UK trip in 2024 - input sought

[Jemima Fawr]

One good tip is to check who owns the sites you plan to visit.  If you're planning to visit a lot of sites owned by the National Trust or English Heritage, you might find it more cost-effective to buy a year's membership of one or both of those organisations, giving you free entry to all their sites.  I often find that our annual membership of English Heritage pays for itself during a few days of visiting castles and parking in their car parks (we first got it when on holiday in Kent - it paid for itself in just three days of visiting Dover Castle, Walmer Castle and a couple of others).

E.g. Annual couple's membership of English Heritage is presently a little over £100.  https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/PPCJoin/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInb7po-fXgAMVYolQBh1cOAkhEAAYASAAEgJzwPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The cost of two adults' entry to Stonehenge is £58:  https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/prices-and-opening-times/

So if you visit two or three more English Heritage sites, the membership will pay for itself and if you get it now, it'll insulate you against 2024 ticket price-rises.  It'll also get you a 50% discount for tickets to Heritage Scotland and Cadw (Wales) sites, plus a load of other associated sites: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/associated-attractions/

Re your itinerary, sorry, but you're trying to pack FAR too much in!  You'll see a lot of motorway and not much else.  Day 2 is particularly impossible, given that the Midlands is basically a car-park during the day.  I'd pick Stratford OR York and forget Harrogate.  Then forget the Lake District and Glasgow - just go straight to Edinburgh.  You'll also spend days driving around Ireland, without time to see anything. 

There are only two ferry crossings per day from Rosslare to Fishguard - at 0730 and 1930.  Crossing time is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours if the weather's good (which it often isn't), plus 1/2 hour to disembark and minimum two hours driving to Cardiff.  So assuming you take the 0730 ferry, you'll arrive in Cardiff at around 1400, which wouldn't give you a lot of time to see anything, once getting into your hotel and out into town is factored in.  Last entry to the superb (and free!) National Museum of Wales is at around 1600 and last entry to Cardiff Castle is at around 1700, so you'd need to pick one - you won't have time to do both.

Going from Cardiff to Bath, then Stonehenge and on to London in one day is certainly possible, but not if you're then planning to do stuff in London on the same day. Bath and Stonehenge will take the whole day (you could even include Avebury and perhaps a stop in lovely Marlborough - I'd also go to The Crown pub in Aldbourne, where the 'Band of Brothers' had their headquarters and where there's a nice little museum you can look at while having a lovely bar meal before going on to London), but you'd arrive in London well into the evening and too late to visit any touristy sites.

Personally, given only ten days, I'd bin Ireland and Wales altogether (  ), as well as Stratford (the enduring popularity of that place is a complete mystery to me, though it is where I bought my first wargames magazine while visiting the place as a terminally-bored teenager) and spend more time in London, York and Edinburgh, with a quick sally out to Bath, Stonehenge and Avebury.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Sadly I think Jemima’s overall cautionary note may be sage advice. You are going to be very busy. Along the line of the old adage “Americans think 100 years is a long time and the British think 100 miles is a long way” whilst we are a small country we are not particularly easy or quick to travel through/around (especially without prior knowledge/experience).

Alas Monday is an early(ish) closing day of 6:00pm for the store (If I see the owner I will attempt to bribe him to open later).

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[FifteensAway]

I think I need to remind that the itinerary I listed is for an organized group tour, not a personal itinerary developed by me.  And on entry to sites, that is included in the cost of the tour.  And I do understand that doing such a whirlwind tour will have its inherent hazards and likely some disappointments.  But, as said, compromise is an essential part of life.  And saving that money likely means a photo safari to Africa will be the next trip - and I expect that trip to Africa will be the most expensive one we will ever take.  But, again, there is that whole Bucket List thing.

Not surprised the store in Cardiff closes early on the given day but with so much advance notice, there may be a way to make something happen.  Once we solidify our plans a bit more, might be worth getting a poll of who would want to attend and then approach the shop about hosting a late game.  And if it all works out in the end, I'd want to know if there is a nearby pub where I could stand a round of stout, or whatever the pleasure is, for the participants.  I'll still be doing a soda - and happily be the butt of 'light weight' jokes.  My shoulders are broad enough to handle it!   

Oh, wait, did I just extend an invitation to every lush on LAF in range!?!?!? 

[Jemima Fawr]

I think I need to remind that the itinerary I listed is for an organized group tour, not a personal itinerary developed by me.  And on entry to sites, that is included in the cost of the tour.  And I do understand that doing such a whirlwind tour will have its inherent hazards and likely some disappointments.  But, as said, compromise is an essential part of life.  And saving that money likely means a photo safari to Africa will be the next trip - and I expect that trip to Africa will be the most expensive one we will ever take.  But, again, there is that whole Bucket List thing.

Not surprised the store in Cardiff closes early on the given day but with so much advance notice, there may be a way to make something happen.  Once we solidify our plans a bit more, might be worth getting a poll of who would want to attend and then approach the shop about hosting a late game.  And if it all works out in the end, I'd want to know if there is a nearby pub where I could stand a round of stout, or whatever the pleasure is, for the participants.  I'll still be doing a soda - and happily be the butt of 'light weight' jokes.  My shoulders are broad enough to handle it!   

Oh, wait, did I just extend an invitation to every lush on LAF in range!?!?!? 

Aha!  I missed that essential nugget of information! 

Bloody hell, they're certainly packing it in!    Well at least you won't be doing the driving, so that'll help.

Pack plenty of sick-bags for the Irish Sea... And as it'll be breeding season, I hope you don't get delayed too much by Arafs when passing through west Wales.

[FifteensAway]

Araf breeding season?  No worries.  I've survived vast herds of jackalopes - and without getting gored by their antlers.   

[jon_1066]

I’m going to be blunt, that tour looks terrible.  Pretty much everything people advised against!

All you will see is the inside of a coach and some mediocre hotels.  A particular highlight is travelling from London to Stratford, then onto York then onto Harrogate.  What the hell are you going to be doing in these places?  York is a great place to visit, I would say you could easily spend three days there, you appear to have three hours if that.  Farcical.  The only reason for such a trip is to be able to say you’ve been there.  You sure as hell won’t experience much.

It also sounds exhausting.  You will get stuck in traffic, you will be waiting for the slowest ditherer at every stop, the Irish Sea is notoriously rough, rural roads are windy.  Just 🤮

[2010sunburst]

Buddy, for the distance you’ve quoted I would factor in a good forty hours travel time.  Most journeys in the UK average around forty miles an hour unless it’s pure motorway (which this isn’t) especially in something the size of a coach.  I know Google says different, but trust us, Google is wrong.  Day two will be a travel blur, so I would seriously think about clipping that one a little.  Have fun though.

[Mindenbrush]

A friend of mine is just back from a 3 week trip of the UK.

He started with a Geek Nations Tours https://geeknationtours.com/ that did Bovington, all the manufacturers in Nottingham and some museums/castles.

He then hired a car to do some sightseeing on his own, his only complaint was that the GPS/SatNav system kept dropping off and there are way too many cars in the UK. He did say that his journeys took an extra 25/30% over the estimated time but he suggested that the GPS/SatNav issues and being a more ‘defensive’ driver slowed him down.

I go back to the home country quite often, going again in two weeks, and use WAZE on my phone rather than any in car GPS/SatNav as I also had issues with an in car system in 2017.

[Doug ex-em4]

I always use Google maps for navigating here (UK) and European mainland. Haven’t used a SATNAV device in years.

Doug

[FifteensAway]

I do continue to explore options - though on the tour front.

Here is part of the dilemma - the tour listed above is about $2400 per person, those that are less expensive are very off season and very wrong time for us.  The smaller group tours are at or above $5000 per person - and they have the inherent hazard of possibly not happening if enough people don't pony up for the tour (which can mean no tour and no time to reschedule in a timely or 'cost effective' manner).  Another tour that is similar but skips Ireland so not quite so crowded a schedule is about $3500 per person.  And most of them have very similar itineraries.  So, it all seems a matter of pick your poison.  One potential fall back is to just pick a smaller area to cover, like just do south England and maybe Wales - but that is on the back burner for now.  A whirlwind rest of Britain and a leisurely time tooling around London might be a nice compromise.

It is proving to be an adventure.  One reason for continuing to hunt for tours is digging deeper into the reviews of the one identified is that the hotels were somewhat problematic.  I suspect - and would be curious as to other's views - is that Americans will, generally, be somewhat disappointed by British hotels since we are rather spoiled for choice, especially on the more economical side of the equation, even in many - though hardly all - rural areas.  I suspect the further away from major cities in Britain that the options are not as commodious as over here.  Feel free to disabuse me if I am off base. 

I've heard that a daily hot shower is not a norm in Europe whereas that is a 'basic essential' from our perspective.  And I certainly understand that may be the case where fresh water supplies are more limited.  [Here in the west, water usage is insane, green grass yards in the desert, golf courses in arid Phoenix using 750,000 gallons of water a day!  That's just nuts.  We took out our grass lawn more than a decade ago - and replaced with either native plants or fruit and vegetables.]

One itinerary on several tours is Gretna Green which just seems weird but maybe it is because we live so close to Reno, Nevada - infamous for quick weddings, though not as nutty as Las Vegas (talk about a crazy place!).

Do need to make a decision relatively soon to lock in the prices and flights and all that jazz.

[Citizen Sade]

Hotels in the UK are largely speaking an urban thing. There are budget chains such as Premier Inn. Many Brits will stay at a pub or a B&B (Bed & Breakfast) instead. B&Bs are often family-run offering a personal touch and take pride in their cooked breakfasts. All the ones I've stayed at have been a room with en suite shower and toilet facilities. My experience with them has been excellent, but check the reviews on booking.com or similar.

[Von Trinkenessen]

Just a word of caution,Britain has a national sport of ripping off 'Rebel Colonists'.
A lot of tour companies are just after the Yankee Dollar, so you could get stuck with a english language as a second or third +driver/guide who is reading from the same guide book as you ( have seen it happen).
From your point of view if you go with the whistle stop / sound bite tour it is worth researching the route and what historical things can be seen from the bus so as to not to miss out on our too much history per mile also not rely on the driver / guide who hopefully will be a fountain of all knowledge.

[fred]

I can’t think of single hotel I have stayed in, in the UK where a shower wasn’t available. Virtually always en suite. Very occasionally in a B&B with a single room the bath room might have been in a separate nearby room.

The Premier Inn chain is a pretty good option. Nothing great, but pretty cheap, very very consistent, good beds decent sized rooms, very corporate, but therefore reliable.

Small hotels and B&Bs can be much more varied, but you will get a lot more flavour from them, some of these are great others not so much.

Avoid Britannia Group hotels, uniformly dreadful.

[Leifr Eiríksson]

That is a wild itinerary you have there, I really don't think it's manageable from day two.
Stratford to York is a four hour car journey when the traffic is good, and then you also want to cram in Harrogate (another hour) on top - lord! My dude, I really think you need to focus the tour on a smaller part of the country because it's doomed to be spent in a bus - British roads are not reliable, British cities are generally unpleasant to drive in to and out of, and you're grossly misunderstanding the distances involved against time spent.

Hotels have always had hot showers, and generally even baths, for as long as I care to remember. Whoever told you that daily hot showers are inaccessible here is having you on. 
I echo the above comment though to end; avoid Britannia Group hotels, they are terrible across the board.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Jemima - having university’d in surfing on the Gower I once had a housemate who’s sister in law (when visiting by train then being driven around) had asked where the air base was and what flew out of it because it must have been important to have signs all over the roads warning of the A(bertawe)RAF  .

Fifteens I will investigate the possibility of out of hours gaming at firestorm and report back.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain