flonnebonne | UK recs?

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Anyone have any awesome recommendations for places to go in England? In the British Isles? I have the chance to get out of London this trip so I want to make the most of it!

Crossposts: http://flonnebonne.livejournal.com/94969.html

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From:

jetsam

What kind of thing are you thinking (and what kind of distance from London)? Historic places, countryside, cultural centres.....

Oxford is the obvious immediate suggestion outside London as it's very easy as a day trip from LDN (coach is less than 2 hrs) and the centre of Oxford is gorgeous.

From:

flonnebonne

Sorry it took me so long to reply! Somehow this didn't get to my inbox.

Oh yes, we're definitely going to Oxford! Might stay overnight there. Historic places, countryside and cultural centres are all good--what I think we want is a good mix of everything, and not too much hassle and time on the road. Also relatively cheap places to stay...

Do you have any recommendations for a good "base" city outside of London? We were thinking of Bath at first, since there are lots of tours going out of there, but we're not really that interested in Bath itself so we're probably not going to do that anymore.

From:

jetsam

I'd start by thinking about travel - depending on how you want to travel, you might find your decision is half made already. Oxford's actually not bad for train lines as it's pretty central. If you're driving it all becomes a lot more open. Around there, you could try walks in the Chilterns or along the Thames Path. (As far as trains go, the map looks like this though I'm not 100% sure this is up to date. Whatever you do, don't try to drive in London.

Depending what level of comfort you're after, youth hostels might be an option. A lot of them these days have twin rooms as an option and will take people who aren't U26/wanting to sleep in dorms, and most cities will have the option. The main set is www.yha.org.uk . Otherwise, would try Rough Guides for more options.

Bath is a fun day trip - I went with school one year - but it only takes a day really to wander around the Roman Baths and the Georgian centre of town. Manchester has a great reputation as a fun place to live at the moment, so could work? That would give you a little more scope for up north/Scotland. If you are up there, I'd try one of the National Parks - Peak District, perhaps.

Some people like to do something like day trips that take in places that were used as film sets (e.g. Pride & Prejudice or HP). Might be one way to see a variety of spots.

(The difficulty here is that I'm very much a Londoner and the scope here is kind of every holiday/school trip I've ever been on......)

Edited Date: 2015-02-26 08:03 am (UTC)

From:

flonnebonne

Thank you SO much!!! Really good to get the opinion of a local. The hostel site looks great. Will check out Manchester as a base. You know a lot more you area than I do about my area hahaha.

We are going to the HP studio and the Downtown Abbey castle yaaaaay. Pride and Prejudice sounds cool too. Skipping Game of Thrones :)

Thank you so much! Wooooouuld you like a drabble for your trouble? Gimme a prompt if you do :)