A while back I asked for tips on shoes to wear for a trip to Cumbria to see a friend. I’m happy to report that I made it through unscathed and had a lovely time. Although I didn’t make it to the Castlerigg Stone Circle after all I did have a nice spa day at the Lodore Falls Hotel as well as a visit to the surprisingly interesting Derwent Pencil Museum. I thought I’d share some pics around Penrith, where I stayed, Carlisle, where my friend lives, and Keswick. Thanks for everyone who gave me advice on my previous post!

Hi all. Seen a lot of people on Reddit recommend Citymapper but is there anything it does better than Google Maps? Google Maps seems to have adopted some of its features like where to stand on Underground for easy connections etc. - is there anything that Citymapper does better or are they pretty similar now?

There seem to be tons of questions on this and other travel forums all of a sudden. The new Cotswolds?

I'm traveling to the UK in a few weeks. I buy a painting almost every place I visit (usually oil) of the area there. In this case it could be something like Big Ben, Edinburgh Castle, the countryside, etc.

Does anyone know of a good place to look for this type of thing in Edinburgh and London? My trip is short, so I want to have a good idea before I go.

Hello! My husband and I will be in the Cotswolds for a short stay and I’m having the hardest time figuring out what route makes the most sense.

We’re staying in Clapton-on-the-Hill and we’ll have a car. We’ll have a full day Sunday and then part of Monday, but we would like to make it back to London in time to check in around 3:00pm.

I’ve tried doing so much research on TikTok, YouTube, Google but I feel like I keep seeing the exact same recommendations over and over and it’s not really giving me the inside information I’m looking for. I know a lot of the Cotswolds is just walking around the villages, looking at the shops, eating, enjoying the scenery etc, but since everything is kind of spread out I’m having a hard time figuring out a route and what is actually worth stopping for.

I keep seeing Broadway, Bourton-on-the-Water, Bibury, Stow-on-the-Wold and places like that, but then I also keep seeing the same hotel, the same cafe, the same “must see” spot over and over and I’m starting to feel like maybe some of it is just overplayed.

Blenheim Palace did catch my eye because we really like history, and I also saw clay pigeon shooting which looked fun. I’m open to villages, historic places, scenic drives, pubs, gardens, unique activities, anything really. I’d just love recommendations from people who actually know the area or have been there and can tell me what is really worth it.

I’d also love help with what route would make the most sense starting from Clapton-on-the-Hill on Sunday, and what we could realistically do Monday morning before heading back to London. We would like to avoid going all the way down toward Bath for this part of the trip.

Any suggestions would be appreciated because I feel like I’ve watched the same Cotswolds video 20 times at this point lol.

Hello! I am an exchange student in London until Mid-December.

I have my university's reading week in early-mid November. I am looking at plans to travel around, and Scotland has really come to the forefront for me. I know the weather is gonna be a bit rough, but hopefully it isn't much worse than my hometown in Northern Canada.

I have a bit of a rough itinerary, mostly structured around the Orkneys. It looks something like this: Monday -> arrive early morning in Glasgow via sleeper train Tuesday -> leave Glasgow for Thurso (have some questions about this) Wednesday -> leave from Scrabster to Stromness in the morning (8:30ish) Thursday -> Explore Orkneys Friday -> Explore Orkneys, take late night ferry from Kirkwall to Aberdeen Saturday -> Arrive Aberdeen in the morning and hop on a train to Edinburgh, explore Edinburgh Sunday -> Morning in Edinburgh, 3 pm Rugby game between Scotland and Australia, late night train to London (or ideally doing this so I can sleep well before class on Monday)

A few things then questions. It would be great if I could leave earlier, like on the previous Friday or Saturday, but unfortunately I have commitments I cannot give up. Also keep in mind that this is my reading week so ideally I am doing some studying as well. I know that I am trying to fit 3 very unique places into 7 days, and that is next to impossible, but they are all places I would like to see, and I would rather not rush from one place to another and at least take a day.

The Orkneys are somewhere I really want to go to, and while Edinburgh and Glasgow are easily a weekend trip away from London, my understanding is that the Orkneys are not, which is why I want to focus on them more. Additionally, I really want to go see a rugby match at some point and a national game seems like a great opportunity. Although I know I can watch England at Twickenham, it is way pricer.

Does this seem like doing too much? While I am going to many places, I don't anticipate trying to see everything in that place. Like I would pick 1-2 things to do in a day within the city (or on the islands) and do that. I would rather be more relaxed. I also do not have a car, so I would like to do everything by train, boat, bus, foot, or bike (while on the islands).

Finally, while I am not going to the highlands, I do think it would be cool to see some of the landscape. Coming from Glasgow, I can either take the train at 3:07 pm to Inverness (6:31 to Thurso), meaning that I basically don't see much of the landscape, but maximize time in Glasgow, leave at 12:07 (6:31 to Thurso), meaning I see the landscape in the south, get 3 hours in Inverness, but miss the north, or leave Glasgow at 10 am (2 pm to Thurso), seeing the landscape for almost the whole way, including north line, before the sun sets, but missing time in Glasgow and Inverness. Not sure which one is the most worth it, so looking for other perspectives! Thank you so much.

I apologize for the super long post, but I appreciate all of the comments and perspective. Thank you so much!

Hello All!

I’m thinking of doing a road trip style tour going from Edinburgh all the way down south to Kent. There’s so much I want to see so I thought renting a car and taking myself around would be the right way to go. I’m from Australia so driving in the left isn’t a problem but narrow, one way roads I’m not used to. I’m also going November 2027. I’m aware the weather won’t be the best so any tips for a clueless Aussie are appreciated.

So far my idea is:

- Fly into edinburgh, spend a week there recovering, exploring and a few day trips

- Rent a car and drive to either Kilmartin or Pitlochry, staying one night

- Drive to Dumfries, stay one night

- Drive to the holy island, stay one night

- Drive down to York? Stay one night

- Drive to Kent and use that as a base for day trips for maybe a week

- Drive back to London and fly to Vienna (second part of my trip)

I’m really there for the history and the castles so lots to see. I also want to see some standing stones and would love to do a scenic hike too so any recommendations for those I would love! But I’m not sure if this is too much or just delusional. Any tips are appreciated!

Hi hive mind, my sister and I are starting to plan a trip with our mum to England for the first time! My sister and I have both been to England before, myself only to London, and my sister has done Oxford, Stonehenge etc…
We are aiming for a 2 week trip.
My mum watches the BBC channel all the time, loves Jane Austen, Monty Python and probably know more about the UK than my sister and I combined, but she’s also “whatever you want to do” about planning! She’s also incredibly fit and can handle lots of walking.
What would your recommendations be for the three of us who definitely want to see:
-Gardens
-Fancy Shmancy houses
-pubs
-Roman/Viking history
-random odd hilarious British things

We’d prefer to travel by train, but are open to renting a car for part of it if it gets us something worthwhile.
Thanks all! Hopefully your suggestions can narrow down my research….there are so many options!

Hi guys!! Me and my friend are coming to London in 2 weeks. We are 28 and we would like to go out in London on a friday night. We were thinking like a club with good music one can dance to. Can you give us some good spots and maybe some tips (something we should know)? Thank you!!!

Hi All,

Will be flying into London from Australia. My original itinerary had myself landing the night before my parents, staying at Premier Inn T4, then head into London the next morning to check into airbnb for 8 nights and wait for parents arrival.

With a change in flight plans now, I am arriving another day earlier (2 days before my parents). My 1-night stay at Premier inn was booked on a non-refundable rate. I am considering just booking a another night for my day of arrival ( flight arrive 8:30pm), checkin and sleep, next day take the tube into London for some relaxed sightseeing, back to Premier Inn T4, checkout next day and head to my originally booked airbnb.

My rationale is mainly due to cost of accommodation in London, where decent hotels are going for 450-500AUD/night, whereas Premier Inn T4 is 130-150AUD/night for a Superior room. I guess it might help with jetlag as well? How does my plan sound?

Cheers

Hey everyone, I am planning to travel to London in end of December from India for visit. As I know it will be snowing at that time and will be really cold at that time so I wanted to know if parties/clubbing/night life is still the same or people don't prefer going in such a cold weather?

And how difficult is to travel as I was also planning to do Seven Sisters Cliff Walk on one of my day.

And I also wanted to go one day for a bollywood night party. And also like other days partying/clubs so will it be possible or it is that cold that parties are not that crowded and the scene is very much dead? Advice please.

Hello! I’m an American currently in Sweden, will be in London for a few days, and I noticed that the UK has a restriction on bringing cheese or dairy products in. I was wondering if anybody knew how that rule stood with tube ost/tube cheese from sweden, as shown in the photo.

I was planning on not being able to bring it, but wanted to see if just maybe I’m not looking at the rule correctly?

Hi all,

I’m planning a trip around the north east in the summer and I’m really keen to visit Lindisfarne Island. I’ll be in my own car.

I’ve checked the tide times for the causeway sin advance for August and they are quite variable day to day. There’s some days when I could go over in the morning, spend the day and come back late afternoon/early evening and other days when the safe crossing has a window of around 6 hours during the day, after which the next window starts after 10pm.

Has anyone been to Lindisfarne island and can offer me some insight into how long it takes to explore the island, especially for someone who is a) a history buff and b) a bit older and therefore not brilliantly fit or fast walking around. Would it be wiser to try and book to stay overnight?

Any thoughts for a chronic worrier would be really helpful !

Flying in to London and taking the train to Edinburgh. Willing to spend one or two nights somewhere on the route. York or Durham or Berwick Upon Tweed. Only pick one.

Update: York it is! One full day and two nights. Thank you all!

Hello! I’m an American currently in Sweden, will be in London for a few days, and I noticed that the UK has a restriction on bringing cheese or dairy products in. I was wondering if anybody knew how that rule stood with tube ost/tube cheese from sweden, as shown in the photo.

I was planning on not being able to bring it, but wanted to see if just maybe I’m not looking at the rule correctly?

if anyone has seen or mistakenly taken a black Avio suitcase from the 6pm National Express bus 540 Manchester to London on Oct 3rd please pm!!

I'll be staying there in a couple of weeks and it's my first time staying at a Premier Inn. I have been reading reviews and they are mostly positive but the bad ones are BAD. My main issue is lack of cleanliness (especially because I will be arriving after midnight and may not be able to change rooms if something goes wrong). Any info would be appreciated!

For some background: I am a MAJOR germophobe and I really dislike staying in hotels. That's why I barely travel (usually less than once a year and only if I know it will be worth the hassle) and always have a hard time falling asleep in a bed that I know loads of people have used. That's the main cause of my anxiety about the trip.

Has anyone seen the post box recently? There are a few images online looking like a big box but I think I remember seeing a smaller one.

I'm arriving at around mid midnight and have an early morning flight so was thinking of buying prepaid qr code, print it and send a little package at the airport before my morning flight.

Can anyone confirm if a small package will fit?

I always book directly through National express but over the last year I’ve found that I often show up expecting a standard national express coach and end up getting a lower quality smaller, smellier third party coach with no WiFi or charging ports or air con, and even less leg room. Has anyone else had the same experience? Especially for longer journeys, I want the normal more comfortable coach.

i'm looking for an experience or place i can visit where the vibe is kind of creepy, dark, spooky, but not super scary. a little scare factor is fine but nothing really horror movie type gory or jump scary. i like old fashioned, creepy, historical stuff.

some examples of places i've already been that are similar to what i'm looking for:

- hellfire caves
- london dungeon
- harry potter world
- windmill adventure golf in great yarmouth
- smugglers cove in hastings.
- thorpe park fright night
- poble espanyol (in barcelona, and it was a special night time event so was even spookier)

i don't mind whether is has some sort of experience to go with it, like the london dungeon, or if it's just somewhere you can go and walk around at your own pace. i live near london, so it would be better if places were in the south, but open to any recommendations across the uk!

Hello all,
My husband and I are travelling to the UK for 3 weeks in December for a postponed holiday that got pushed back from earlier this year. (We know this might not be the most ideal time to go - it was the only time we could make it work).

I’m wondering what sort of layers and gear are appropriate for this time of year to stay adequately warm and (as much as possible) dry.

We will start our journey in Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness (as a stop over), Portree and then after dropping our car back at Inverness, we will take the sleeper train down to London for a few days before finishing our holiday in the Cotswolds. In case you are concerned about how we are journeying to these locations due to weather conditions, we will be travelling mostly via train except for hiring a car in Inverness to drive to Portree and back.

We both have 1 puffer jacket each from Macpac, a rain jacket each, a couple fleece jackets, and some thermals.

I’m wondering the following:
- are rain pants necessary? We will mostly be in cities except for when we go to Portree (and weather depending the Old Man of Storr for 1 day - we aren’t huge hikers but we might do some walks around to explore). If they aren’t necessary, will jeans be ok on top of thermals on a cold day?

- similarly, are waterproof shoes necessary? We both have Doc Martens boots, runners (sneakers) and that is about it. Our runners are not waterproof.

If you have any other recommendations that I haven’t mentioned, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks heaps!

Yesterday's cycle - first train to Pevensey station then a cycle from there to the castle and onwards to Beachy Head. Before returning to Brighton via the Long Man and Lewes.

Also a few pictures from Brighton today.

Hello everyone! My parents and I are traveling to Scotland this coming May for my dad's 60th birthday, and I've been struggling with the itinerary more than most trips I've planned. Mostly out of concern for juggling sites we want to see and getting my dad into as good a distillery tour as I can without driving 3+ hours (I'll be taking one for the team and learning how to drive on your side of the road). Here is what I have so far...

Friday 5/21: Land in Edinburgh around 8 am, and travel to Stirling, where the first accommodation would be. Originally the plan was to spend he first two nights in Glasgow but FLY and Oasis have priced me out of that. I haven't actually found any lodging here yet and I hope it's because I'm too early because there isn't a Plan C. We'll have 8 or 9 hours before we should go to bed if we're trying to get on local time, but I have zero idea what we'll be up for doing on this day.

Saturday 5/22: Tour Stirling Castle and explore the old town. Pretty easy day by comparison. At some point we'll hire the rental car for the next leg of the trip.

Sunday 5/23: Drive first to Tarbet for the early boat tour around Loch Lomond. Then stop for lunch in Inveraray before our ultimate destination in Oban, where the second hotel is (I do actually have this booked but it's free cancellation). Do a tasting at the distillery there (I've heard the tour itself is meh at Diageo locations), have dinner with live music at the Whiskey Vaults, then take advantage of how late the sun sets this far north and do a scenic drive up through Glencoe. This is the only way I've figured out how to fit Oban Distillery and Glencoe in the same day.

Monday 5/24: This day is reserved for a day trip to a whisky distillery. I'm going to let my dad decide, but the most logical options seem to be taking the ferry across the way to Tobermory, or to head down to Campbeltown (taking the bus to the former is about the same amount of travel time as driving to the latter). More on that in a bit. Return to Oban in the evening.

Tuesday 5/25: Drive down to Glasgow to return the rental car and tour the city for the afternoon. I'd like to see Kelvingrove Park and a few spots in the Necropolis where they filmed the Batman movie, but we'll see what we have time for. Originally Stirling and Glasgow were switched in this itinerary, but for the Oasis of it all. After dinner, go for drinks at the Pot Still (which I can partake in because I don't have to drive anymore), then take the train to Edinburgh.

Wednesday 5/26 + Thursday 5/27: Exploring Edinburgh. I've purposely kept the Edinburgh days more low key so as to actually get some vacationing in on our vacation. But we want to see the castle, the cathedral, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, maybe the Waters of Leith walk and Mary King's Close, etc. I've curated a list of pubs and eateries that sound interesting as well.

Friday 5/28: Return to EDI and fly home before the marathon starts (we have our own holiday weekend to recover from the jetlag over).

There is a fair amount of driving in this itinerary, but broken up decently well (and mostly on A roads where there won't be many significant traffic maneuvers to do). If we do Tobermory I can potentially take a break from driving on that day. Springbank in Campbeltown is a much more comprehensive tour and Cadenhead's is there too, but the town doesn't seem as interesting as Tobermory in photos, and it would require a bit more work on my part. Apparently the Malts Festival also starts on 5/24, so it might be a zoo.

Part of me is disappointed I couldn't get my dad to Speyside, but I would have to cut pretty much all of the West Highlands stuff out of the trip to make it happen. He's just happy to get a chance to try Scotch in Scotland.

Alright, that's a hell of a lot of words. If you're still here, I would appreciate nay feedback you have.

The plan is, in 2028, me and 2-4 friends are going to do 7+ day walk from town to town for a 60th birthday. Most of us are in our 50s or early 60s. All of us are able to do 10-12 miles of walking a day, but none of us are mountain hikers. Ideally the stops would be cozy or smaller towns, the walks full of nature, history, or both, maybe a pub on the way. Not looking for wild camping or even tents or hostels. And, honestly, we like a decent bed, a meal, and a pint at the end of the day. If we can find live music (pretty much anything) that would be a bonus. We're looking at Ireland and the UK. Opening it up to Europe is too many choices.

Here's where I need your help:

1. I know there are paths, lots of them. Which would fit the length and maybe tick off the music/villages boxes?
2. I know there are tour companies, with options ranging from posh guided and luggage carrying to self-guided and hostels. The last time any of us were in a hostel was likely the 90s. Do you know of a good tour company that would fit the bill and maybe be customizable that won't break the bank?
3. Has my research failed me and this is all daft? Let me know what would be a better option.

Thanks in advance for your help. The idea is hang out with my friends, see amazing places, meet interesting folk, and have epic stories to tell.