Help the Wife Plan Her Trip to the UK

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hope this is the right forum. Since I’m soliciting opinions, I thought this is where it belonged.

The wife has a younger colleague who is studying for her doctorate at a university in Leeds, England. In April 2009, the wife will go visit her for three weeks. A long way away, yes, but the colleague is back in Bangkok now for a visit, and they’ve begun discussing plans. This will be the wife’s first time in England. I will not be able to go at that time, and I cannot advise her, because I’ve never been to the UK myself. They plan to travel around England, Scotland and Wales. (Paris, too, for a couple of days or so, but no advice needed there.) She also mentioned Northern Ireland, but I said I thought that might be a tad too much to fit in, so I don’t think that will be included. The colleague’s husband is in England with her, so it will be a small group of a Thai man and two Thai ladies traveling around.

So what should they see in England, Scotland and Wales besides all of the usual tourist stuff in London and such?

2

First things first: don’t expect to ‘do it all’, and don’t plan to travel all around three countries in three weeks! Although they’re small, there’s a hell of a lot to see, and if they spend the whole time moving from one place to the next they’ll be wasting a lot of their time here.

Next thing: decide on interests - outdoors/indoors? (April is likely to provide a mix of wet and dry weather!) History? Culture? Cities/countryside/coast?

Then pick a few locations. And Yorkshire is hardly a bad place to be starting from, and offers a huge amount by itself. Two national parks, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, plus a bit of the Peak District as well. Literary connections with the Brontes and with Dracula’s setting of Whitby. York, too, funnily enough, with one of the greatest cathedrals in the country. (There’s also a competitor to that title not far away, in Durham.) That’s just for starters, and just one part of the country…

3

i’d say Edinburgh is a must. It’s one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. Check out the castle, eat some haggis, hit some pubs and climb Arthur’s Seat for a terrific vista. Take the train up to the isle of Skye and marvel at the Scottish Highlands for a couple of days. A word of warning, she will probably not understand a word the locals are speaking in the highlands, even though they are ostensibly speaking English.

4

Oxford and/or Cambridge are worth a visit.

If you choose Oxford, you can also visit nearby Stratford.

The north Norfolk Coast is beautiful, but a bit out of the way.

You can’t beat the Lake District for walking / scenery.

5

When one of my Thai friends came over, I took him ice skating. He’d never seen a skating rink, and even though he ended up hurting his ankle, he was blown away by the whole experience.

Also, despite me telling him repeatedly to bring warm stuff, he really had no concept of how cold it could be, so ended up borrowing several jackets from me.

If they’re in a car, I recommend a drive around the ancient sites of the west country - Silbury Hill, Avebury, Glastonbury, etc. This could be done in a day, then loop round to the M4 and over into Wales.

6

Thanks all, and keep the suggestions coming. The wife will be sure to take some warm clothing; she has experience with just about all types of weather from other travels. They’ll have a car part of the time, take transport other times. The wife will maybe even strike out on her own a bit, as her friends probably can’t spend the entire three weeks touring like she can.

I told her if she goes to Skye, I have to have some single malt. :smiley:

7

I would second the comments by GorillaMan andDarryl Lict. (It sounds as if you two could have planned my last several trips to the UK.) York is my favorite city the world with Edinburgh a close second.

As GorillaMan indicated, some of the answer will depend on their interests. Do they like walking, history, shopping, scenery, any aspects of British literature? April weather can be widely variable for outdoor activities, but taking advantage of the public footpaths is always enjoyable for me. A walk in the rain can even be fun if you have the right clothing and if it is done with the right attitude. I’ve had lovely walks in the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales, in the Lakes District, and along the Cornwall coast. (How old are they or how is their health if they enjoy walks.)

I’ve enjoyed Hill Top in the Lakes District, associated with Beatrix Potter, and tromped around the 100 Acre Woods looking for Owls house after walking over Poohsticks Bridge. (In reality it is the 500 acre woods, part of the Ashdown Forest, about 40 miles SW of London.) If they have any favorite authors, there is probably some places they could go to enhance their interest.

I think that with time spent in Paris and London, getting to N. Ireland and possibly Wales might be too much. Or, give Scotland a miss and go to N. Ireland but don’t do both.

Oh, and castles. Castles are always fascinating for people who aren’t used to them. Some are interesting ruins and some are fairly restored. A bit of research and more questions here can highlight options if they strike their interest.

8

The wife says she’s thinking now of a whole month.

She’s not much into shopping. Scenery and history will be the main attractions. We’ve seen so many British films together over the years that she feels like she almost knows the place already and so wants to see it for real. Castles will be good. She’s given up on Northern Ireland this trip; really wants to see Scotland.

9

I think the best thing for her would be to have a personal tour guide. My rates are almost reasonable. :smiley:

On a more serious side, your feedback is helpful. I’ll get provide some ideas later (work interferes at present) and I’m sure others will chime in with great ideas. I love England and Scotland so much that writing about trips gets the memories flowing.

A month is definitely better and can open up more possibilities. When she strikes out on her own, will she have a car? How comfortable is she with driving herself on new (unknown) roads?

10

Since Leeds is my hometown, I’m sort of obliged to offer a few tips.

If possible get a look at the Thackray Medical Museum,

http://www.thackraymuseum.org/

This has the advantage of plenty of Victorian exhibits, and since Leeds is largely a Victorian city so you will get a very good idea of the history of the industrial revolution, I might also add that the museum itself sits slap bang in the middle of a Victorian built workers housing area, the context could not be more appropriate.

You could also take in a trip to Whitby, which is a good one, and on the same day go to Robin Hoods Bay a short way along the coast.

http://www.robin-hoods-bay.co.uk/html/local_history.htm

Perhaps you could spend a day in York, there’s plenty there such as the national railway museum, loads of medieval stuff anf plenty of places to eat, and then perhaps go up to Rosedale Abbey overnight before moving on to Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay

This is pretty spectacular scenery.

Even if you are not a football (soccer) fan, I would suggest that somehow you get yourself into one to the Premier League matches, preferably one of the local derby games, and you will find an atmosphere that is completely differant to anything in the US. BTW, this is not quite the dangerous, hooligan, violence scarred sporting event that the US media would have you believe.

Someplace sometime you probably would want to take a ride upstairs in an open top bus, London would be the best place for that, and while you are at it try out the London eye.

11

Visting Elland Road, however… :wink:

12

If she makes it to Wales let me recommend the Gower Peninsula, since you mentioned she’d be interested in scenery.

http://www.visitswanseabay.com/index.cfm?articleid=12921

13

Thanks again to all. My wife does not drive, so striking out on her own would not entail her renting a car. She also does plan to catch a football game; as with many Thais, she’s a fan of I think it’s Manchester United. (Having never attended a sporting event in the US, she won’t have that to compare it with anyway.)

14

OK, good. Knowing about the availability of transportation helps. Leeds and York are about 40 km apart, but I am not sure how easy it is to travel by train between them. Hopefully someone else can provide that info. I think that might be a good trip for her to take on her own when the friends are busy. York is lovely and a walk along the wall is very pleasant. The Minster is fantastic, from the upper areas to the lower excavation where you can see remnants of the Roman garrison and a Norman church. Just walking among the old cobblestone streets is an experience in itself. Definitely a good day trip.

Edinburgh is also easily accessible by train and might be good to stay overnight, although a day trip is certainly possible. I would recommend trips to the Dales, Moors, Lake District or the like for the car with the friends. In the Yorkshire Dales is Castle Bolton, a decent castle although not the most spectacular available. Seeing that could be coupled with a trip into Wensleydale and Swaledale. If you are familiar with James Herriot, the veterinarian of All Creatures Great and Small, this was the area in which he practiced. His former office/surgery is a museum in Thirsk now. The movie Calendar Girls was set and filmed in one valley near Wensleydale.

It may be difficult for her to get into the more remote areas of Scotland. I have not fully experienced the depths of the mountains, but having skirted along the edge and seeing their beauty, our next trip back will take us into the depths. However, I don’t know how good the weather would be up there in April.

That’s what I can think of so far. Any comments may bring up more ideas. Can you provide any more information about her interests? That may help with ideas about London.

15

There are trains about every 15 minutes between Leeds and York. Journey time is less than half an hour.

If you ever want to check any train timetables National Rail Enquiries is the place to visit.

16

'Merkin in the UK for 6 years now, and every time friends / family come over, I have someplace new to show them so really don’t let your wife expect to spend 3 weeks and see it ‘all’ or even most of it.

I live in London, so if she’s going to come this far South hopefully some of these recommendations will help. The other recommendations made, especially the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak and Lake Districts (two separate places BTW - the Peaks is full of Lakes and the Lakes is full of Peaks oddly enough) are both close-by Leeds, but for London:
Camden Market. Should be rebuilt by then after a huge fire last week, and I’m sure could use the business. Neat clothes and stuff for shopping, but it’s the people that really make Camden Market interesting - it’s full of goths and punkers and ‘freaks’ who are lovely and weird and fun! Portobello Road open market - kind cool and kitchy, and nothing at all like the movie Notting Hill. Borough Market - wonderful open-air food shopping. Also some excellent restaurants, and you can go from Borough Market along the south bank of the Thames to the Tate Modern, then on to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and onwards to Southwark, and then onwards to Battersea Park which is lovely if the weather’s good.

St Paul’s Cathedral and crossing the Millenium Bridge to Southbank of the Thames. Also both the Tate Modern and Tate Britain museum - Tate Modern is just what it says on the tin, but the Tate Britain is the more ‘standard’ art museum. You can also take a riverboat between the Modern and the Britain which is kinda cool. I would also highly recommend the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. But pretty much plan on 1/2 a day for each museum (seriously!) and plan breaks inbetween them or you’ll wind up with sensory overload and not be a happy bunny at the end of them.

Regent’s Park and the Regent’s Canal area near it - lovely, also home of a wonderful zoo, and you can walk along the canal all through London and never have to be on a ‘street’ - it’s like a totally different view of London. Hyde Park is also quite cool, although if you go when the sun’s out and it’s warm you’ll be struggling to find a place to sit where there aren’t couples actually on top of each other, but if you go to Richmond Park or Bushy Park, you get a more ‘wild’ feeling to it and both are full of deer and tourists. Bushy Park is also close to Hampton Court Palace, one of the riverside palaces Henry VIII built for his mistress so he could take a river barge down from the Tower, Westminster, or Buckingham Palace or Windsor and see his lady-friend before I think she was executed for something.

You can also see Harrod’s department store in Knightsbridge to see just how vulgar one can become with excessive money and no taste. :slight_smile:

But a big recommendation is for your wife to take an open-top double-decker bus tour. I would say do this in Oxford as well as London; they’re both great cities. And having a guide, plus the hop-on hop-off capability to further explore is quite cool. They’re pretty cheap, and weather permitting quite pleasant, and will give you a guided tour of the most important cultural / historic sites in the given city.

Some other cool cities - I quite like Southampton, but that’s because i’m a fair-weather sailor and love being close to the ocean - without that it’s a bit of a rough-and-tumble city. I also quite like the Isle of Wight, but it’s best done with either a bicycle or a car and tough to do otherwise. I also quite like Wales, especially Snowdon National Park and the Brecon Beacons, but again they’re a bit harder to do without a car. Bath is Lovely, Bristol is historic, York is excellent.

It’s all good, bascially, even Madchester :slight_smile:

17

Slight nick-pick. Most of the “lakes” in the Peak District are actually artificial reservoirs, but they are still worth a visit. The most famous is Ladybower where the famous Dambusters practised their bombing techniques.

18

Yes, but I just love that about England - the district named for Lakes only has like 2 lakes, but is full of mountain peaks, and the district not far away, named for Peaks, is full of lakes and not very full of peaks! Makes me giggle every time I think of it, and makes me more convinced a major English pastime is taking the piss out of foreigners.

Reminds me of a favourite story - the Brits were so sure they were going to get invaded in WW2 that they took down all the street and road signs to make it more difficult for invaders to find their way around. Only they forgot to put them back up, making it much more difficult for anyone not born in the area to find anything! Thank ghod for GPSs! That, and the rules of cricket which you will never convince me weren’t some sort of insider’s joke that got out of hand and no-one will admit to. And changing the name of a single road in a major city 3 times in 1/2 a mile when the street never ended, passed through 3 junctions (where the crossing road didn’t change it’s name) and made no turns!

This whole country is just a sophisticated and subtle insider’s joke!

19

There’s quite a few lakes, actually

20

G - not denying there are lakes; it’s the preponderance of Peaks in the “Lakes” district versus the preponderance of Lakes (or reservoirs if you must) in the “Peak” district that I find amusing. It is an amazingly lovely place, I love to walk there - Striding Edge is more than enough to freak out even a mountain-born kid like me.

Link to photos for the curious.