Fair point. I was just pointing out how long it would take generally. It’s not my idea of a good time to sit inside anything travelling for more than about 4 hours, but coming from Leeds and having to travel back up there a lot, what you gonna do? I’ll also point out, I can’t drive, but have been a passenger in a car many a time doing that run.
Ha! I’m sat here at work about 5 minutes walk away from Staples Corner. The gateway to the real England!
It is that alright but they keep letting these bleedin’ northern monkeys through it! With their strange viking ways, wicker men, blood eagles, longboats and whippets.
If you did choose to fly to Edinburgh, I’d recommend you get a flight to Edinburgh Airport rather than to Prestwick, which is probably at least 2 hours away by train via Glasgow…
And the roads to Edinburgh aren’t all Motorway class - some are dual carriageway (sort of motorway lite - less restrictions as to what’s allowed on them) and some sections, depending on your route, are merely A roads with 2-way traffic.
The train is probably less hassle than taking a fully laden people carrier hundreds of miles on unfamiliar roads with unfamiliar road signs, etc. I suspect you’d average around 45 - 50 mph at best, including stops.
If you take the train (my prefered option), come up the east coast line via York, as others have suggested, and maybe also take a short break (not overnight) at Berwick or Dunbar and feel that fresh North Sea air! They’re both fairly cute in a low-key sort of way.
Or maybe getting off one train with all your luggage merely to load it all on to another 3 or 4 hours later is more effort than it’s worth!
If you’re looking for ‘real’ Scottish scenery the Inverness train is a fairly good way to see some - Edinburgh to Inverness by train is around 4 hours, I think, and you could do it as a day trip, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Nice one! You’re the first southern person in 4 years of living in London to mention any of those things to me! How refreshing!
Huh? Flying to an airport the wrong side of Scotland is bound to be a kerfuffle. It’d be like flying into London via Bristol.
Look. I would no more fly to Scotland than I would fly to Southampton - flying within the UK is bloody silly. We have a train system that is quicker and nicer than aeroplanes, so quite why any fool would bother buggering about with planes is beyond me.
That’s why I don’t know where the airports are in Scotland - I don’t need to.
Now for the OrIginal Poster HERE IS OWL’S LATEST BRIGHT IDEA. Rather than go to Edinburgh (which is lovely but a bit of a hassle) why not got to Paris. It’s 2 and a half hours from Central London to Central Paris on the Eurostar, which is quicker than scotland and would give you quite a contrast. Fares are around £70 return for adults and less for kids.
And before anyone asks - if you fly from London to Paris you need your bumps felt!
I suppose it’s a bit different when you’re already at one end of a decent rail route. From where I live, it’s easier and quicker to get to Stansted than to any GNER-served station. So I’ve only ever gotten to Glasgow by plane.
I should add that Paris (Or Lille) are very possible day trips. If you get the 8 o’clock train you’ll be in Paris at 10.30. Get the 10.30pm train back after dinner, back in London for 12.30.
Fares for day trips are about £50 for adults.
Details etc here:
??? Haven’t been to Edinburgh, but i’ve flown Stansted to Glasgow a couple of years back. 55 minutes flying time, 10-15 minutes taxi into the centre of town. If thats any good to anyone. Same-ish flying time to Dublin too.
Paris is definitely on my must-see list, but not for this trip - I wanna go to Scotland, dammit! As things stand now, it’s looking like a week in England, four or five days in Scotland and back to England for two or three days.
I’m making a list of what-to-sees (naturally subject to change, because I’m only nominally in charge here):
Hampton Court
Jack-the-Ripper Tour
Camden Market
Stonehenge
Dover Castle/Secret Wartime Tunnels
Edinburgh
Culloden Field
Loch Ness, only because I just KNOW I’m going to be totally outvoted on this one.
Now I have to put this stuff in some kind of logical order. Really really huge thanks to all who’ve given advice in regards to rail/coach travel, travel guides/maps, and what NOT to bother with!
owlstretchingtime, what do you mean by septic? To us, it means sewage, like a septic tank. You’re not saying we’re full of shit are you? :eek:
You’re on the right lines. It’s rhyming slang. Septic tank = yank. It’s common here so if you’re coming - get used to it!
Hampton Court - good choice - you can get there on the train from Waterloo - use your railcard. It takes about 30 mins. The gardens alone are worth the trip
Jack the Ripper tour - I really would counsel against this. You will be in a very large group (100+ at times) and there is absolutely nothing to see. The area was bombed flat in the war and since then has been rebuilt many times - all you will see are some 1970s office blocks. (To give you an idea of how badly it was hit when they filmed the ripper film “From Hell” they had to film it in Prague as it was the only place that looked like 1880s London.)
Camden Market - the girls wil love it. It will drive you as mad as a box of frogs. Let them go on their own and go to either Camden Passage (which is in Islington (near Camden) - nothing in England is easy to grasp!) or Portobello Rd and meet up later.
Stonehenge - worth a trip. As has been stated combine with a trip to Salisbury - which is a very pretty city, lots of medieval buildings and one of Britain’s best cathedrals (it very near stonehenge) - alternatively keep going past Stonehenge and go to Bath.
Dover Castle - Why? It ain’t that great - if you want a really good castle that’s easy to get to from London go to Windsor Castle - it’s where the Queen lives, and if it’s good enough for her…! If you must go there (I wouldn’t) combine it with Canterbury - again a pretty city with a fabulous cathedral. If it’s underground war stuff you want - go to Churchills war rooms in Whitehall (the bunker he ran the war from). You don’t have the time to faff about on trains that you don’t need to take.
The sweaties can tell you about north of the border…
No no noooo…go to Leeds Castle (which you’d pass within half-a-mile of, en route to Dover!)
**
Beg to differ. Plymouth to Newcastle takes 7-8 hours by train, but an hour to hour and a half by plane (via Air Cardiff!).
Of course, you’re going to point out that you’ve never had desire or need to go from Plymouth to Newcastle, but I’m just making a point.
Errm … well … let’s try to give GOOD advice. Clearly you’ve not been to Warwick Castle, which is entirely spiffing, old chap.
I think the trouble with Warwick Castle is that it has turned into yet another theme Park. It is after all owned by the same same outfit that owns Madam Tussauds. They cannot resist the temptation of tarting it up, instead of just letting the building speak for itself.
It’s not close to London, though, which was the whole point 
You are right about this - and the ownership. And I feel that there’s an alluring purity about your approach, but if I’m honest it doesn’t really work well for me.
Buildings CAN speak for themselves, but usually the only way to understand what they are saying is to know the language already: architectural, social and political history and so forth. The strength of a “packaged” experience (like Warwick), if it is done with integrity, is that the translation is done for you. You can arrive with no knowledge of the building our its historical context and be taught. Plus there’s an entertainment aspect that the bare forecourt of a castle alone just isn’t there to give. If you WANT that then there’s nearby Kenilworth Castle, which has no jousting or tourist palaver whatsoever.
I know that my wife and I have always battled about engaging guides as tourists, and I am convinced that we get far more out of most visits with the help of some knowledgeable input - but that’s probably just revealing the depth of my ignorance!
It’s only twenty hours away, though 