December travel advice in UK

Hi Not sure when in December you are thinking of but you should be aware that climate change means we've had particularly cold winters the last couple of years and the same is predicted for this. From mid December last year there was heavy snow. This may not be a problem in some parts of the US, where you are prepared for it, but in the UK it meant that travel was incredibly difficult. Many roads were blocked, flights were cancelled for several days, trains weren't running and conditions were generally miserable! (I know, we had booked to spend two weeks in Greece and were unable to get out of the country due to flight failures!) Sorry to be depressing but it seemed worth pointing out! Whatever plans you make you might want to factor this in. Cheers Alan

Just a few suggesstions/notes. 1- Moving around costs money. If you can base in one or two places (3 at most), you'll save. 2- In London check out the London School of Economics. they seems ot have lots of spare dorm rooms/apartments to rent. (http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/) They have multiple locations in central London and are currently starting at 28GBP per night (that's VERY inexpensive). Most are ensuite and you get a kitchen. You also get access to student areas like the lounge (tv/game room) and laundry room. 3-From London you can do day trips to Cambridge, Oxford, and lots of other places by train very easily (Windsor, Brighton, Winchester, Stratford-upon-Avon,Cardiff, etc.). You really do not want a car in London. 4- With only 2 weeks or so, I'd consider just 'doing' England and Scotland. Save Ireland for antoher trip.
After about a week in London, take the train to York for 1 or 2 nights, then on to Edinburgh or Inverness. Base there (again check out apartments) and do some day trips. My personal preference would be Inverness. Though in Dec. many of the tour companies shut down or do a limited schedule. 5- If you really would prefer a car , check out posts by Pamela. She love to drive the wee roads of Scotland. We perfer the trains and buses as we don't want to have to adapt to driving on the other side of the road, gas is VERY, VERY, VERY expensive and parking is a hassle and also expensive and scarce.

15 days will involve heaps of travelling around 3 countries ... It's cold, dark and icy in December .....

Ps should add
100% agree with Alan Also, driving to Inverness in December could be impossible (check out bbc travel pages last year). I would not go on a driving holiday in the highlands in the snow.

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice and the URL link. The primary objective is to visit Cambridge and Oxford really. We'll also be happy to swap home with locals. We live in Silicon Valley, CA. Do they care how many people sleep in the same room eventhough it says it's a one person occupancy? Just wondering.

Hi All, I have a friend who lives in Bradford, West Yorkshire. How far is that from London? I also found a placed called, The Friars, Aylesford, how far is that from London? In terms of transportation, how convenient is it to commute between these places to Cambridge and Oxford and Westminster Abbey? Thanks all again!

Type in: http://www.theaa.com/ - this will allow you to estimate how many miles from one spot in England to another.

Do they care how many people sleep in the same room eventhough it says it's a one person occupancy? Yes. Insurance and licenses are based on official occupancy numbers. If that is exceeded not only do you violate the landlord, money wise, you also cause them to fun foul of the police, Trading Standards, Fire regulations and their insurance. In the US often a room is a room and you can put more people in. Not in Europe, not in the UK. In addition to the TheAA link provided by PP, you could also try maps.google.co.uk and put in your start and end points which will show various routes and miles and time, and any tolls.

Regarding the other question, if you want to "commute" by train use http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ and put in your origin and destination and get the times. You will find that both of the places you mention are far, far away and will be very expensive for commuting, to say nothing taking a lot of time.

Heed the advice from Alan. Here's a video from BBC London from the snow storm he mentions. Turn up the sound on your computer, and click on the lower left of the picture to start the video. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11900122 Note the date on the video is 2 December 2010. I had saved this because I particularly liked the images and music. This should pretty much tell you what conditions could be like while you're over there. Not bad if you don't have to drive anywhere. I would have loved being snowed in for weeks somewhere in the Cotswolds or in Oxford during this snow storm.