class ticket prices that's a damn good deal. But for 4 days of travel, at (should be) no more than 2.5 hrs at a time it might not be worth it. I can get or make food for cheaper. I barely drink. And as hectic as stations are I kind of enjoy the chaos lol. We don't have access to rail in canada (and the areas we do most people fly or drive) so i enjoy the novelty of the whole thing

So..... despite what i said, I did end up doing bath, Chester, York and Lincoln back to back lol.

Bath is easy and quick to get to and from and im not worried. York will be overnight and will head to Lincoln the next morning early. The only rough day will be Chester, and heading back before York. Ive done much much worse so im not worried.

That being said, Im still having problems filling in the late afternoons/evenings. Things that are just there, say, Battersea, Big ben, some of the roman sites, Trafalgar square etc you can just see any time. But I always overestimate time at sites, so 90% of the time I have time to kill mid/late afternoon into the evenings. Im kind of guessing thats Pub time? lol

In some ways that is one of the points of a rail rover ticket. If you finish early somewhere hop on the next train out, if you find something unexpected then take a later train home.
You are way more likely to do the latter, especially in your chosen cities.
I'm doing an itinerary 3x as intensive as yours this week and am literally changing every day. Booking and rebooking train seats on the hoof.

I invested in first class which wasn't needed (an extra £300 spread over 14 days) and is very unlike me. But to be welcomed at the train door on each service and have all meals included is totally worth it. This morning I didn't even have to order my breakfast - the train crew recognised me and knew what I wanted. It just arrived.
It's hard to quantify the exact benefits of either the rover or first class but is real and tangible like turning left on an airplane.
I'm used to Advance and split fares, as cheap as I can manage- this is actually exciting. even before each days destination.

This is too rushed.
Have you accounted for the time of travel between cities. Only one fraction of a day in Bath, Chester, York and Lincoln are not realistic.
We spent two full days in Bath and three in York

Isn31c - that's exactly it! Between bath and london there's lots, but reading specifically. Also the benefits of the Elizabeth line which goes close to where im staying. I havnt looked on the lincoln route, but there arenplaces to stop going back from chester and definitely york. Not sure how much time I'll have to do so, but the option is there.

My itineraries are usually rediculous (if Mardee pops in she can testify lol) but im having problems filling in after things, and many things im doing require a lot of time (kew, british museum etc) but I always have things in my back pocket just in case. Worse comes to worse a bit of exploring will fill in time.

Geovagriffith - I always appreciate any input but I fail to see how 8 to 12 hrs for day trips is "a fraction of a day". Sure more time could be spent in any city, however the same could be said for any trip to any city. A week in rome, paris, Barcelona, London, athens etc is hardly enough time to do everything. Does that mean its a waste of time and you shouldn't go? No. My itineraries are usually way way more packed than this, and while ypu do have to spend a bit less time at places to pull it off, ive hardly been actually rushed. Travel time to bath is just over an hr. Even york and chestet are 2 hours/2.5 hrs. That is hardly enough of travel to consider time wasted, especially if you arrive before most sites even open. Grab some breakfast for the train, enjoy the country side and hit the ground running upon arrival. The open ended britrail pass gives me even more time as im not pidgeonholed into a certain time frame. If I wanna come back from Chester at noon or 11pm, its up to me. Same with bath.

Overnight in york has the advantage of getting out at night. That also allows me to get to Lincoln relatively early. Other than roman sites the main draw is the cathedral and iir that's not even open till 9. Start early and end late. This isn't a beach vacation, its europe. There are literally hundreds of things to do and if I wanted to just chill id go to mexico

pencilstealer,
Different strokes for different folks, I understand that.
I have rented cars and driver all over the UK as well as using trains.

My trip to Bath from Heathrow took 2.5 hours. Traffic can be very heavy in the London area.
Based on posts it appears that you are visiting these places from London, perhaps you are actually spending the night in some place, not sure. However, either way, a typical day involves having a breakfast before you travel. If you are driving, my experience in the UK was that it takes longer to go from one point to another than what you find on the internet.

Ok, so you wake up at 6am, eat breakfast and depart by 7:30, your trip to Bath, one of those places close to London, you are likely to arrive about 9am if traffic is normal. If you go back to London to arrive before dinner, you would need to depart at least by 5pm. This is assuming the best. You could do the key points in 8 hours, even have a short lunch.

But, take York for example, we did there days there and were busy each day. We spend four hours in The York Minster Cathedral. We did four museums, walked the walls and other things. NO way could you do justice to York even if you had 8 hours there, which you probably would not have.

I do wish you the best, travel is much fun and I am sure that you will enjoy what you see. However, I think you will miss out on some great stuff with your plan.

For people who go to York by train and want to push time to the max the first train from Kings Cross is at 6am, and the last gets back to London at after 1am, so you can push 14 hours if you want to, far more than 8.

Geovagriffith - I stated multiple times that I.would be taking a train. And while the travel times are varied there are multiple trains, for instance to York, at 6 7 730 that take just over 2 hours to get there. The same goes for bath. Multiple early morning trains that take just over an hr. You can't wate time if things aren't even open yet. Its like saying sleeping is a waste of time. And eating. Or just exploring.

Ypu can grab breakfast at the station, on the train or even the day before from an actual grocery store. Or if youre arriving as early as I plan to (especially bath) you can eat there.

And as for "you can't do justice in x amount of hours", all I have to.say is not going is not doing it justice. Its not like im.stopping for a 2 hour visit. Like I stated many times im getting there early and spending the night. Not being able to do everything is not a reason to go somewhere. I'll have time for the yorkshire museum and Minster. See the walls and a few sites from the outside and spend the evening walking around enjoying the sites. I've had many people say the same things about all of my trips, and every single time the people saying "its not worth it" or "can't do it justice" were wrong. Although each time I could have definitely spent more time in those places. But in that case it just gives more reasons to come back.

Isn31c - I'll be spending the night in york. I hope to arrive around 8 am. Im a 20 ish minute walk from kings cross and 5 minute walk to a bus or 19 to meteo to Piccadilly (i think that's the other station). I won't have a problem catching early trains. Worse comes to worse I'll Uber (yes I know not ideal in a big city).

Lincoln and.chester are specifically for the roman history. Other than the cathedral in Lincoln of course. So the sheer amount of things I'll see walking inbetween those sites is just icing on the cake.

Bath though? The only reason im going is for the roman baths and museum.. I could literally see that and leave and be happy with my visit there so anything else on top of that is just a bonus. But I do know there's more to rhe city than just the baths. So I'll see the cathedral and just take a wander. Maybe hit of reading quickly on the way back.

So glad to see Lincoln on your list. The cathedral is one of the very best in England - and it’s a crowded field. The castle walls opposite give outstanding views of the cathedral for unbeatable photos! See it here.

The castle also holds one of the original Magna Carta(s) and a really interesting/creepy old prison chapel, if that’s of interest.

Bath has an Abbey as opposed to a Cathedral, but there is an outstanding Cathedral at Wells (the whole town/small city is great) and a moated Bishop's Palace.
Wells is 90 minutes away by half hourly bus- a lovely ride. I was there for Evensong last night, the 1831 last bus to Bath, back into Paddington at 2135.
While at Wells don't miss Vicar's Close, especially it's Chimney Pots. Said to be the best preserved medieval street in Europe.
The bus costs £3 each way.