Make sure you fit in ABSOLUTELY as many Edwardian CASTLES, medieval CATHEDRALS, STATELY HOMES, and KEW GARDENS, too! And the Cotswalds. And the Lake District. And the Victoria & Albert Museum. And the British Museum. Stonehenge. It’s hard to go wrong!
Those are the best parts of the UK, imho. I wish I could go back! Haven’t been there since the early 1980’s 
O yes! The Pubs! I love the Brit beers!
And fish & chips. And curry. Yum!
We went to Cheddar for the REAL CHEESE, too … 
Hello,
My friend and I just got back last month from a 10 day UK road trip. We started in Edinburgh, drove to Leeds then to Wales (near Cardiff) and ended up in London. If I were to do things differently…
-Also, we would try to find places to stay that are more central. We seemed to not have estimated that too well and ended up with a 20 minute or so bus ride to get anywhere in every city we didn’t drive in. Of course, when we had the car, we were only a few minutes away from most of what we wanted to see (if you don’t count the getting lost parts).:smack:
Stayed longer in Edinburgh! Everywhere we went was great but the people in Edinburgh were just extremely friendly and interesting. It’s a beautiful city and I really felt we barely scratched the surface of its awesomeness. Planning to go back in 2014 when we can scrape the funds together. As a friend I met in a pub commented…“2 nights in Scotland is obscene”.
We should have avoided a major hangover as we traveled through the magical Scottish countryside. My traveling companion would say she should have avoided same hangover on the first day of learning to drive in the UK. The end result was it took us almost 2 hours to figure out how to get out of Edinburgh and another extra hour in Leeds trying to find our bed and breakfast (and quarreling horribly over it).
What we did right was at least visting the aforementioned Edinburgh - especially the Royal Mile and good times at the pubs. We also enjoyed the beach at Llanwit Major in Wales. Leeds was a bit of a puzzle but managed to see a country estate (Temple Newsam, which was great). We used B & Bs exclusively and what a treat! Maybe it’s because here in the States we tend to travel with dogs and stay at Motel 6 but every one of our B & Bs were friendly, helpful and served excellent breakfast for very decent prices.
By far, our best decision was to buy the “Red Rover” all-day unlimited river bus pass in London. It was a gorgeous day and although London was a bit intimidating at first, the river bus made it all better. Plus, we hit all the major sites such as The Tower, Westminister, etc. easily without being crammed into a stuffy bus.
So, where’s the salt’n sauce line? Bathgate? Linlithgow? Haymarket station? My Edinburgh friend and I never really figured that out.
Many people have avoided having a drink with me but this is the first time I’ve scared someone into going to Scotland to avoid me!
If you don’t want to be ruled by motorways, head to Stratford-on-Avon to do the whole Shakespeare thing, then just noodle around southwest from there in the general direction of Cheltenham.
You will be in the Cotswolds, the best part of Britain for honey-coloured stone cottages / villages that have a duck pond and cricket ground in their centre / quaint pubs (with polished riding irons and mullioned windows) as the social centre of town / single-lane roads with the occasional layby to let oncoming traffic past / high hawthorn hedges and garden-quality flowers spilling down the roadside slopes.
God, just typing it up makes me want to go back.
If you do go to the Cotswolds, don’t miss Bourton-on-the-Water.
Drive to France and get some good food.
Obviously Britain is small compared with Australia or North America, but unless your car averages 200mph, this is crap. Edinburgh is 400 miles from London, and it’s another 300 miles from Edinburgh to the north coast of the Scottish mainland.
Where would you recommend in France? Any particular restaurants?
France is only good for French food. If you want to enjoy great authentic world food, go to London. The French have no idea about how to make authentic non-French fare.
Everybody has heard of Stonehenge but IMHO Avebury is also well worth a visit. Not as iconic as Stonehenge and lots of the stones were destroyed, but the scale is rather impressive.
(It can get a bit muddy, so during a spell of dry weather - it does happen, honest - is best.)
Yawn
I second this - there are no restrictions like there are at Stonehenge, you can go right up to the stones. Also, the pub in the village is nice.
Another vote for Avebury, it’s an awesome place. There are some good b&bs there too.
As others have said, driving in the UK is very different to the US. It’s a small island and population dense. Sure, you can get on the motorway and drive and drive and drive then take an exit and go somewhere. But I love getting off the motorway and seeing the smaller towns and villages. There aren’t a lot of ‘wide open spaces’ in the UK, it’s more about seeing and spotting the slight differences between the villages you drive through.
:rolleyes:
Seriously, the “Britain has bad food” meme should have died out 20 years ago. The UK has more Michelin-starred restaurants than the USA, in a country a fraction of the size.
This.
In addition to the salt’n’sauce lines (sauce in Edinburgh is something akin to brown sauce mixed with vinegar while elsewhere it’s tomato ketchup except in Sheffield where it will be Henderson’s relish), there’s the barm/butty/breadcake lines and many more.
I was immensely disappointed to find that scallops in Lancashire are scalloped potatoes and not the shellfish of the same name.
And then there’s the local variations on what standard “Fish and Chips” mutates into - Supper, the News, a lot.
Some places let you put your own condiments on, others will do it for you. My parents still joke 10 years on about a chippy in Rawtenstall that only allowed 3 shakes of the vinegar bottle (“3 shakes, love. That’s t’rule”).
It all adds to the charm though :dubious:
Sorry for checking in only occasionally, but I’m still here, guys 
SanVito: Good advice. Of course we’d like to see the stereotypical English countryside, so I guess the south west will be a strong candidate. The challenge will be to set up an itinerary that allows for something more than just the stereotypes we know from the movies and TV series.
I am properly chastised, and my ignorance has been fought 
If you wouldn’t mind PM’ing me… 
Atomic Mama: Yup, IMO the British beer is a very good reason for visiting the UK. The couple of times I’ve been there on business trips, it’s always been great.
LVBoPeep: Thanks for sharing your experiences! That kind of info is always useful when one tries to set up a good itinerary
We’ve been to France for vacation. Several times. This thread is about vacation in the UK. Do you have anything to contribute about the UK?
MrStrangeloop: Avebury looks interesting, thanks for the tip
And just trying to get to grips with British chip and condiment culture is obviously going to cost me a couple of weeks and an extra 10 kgs around the waist. I gained more than enough from trying out the Belgian and Dutch varieties of frites with mayonnaise… :eek: