That’s a shame. I did look around online before I posted and found nothing, and still can’t find anything about the show not returning, but then I can’t find anything about it coming back on either! Maybe if LifeOnWry and her family are still interested they can check it out nearer the time.
Even if you book in advance, you still have to queue, as the queue is for the ride, not the tickets. I’ve taken several large groups there and the queue has always been at least four times as long as the ride. Most of the people I’ve taken have liked it, but I don’t get the attraction. shrugs
RayneMan and others have a good idea with buying cheap mobiles. You can even use some international calling cards on them now, if you need to call home.
Currently living in Edinburgh. Sounds like your teenagers might enjoy a ghost tour. There’s a good one that meets outside the Tron church on the Royal Mile. It takes in a tour of the old town, the vaults (spooky!) and finishes in Nichol Edwards, reputedly Scotland’s most haunted pub.
If any of the adults are Beatles fans, then a trip to Liverpool might be good. There’s a good Beatles museum at the Albert Docks and there’s Abbery Road et al. to see.
I am still planning my own trip to the UK in August of this year and thought I would run it by the folks on this thread. I am planning on arriving at Glasgow on the 31st of July and staying in that area until the 11th. (I am going to Worldcon from the 3 - 8 August, then probably train to Edinburgh for the Tattoo on the 9th and 10th.)
I am looking into renting a car and basically rambling around the island from the 11th to about the 17th, trying to see as many of the things mentioned on this thread as I can. My understanding is, I can decide where I will be in the morning and make reservations at a B&B for that night. Is this correct? I know the prices I have seen for B&Bs in the UK on the web have been quite nice, and since I am single it would allow me to pretty much roam at will.
Then I would drop off the car in London on the 17th and stay there until either the 20th or 21st (Depending on flight times) and train back to Glasgow to catch my flight back to the States.
So does this sound like a plan? What am I forgetting?
Reserving B&Bs that way should mostly be OK, although be prepared to do a bit of phoning around on occassions. In particular, popular tourist destinations may prove to be a problem in this respect - but in your case, it’ll be no problem to drive to another town.
I’ll be at Worldcon as well, but probably travelling through daily…
Edinburgh will be very busy at that time of year but you can probably get a hostel bed without too much notice - anything else, make sure beforehand. You could probably do the Tattoo as a day trip from Glasgow if you want - plenty of time for the last train, or to drive back afterwards.
But if you’re staying in Edinburgh for a couple of days and looking for sf/fantasy, you should visit Transreal Fiction in the Grassmarket - it specialises in books, rather than comics & media stuff…
If you’re going to just turn up somewhere - do it before the afternoon when the Tourist Information Centres close (usually around 5.00). These are government run bodies to promote tourism in the area and they can book you a hotel/b&b (there’s quite a cross over) for a very small sum (about £2.00), which comes off the price of the room.
They also have websites so if you put “[town] tourist information” into google you should find the details.
Also the Scottish tourist board have a site and this is also an official site:
I went to the UK with my family many years ago when I was 17, and we did pretty much what you’re thinking of - we spent about a week in London, then a week traveling around England and Scotland. Here is what I remember best:
In London -
The Tower of London - in particular the Crown jewels.
British Museum - unfortunately didn’t get to see much of it, since we got our passports stolen on the Tube that day, but would have liked to have seen more.
Westminster Cathedral - very crowded, but interesting.
Outside London- Stirling Castle - very cool, I remember we had a tour guide that had such a thick accent we couldn’t understand more than one word in three. Blenheim Palace - birthplace of Winston Churchill, beautiful palace.
Stonehenge - this was back in the days you could go right up and sit on the rocks if you wanted to. Wells Cathedral
Salisbury and Old Sarum
We managed to fit in a lot of other things, but these are the ones that stuck in my mind. Two weeks was a pretty good amount of time for a teenager. By the end of the vacation my sister and I were fighting like cats and dogs and my parents were ready to get rid of us and go on on their own. I do wish we had gone to Windsor, though.
Those are what I meant. Couldn’t think of what they were called. People I know used them when they went over for the last Glasgow Worldcon.
I am planning on staying in Glasgow for a couple of days after the con and taking the train to Edinburgh. I think I saw it is about an hour ride, and probably cheaper than renting a car those 2 days.
GorillaMan, nice links, although I think some of them require IE. Will have to explore them this weekend.
