My wife and I will be visiting the UK next month

[Econoline]

First time for me; second time (first time in 30 years) for her. We'll be there for 18 days (not counting the day we're flying there and the day we're flying back): arriving in Edinburgh on September 17, spending the first 5 days in Scotland and the last 3 or 4 days in London, and in between taking a train from Edinburgh to London and then driving around the south of England and possibly a little of Wales. (Flying home from London on October 5.)

All advice as to where to go will be cheerfully and gratefully accepted, considered, and then, possibly—considering the fact that everyone's tastes and interests are different—just as cheerfully and gratefully ignored. We're not physically capable of anything really strenuous and we're not financially capable of anything really expensive, but we'd just like to drive around and see and eat and drink and experience some interesting stuff. Yes, we know we have nowhere near enough time, but still, we're open to any suggestions, if anyone has any.

All of you who have been wanting to tell me where to go...OK, this is your chance!

[Gob]

Not coming anywhere near us? Shame, but we did choose to live out in the sticks. Normally we'd have offered to host you, but at present we're living in a campervan!!

[Long Run]

I enjoyed the Cotswalds, nice scenery and castles to visit; Hastings the old city is interesting and similarly beautiful scenery; I liked Avebury (but most go to Stonehenge instead). I mentioned before that Rick Steves guidebook for England and Scotland is a good resource, at least for visiting Americans.

[RayThom]

Grab a pint of bitter, and a bite, at almost any well-kept, Sheffield pub. Ask the barkeep or a patron for one interesting local place to visit. Whether you eventually see those sights mentioned you'll leave the pub, saddened to be parting ways, but with new friends.

And if there's a soccer match on the telly -- be sure to call it football.

London is so cosmopolitan (touristy) that you'll think you're in NY City or LA. Check the West End out for an evening show and a night out. Or maybe a boat ride on the Thames.

[Sue U]

Scotland is hella scenic. Not sure what you can expect in weather or daylight that time of year, though. Spend time in Edinburgh, go to Inverness and farther north if you have time; skip Glasgow.

[BoSoxGal]

I couldn’t visit Scotland without seeing either the Hebrides or Shetland Islands, but that’s just me.

Hope you have a wonderful trip and share some pics when you return!

[ex-khobar Andy]

Do not skip Glasgow.

Christ of St John of the Cross (Dali) is there for all to see, Christian or not. Anything by Charles Rennie Mackintosh is worth a visit. Glasgow is maybe describable as a John McCain of a town: sometimes hateful, sometimes boorish, sometimes beautiful, and always worth trying to understand. Very human.

[Econoline]

Thanks for the responses!

Not coming anywhere near us? Shame, but we did choose to live out in the sticks. Normally we'd have offered to host you, but at present we're living in a campervan!!

Actually I meant to include the southwest (Devon & Cornwall) in "the south of England"...if you're still living in your van a month from now we'll at least honk the horn as we pass.

I enjoyed the Cotswalds, nice scenery and castles to visit; Hastings the old city is interesting and similarly beautiful scenery; I liked Avebury (but most go to Stonehenge instead). I mentioned before that Rick Steves guidebook for England and Scotland is a good resource, at least for visiting Americans.

The Cotswolds and Stonehenge are on our list; and yes we have the Rick Steves book.

Grab a pint of bitter, and a bite, at almost any well-kept, Sheffield pub. Ask the barkeep or a patron for one interesting local place to visit. Whether you eventually see those sights mentioned you'll leave the pub, saddened to be parting ways, but with new friends.

Now this sounds like just the sort of trip we have in mind!

Scotland is hella scenic. Not sure what you can expect in weather or daylight that time of year, though. Spend time in Edinburgh, go to Inverness and farther north if you have time; skip Glasgow.

I couldn’t visit Scotland without seeing either the Hebrides or Shetland Islands, but that’s just me.

Hope you have a wonderful trip and share some pics when you return!

We'll be starting out in Edinburgh, and spending the first couple of days there, then renting a car and driving north to Inverness, probably then approximately following the route of the old Caledonian Canal and its lochs (and its locks) toward the west coast of Scotland, then meandering on back to Edinburgh to take the train south. (I recently noticed that Hertz often has £1/day deals on rental cars they need to "reposition" from one city to another, including Edinburgh-to-London, so we might do that instead of the train.) Sadly we probably won't have enough time to visit any of the islands (maybe another trip?), and whether or not we stop in Glasgow is iffy, probably depending on time, weather, and our mood.

Three weeks to go, so we'd better start getting ready...

[Guinevere]

Edinburgh, yes!

Drive south and hit the Lake District (Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter, lovely hikes) and/or Yorkshire.

In the South I’d not miss Windsor, Avon, Glastonbury, and head southwest into Cornwall.

When I plan my trips I usually make a list of my “must see” places, see what works in terms of location for planning some kind of schedule, and always leave plenty of time to just wander and explore, or take off for some place I hadn’t considered.

Rick Steves is fine, and spot on on some things. But don’t forget that’s only one man’s opinion and his taste may not be yours.

[Econoline]

Regarding the amount of time we have for this trip...we'll be keeping this in mind:

• It ocurred to me as I stood there that this was one of the things that I really, really like about Britain: it is unknowable. There is so much to it—more than any person can ever see or figure out or begin to know. There is so much stuff that no one can definitively say how much there actually is. Isn't that splendid? I had just by chance read an article in the journal Current Archaeology about a man named Olaf Swarbrick, a veterinarian by profession, who spent a good portion of his life tracking down all the ancient standing stones in Britain. It seems no one had done this before. Swarbrick found 1,502 stones at 1,068 locations. That is a much larger number than it sounds. If you decided to visit one standing stone a week, it would take you twenty years to see them all.
  
  It is like that with every historic thing in Britain. If you tried to visit all the medieval churches in England—just England—at the rate of one a week, it would take you 308 years. You would need additional vastly daunting lengths of time to visit all the historic cemeteries, stately homes, castles, Bronze Age hill forts, giant figures carved in hillsides, and every other category of built structure. Brochs would take a decade to see. All the known archaeological sites in Britain would require no less than 11,500 years of your time.
  
  You see what I am saying. Britain is infinite. There isn't anywhere in the world with more to look at in a smaller space—nowhere that has a greater record of interesting and worthwhile productivity over a longer period at a higher level. No wonder my trip didn't feel complete. I could never see it all.

• • —Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling, pp.370-371
    (in the part of the book that's not about "shitty things that should never have happened" )

[Gob]

Love that book, a worthy follow up to "Notes from a Small Island."

[Econoline]

Gob, check your PMs.

[Gob]

Done, replied!

[Big RR]

econo--if you plan on seeing a show in the west end when you are in London, there is a half price kiosk in Leicester Square which provides same day tickets for show at half off--pretty good value unless you have a particular show in mind.

Also, when I went to London with my family a number of years back we purchased something called The London Pass which provided entry into a number of major attractions with skip the line privileges (many major attractions ae covered like the British Museum and the Tower of London) as well as an unlimited underground/bus pass. A lot of the sites are tourist attractions, but many are worth seeing. I don't recall the cost, but it wasn't that bad for what you got, and you could specify the number of days you chose to have it for. It's worth looking into at least.

[ex-khobar Andy]

London is one of those cities where the tourist traps are so for a reason - they are the most interesting places. So the 'Rick Steves' type approach - avoid the places where the tourists flock - doesn't really work. Tower of London and Westminster Abbey are must sees; National Gallery and the Wallace Collection and the Science Museum. My favorite museum is the Victoria and Albert. Don't bother with Oxford Street. It all depends how much time you had. I once had 12 hour layover between flights at Heathrow with a colleague who had never been outside the US. We were on our way to Tel Aviv to investigate and clean up an old explosives site. We gave ourselves four hours in Westminster Abbey and a couple of hours in a pub and had a very enjoyable flight to Ben Gurion.

[Gob]

If you are of a mind to see something other than a big west end production, I'd heartily recommend "The Mousetrap."

https://uk.the-mousetrap.co.uk/

For the last 42 years the St Martin’s has been the home of The Mousetrap, more than two thirds of its record breaking run!

On 25th November 2012 The Mousetrap celebrated its 60th Birthday, a Diamond Jubilee. Agatha Christie’s great play has been thrilling audiences from around the world for as long as HRH Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne.

During this phenomenal 66 year run there have been no fewer than 442 actors and actresses appearing in the play, 256 understudies, 142 miles of shirts have been ironed and over 500 tons of ice cream sold.

Certificate for Guinness world recordSome cast members are in the Guinness Book of Records, David Raven as the ‘Most Durable Actor’ for 4575 performances as Major Metcalf, and the late Nancy Seabrooke for a record breaking 15 years as an understudy.

The Mousetrap first entered the record books many years ago on 12th April 1958 when it became the longest running show of any kind in the history of British Theatre.

In 2000 the set was replaced for the first time during the run at St Martin’s Theatre, still to the same design as the original. This task was completed over a weekend without the loss of a performance.

[Gob]

If you get the chance...

[RayThom]

Gob, don't forget the mushy peas. Is that you in the shark costume?

[Econoline]

If you get the chance...

We'll make the chance. That's what vacations are all about. I count 5 or 6 on that list within our possible itinerary, so it's quite likely we'll get to 2 or 3 of those (including the one in Falmouth).

(Though that line queue at Harbour Lights looks pretty long; maybe we'll try for a less-busy time of day...?)




ETA: Looking at that fish&chips list, it occurred to me that there's probably a similar list for Cornish pasties. I found this one...any you'd like to add or subtract from that, Gob?

[Gob]

Ah, now, I'm only an expert on vege pasties, and off that list the best vege pasty would be Horse and Jockey in Helston, or Anne's pasties on the Lizard. However, if the circumstances prove fortuitous, then we will treat you to a McFadden's pasty (St Just,) which Hen has crowned her favouriite.

http://www.mcfaddensbutchers.co.uk/