If everything works out, my friend and I will get to take a trip together in July. We’ll spend the first half of the month in England and the second half of the month in Scotland, sightseeing and taking in the surroundings. Since neither of us have ever been there before or know anyone from the two countries, we really aren’t sure how to start planning our trip.
I’ve looked around online and have found decent prices for plane tickets, so that’s not something I’m worried about anymore. Neither of us know what we should do about transportation once we’re over there though. We’re thinking about either renting a car or getting train passes (I think that’s what they’re called), but we don’t know how much this will cost, what company would be good to rent a car from, or where we would go to get train passes.
We’ll probably stay in a hotel while we’re in England and I’ve been able to look up prices online, but I have no idea what any of the neighborhoods are like and if the prices I found were good deals. In Paddington, we can stay at a bed and breakfast called the “Royal Norfolk Hotel” for 2 weeks at roughly $600 per person. That was the least expensive place I’ve stumbled upon so far, but I don’t know if the place is good, if it’s in a good location, or if that’s a decent price.
In Scotland, I’ve read a lot about bed and breakfast inns or staying in castles that have been converted. Staying in a castle sounds really interesting, and it doesn’t cost anymore than a lot of the hotels in London (about $1000 each for a 2 week stay). We’ll probably stay somewhere in or around Stirling and we have a couple places in mind already, but we’re still unsure about transportation.
Not including the plane tickets or gift-buying money, I’d like to keep the cost of this trip around $2000 for each of us. Of course, it would be even better if the trip was less expensive than that. I’m sorry this post is rambly, but I really don’t know where to start planning for this trip. Any advice, ideas, or personal antecdotes about transportation or accomodations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
It’s been several years since my backpacking trip in the UK/Ireland, so I’m not sure how much things might’ve changed, but back then (late 90’s), youth hostels were really the way to go for inexpensive accomodation. Assuming you’re not overly concerned with privacy, hostels are the most frugal route to go for travelling the UK, at about 10-15£ per night, some including breakfast. Since you’re going in July, you’ll definitely want to call ahead to places and make sure they’ll have space for you - it’s a popular travel time & hostels can fill up fast. The UK & Wales YHA website is here if you’re interested in going that route.
A combination of pub grub & cooking at the hostel is the way to go for food if you want to keep it inexpensive. Most of the time, the hostel staff can direct you to reputable pubs & shops in the area so you don’t have to leave your digestive system at the mercy of chance.
You could easily spend a week or more in London just using the tube (see here) & your own feet to get around. If you’re not sure what to see, check out a site like this one or other backpacker’s sites for sightseeing advise. From there, purchasing train and/or bus fare as you go is probably just as cost-effective as any other route, especially since you’ll only be there a couple weeks. In Scotland, you might consider a Haggis jump-on/jump-off bus tour to see the highlights - I found it to be a really fun & easy way to travel.
The best part about the more casual style of travelling is meeting tons of people from all over the world. Although it’s a bit rougher than B&B’s and private cars, it’s a heck of a lot more fun.
What exactly are youth hostels? I’ve seen other posters suggest staying in them before because they’re inexpensive, but I don’t know anything about them either. It definitely seems to be the cheapest way to go, since the cost per night is less than half the cost of staying in some of the least expensive hotels I’ve been able to find. I would have considered these earlier if I knew more about them.
They’re very basic dormitory-style accomodation for travellers on a limited budget - basically, you get a bed for the night, rudimentary washing facilities, breakfast if you pay extra, and that’s it. (Unless they’ve changed significantly since I was last in one - which was back in '88, so they may well have.)
They are cheap, and pretty much ubiquitous, which are advantages not to be sneezed at, I guess. But “luxurious” is not a word you will be applying to them.
The last time I stayed in a youth hostel was probably about the same year as Steve, and though some of them have double or single rooms (for which you pay a small supplement), most accommodation is dormitory and gender segregated. You also used to have to do a chore in the morning before you left. Nothing too bad - cleaning the kitchen counters or something.
Having said that, they are indeed dirt cheap, and several of them are absolutely amazing - there’s one in Scotland I stayed in on the banks of Loch Lomond that is a gigantic old manor house; there’s one in Chepstow on the Welsh border that is a genuine King John I hunting lodge nearly 1,000 years old.
Otherwise, B&B accommodation is the next cheapest.
A youth hostel is basically a large dormitory-style hotel. They’re built specifically for people travelling on a budget (usually younger, college-age backpackers, but when I travelled there were several older people & even a couple grandmothers!).
The layout of hostels vary, but the setup is usually about the same - a large common area & kitchen, with several “dorm” rooms usually split up by sex, although there are some places with mixed rooms available if you’re travelling in a mixed party. The dorm rooms can have anywhere from 2 to 20 beds, depending on the hostel. Generally, people are fairly considerate about noise at night and leaving others’ belongings alone, although things can get a bit rowdy if a bus full of college students show up.
Most hostels in the UK have semi-private shared bathrooms similar to US gyms; doors on toilets and showers leading into a common sink & mirror area (also split up by sex). The worst experience I had with showers was in Ireland, where a couple places just had curtains at the sides of the showers, with nothing to close in the back. You’re fairly unlikely to find that type of situation in England & Scotland though, based on my experience.
If you’re looking for a quiet trip with time meditating in the serenity of your hotel, hostels are definitely not for you. If you’re willing to “rough it” a bit more, interested in meeting new people from all over the world (and likely having fun experiences with them!), and don’t mind putting up with a bit of noise to save some money, hostels are great.
Don’t plan on driving to Scotland - the traffic will make it a much slower journey than you expect, and fuel costs a LOT more than in the US. Rent a car when you arrive there - and get a smallish one, much easier on narrow Highland roads.
Don’t worry about the location of your hotel in London, provided it’s reasonably central. The tube will certainly be within a short distance, and runs until about midnight.
Now that I know more about them, I’ll definitely look into staying at a hostel at least part of the time. I’d like to have a nice, quiet, peaceful trip, but there’s also a part of me that wants to meet new people and rough it a bit.
I definitely wasn’t planning on driving a rental from London to Scotland. I figured gas would cost a lot and knowing my driving skills, I’d probably get lost.
Thanks everybody for the stories, advice, and links.
If you want a break from the hostel, B&Bs are the way to go. We had good luck with a B&B site called smoothound. In London, we stayed at Ossian House (google it, they have a website, but I am in too much of a hurry to search) and loved it.
I feel the need to urge you not to spend the entirety of your stay in England in the capital (or even in the South East). There’s a lot more to the rest of the country than a route from London to Scotland.
Don’t worry, I won’t spend two weeks just sitting around in London. I do think of it as my starting point though, since it’s where we will be first after flying in from the US.
Seriously, the inter-city bus system in England is absolutely fantastic! It goes everywhere, it’s inexpensive, they have excellent seating, and on any trip longer than an hour there’s an attendant who sells sandwiches and tea.
One company (maybe the only one, I’m not sure) is National Express.
Noooo!!! Don’t use National Express!!! You’ll take almost as long as if you walked, you can’t stand up and walk about as easily as on a train, you see nothing but concrete, and it’s full of smelly poor people…or maybe I’m being too harsh…
Though it may not be quite what you are looking for, check out what the Landmark Trust has to offer. This is an outfit that rescues “distressed” buildings of historical interest, fixes them up and rents them to vactioners.
They have a remarkable collection of unusual properties throughout Britain, and some other places as well. I stayed in a 500-year-old cottage in Kent, and it was wonderful. Rates are not dirt cheap, but are good for what you get.
Contrary to popular belief, the train network here is actually getting up to speed - provided you use the nice intercity services. I’ve travelled between both Birmingham and London and Birmingham and Edinburgh, and the trains have been great.
I recently travelled to and from Newcastle by National Express coaches … it involved hanging around their station in Newcastle for several hours. At night. In January. With no seats, heat, or even proper shelter available. Just me and a bunch of other passengers, crouching in the lee of the offices to try and keep out of the wind.
And it also involved layovers in Milton Keynes, about which the less said the better.
And, since I last travelled on coaches, it has apparently become compulsory to equip each one with a small hyperactive Turkish child.
Take the train, is my advice. The train service has been diabolical since private sector efficiency was injected into it, but it’s still better than the coaches.
(Just don’t listen to Angua when she tells you how long it’ll take to get to the railway station … )
My qualifications for answering this…
I travelled through England, Scotland and Wales by myself on a two-week journey in 1990 by train.
My wife family is still in England and Wales and we have travelled with her family about 4 times by car.
My wife and I took a 10 day trip to Scotland and managed to cover a good portion of the country by car.
Accommodations: Hostels are less expensive and seem to make sense in London, but I worried about my bags (nothing ever happened) and was not enthused about the bunk beds and getting out of bed with others in the room…but that’s just me. Hotels are typically more expensive and impersonal, plus some still have the shared bathrooms down the hall. B&Bs are the way to go in my opinion. Most I (we) have stayed at have been very comfortable, warm and welcoming, very gracious hosts and often during breakfast have an opportunity to meet and converse with other guests. Frequently the host would introduce us to one another to ‘break the ice’. During the high season, we paid anywhere from £20-40 per person per night. We rarely booked ahead and used a local Accommodations desk that is run by a local tourism board who will call around on your behalf to find something. This works a whole lot better if you have a car to get around…
Transport: London - use the transit system or walk. I have never gotten up the courage to drive in the city. The cabs are great if you are somewhere off the transit lines. Inter-city trains - I bought a rail-pass from the travel agent before I left (you can’t get them in Britain) and was pleased that I had. It gave me the freedom to hop on and off any trains that I wanted while I was there. When in Inverness, the town was so crowded with tourists (trying to get to Loch Ness) that I just hopped on the first train leaving on a whim and got out of town…and discovered Stirling (good move). It worked well for me, but many of the stations are in the downtowns and so I wasn’t able to explore the countryside. Rental Car - Fabulous freedom to go where you want when you want. Driving on the other side of the road takes some getting used to and some vigilance on the part of the passenger to make sure I stay on the left. We found some delightful B&Bs in the countryside (look for the farmhouse B&Bs) and found that the ability to make our own schedules was worth the extra expense. It also allowed us to pick up grocery items from the HyperMarkets to keep in the car to limit our dining out expenses. The petrol (gas) prices are daunting though (£.80/liter!?! gas in the US is about £.23/liter)
Dining: Pubs were by far our favourite stops (don’t miss the traditional ‘Real’ ales) for food. Any of the fast food places you may recognize are thoroughly disappointing. Restaurants are incredibly expensive compared to Canada/USA.
Sights:
There are loads of tourist things to see and do, but here are a couple of suggestions that we’ve had fun with.
Narrow-guage railways - fun and you get to see the countryside example in Wales, Yorkshire and others…
Distillery tours - I never enjoyed Scotch, but now I have an appreciation for the flavours of it after taking a tour at Strathisla.
Thank you so much everybody. Reading about all your experiences (all except for the National Express ones) makes me want to quit school and go NOW instead of waiting until July. Of course I can’t really do that, so I’ll spend the next few months researching and figuring out what to do once I’m in the UK.
" … a traditional transport caff, where two toxic old ladies were shuffling around in a cloud of cigarette smoke, hurling food into bubbling vats of industrial grease … "
