# A month in England & Scotland (advice on transportation and accomodation please) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690 "2004-02-17T18:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/21 "2004-02-21T03:28:06Z")
I think your best bet in summer time is the dorms of various London Uni campasses – cheap, chearful, reasonable food and very security conscious. Here’s some to whet your appetite - Google accordingly: [http://www-mice.cs.ucl.ac.uk/multimedia/misc/local.html#westminster](http://www-mice.cs.ucl.ac.uk/multimedia/misc/local.html#westminster) The London School of Economics (Room B508, LSE, Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE) has a number of its halls available at Easter and summer. Carr Saunders Hall (tel +44 (0)20 7323 9712), 18-24 Fitzroy St W1 (tube: Great Portland St), is not the greatest part of town, but it’s central enough; open Easter and summer holidays; singles/doubles with full breakfast are £17.50/30 over Easter, £22/42 in the summer. Self-catering flats of different sizes are also available on a weekly basis in the summer only, ranging from £238 for a two person flat to £539 for five persons. High Holborn (tel +44 (0)20 7379 5589), 178 High Holborn WC1 (tube: Holborn), is centrally located and has self-catering singles/doubles for £25/43, with continental breakfast, in the summer only. Passfield Hall (tel +44 (0)20 7387 3584), Endsleigh Place WC1 (tube: Euston), consists of ten late-Georgian houses in the heart of Bloomsbury. A bed and full breakfast is £17.50/30 at Easter, £19/35 in the summer. Similar rates apply at Rosebery Avenue Hall (tel +44 (0)20 7278 3251), 90 Rosebery Avenue EC1 (tube: Angel). Imperial College of Science & Technology (tel +44 (0)20 7589 5111), 15 Prince’s Gardens SW7 (tube: South Kensington), is in a brilliant position near the Kensington museums; open Easter and summer; B&B £25/40. Regent College (tel +44 (0)20 7487 7483), Inner Circle, Regent’s Park NW1 (tube: Baker St), is a converted Regency manor right in the middle of beautiful Regent’s Park, convenient to Camden and central London; open May to September; singles/doubles £25/36. John Adams Hall (tel +44 (0)20 7387 4086), 15-23 Endsleigh St WC1 (tube: Euston), is central and facilities include a swimming pool; open Easter and summer; B&B is £19 per night for more than seven nights, £21.40 for less. King’s Campus Vacation Bureau (tel +44 (0)20 7351 6011), 552 Kings Rd SW10 0UA, administers bookings for a number of central King’s College residence halls. Rates range from £14 to £23 per person, include access to excellent facilities, and most include a continental breakfast. Finsbury Residences (tel +44 (0)20 7477 8811), Bastwick St EC1 (tube: Old Street), comprises two modern halls belonging to City University. Available over Xmas, Easter and the summer, you get a bed and continental breakfast for £19.50 per person per night or £97.50 a week; evening meals are available on request. University of Westminster (tel +44 (0)20 7911 5000), 35 Marylebone Rd NW1 (tube: Marylebone), has singles and doubles for £15.70 per person under 26, £21.50 over 26, and £3 for an optional continental breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/22 "2004-02-21T03:31:17Z")
Sorry, that was barely literate. I’m drunk, though. The South Ken option (Imperial College) comes highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/23 "2004-02-21T11:19:34Z")
> [@Steve Wright](#): > > Hmm. Let me check my notes on the trip … > > " … 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 … " > > Yup. Sounds like it. Yup. That’d be the one. See kids - its things like that which mean you should never ever travel by National Express. Plus, if you book early enough, the trains are in fact cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/24 "2004-02-21T11:26:48Z")
> [@Steve Wright](#): > > Hmm. Let me check my notes on the trip … > > " … 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 … " > > Yup. Sounds like it. Yup. That’d be the one. See kids - its things like that which mean you should never ever travel by National Express. Plus, if you book early enough, the trains are in fact cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/25 "2004-02-21T13:05:18Z")
If you are taking the train from London to Scotland (which would be a good idea) and using the London to Edinburgh line, I would strongly recommend a stop-over in [York](http://www.york-united-kingdom.co.uk/). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/26 "2004-02-21T14:15:19Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > If you are taking the train from London to Scotland (which would be a good idea) and using the London to Edinburgh line, I would strongly recommend a stop-over in [York](http://www.york-united-kingdom.co.uk/). And [Durham](http://www.durhamtourism.co.uk/home.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/27 "2004-02-23T04:15:47Z")
Does anyone else have any suggestions? (bumping for my friend, the OP) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690/28 "2004-02-23T05:53:35Z")
I can’t add a lot to this thread, as my entire UK experience consists of a week in London back in 2000. However… Hostels are inexpensive. However, that’s “inexpensive in UK terms”. I paid £24.95/night at the Rotherhithe hostel (fairly far from the centre, but easy to get to by tube). £24.95 was around 60 Canadian dollars, and was by far the most expensive accommodation I had, unless you count the night trains from Denmark to France. £24.95 is cheap in UK terms though. Chicken strips and a drink at KFC cost almost £10. The operating rule seemed to be, “the numbers of the prices are the same as back home; just the monetary unit differs”. It was easy to forget the difference in expense (£1 was CAD 2.50ish). Next time I go, I’m going to make greater use of a hospitality exchange such as Pasporta Servo. Stay in someone’s house for free… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-month-in-england-scotland-advice-on-transportation-and-accomodation-please/229690.md?page=1)