BRITAIN

Travel Tips

If you buy a Museum Pass in Australia it will allow you to visit many attractions and skip queues. We visited the London Transport Museum which was fantastic -hands on and kid friendly. It also gave an excellent picture of the development of London. We also went to Greenwich. Just those two visits paid for the pass.

Cheap theatre tickets can be found in London earlier in the day, especially at the Box Office of the particular theatre.
Sue Walken, Australia (Mar 99)

One thing that I would strongly recommend is to get some special pre-paid cards to phone abroad. You can get them from small groceries or newsagents all over the country, they can also be found in underground stations in London. Phone calls are fairly cheap, but you should compare the different types of cards before buying them because some are cheaper for Europe, and some are are cheaper for Asia and so on.
Emanuela Tasinato, Italy (Mar 99)

Flying many places from Britian now require a 5 kg hand luggage limit (not just a 100cm circumference, as before).
Sue Walken, Australia (March 99)

In Great Britain, tax on travel insurance policies lasting four months or more has increased to 17.5%. A big hike from 4%.
Chris Brown, UK (Mar 99)

Any traveller able to leave from London City but return to Gatwick, Heathrow or Stansted, avoids the new taxes (a Passenger Service Charge is due to be introduced in April, 1999 for people travelling to and from the UK) since City has an arrival tax and the others departure taxes. This would mainly help budget travellers using KLM, Air France and Swissair since they each use several London airports.
Neil Taylor, UK (Feb 99)

When in York, don't try and take a taxi to the backpacker's hotel or the youth hotel - the cabbie will laugh at you and throw you out as they are both around the corner. To get to both, turn right as you exit the station and walk through the first city gate on the left where you will find yourself on Micklegate.

Everyone tells you that the queues for the Jorvik Viking Centre are horrendous and you should go first thing in the morning if you want to go at all. This is quite true

You might be sick of cathedrals by the time you reach York, but the Minster is exceptional by any standards. Mere words are inadequate. Actual entry is indeed free, but, of the parts that do cost extra, the foundations are unmissable - for the archaeology, history and for the treasury.
Alasdair Brooks, UK (Feb 99)

There is now a youth hostel in Liverpool.Their web site at http://www.liverpool-wirral.co.uk has further details and also has lots of other useful information.
Derek Rice, UK (Feb 99)

The best way to see the wonders of Britain without spending a fortune is to buy a Great British Heritage Pass. You can purchase these passes before you leave at your local travel agent or you can buy one when you arrive in the UK. This pass saves you lots of money and gains you entry to most heritage sites in the UK
Jodie Lugton, Australia (Feb 99)

The new Passenger Service Charge, for people travelling to and from the UK, is due to be introduced in April, 1999. The cost is ú7.30 and will apply to both adults and children, however infants are excluded. The charge apparently varies between airports.
Dingo- Taken from the Thorn Tree (Feb 99)

In London, both the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Imperial War Museum are free after 4.30 pm. The National Gallery has excellent kids' activity sheets for a "suggested donation" of 50p and make the art gallery accessible and interesting for children.

The number 10 bus is a good "tour" bus and goes around Hyde Park, past the Albert memorial and Albert Hall, down Oxford Street and to Leicester Square. Number 9 is also good.

To get really cheap Channel Tunnel and/or ferry rates across to France, check the local papers in the south (Kent Messenger, or Folestone Herald for example). They often have foot passenger fares of 5 pound and cheap car rates as well.
Rob Klassen, UK (Jan 99)

London is not cheap but here are a few tips to help. On arrival you can buy a two-zone travel card for a week: it costs about 16 pounds and covers tube, bus and local rail.

The great free museums are the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery (much better than Madame Tussaud's) both on Trafalgar Square, and the British Museum (I especially like the Roman British Room and the Sutton Hoo ship burial). At other museums you can look at the price of the London Museum's white card (which has a web site, too) and decide whether you would go to enough museums to make it worth buying. St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster charge tourists for entry, but you can see quite a bit if you find the times of Evensong and go to that (when entry is free)- though of course you have to stay in one place and listen, and they pass a collection plate past you. Just south of St Paul's Cathedral is the City tourist information kiosk. If you ask for the list of City music, lectures and services you'll find a fair amount of classical music offered free in churches in the City (which means in the business district) twenty minutes walk from your hostel. There's a collection plate, but the church people know about the impecunious young. The Church of St Anne and St Agnes a hundred yards north of St Paul's, is especially beautiful, friendly, and good at music. They are American Lutherans, and the church is by Wren. You can get a brochure for them at the kiosk by St Paul's. Even the Tower of London (admission ú10) is (I think) free if you phone on a weekday; get the time of morning service on Sunday at the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, and turn up twenty minutes early to attend that. It is traditional and English, and has ignored all developments in the Church over forty years. Other free jazz and classical music is on offer about six on weekdays at the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall, in the foyers. There are free music and sometimes plays at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama next to the Barbican: you could phone them for info. That's the only theatre that's free, but on Monday evenings and at weekday matinees (except at the National Theatre) you can arrive an hour before curtain up, pay a student concession price of ú8 or ú10 , have lunch or supper in a nearby pub, and probably find that you've been moved from the cheap gallery (the Gods) to the best one, in seats at the back. It is quite done to wait until lights start to dim, and move quietly forward to a better seat two rows behind the people who paid ú25 for their seats.

Other cheap theatre is on the Fringe, listed in the weekly magazine "Time Out", which you can buy in the news shop in the concourse of your arrival airport to read on the long dull train trip to central London. (This also shows you which museums and galleries are free). There's much of dramatic interest in the Committees of the House of Lords and of the House of Commons. You can look them up now on http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk, then in London can phone, get them to give you titles, and choose which to go to. This way you get to see the flamboyant Victorian interior of the Palace of St Stephen (the House of Commons). You go to the public door to Parliament, tell the police officer on duty which Committee you mean to attend, go through the X-ray check, and walk straight past the queue to the Central Lobby and up the great staircase to the Committee Rooms Corridor, where you find your room, slip in, and listen for an hour. Nearly all public lectures are free. The ones you might like best are at the National Portrait Gallery, and you can find them listed now on http://www.npg.org.uk/lecindex.htm. In the kiosk at St Paul's you can find whether there are free lectures in the Museum of London, north of St Paul's, during your stay.
Ben Haines, UK (Jan 99)

Visitors to London with special academic, professional or hobby interests may find that there's a tiny museum exactly tailored to their field.

The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London is great - and free. Don't miss the Doll's Houses.
Naomi Ffish (taken from the Thorn Tree) (Nov 98)

From 22 April 2000 new area codes and modified phone numbers are being used in London, Cardiff, Coventry, Portsmouth , Southampton and Northern Ireland. Other UK phone numbers are not affected. The changes to London numbers are:

0171 and 0181 are being replaced by the single code 020, and the '7' or '8' from the old code gets attached to the start of the existing seven-digit phone number to make an eight-digit phone number. For example, 0171-445 3876 becomes 020-7445 3876.

The Royal Society, the National Portrait Gallery and many colleges and other bodies, present free lectures in London from now till late Spring. These range from Islam to Geology, from Shakespeare to relativity.
Ben Haines, UK (Nov 98)

A one way trip from Edinburgh to London will cost you ú65 - unless you request a Daypex return ticket for the same day. That only costs ú30 (but don't tell them you're not planning on coming back). I simply put my return ticket up for grabs at the hostel where I stayed.
Dan Coplan, USA (Oct 98)

Even though Covent Garden is under construction right now you can still go and see the English National Opera at the colosseum for only 5 pounds - if you get the tickets the day of. You usually meet some pretty interesting locals this way. For the out of the ordinary and free, is the first of two auto icons in the world. The first being Jeremy Bentham, the father Utilitarianism. You can find him encased in the South Cloisters of University College London in Bloomsbury. Ask anyone that goes to the school and they will be able to tell you where to find him. He is encased in a neat little wood and glass box which is opened in the morning. On a table in his case is his favourite walking stick "Dapple" and his tea pot which he named "Dick" (this was so he could have a spot of Dick every day). A bit of an eccentric but worth the trip.

After talking to the old man himself, walk over to the Bentham Pub and have a pint. Or eat at the student union around the corner for the best cheap lunch in town with beer on tap all for under 4 pounds.

And the second auto icon in the world? Well, you would have to travel to Russia to see Lenin!
Tiffany Ellis, USA (Sept 98)

Having decided to travel Europe on a budget and go by bus, we booked all circuits with Eurobus. However, on arrival we were told that the southern circuit closes as of October 19, 1998. My advice is to check beforehand to avoid disappointment.
Carissa Harris (Aug 98)

When I arrived to visit the London Dungeon at 10 am, there was already a queue 50 metres up the street. However, I came across a tourist information place on the same street which sells advance tickets at the same price and also enables you to gain entrance to several London sights via the "group" entrance (where there usually are no queues). After purchasing the ticket I was admitted straight away.
Lucia Chambers (Aug 98)

I found Liverpool to be the cheapest place for almost everything in the UK - beer, food, sights. The museum pass (ú3) entitles the bearer to free admission for an entire year to all of the municipal museums (all eight of them). The Liverpool museum was absolutely superb as were the Maritime, Customs and Liverpool Life Museums. The Liverpool Library has free internet access with ten terminals.

The only bad point about Liverpool is that there is currently no youth hostel, although there is plenty of cheap lodgings on the Wallasey side of the Mersey and a cab ride is pretty cheap.
Stewart Nicolson (Aug 98)

I saw a sign at Charing Cross station in London announcing cheap fares to Calais via the Channel Tunnel for ú14.95 return ticket to Ashford International Station. From there you board a bus operated by Connex South Eastern (rail company) and are driven to Dover to be loaded on Le Shuttle and taken through the Channel Tunnel to France. You can arrange to be deposited at either The City of Europe or Calais Central, depending on what you feel like. Every half hour coaches leave Calais for the Le Shuttle to Ashford where you can board the train for London. I thought this was excellent value and you still got the stamp in your passport that said "Channel Tunnel". Also, until July 1999 you can stop at the Duty Free inbound and outbound.
Royce Wilson (June 98)

When buying a car, get out of London. Buying in London is asking for trouble. Small yards in villages offer better bargains, are more reputable and usually provide better vehicle history. We learnt the hard way - our 1,500 pound sterling bargain cost us another 1,000 pound sterling in repairs.

When purchasing car insurance, also steer clear of London - they prey on travellers looking for short term insurance. Always have an international driving permit even though you don't need one. We got 12 months insurance for 280 pound sterling - our cheapest London quote was 410 pound sterling - same insurer, different broker.

Excess baggage - when it comes time to pack to go home, don't even consider looking in TNT. They were not at all competitive when compared to advertisements in regional papers. We used a removalist company in Reading who quoted 45% of the best London price. As well as being more accessible, they quoted insurance premiums far below London.
Hilary & Lechelle - Australia (Mar 98)

Theatre fans who are travelling to London and are eligible for an international student ID card should definitely get one. By going to the box office shortly before curtain time and flashing the ID, you can gain fabulous seats to top shows for a pittance. Most tickets can be had for under 15 pound sterling and in some cases, as little as 4 pound sterling. Go to the box office of the theatre itself (not the half price booth at Leicester Square) show them the student ID and ask if they have any student seats available. If they're not sold out, they'll offer you the best unoccupied seats at a steep discount.
Peter Sarrett (Mar 98)

When ascending or descending the escalators, if you want to stand still, keep to the right. People in a hurry can pass on your left. This seems to be an unwritten convention that Londoner's get annoyed with if ignored.
Derek Wee - Australia (Dec 97)

A little known fact is that the cheapest place to change money in the UK is at the airports. The British airports authority - as it became when it was privatised - had to, by law, charge at least 3% less than travel agents in the city.
Simon Clegg - Australia (Oct 97)

It's a good idea to buy a Visitor Travelcard in Australia which can be used at anytime on trains, buses etc. rather than the one you can buy in London which can only be used after 9:30am. Our card enabled us to hop on the train at Heathrow Airport and travel right through London to any destination in the northern suburbs.
Sue Walken, Australia (March 99)

The Slowcoach round Britain stop their hop on, hop off service from November 1 to April 1 and substitute with a 7 day tour of England instead. I purchased my ticket at home in Canada in the last week of September and was told nothing of this change. As I travelled I met several other people who also bought their ticket recently and weren't told of the change either. I thought I would let you know so you can include the fact that people should check if the hop off hop on option is available before buying.
Jason Prisley - Canada (Nov 97)

I had planned to use the slow coach jump on jump off bus for my travels around the UK but when I arrived I discovered the service does not run in winter. Irish ferries to France also do not run in winter so eurail pass holders cannot use this service.
Tanyia Harrison - Australia

The cheap day pass on London transport can only be bought after 9.30 am. However, day returns for a higher price can be bought prior to this time, for instance, a day pass including one way to/from Heathrow cost 4 pound sterling after 9:30 am and 7 pound sterling before.
M & M Clark - Australia (Dec 1997)

Like everything else, sailing to/from Sark are much scaled back in winter with only one or two per day each way from Guernsey. Return fares are now up to GBP19. Book ahead if possible in winter as some departures are on tiny 12 passenger boats that fill up days in advance with locals. Once you get to Sark, there will be a guy with a tractor and carriage offering rides up to town for GBP1, but it's more fun to walk on a nicely constructed footpath that also goes from the harbour into town (though it is a steep uphill climb getting there). Also, if you go through the tunnel at the harbour next to the ferry offices you will come out at a second harbour used exclusively by the local fishing boats. It's quite stunning with 150-foot cliffs on two sides and I spent a while here just chatting with the fishermen.I found a bicycle a very handy way to see this car-free island.

Herm - I found that three hours was enough time to take a leisurely walk around the perimeter of the entire island and journey up to the centre to check out the 10th-century chapel (which really isn't all that impressive). While walking along the south side of Herm, keep your eyes peeled for side paths which go down to the sea and give you some spectacular views looking back up at the cliffs from ocean level. Also, the two beaches on the eastern side of Herm are by far the nicest of the five - in addition to being much less rocky, they also look out onto the sea instead of the smokestacks and industrial complexes of Guernsey like the others do.
Mark Schiefelbein, USA (Mar 99)

While visiting London we went to a Synagogue. It's fascinating to see the similarities and differences between the ones back home. We particularly liked our experience at the New West End Synagogue. It was built in 1879 in "Victorian-Moorish" style. The materials are marble, alabaster, mahogony, leather, ebony, brass, mosiacs, stained glass. The officers wore silk top hats and morning coats. A prayer was said for the Queen and the Royal Family and we got to meet and speak with native Londoners. And, in a sad reminder of modern reality, there were security guards posted outside.
David Peck, USA (Mar 99)

Plockton, Scotland has palm trees - about 10 or so, due to the tropical ocean currents coming from way down south and the town is the site for a favourite TV show in Britain.

Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, is considered by many to be the UFO capital of Europe. Another interesting Bonnybridge item is that the Antonine Wall is right in the middle of town, settled originally by the Romans the same time as Hadrian's Wall. The view is peaceful, rolling and very quiet. Both of our trips were taken in late winter and we really enjoyed the blustery weather and low tourist population.
Bill & Jeannie Boyle, USA (Feb 99)

Scotland is a wonderful vacation spot and is a very easy and comfortable country to travel in. We flew in to Glasgow with no plans other than a reservation for a rented car and we had no problems with any lodging reservations for two weeks (from late June to early July). The best travel asset in Scotland is the National Tourist Information Bureau system. Most towns of any size have tourist offices which can help find lodgings of any type and price. The best plan is to visit an office early in the day and ask them to phone ahead to the destination for the end of the day. We got reliable reservations with directions to B & B's. All this service for a fee of only 5 pounds - about US$6 or so.

Our favourite location in Scotland was the Orkney Islands. We stayed in Orkney for a full week. The Orkney Mainland has tourist sites spanning about 3000 years, everything from Stone Age ruins through the Viking years, to World War I and World War II. The St Magnus Cathedral in the capital city of Kirkwall is a beautiful structure - built primarily with sandstone, an unusual building material, especially to have survived as long as it has. There are also the prehistoric sites of the Tomb of the Eagles and Skara Brae. Orkney also has two sites of standing stones that are larger and more impressive than - though not as famous as - England's Stonehenge.
Ed Rozmiarek (Dec 98)

Papa Westray, Scotland: I can't rave highly enough about this bleak, treeless little outpost in the Orkneys. Population of 64 and falling - everyone wears three hats (Morag runs the hostel, the hotel next door and also works in the co-op); they're friendly, there are puffins in season and in the starkest wettest greenest way possible it's beautiful. If you can find the people who run the museum (at the end of the road the hostel's on, in the middle of the island) they'll give you the history of the island which is fscinating. I was there in just about peak tourist season and three people counting me were in the hostel.
Matthew Price (Dec 98)

Just outside of Chipping Norton, and north of the village of Little Rollright are The Rollright Stones. Not exactly on the "tourist track", but very interesting indeed.

The Rollright Stones are a circle of some 100 ft in diameter with a number of standing stones - and nearby (over the road) there is a single standing stone, The King Stone - thought to have been there since the Bronze Age. A little to the east is another stone group known as the Whispering Knights. Legend says that no one can accurately count these stones - apparently they go for a drink down at the stream at night!

It is said to be a highly magnetic field and I had quite a strange experience while I was there. I took my video camera into the circle to video and found that the tape actually stopped running, my batteries all went dead. When I arrived home in Australia and tried to play the tape - it had been completely erased. Another lady who was there had terrible trouble with her hearing aid. Also, when holding divining type rods they became quite active.

There is no large sign directing people to that area - just a handwritten sign by the side of the road and a portable loo on the edge of the road.
Peter & Yvonne Kerr, Australia (Aug 98)

One of the most enjoyable trips we took as to the Highlands region of Scotland. We travelled in late October (not the usual tourist season, but a wonderful time of year as long as one doesn't mind colder weather). Spending our first few days in Edinburgh we then drove to Inverness and headed west towards Ft. William. On the way we stopped at an inn in Glen Morriston - wonderful ambiance and quaintness. The inn had been in continual operation since the late 1600's and was originally a "coach stop" (coaches heading north could only make a specific distance each day, thus, inns were stationed at one-day intervals along the way). Posted proudly in the lobby was an original hand-written order for Wedgewood, signed by the master himself.

While there, we took several walks through the area, with permission of the landowners - on one of these we came across a field of pheasant, both cocks and hens. There were more than 40 in a small opening in the woods no larger than a baseball diamond - we could approach some as closely as five feet before they would turn and head away from us. More than an hour was spent just watching them feeding as we sat on a low stone wall. Luckily we had brought our camera and camcorder along and have many wonderful photos of this amazing encounter. Later when we spoke to the landowner, he said that in Scotland pheasant hunting is legal but must be done with the permission of the owner. Since he would not allow any hunting in the area in which we walked, many pheasant form the surrounding area took refuge there, thus their perceived "tameness" - actually they somehow knew they were safe from harm and showed no fear of people. One day we hope to return to that area and see if our pheasant friends are still safe.
Pete Simonson (Aug 98)

If you are thinking of visiting London, leave out a day to visit the beautiful town of Peterborough. You can reach Peterborough by going to the British Rail station at King's Cross station. A central London rail ticket will cost about 12 pounds and a Great North-Eastern rail ticket will cost about 20 pounds or so. The GNER train is generally faster by 30 minutes. Peterborough is the home of Queensgate shopping centre, rated as one of England's 10 top shopping malls. Peterborough also has a carnival atmosphere to it, with many rides and carnival like attractions. The people are also generally nice and polite.
anon- (Dec 97)