My husband and I are going to visit our daughter who is studying abroad at Hope University in Liverpool England. We are from Hot Springs, Arkansas. We will spend 10 nights and 9 days. We plan to begin in Liverpool and spend two nights there. We do not care to see much of Liverpool and hope to take day trips to North Wales and York. Next, we would like to take brief tours of the Cotswolds and Bath, then head to London. Is this too ambitious if our goal is to see major sights and not hike or bicycle? Any suggestions for travel from one place to another such as should we buy a Britrail pass, or pay as we go? This will most likely be our only trip and as Rick says, I want to make the most of every minute and dollar. Suggestions, ideas, opinions, will be much appreciated! I have read other comments and have copied websites and info. Thanks you in advance from Arkansas!
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
I am sorry you don't want to see Liverpool, as my wife and I rather liked it, but to each his own. Checking National Rail Enquiries (google it), I found for a random date in February, that there is frequent service with 1 or 2 changes, and some direct service with no change of train. The trip appeared to be roughly about 2 hrs 15 to 2 1/2 hrs. So yes, it is possible to do a day trip to York from Liverpool. If you get up quite early and leave before 9 you can pretty much have enough time to see the Cathedral, walk a little of the medieval walls, stroll the Shambles...how much else you would have time to do is hard to say. North Wales I haven't seen, so I'll let someone else suggest an itinerary to you. You should buy R Steves England book asap, as it will help greatly in planning.
As far as tours of the Cotswolds...I think you should plan to stay two nights in Bath, doing a Cotswold bus tour with Mad Max or some other company on the second day. This would leave you about 4 days and nights for London...not enough, but better than nothing. You don't need a Britrail pass, which would be a waste of money. Buy tickets in advance online once your itinerary is SET and you can save a good deal. But really it appears you only need tickets (second or "standard" class) for Liverpool-York-Liv; Liverpool-Wales-Liverpool; Liverpool-Bath one way; Bath-London one way.
Posted by
OP
Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States
4 posts
Dear Roe, You are awesome! This is my first experience with the Rick Steves website. I lived by his books when we spent two weeks in France five years ago. This helpline is the equivalent to a personalized travel agent! We do want to see Liverpool, but want to take advantage of our close proximity to York and North Wales. I like to use what Rick recommends as a guide for "must sees" and York and North Wales both have the highest ranking. Your suggestions are very helpful. I had read about the Mad Max tour as well. While I have your ear, do you have suggestions for London regarding the best area to stay? I am thinking close to a train station to make the most efficient use of our time. I am now a Rick Steves online follower! Many thanks from this Arkansas family!!
Posted by
Los Angeles, California
1986 posts
Tommie
in London "to make the best use of your time' you need to be near the tube. generally within the circle made by the "Circle Line' (yellow) tube circuit is good. Train stations really wont help much, as you really dont have enough time to see what london has to offer. you will be doing most of your travel by Tube. Although generally, people on this site tend to recommend places near the Victoria and Paddington stations for economical hotels etc, I prefer staying somewhere in the West End (theatre district) nearish Piccadilly Circus as you can walk to so many of the top sights
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Brian is right that you will use the Tube to get around London rather than mainline rail service for the most part. Having said that, since you will arrive from Bath at Paddington Station...and, assuming you are flying home out of Heathrow, you can catch either the Heathrow Connect train (25 minutes, cheap) or the Heathrow Express (15 min nonstop, more expensive, but still tolerable) from Paddington...well, given all that, you might want to find a hotel in the area around Paddington Station. There is a Hilton actually IN the station, but it is quite expensive unless you hit some special deal. I have stayed at the Hotel Indigo and enjoyed it. You might google Paddington, get the google map, then use the "search nearby" feature to identify hotels in easy walking distance. You could then use Tripadvisor to check them out. Paddington also has good Underground (Tube) service and a number of restaurants. One of RS' recommended neighborhoods is not too far, so check his book as well. Another neighborhood you might enjoy is Bloomsbury, south of Euston Road where three great mainline train stations are located, and the area in which you find the British Museum. It is a tree-lined, reasonably quiet academic area with some small restaurants and cafes. There is a new Holiday inn adjacent to the Russell Square tube stop in the heart of this area. Hope these ideas are useful.