UK - how to tour it?

Discussion in 'History and Culture' started by The Rhetoric of Life, Jun 23, 2021.

  1. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    London - Edinburgh, spend 2 nights in Edinburgh.
    Easy.
    Flights, trains etc.

    Edinburgh - Cardiff, spend 2 nights in Cardiff
    Not so easy, no direct flights or trains, £200 on the train.

    Cardiff - Belfast, spend 2 nights in Belfast
    ?

    Belfast - back home to London.
    Easy, direct flights.

    I'd have seen Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland if I made this trip.
    I'd have seen all the capital cities of the UK too, if I made this trip.

    Now how to get from Cardiff to Belfast?

    Anyone else thought about doing a tour of the UK?
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
  2. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I mean, that could be fun, see Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland in the same week on a multicity trip from London, and I haven't left England without leaving the UK, yet; I haven't even been to Cornwall yet; so why not; see these places in one week.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
  3. Diablo

    Diablo Well-Known Member

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    Come to France, much nicer.
     
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  4. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    After Covid.


    ... IDK...

    I just booked Belfast, now I've got to book Edinburgh and Cardiff before my travel, work out how to get from Edinburgh to Cardiff better, and how to get from Cardiff to Belfast.
    (Unless I cower with tail between my legs and just go to Belfast)... no, I think I'd try for the tour idea and work towards that.
     
  5. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I almost freaked out when I saw where the hotel was compared to the airport with Belfast, but I'm glad I found an airport bus I could use for like £20 rtn.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
  6. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    Cardiff to Belfast flight, £86 one way.


    At least I know that's possible.
     
  7. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I haven't seen Game Of Thrones and...
    I'm probably still not going to.

    What to do in Belfast?

    Thin Lizzy are from there, and there's a guitar shop and Tesco.
     
  8. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    Sounds like a plan, but I'd have to start quite a bit farther away. I took a trip there a few years back. Charlotte to NY to London. I would have loved to have done your plan. We did some sight-seeing around London for a couple of days, then went to Stonehenge (what American wouldn't?), checked out the area some of my ancestors came from, then took the train to Paris. The big problem was our timing. The only time we could do it was during our Christmas break. Brrrrr. So much more to see when the weather is a bit more welcoming.
     
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  9. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I'm also considering ditching my UK plan and make it tour Island of Ireland plan.


    IDK.

    It's just not so easy getting to Wales from Scotland. Like £200 on a train change in Crewe, England is my best option from Edinburgh to Cardiff.
     
  10. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I also worked out I want to use this other airport I found in Belfast as that will half the cost for hotel/airport in Belfast from £20 to £10 rtn.

    It's like 3 busses and 4 hours to get to Giant's Causeway though, and when I saw that, I thought; Why not just see the whole of Ireland too?
    IDK.
    I'm already thinking of Dublin for another trip.

    But then it'll be London - Dublin rtn London - Belfast rtn.
    as I've already booked Belfast and it's not when I want to go to Dublin.

    IDK, if I could get from Edinburgh to Cardiff cheaper and direct, that would help me do this UK tour idea thing.
    I mean, I guess I could do...

    London Edinburgh rtn and use the one airport that goes to Cardiff too.
    So that'll be London - Edinburgh, Edinburgh - London wait for plane to Cardiff for London - Cardiff and then IDK since I don't see any budget airlines going to Cardiff from London or anywhere, from Cardiff to Belfast £86 and then Belfast to London, with 1 rtn, and 3 one way tickets.

    IDK
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
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  11. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    We had scheduled a second trip that way, but we were going to take a cruise ship to there and it got cancelled because that's when the pandemic started. We were going to visit a lot of the places that we missed the first time, and I was just as excited about being on the ship. Not being on a party barge, but sailing across the ocean for two weeks. I did that once long ago when I was a boy. It was a passenger ship rather than a cruise ship, and I loved every minute of it. Even when we skirted a typhoon and I got very sea-sick. I've always wanted to get back on and feel the waves.

    But still, I'd like to spend more time seeing all those places we didn't get to see the last time.
     
  12. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    Maybe you could do the hippie thing and hitch-hike. :)
     
  13. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I look like a Charles Manson kind of hippie, so, I doubt it.

    No... I'm thinking...
    There's a reason why people don't do this tour of the UK, without chartering a plane.
    And that reason is, it's long, expensive, and one part is missing, the part that takes you from Edinburgh to Cardiff.

    I mean; It's easy getting from London to Edinburgh and from Belfast to London on the cheap/affordable, budget airline.
    But that part in the middle, I guess can be done for marginally cheaper if I do it via London on the plane (even though I'm from London), maybe, IDK, one way flight prices to Cardiff and onward out of Cardiff to Belfast £86.00, IDK

    I'd have to figure put who flies to Cardiff from London and at what airport?
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2021
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  14. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    vicariously is sufficient.
     
  15. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    Maybe. But if you ever had the chance, you'd be pretty happy you took it.
     
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  16. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I'm actually not pleased with Cardiff Airport.

    There's a flight from Whitby's Airport, Teeside.
    And... not even London.


    It's like £200 on the train from Edinburgh.
    ...
    And then £86 to fly to Belfast, that's like £300 (I'm rounding up, f' it) that's £300 to include Cardiff for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
     
  17. Chrizton

    Chrizton Well-Known Member

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    Not that much at once, but the from America extra down days are a bit of a necessity. Anyway, this is a debate we are having on whether to do short Iceland this year and then western Ireland next year or just do a longer European trip next year
     
  18. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I found one airline that flies from Edinburgh to Cardiff, but they fly on certain days of the week and that means messing up my plans of 2 nights per city.

    I want to travel on a Tuesday but they have flights on a Monday.
    I don't want 1 night in Edinburgh and 3 nights in Cardiff.

    It's like £50.00 though, rather than £200.00 on a train for 6 hours change in Crewe.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  19. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I can fly from Edinburgh to Belfast with easyJet if I used that airport it costs £10 to get to the hotel from, but what about Cardiff and Wales?
    There is a flight to Belfast's other airport from Cardiff with, but, how do I get from Cardiff from Scotland?
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  20. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    Okay, so it's like £80.00 for Cardiff to Belfast's airport I'd want to fly home from too with Eastern airways and like £5.00 to get from London to Cardiff with National Express (the bus).
    I know there's something in this..

    Take a bus to Cardiff, for £5.00, book 2 nights in Cardiff making Wales being my first time setting foot out of England but not leaving UK (Sorry Scotland, kinda wished it'll be you but it was always between you and Wales), see Wales and their capital city (since I'm from England and the UK capital city, London, I thought an easy way to choose destination is to tour UK is to tour its capital cities at the same time).. Then I can fly from Cardiff to Belfast's airport I want to use because it's closer to everything like hotel and city centre, then fly out from that other airport to Edinburgh and back home to London flying from there.


    Getting from Edinburgh to Cardiff is 14 hours on the coach with 1 change in London.
    I'd be too tired and too near my house to ever want to do that; I'd go home, check on the cats, sleep, relax, then just make it trip 2, I am not doing that in one UK tour trip unless I get to include my own house in that deal because there is no way I'm doing a 14 hour journey via London, Victoria Coach Station and not use my house; I'd rather just see Scotland, relax, then go off and see Wales and Northern Ireland for £85.00 in travel costs counting for both getting to Wales and then out to Northern Ireland.. In fact, IDK, why not, I may just do that.

    See Scotland, have a good one, go home, relax for a day, and then go off to Wales then Northern Ireland then use 1 airport in Northern Ireland for both arriving from Cardiff and going back to London.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  21. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I think I've more or less decided how I'm going to tour the UK now, and it does involve my house.

    Also, I think it's cheaper (slightly) to fly to Edinburgh rtn with easyJet than it is to take the coach to Edinburgh rtn with National Express, lord knows it's quicker.
    I could do that, fly off to Edinburgh, see the castle or whatever, Scottish stuff! (yay, may extend trip for all the Scottish stuff)...Come home, overnight it here, go off to Cardiff for a few days, then fly off to Belfast using the airport I want for a few days then come home using that same airport, and I can do this in 7 days, I think, if I didn't extend my time in Edinburgh and used 1 night in my own house in the middle of it.

    This I'm actually liking this idea, a lot, since I like my house and that would be awesome if I had to use it, and it's better than a £200 train or losing a day in Scotland for a flight.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  22. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    So, my tour would be Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but I get a night in my own house back in London for it.


    This is cool as I get to enjoy my own house for a night, and then I'd get to say I've been to Scotland when I first left England (why not, it was always going to be between Scotland and Wales, in my heart), then I get to see Wales, and then once I've toured Britain; Northern Ireland on the final leg/city on my tour.

    So, logistics...
    Day 1; fly off to Edinburgh.

    spend the night 1 Edinburgh.
    spend the night 2 Edinburgh.

    Day 3 wake up in Edinburgh, fly home.

    spend night 3 at my house

    Day 4 wake up at my house/coach to Cardiff for £5.00.

    spend night 4 in Cardiff
    spend night 5 in Cardiff

    Day 6 wake up in Cardiff, fly to Belfast for £80.00
    spend night 6 in Belfast
    spend night 7 in Belfast / final night.

    Wake up day 8 and go home from Belfast having toured the UK.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  23. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I guess I could not go home and do it all in 7 days since I learned it's like £20.00 (£17.60) to get me from London Heathrow airport direct to Cardiff with National Express taking the coach if I used Heathrow airport for Edinburgh rtn.
    I do have a British Airways voucher I've been meaning to use too that I could use help me pay for this since budget airlines don't use London Heathrow; so;

    Use London's Heathrow airport, rtn trip to Edinburgh from that airport, but when I land back in London, don't go home from the airport, instead take a direct coach to Cardiff for £17.60 for 3 and a half hours journey time on the ground (there was £6.90 coach from Heathrow via London Victoria, but, that's too close to home I'd add an extra day and use my house) and spend Night 3 in Cardiff for Night 4 and fly off to Belfast on Day 5 and come home on Day 7.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  24. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    Rtn ticket to Edinburgh from Heathrow with British Airways like £60 after I use my voucher (it's like 67 Euros that voucher for a £120 flight)..
    1 way coach ticket to Cardiff from Heathrow £17.60
    1 way ticket to Belfast City Airport with Eastern Airways from Cardiff £80.00
    1 way ticket from Belfast City Airport to London Gatwick for like £50.00 with easyJet.

    I'll think about it, work out how and how much.

    Like how to get to these airports to whatever hotels I find when looking at Cardiff and Edinburgh.

    I already know how to get to whatever airport here in London and what airport I want for Belfast to get to the hotel I've booked and paid for already better, so it's all about working out where in Edinburgh and where in Cardiff and how to get to and from those airports.

    Day 1 fly to Edinburgh from London Heathrow with British Airways
    night 1 in Edinburgh
    night 2 in Edinburgh
    Day 3 fly back to London Heathrow with British Airways, take a coach to Cardiff from London Heathrow with National Express
    night 3 in Cardiff
    night 4 in Cardiff
    Day 5 fly off to Belfast City Airport from Cardiff with Eastern Airways
    night 5 in Belfast
    night 6 in Belfast
    Day 7 fly to London Gatwick with easyJet from Belfast City Airport

    For my tour of the UK seeing Britain and Northern Ireland and seeing all the capitals cities here too, I guess.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2021
  25. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I've worked out I want to be at the airport in Edinburgh at 04:30 to make the 05: 55 flight back to London that touches down at 07:25 to board the coach from the terminal at 09:40 that arrives in Cardiff at 13:30.

    So it's like day 1, Edinburgh, better leave early to arrive early and squeeze in something to do/see on day 1 and night 1 to wake up in day 2 where I'd have almost the whole day too but I better not stay out late because I've got to be ready to check out at like 03:45 and make my way to a 4:00 bus to the airport, so I'd have to wake up at like 2 am and pack and wash which means IDK, early night try for a 9 pm 10 pm bedtime so I'm well rested to move on to Wales (albeit catching my return flight to London) but so I'm able to board the bus that gets me in Cardiff around check in.

    It'll be so much more easier if there was a flight to Cardiff from Edinburgh everyday, know what I'm sayin'.

    It's like £7.50 open rtn Airport - Hotel I want with this 4 am bus I found so that's airport transfers for Edinburgh covered for £7.50 and it's good for 6 months so I can buy that closer to the time.

    The Hotel/Airport transfer for this hotel I've earmarked for my Cardiff base, when getting out of Cardiff for the Belfast leg, seems a bit sketchy at best, but IDK.
    It's not impossible, but it's not direct either, and it's not the same operators.
    Uber estimates £42 which even if there is no Uber shows me the price for MiniCabs in that city, so... If push came to shove, I'd get a Minicab or something and damn the expense, but if I could work out how to do it with the bus and train options and save money, I'd be happier, probably see more of the country that way.
     
    Last edited: Jun 25, 2021

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