Vacation Plans -- United Kingdom

Hiya Piffka,
ehbeth alerted me to your thread, and here I am to stand up for Scotland!!
First of all, don't listen to these worries about September weather, it is usually one of our nicer months, and last year it was actually our summer!! It rained through July and August, but September was beautiful!
I'm looking at your ideas -
Th - Leave home - Enjoy your flight!
F-S Edinburgh* -- 2 nights - Edinburgh is a wonderful historic city to visit, I think you can easily spend two days there. Most important to visit - The Royal Mile, of course, Princes Street and it's beautiful gardens, and if you like walking, Calton Hill and Arthur's Seat provide wonderful views of the city. You like a malt, so why not go on the city's special historical pub walking tour? Or venture out on your own.. Try a virtual visit first - http://uk.geocities.com/thinkzinc_2001/scotland.htm I've got some links for Edinburgh there too.
S- Wick & the OrkneysThis is going to be quite difficult to achieve driving straight from Edinburgh. It will probably take you six hours to get to Wick, and then you are going to be ( I believe) at least an hour and a half on the shortest ferry ride to Orkney. Possibly your best chance would be to leave Edinburgh for the North of Scotland on Saturday evening, and then join a one day coach tour to Orkney, the price will include the ferry. If you get seasick, remember your tablets!
M - Plockton - Kyle of Lochalsh - Armadale* - Mallaig I have not been to Plockton, but the Kyle of Lochalsh is very pretty. This is area of Scotland probably most likely to be rainy, but if you're lucky it is beautiful.
T- Fort William -- Glasgow -- Ayrshire* Fort William is a pretty little town, but I wouldn't be too worried about visiting it. I am assuming this journey is to take in Glencoe however, which is quite awesome. Glasgow could probably take a whole day if you so desired. Lots of history here, great art galleries, Glasgow School of Art and so on. The bus tour of the city is good, you can hop on and off all day, but you could go on the tour in a oner if you just want to spend a couple of hours in the city.
W -Lakes District - You will get down there in about four hours I would think (all my times are approximate, I could look further into them if you wish). It is not an area I know well, but very pretty.
Th,F,S,S London -- 4 nights (possibly 1 of these in the SW) It may well take five hours to drive to Cornwall. However, the coast down there is absolutely beautiful, my favourite in England, and well worth visiting. Though expensive, it may well be best to try to fly from London to Newquay. (PS, choose the Eden project over the Lost Gardens of Heligan ) St Ives is definitely a must!
M - Leave UK Safe journey, piffka!

I think your plan is actually quite an exhausting holiday, but only having one week, it is understandable that you wish to pack in as much as possible. Personally, I would swap Wick and Orkney for Fife, unless you have particular family history up there which you want to see. St Andrews is such a lovely historical town, very relaxing, and you can easily walk around the whole place in one day. The nearby fishing villages are picture postcard pretty as well.
Or, if you are determined to have some island hopping, when you are at the Kyle of Lochalsh, why not have an extra day visiting Skye, and possibly going over to Harris, to see the beautiful white sand beaches?
Hope this gives you a few ideas, get in touch if you need any more info about Scotland
PS Culloden is a very moving place to visit, I'm not a battlefield fan, but it is so atmospheric that I don't think you'd regret visiting it

Lurking and listening. Hmm, do we need a lurking listeners club?

Boy, what great info. on this thread.

I definitely have to save it for future reference.

I forgot to mention this before, and it would have been of use to c.i. and Margo and others perhaps, at different times, but it's always worth considering using University halls which are available when the students are away:

http://www.city.ac.uk/ems/walter.htm

This is for London of course, and we have also found the LSE (London School of Economics) residences very good- there's one near the Tate Modern on the South Bank.

Thinkzinc, you are doing a great job, as travel adviser for Auld Scotia, and I concur with all of your suggestions.
(I'll forgive you for saying you can do Glasgow in one day!) Jewel in the crown for Glasgow, the Burrell Collection. Otherwise, the tourist bus, with commentary, would be best.

I love the East Neuk of Fife, and it is my ambition to go to the Anstruther fisheries museum this year. Crail, Pittenweem, lovely.

Piff you can't do Orkney and London in one short holiday- too ambitious.
Your travel plans sound strenuous enough to me.
Have a great time.

McT

That's true McTag, Piffka could well spend a day at the Burell Collection!

good point about the college accomodation - I went up a couple of years ago for the Edinburgh Festival (absolutely brilliant and the atmosphere is buzzing) and stayed at St Mary's Music College Halls of residence with friends - they do what they describe as a continental breakfast (!) -generous to a fault with, an enormous choice of food. It is about a 20 minute walk from the end of Princes street or a short bus ride.

... and should have some tea in the "Tea rooms for Miss Cranson"!

Fife really is very attractive: besides St. Andrews and places, McTag already mentioned, perhaps ... but have a look here:

Kingdom of Life

I would suggest a trip to Borley. The most haunted church in England is there. It's south west of london. Then go to Auborough the resting place of Benjimen Briton. This town is the most kitch decorated place in the area. See if you can find where New Austins was, the restaurant. And thats where I worked one summer. The church there has nice wood sculpture inside. The beach is warm and pebbly. very good for this kind of beach.

do you mean Aldeburgh? it isn't the sort of place you would cross the Atlantic to see when there is Scotland and Cornwall as options!

Borley rectory may certainly be of some interest for some, as well Aldeburgh.

But I do think what Vivien remarked already: being just one week in the UK, there are more and better options!

Oh, I'm so excited to see all these new posts! I'm home for just a couple of minutes... we were at the beach watching fireworks and heading back as soon as we do some chores & a little shopping.

Thanks ThinkZinc for all the info. I know I'm cramming in too much -

uh. oops, I'll be back.

It's the Light?!? That's what I like up there! You're so right! Hmmm, midges? Hopefully they'll have died down by late September.

Could you explain more about the trains? Didn't quite catch that. Notorious for not running? Ackkkk!

Could you explain more about the trains? Didn't quite catch that. Notorious for not running? Ackkkk! quote


If you are catching the train from London to Edinburgh, then you have a choice of the east or west coast lines. I think the west coast line is run by Virgin, anyway the east coast line has problems and isn't so good.

The east coast train line, going via Peterborough, Durham and Berwick on Tweed, goes through some lovely countryside in the north of England/south of Scotland and runs along beside the coast. From Peterborough it is only about 5 hours or so, so add an hour for London and it isn't too bad - although of course you could fly.

The trip up the west coast from Edinburgh to Mallaig is supposed to be nice but went there by car so can't speak from experience on that section.

Thanks, ehbeth! Yay, Scotland!



Yes, Yes. Have reservations at the Meridien Edinburgh, right in town. Looking forward to pub-crawling and sitting on Arthur's Seat. LOVED your virtual visit -- Irn Bru? No! You don't really drink that, do you?



Am now considering flying to Kirkwall, spending one night, then taking ferry & train back. I truly want to see some things there. Mr. Piffka is interested in visiting Tain -- I'd love to stay at the Glenmorangie House, but whew, it's very costly.



Ft. William, which I agree is almost totally unremarkable, is high on our destination list because there is a very small street named after Mr. Piffka's ancestor, the Ualraig Kennedy, and we are talking our son on a "Meet Scotland" tour. While we're there, we could show him where the Military Commandos started & trained (good old Spean Bridge), visit Leanachan Forest where Ualraig farmed and from where some of the family fled after Culloden. Maybe we'll even see Ben Nevis! Mallaig, etc. was a way to get there. Ft. Wm. also has a car rental, so we could get there by train, then rent. We can also pick up a sleeper car & zoom to London while we sleep.

I wish I had more time. Maybe we can do a little tour of Glasgow while waiting for a sleeper train.



The Lake District, sadly, has been exed. Mr.Piffka thinks I've over-planned (Can you believe it, Walter?). We'd love to go and will try to head there next time -- which is when we'll probably FINALLY get to see Ayrshire and stay at Aran.

Newquay -- St.Ives? Hmmm. We would be most likely to take the train from London & daytrip, then rent a car somewhere once we've reached the general area. Maybe Newquay. I'll look into this. Hadn't considered flying... at least I'll only be buying two tickets by this time instead of three.

I'm pleased to hear you recommend Fife. I loved Dumferline & Culross, have seriously considered St. Andrews but was afraid it would be too commercial - I usually avoid crowds. Maybe we should visit around Fife if the Orkneys are out of reach.

On your recommendation, TZ, I will also agree if Mr. P happens to bring up Culloden again. Who am I to go against the wind? Thanks loads for all your advice -- hope you've got more.

Jjorge, Ossobuco, Margo... wish you could come, too. Mr. P is a good photographer so we may have photos to show, God willing!

McTag -- I've just been checking out this website:

http://www.eastneukwide.co.uk/tourist/index.shtml

Thanks for mentioning East Neuk -- now high on the list of places we'd like to see!

Dorms are available until Sept 19th the day we arrive, but that's a great thought. My daughter & I stayed in some dorms in Surrey that were part of the University of London - gorgeous building that we saw later in a movie, I think, the English Patient. The surrounding grounds and the rooms weren't bad, either. (As a tip to others, when you're looking for dorm rooms, they're not very well-advertised. Check the school's website & sometimes look at Facilities Management instead of Visitors.)

Royal Holloway Accommodations

This Burrell Collection sounds very interesting -- thanks for pointing it out. I'm going to be planning (possibly over-planning this trip :wink: ) and will look at how much time we've got in Glasgow.

Walter -- Thanks for the great links! You're really getting me rared up! Have you been to Scotland? I know it's sort of out of the way, when there's so much else to see in Europe.

Algis -- Thanks for the tip... if we get in that London neighborhood, we'll look for the Borley church (though it sounds scary). Can you place it better on a map?

Vivien -- Thanks, I see what you mean. The trains are so confusing with the different lines. We're not used to them, but find them fascinating! I enjoy watching the scenery from a train -- if we get a chance, we'll try that route.

Right now it looks like we'll be flying to Edinburgh from London, straight off. How we get back to London is still to be determined.

We have time for a day trip from London to see the SW. (I know it's not enough time!) What would you suggest? Trying to fly to Newquay? Taking one of the train lines & renting a car from Bath or somewhere? I'd most be interested in getting out and walking around some gardens or stone monuments, not Stonehenge. What about St. Michael's Mount? Isn't that down there somewhere?

Newquay if very tacky these days - the beaches are beautiful but the towns is full of shops selling rubbish and just so touristy. Nearby smaller places might be nicer - the Watergate Bay Hotel is right on a fantastic beach and a few miles outside Newquay.

Well, that's good to know. I don't care much for tacky! I want a nice, peaceful old garden with some big trees.

(I've just been linked to and admiring your galleries... great stuff! Talk about finding good light! Those of the water & sky are gorgeous!... Liked the gorilla, too. Haven't seen them all. Thanks for sharing!)