First time to England

Ashley,
There are some things that you can do that will help us help you. You will probably get this reply from more people as the day goes on.

You have made the first step by posting here. Now you need to do some research. Ricks books are a good start. They are available from this site and many book stores as well as some AAA offices. Also check other references like Fodors & Lonely Planet.

There are too many things to suggest at this point. We don't know what your interests are...sight seeing, historic sights, art, museums, quaint villages and so on.

With only two weeks you will be pretty limited. London is a good starting point. It is very easy to spend a week there.

Will you be driving or utilizing public transportation or a combination of both? When you start narrowing down your plans this will be an important aspect that will have to be taken into consideration both for travel times and costs.

As replies are posted, you will be getting all kinds of great ideas.

You have a lot of time before your trip so there is time for you to do your part and we can help with fine tuning your itinerary.

Stay tuned for more.

First- You will have a WONDERFUL trip. The UK is a marvelous place to visit. As to budget and where to stay- that all depends on you and what you want and will enjoy. You can go from hostels to 5 star hotels and the budget can go from minimal to extravagant! Right now start doing a bit of research- read Rick's books and some magazines and go to a few websites. Britian magazine is very good- check out a few back issues from your library. Go to the Visit Britian website. Also you need to begin asking youself and your mom some questions. What are you interested in? History, Gardens, Architechture, Art? the list is endless. Do you prefer to "stay put" and do mostly day trips? Or do you want to see several cities? Let us know some details and we can give you better input. Here is a link to an article I wrote about staying in London and doing day trips. It might give you a few ideas. If it asks for a zipcode, use 28208

http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm?zip=28201&stateprov=nc&city=charlotte

also feel free to private message me- my husband and I have been to the UK more than 40 times in 20 years. Additionally, to better search this site for posts related to your question, see a posting called "Frequently Asked Questions - How to Search the Helpline".

You can begin some of your own research by reviewing the information on this very website. Click on the "Plan Your Trip" tab at the top of your screen; then in the "Best Destinations" section, click "Great Britain"; there are 38 of Rick's articles on Great Britain to get you started. When you're finished with that, go to the "Plan Your Trip" tab again, then click on "Travel Tips"; there are 95 of Rick's articles on sleeping, eating, transportation, etc. However, the best thing at this point might be to read/purchase a guidebook or two - they will answer most of your questions, and help you plan.

While independent travel to Europe and Great Britain is the theme of this board, for first time travellers who still want to do something on their own, it might be best to ask a travel agent who is an expert on this type of travel to step in for this trip.

The logistics and planning of a trip like this is time consuming if you want it to work out. Since it is never a good idea to go without a solid plan, or booking convenient and affordable places to stay, or not knowing how best to get around that would suit both of you, plus what is worth seeing and what can be skipped, you may need the help.

Mine saves me money because she is budget-conscieous, but most importantly I have the confidence in knowing the details are taken care of, I know where I am going and how I am getting there, and what i should visit. I do my own research, but it sure helps to eliminate wasted time on-line or reading useless books.

Later, when you get the travel bug, you will know how best to handle the details, but it helps getting assistance the first time.

Ashley,

The U.K. is a great place to travel, and with proper planning everything should go smoothly. A few suggestions to begin with.

• I'd suggest having a look at a copy of Rick's England Guidebook. If you want to buy one, keep in mind that the 2010 edition will probably be out in a few months. That will give you a good summary of the cities and sights that you might want to visit. Once you've established that, you can start working on an Itinerary. The Guidebooks provide listings for both Hotels and B&B's so you can read the description and price range of each and decide which ones appeal to you.

• You might check your local Library for a copy of Europe Through The Back Door, as that's an excellent "pre-travel resource".

• Plan at least 4-5 days for London, as there's LOTS to see. Don't forget also that you'll lose the first day in flight times (you'll arrive the day after you departed.

• I don't know what flights are available from your area, so it's difficult to offer suggestions. You might speak with a travel agent JUST for that part. If you're going to be covering a wider area of the U.K., consider open-jaw flights.

• How much you should "plan on spending" depends to some extent on what you want to see and do? Some of the Museums are free, but if you want to take in a musical or whatever, there will be a cost. Your cost will also vary to some extent depending on the exchange rates at the time.

• Some of the places you might consider: London, Bath, the Cotswolds & Stonehenge (perhaps as a day tour from Bath - check Mad Max Tours) & York. You could possibly add Edinburgh, but try to avoid the tendency to see a huge number of cities in a limited time frame.

• Your transportation will depend on which places you choose. BritRail is expensive, but there's also Coach (ie: National Express - a bit slower but works for shorter trips).

• Watch Rick's DVD's on the UK!

Good luck with your planning!

Ashley, I highly recommend bed and breakfasts over hotels. I think you learn much more about the culture by staying in a small B&B where you can get to know the owner and get his/her/their feedback on places to go, where to eat, etc. Another great advantage of B&Bs is that you will get a big hearty breakfast included in the price. That should last you until dinner with perhaps a small snack (we take Balance Bars). It can save quite a bit of money.

Ashley,

One point to clarify from the previous post.

Some Hotels operate on a "B&B" basis also, and provide a full breakfast (as well as an opportunity to get to know the owners).

The last Hotel I stayed at in London was like a B&B and the owners were wonderful (and so were the breakfasts!).

Cheers!

The question is, How much do you want to spend? Although England, and especially London, has gotten ridiculously expensive for accomodations in the last few years, there are still options to save money. It also depends upon the level of comfort that you require. There really aren't any well located B&Bs in London but loads and loads of budget hotels. Most of these require climbing lots of stairs but do include a nice English breakfast. You will still smell smoke in the hallways though smoking has finally been banned in restaurants & pubs. Hooray! The cheaper rooms still have the bathroom down the hall and ones with private bath go way up in price. But I now require that little luxury myself and am willing to pay extra. Neighborhood is also very important and ease of getting around via the tube. That's the first thing to decide upon is where to stay in London and then how long. I say a minimum of 4 days. Then you can get a London card covering most of the major sites to make sightseeing more reasonable too. After London, it depends upon your interests. Do you like castles, cathedrals, great manor houses, Roman antiquities, seaside resorts? I can help you with your plans if you like. I am also happy to give you my personal recommendations on where to visit during your stay if you like. Let me know. I'm here to help.

Hi Ashely,
You Mom and you will have lots of fun, My Mom and I did the same thing 2 years ago and had a blast. I'll suggest that you and your mom make a list of the places in England you really want to go, then get together and from those list go through and decide on 10-15 "must" see/do. Once you have that you can look at where to stay, London is the most convenient for trains but if you both want to be near to the coast Brighton or Bath might be a better place to stay.

If you are going to England primarily to sightsee than accommodations that are safe, in a good area and ideally provides you breakfast with your room rate is ideal. In England there are lots of small hotels that are like a middle ground between the huge expensive monoliths like Hilton or the Savoy and a traditional B&B, think Fawlty Towers without the craziness. I have experienced these in England and found that they often have some of the amenities of the monoliths [one had a small exercise room, Free Wi-FI and a pool] , with the character and pricing more akin to a B&B. B&Bs are also nice as the owners may be able to provide you with a bit of their area's history that the others cannot.

Depending upon your ages you &/or your mom may be eligible for a discount on a Brit-Rail Pass [if your mom is over 60 she is considered a senior on Brit-Rail, and many tourist attractions too, are you a student? if so make sure you get an international student card at your student union building which should enebale you to take advantage of student rates]. As to what to spend I would recommend budgeting at a minimum £400-£500[$750-$950) for food and attractions. One way to save on food is to go to Marks & Spencer's Food Halls [grocery store] and buy the fresh salads and sandwiches, cheaper and healthier than most pub grub, bonus is you can eat it on the go or stop and lunch in one of the many parks in London.

Have fun
Cheers,

Elaine

Ashley, my daughter [age 17] and I just got back from a trip to the UK and will be happy to give advice once you provide more specifics about your interests; it was our third visit and we can't wait to go again! If you like smaller, more personal lodgings, I can warmly recommend two options: At Home in London and London Home to Home. They are both "B&B homestays" with a number of houses/hosts to choose from; we've used both on recent trips with great success. On our most recent visit we were the only guests; we chose to share a bath with the owner to save a few pounds but there was another room with ensuite we could have used instead. Cost was 75 GBP per night including a nice breakfast of muesli, eggs, and bacon, at a house about 8 minutes from the Gloucester Road tube station. And our hostess was a very interesting person; I really enjoyed talking with her about London, sights, politics, music, health care... we covered a lot of ground during 4 breakfasts! Check out the websites for both; you'll be able to see the different locations and options. One warning; if you plan to go to evening theater or concerts, you probably want to be fairly centrally located. We stayed in Chiswick in 2007 and that made for some pretty late nights, hence the decision to be closer this time. Enjoy the planning and feel free to PM me if you have questions.

The discount for seniors on trains is only available with the purchase of a special card and last time I checked it cost about 25 GBP, so don't plan on saving too much money that way.

Norma's right about the trains, but if you travel with National Express buses, anyone over 60 will get great deals and need nothing more than proof of age. National Express services cover the country and are very popular. And are usually clean and cheap.