UK travel ideas

As you're based at Newmarket a bus ride into Cambridge is a must. It's just coming into the punting season and a punt along the 'backs' at Cambridge is not too be missed. It's a charming city and really is a 'must see'. There's plenty to see and do and you may find that one day isn't enough.

A little further north of Newmarket is the city of Norwich. It's an easy train ride and it's full of history. Check out the market place for some dirt cheap bargains and souveniers.

You have an easy bus ride into Colchester. It's an ancient Roman city with a lot of historic sites.

Where is your brother based ?

Are you a city person or a countryside person ?

What are your interests ?

How old are you ?

With just a little information I'm sure we can plan a wonderful visit for you.

I'm 24 years old, I enjoy see the cities and I would like to see the countryside but I have no other transportation other than public. And I'm tring to do everything as cheaply as possible. I'm in Newmarket, about 20 minutes from Cambridge. I enjoy walking and exploring things on my own. Anything that I can do free or as cheaply as possible.

click here for an article of London's Top 10 free stuff to do or

click here for an article of Free things to do in Europe.

click here to be an audience member a tv taping of a BBC show. For example, the band Coldplay is giving an intimate performance for 600 fans.

In addition, if you need to get somewhere other than by train, Megabus has busses as low as one pound throughout England.

As for places to stay, you can go to hostals. I'm more picky and prefer privacy,and have used hotwire.com with good success.

If you like hiking in a beautiful natural setting, the Lake District north of Manchester is gorgeous.

Chester is a wonderful Roman city on the River Dee near North Wales.

Hi Annie,
Some towns close to you worth a visit are Ely. The town is lovely and the cathedral is amazing. Right inside the entrance on the floor is a labyrinth you can walk (hard to tell that's what it is as the tile is pretty broken up. Another lovely town and my fav is Bury St. Edmunds, gorgeous ruins of the abby and a cathedral. Nice shops and there is the smallest pub in England The Nutshell a few blocks away. Both can be gotten to by train, I've never done so other than taking the train from Ely into London. Enjoy your visit. I was there last June and had a great time, spent 4 days in London by myself seeing the sites. Regards, Pam

I would also consider Edinburgh. You can take a fast train from London, or if you decide to go to York, it's only a couple hours by train to Edinburgh. Everyone I know who has been there says it is their favorite city.

York and Bath and the Cotswolds are excellent choices too.

Hello Annie. If you will be in England many days, you could go to any part of England. (It is a small country). Because riding in trains in England is expensive (compared with most countries in Europe), you may want to travel only one direction from New Market or Cambridge, other than to London (do go to London). I suggest travel to the north. You said you plan to go to York. Places of interest to tourists, not far from York, are the Howard Mansion, Whitby at the sea coast, the Durham cathedral, and the Beamish outdoor museum (near Durham). Those places could be visited en route to or from Edinburgh in Scotland. (I was at Edinburgh. It is not my favorite place in Britain, but I think Edinburgh is worth one or two days).

My husband and I just got back from a trip to the UK, and we used the train and visited the places you listed. We tried to stay within a budget, and ended up doing a lot of walking, and splurged for some of the larger sites (Tower of London, Roman Baths, Yorkminster, etc)

We wanted more privacy than hostels, but saw hostels in London and York (and I'm sure Bath has them). In London we sayed at Hotel Meridiana near Kings Cross. If you want a hotel or hostel, look at tripadvisor and www.venere.com for cheap places- I found the reviews pretty accurate. If you want to see a show, be a "groundling" at the Globe Theater- it is a fun experience, as long as you don't mind Shakespeare! (It is also inexpensive.) Instead of touring St Pauls and Westminster Abbey, we went to the evensong. We walked all around London,including the parks and used the tube.

Make sure you do the free walking tours in York and Bath! We also enjoyed walking the Bath Skyline, great views and a taste of the countryside.

We stayed at Moreton in Marsh in Cotswalds and rented bikes. This allowed us to see multiple villages. The info center also had walking guides if you wanted to walk to nearby villages. I don't know if there is a hostel there, we stayed at Treetops B & B.

If you can purchase advanced train tickets, that is probably the cheapest option (besides buses). You can also purchase a Britrail pass, which can save money if it's too late to get the online deals for train tix.

Hope this helps! There seemed to be cheap ways to eat everywhere as well- plenty of sandwich and panini places, cafes, delis, grocery stores, etc.