Need help with locations, trains, tube and buses in England - lots of help!

Derbyshire: The top attraction is Chatsworth House you can visit the house, grounds, farm. (we have done this a number of times). We also walked in Dovedale- a valley following a gentle river; (no problem for seniors); stayed in Ashbourne town (famous for somethiing like gingerbread cookies) also some villages (Eyam comes to mind) do "well dressings" . you need to research this with tourist bureaus- or maybe you can get suggestions. Bakewell is usually also recommended but we just drove through it many times. Drive on the Moors for different secnery. They often have events over the weekend around Ashbourne. We did all this by car

Derbyshire- continued: There is also the Crich Tram Museum (in near the village of that name). If you like narrowboats you may also like trams. They have a number of working trams and busses of different eras which you get to ride, and many more on display in their barns. Pleasant restauarant and shops. Easy to find on Google. It was also near one of the well dressing villages

1. Most of Derbyshire will be served by trains from St Pancras in London. There are pretty regular express trains to both Derby and Nottingham. The train company is Midland Mainline. 3. Gatwick is a long way from central London. If you stay near there you will spend a lot of time and money getting into the city every day. I'd suggest staying somewhere more central. 4. Unfortunately that means conscutive days only if you get a weekly pass. However, if you use the Oyster as a stored-fare card to pay as you go, the money will last indefinitely and not expire.

Gatwick is a 30 min train ride from London. Don't plan to stay near the airport (I'd even consider changing the Heathrow hotel). The Victoria Station area is nice and makes a good base. It is also where you can get the Gatwick Express direct to Gatwick airport. We love this area. Lots of resturants to choose from, decent shopping (especially for "snacks", etc)and easy access to the Tube and trains for (some) day trips. What is your budget for accomodations? Lots of people will have recommendations if you can give us a range. Also check TripAdvisor. I have found their reviews helpful. PS- Nottingham lace/crochet is lovely. If you get a chance, buy some!!!

I'll be there in two weeks, so almost done with my planning. For train travel go to the Qjump website it will make planning real easy. I'll be doing a lot of train travel so am getting a 8-day England Rail flexipass. Also getting an visitor Oyster card for London. Got them from VisitBritain.com.

I agree with the others. Stay in a more central location, not near the airports. I love the flexibility of the Oyster Card. I only have to pay when I ride. I usually walk in London and take public transportation when I'm tired of walking or in a hurry. The Oyster Card works on both the Tube and the busses. Just make sure you tap it when you get off the bus. I had no problem purchasing mine when I arrived at Heathrow to take the Tube to London. I had no problem reactivating it when I returned to London a few weeks later. I think you can return it and get some small amount in return (as you did pay for the card). I still have it. I should probably post it in the thread about unique souvenirs. :D I would highly recommend taking the time to research Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to see what attractions are there that YOU and your husband find interesting. In my opinion, trips are much more fun when you go to see things that you think sound really interesting, rather than a list of things other people told you were interesting. Good luck! :)

like others above, i cannot imagine why you'd want to stay near gatwick for a week in london-UNLESS you are actually asking for a suggestion for the night before your flight home. if this is the case, check out Yotel, which is in gatwick. we had a great experience there. private message me if that actually is the case and you have any questions. have a great trip!

"The Oyster Card works on both the Tube and the busses. Just make sure you tap it when you get off the bus" Do not touch the card reader when you leave a bus. See below on the way to use the card. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14870.aspx

Really? When I read about the card a couple years ago, I learned that you could get charged more than just the fee for your ride if you didn't tap it when you exited the bus. Perhaps something has changed. Thanks for the link. ~~~~ That was a short read. It doesn't really explain why you don't touch it when exiting a bus. It just talks about what it means if you get a red light or a green light. What does this have to do with not touching out? Could you please elaborate?

If you buy your rail tickets in advance, you will save money. I do not suggest you use the Qjump website. Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk instead. The ticket prices are much lower. ....As for not touching the Oyster Card on the way out of the bus, well, that's the way it's set up. It says you do not have to touch the card on the way out...so why do you want to? If you were on a paper ticket, you wouldn't have to show it to get out, you just leave.

You tap the Oyster card when exiting the Tube, so you can be charged the correct amount....You DON'T TAP the Oyster when exiting the bus; that will register a second bus trip and you don't want that....If using a 7-day Travel Card (for 7 consecutive days) don't activate it until you first use it. The 7 days begin with first activation (use)....There are brochures at Tube stations explaining the system, so it would be wise to read up on how it works; the Oyster covers transit other than local buses and Tube......A small monitor at exiting the Tube shows how much money is left on your Oyster....You can top-up the Oyster if it is running low.....You probably need to add money to the 7-day card if you travel outside zones 1 & 2....The system probably sounds complicated, but you can get used to it quickly.

Frank II ~~~> because it doesn't make sense to me NOT to tap off. Many years ago, I watched two people get shuffled off a bus by the conductor because they hadn't gotten off the bus at the stop they had PAID to get off at. I guess the system is set up so that you pay the same no matter how long you are on the bus. How much does a bus ride cost? As I said, in my experience, it depends on how far you go.

Ruth, many years ago you paid depending on your journey. You'd get on the bus, tell the conductor where you're going or how much the ticket was, if you knew, and you got a ticket for that trip. Times change. Now, it's all set up into zones. Fares between zones are the same. If the official Oyster website says you don't have to tap on the way out, why would you insist on doing so? The normal bus fare is 2 GBP. With an Oyster Card it's 1.20 GBP. It's possible, and you may not have even known it, that you've been paying twice what you should have paid because you double tapped. It's up to you, if you feel better tapping before you leave, then tap before you leave. As for me, I'll just follow the procedure stated in the instructions for using the Oyster card. I can't get in trouble if I do what the instructions say, now can I? (And I'm betting when you saw the people kicked off, they weren't using an oyster card but a single ticket.)....With all this talk of buses, it reminds me of the old British TV series, "On The Buses." (It's now out on DVD and I recently watched all of it.)

Its pretty simple really. The Oyster system needs to know what your trip is to take out the right money. If it is Tube or DLR you can travel within one zone or more than one zone. Different price, right? So you must tap in and tap out. If you don't tap out you get done for the highest possible price because it doesn't know where you left the system and assumes the worst. Buses are the same price no matter how far you travel and however many zones you travel through. Once you're on nice Mr Oyster knows to do you for £1.20 until you reach the daily cap.

Frank the Oyster card did not exist at the time I saw those people kicked off the bus. I had a pass for unlimited rides within Zones 1 & 2. If you want to blindly follow whatever you are told, that is your choice. As far as I'm concerned, I want to know why so I understand how I'm being charged and plan my topping up accordingly. You say "The normal bus fare (Zone 1) is 2 GBP. With an Oyster Card it's 1.20 GBP." So how much do I get charged when I travel from zone to zone? And don't tell me that you can't with the Oyster card, because I did it. Do I still get charged only 1.20 GBP if I travel from Zone 1 to 3? Thanks Nigel. That was all I needed to know. :)

What a wealth of information I've received from so many people! So far I've become a bit more familiar with booking trains and rooms, thanks to those who responded. Now I'm considering two days in Bath and four additional days in London, but have found what I consider a bargain (< $80 including a full hot breakfast for two) on the last day at Holiday Inn Express near Gatwick. Might not be very "English", but it will keep us from getting up in the middle of the night to catch our flight back to the states. Thans to everyone who's helped us. Now,any suggestions for B&Bs in Bath?

Derbyshire suggestions: 1. Visit Eyam, the plague village. If that interests you, you might want to read A Parcel of Patterns by Jill Walsh before you go. It's a slightly fictionalized account of how the village got the plague and how they reacted to it. 2. Visit Haddon Hall, the location where The Princess Bride was filmed. 3, Derbyshire has many ruined stone circles if that interests you. 4. We saw a well-dressing in Bakewell, but I think those are a summer phenomena.

I think Nigel explained it very well. In this case, I followed the Oyster instructions blindly because it saved me money. But feel free, Ruth, to do whatever makes you happy. After all, travel is individual to each of us and we have to do what makes us happy and comfortable. Tap away.

I agree with other posters, do stay in London. As far as meeting the British people I have vivid memories of my 2007 trip sitting in a pub around the corner from my hotel that was on Belgrave Rd. A woman of a certain age was telling her two younger male companions of wartime London. I couldn't help but hear their conversation and was fascinated my her recollections. Enjoy your trip, Pam

Stay at an airport hotel only if you need to catch a morning flight the next day. Don't stay at Gatwick for several, or even a few, days, just to catch that flight. You'll lose time and most of the savings getting back and forth to London. Find a place to stay in London, and then spend the last night out at Gatwick. Google "Gatwick Express". Don't sweat saving pennies on the Tube. Not worth it. Buy a seven-day Oyster Card and top it up if needed. Buy it after you arrive, not from home. Just get in line behind the window with the human being at your first Tube station. Tell them what you want. They are used to dealing with tourists. Trains leave London's several stations to pretty much every place every hour or so. You can save money by buying a ticker online as soon as possible. You get the ticket at the station by putting the credit card into a machine and keying in a magic number that's emailed to you. Work's fine. Or, you can buy tickets on the day of departure at the station. That's flexible, but can cost much more. I buy tickets online from www.thetrainline.com. Check there for the Derbyshire schedules. Be aware that the only real difference is between the express trains and the locals, i.e., the slower trains that stop everywhere. Folks in the UK are generally pretty nice. Smile and be friendly and you'll meet your share. Enjoy the narrowboat. Don't forget to duck.