I (30 years) would be travelling with my father (65 years) to UK for 30 days. We have visited London & Stratford upon Avon before, but would like to spend 5 days in London and balance 25 days in Scotland, Wales, England...Neither of us can drive. Not interested in a golf itinerary or whisky trail or art specific. Just a general trip. Questions: 1. Itinerary suggestions. 2. Can this be done by trains alone? Is this way cheaper or more expensive than taking day / 2-3 days tours from London to each location?
3. Does the Britrail pass work within London as well as rest of UK (except Ireland)? Thanks! Ash
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
BritRail passes are good on TRAIN services in England, Wales and Scotland. It is NOT good on the TUBE/BUS services in London or other cities. It is not the bargin it used to be, but does allow for flexibility (which we liked). While you can not see all areas easily by train, you CAN see LOTS of the UK (we don't drive there either). Here's a possible rough itenerary(based only on my personal preferences after more than 20 years of travel to the UK): London- 5- 10 days with possible day trips to any of these: Windsor, Winchester, Brighton, Canterburry, Dover, Bath, Cardiff Wales Train to York, then York- 2-4 nights Train to Edinburgh, then 3-5 nights there (possible day trips to Sterling, St. Andrews) Train to Aviemore- then 2-5 nights there (possible day trips to whisky distilleries, Blair Atholl and Blair Castle) Train to Inverness- then 3-7 nights there with possible day trips to Isle of Skye, Orkney, Glen Coe, and other highland sites Train to Glasgow- 2-3 nights there Train to Snowdonia area of Wales- possibly stay at Bewts-y-Coed 2-4 nights Train to Cardiff Wales- 2-4 nights Train to London (possibly split your time here with the time at the beginning) You might want to read an article I posted on TripAdvisor. Here's the link
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186338-c176673/London:United-Kingdom:London.And.Day.Trips.html
Posted by
Chicago
792 posts
I am in the stages of planning a trip to the UK and just doing it by trains and it seems easy. There are a lot of trains and/or buses that go to where I want to go. I am choosing to stay a few days in several cities rather than having a home base and doing a lot of day trips. London is more expensive than a lot of the smaller cities so I think I am saving in hotels. In my opinion, a long commute for a day trip is more annoying than changing locales every few days (but this is my opinion, I am sure a lot of people would disagree). I am not doing a railpass but I am going for a shorter time than you. If you choose not to do a railpass, train tickets seem to be significantly cheaper if you book ahead of time online. Downside of that is that you have to know where/when you want to travel. Have a good trip!
Posted by
OP
MUMBAI, India
2 posts
Thanks Toni and Kristen! There have been some change of plans now. So a friend has offered to drive us around and so we will be doing this by car and not by train!!