I’ll be in the UK doing the tourist thing for three weeks starting June 27th. We’ll be in London for eight days, Stratfors-Upon-Avon for three days and Edinburgh for five days.
One thing we want to do is go see Stonehenge. Now, I know that people aren’t actually allowed inside the structure any more, but we still want to see it. Anyone here have any experience with tours? I’d like somethng not too canned, so I’m avoiding the usual tourist fare (Gray Line, etc.).
If walking around absorbing the countryside is your cup of tea, get a guidebook that describes all the National Trust sites. On my way to school, I used to drive past acres of beautiful landscapes, forests, manor houses and the like, all protected by the National Trust.
As emo boy as this sounds, I stumbled upon the entrance to the Stowe Landscape Gardens quite by accident one afternoon, and I took up watercoloring the next day. It was inspiring. If you decide to drive there, you will know exactly what I mean.
I’ve never done a guided tour, but England is so small you can criss-cross it twice in a day. Rent a car and go where you like. Many historical places of interest give their own tours on site, or they have audio guides and pamphlets.
When the wife and I did Britain for our Honeymoon, Stonehenge was one of the first stops. We got some kind of “Historical Discount Card” which lets you in free at more or less all of the non-marquee spots, and a discount for most anything else. It’s been 3 years, so I don’t remember the details, but it amounted to “If you want to see 3-4 or more places, it saves you money”
We ended up seeing a handful of stuff we’d have skipped, because it ended up on our way and free (or, severely discounted if you want to say we paid some smaller amount for each place visited).
Anyway, don’t bother with an organized tour. You park a ways away from the stones, and they’ve built under-road tunnels to facilitate walking. You can’t get very close, but my wife still loves it. Pays your fee and walk around and gawk.
Also: Best part of the trip - visiting Threave (pronounced “Threeve”) Castle.
Don’t worry about not noticing Stonehenge. The British, in all their boneheaded and overbearing propensity to be British, built two major highways are within yards of it.
If you wanted to get up close to Stonehenge, you can arrange Stone Circle Access if you book in advance. Looks like you could do it in the evenings anytime in July. There’s an application form at the bottom of the page I linked. If you’re really hardcore about it, a friend of mine recently did a Stonehenge tour in the morning before it opens to the public, that includes a car and driver (taking you from central London to stonehenge and back), plus a pub lunch. Its probably expensive, but if you’re interested let me know and I’ll ask her for details.
Roger’s suggestion of putting together a list of National Trust sites is spot on – there’s no need to pay someone else for a tour. Just get a BritRail Pass, and you can hop any train anytime, anywhere, for the duration of your trip.
I’d love to know, thanks!
I think she used this tour company, but I’m checking to see how she liked their service. As I expected, pretty pricey unless you have a decent size group.
If you need any help sorting crap out this end, give me a shout.
The Rail Pass thing is probably not a bad idea, but if you want to go somewhere off a main rail line, like Stonehenge, you are probably better off hiring a car for the day, it’s probably going to cost less than trying to arrange public transport and be far less painful.
I think she used this tour company, but I’m checking to see how she liked their service. As I expected, pretty pricey unless you have a decent size group.
How much!? Have I mentioned Nellie’s Tourcompany? For £375 I’ll not only drive you around Stonehenge, Bath, Bristol and all the other places worth seeing in the South West, but you can stay in my flat and sleep with my girlfriend.
Honestly, you could hire a Sports car (Aston Martin, Lotus, Jag etc) with Sat Nav and drive yourself for less than that.
The British, always so hospitable.
Honestly, you could hire a Sports car (Aston Martin, Lotus, Jag etc) with Sat Nav and drive yourself for less than that.
He’s american. Left driving and a stick shift combined with roads the size of an American footpath will most likely get somebody killed…
Nah, seriously the RailPass is pretty good if you don’t run into one of the anual strikes (like my parents did last year). Allthough privatization has lowered the standards of the British railways, they’re still pretty good, covers a lot of the country and it’s a relaxing way to enjoy the scenery.
If you’re just a little bit of a grognard, then you shouldn’t miss the Emperial War Museum in London - everything from WW1 rations over a V2 rocket and a whole floor of wartime artworks. Very extensive coverage of every armed conflict Britain has been in allthough coloured a bit on the rosy side.
And amusingly enough, housed in a building once the home of an insane asylum.
He’s american. Left driving and a stick shift combined with roads the size of an American footpath will most likely get somebody killed…
Good point and they’re not exactly small cars either. I just think £375 for someone to drive you to Stonehenge is, well, extortionate when you could be pottering round the countryside, doing your best Sean Connery impersonation in an Aston Martin for the same money.
I’d certainly recommend taking a car out for the day when up in Edinburgh. Out of town the roads are pretty quiet and the scenery is something else.
Yes take he car so far out on the roads around Edinburgh, that you end up in Glasgow - much cooler part of Scotland imho.
There are quite a few Americans that drive with a standard transmission. I know I will never buy a car with automatic transmission, no matter how much traffic I deal with.
Where I grew up in the Midwest, single lane gravel roads were all over the place. Even in New Jersey, one of the most urban states, there are still quite a few county roads where you need to move over to the shoulder when there is oncoming traffic, as well as several one-lane bridges.
Although, I would like to personally thank the Brits for giving us the circle, or roundabout as it is called over there. It provides for great amusement when the tourists come to the beach over the summer. Yield to the historic traffic flow you bennies!
How does an automatic transmission make any of those things difficult?
Ok, who rattled the gimp’s cage? Bill seems to be even more obnoxious than usual today.
Er, how does an automatic transmission make any of those things difficult?
I love the vague suggestion here that when in Britain, one must drive only British sports cars. I can picture Nellie’s British Sports Cars at the airport, where drivers are also issued an aviator hat with goggles and scarf, and a drunken anthropomorphic toad to sit in the passenger seat.
It doesn’t. Unless you are ancient or disabled.
Pretty sure he was addressing two different issues: std. transmission and small roads.