You will be exhausted from 5 days like that - that's a lot of coach driving.An update from me, the OP:
Thanks again for all the good ideas and thoughts.
About a week ago I got plane tickets, we're going in early fall. For the last several days I've been looking at rental cars and trains, and just felt overwhelmed with the complexities of logistics and pricing. It's too much for me at this point in my life, and I think it's not entirely me - the number of variables that affect pricing, taxes/fees, park and ride, etc - it's all too much. The financial cost of playing it by ear and not heeding what day of the week, time of day, how far in advance you purchase, where you'll go, etc etc ... I decided to join a 5-day Rabbie's tour that will take us to York / Dales, northern Wales, the Peak District, Cambridge (a repeat, but for us it's been 31 yrs and I'm sure we'll do things there we didn't do before), Stratford upon Avon etc.
The tour will require us to pack very lightly - a carry on and a personal item, that's it. They're not unique in that regard (Rick Steves tours do as well). But it'll be a challenge. I am not sure I will be satisfied with smartphone pictures to those places. My DSLR is rather bulky and weighty (24oz) though. I have tweener "superzoom" from way back that does pretty well too, about 1 lb.
I'm also having Rabbie's choose the lodging for us. Hopefully it goes well and we'll feel the cost is money well spent.
We will have a full day before, and a full day after this 5-day tour to do our own thing in London or a daytrip from London. For these two full days we are considering among Oxford, Bath, Bletchley Park, and Hampton Court Palace. Doing stuff in London isn't out of the question either, but maybe not top of our list. It's nice to really only have to plan for a couple of days and nights.
So:
- Oxford and Cambridge are quite similar
- Bletchley Park is fun - 2 museums (Bletchley cypher museum, National Computer Museum) and is an easy train ride (from Euston, I think)
- Bath is "more of the same" - ie wonderful Georgian terraced houses (I think one might be a museum), plus the Roman Baths etc.
- Hampton Court Palace you might really enjoy, and it's an easy day out from Waterloo Station I think (takes about 30-40 minutes by train, it's essentially in a London suburb)
As long as you are after 930 it should be fairly easy to get a ticket on the day to Bletchley or Hampton Court Palace
www.thetrainline.co.uk for train tickets in advance - if more than a week in advance, can often be much much cheaper.
www.tfl.gov.uk for Transport for London, including a very helpful routefinder. Don't ignore the possibilities of taking buses - slow, but you really see the city if you sit on the top deck. The top deck of a London bus is one of life's greatest treats and I never tire of seeing the theatre that is London street life.
If it's London, you can do a quick trip to 1-2 things in British Museum or National Gallery. However if the weather cooperates, just walking around London. In particular I always recommend the walk on the South Bank, from Parliament down to Tower Bridge-- early evening is probably at its best, although more crowded. Stopping off to see the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern (always something interesting going on there) and St Paul's Cathedral (directly opposite, across the Millennium footbridge). You might wish to do a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
And/or a Thames River boat, which takes you down to Woolwich Arsenal - where the Thames Barrier is. See how London fits together with its river. You might stop off in Greenwich and see the famous Observatory, stand at 0 degrees Longitude, etc.
It helps to understand London if you imagine the city without the Embankment roadway (built over the first sewer) on the north side of the river. The river as its main roadway.
Also a walk around the Royal Parks - St James's, Hyde Park etc. Consider also visiting Apsley House - the Duke of Wellington's house in London (at Hyde Park Corner). Interesting to see how an aristocrat in the 1800s lived (his great-something grandson still lives there, when in London). When we were there, the guard pulled us over to the window, and we watched a cavalry unit ride back from their morning ride around Hyde Park.
Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms - in a bunker off Whitehall - is also highly atmospheric. You really feel you were there, with all those chain smoking men (women had clerical duties, primarily) making those literal life-and-death decisions. World War One Royal Marines veterans as the guards. It's part of the Imperial War Museum (at Lambeth North station), HMS Belfast (anchored on the Thames near London Bridge), RAF Museum, RAF Duxford Museum (near Cambridge)
Statistics: Posted by Valuethinker — Mon Jun 17, 2024 4:09 am — Replies 23 — Views 1846