Travel Tips, Advice, Suggestions, etc

[sophia jane]

So, it seems a distinct possibility my SO and I will be heading across the pond to Great Britain next summer. We've been invited to a wedding nearish Oxford, and we're contemplating all of the many options out there for us in terms of-

airlines (we need affordable fare)
destinations (we can travel around a bit)
things to do and see (see above)

You get my drift. I've never been outside of the U.S. so I don't know the first thing about traveling abroad (besides the need for a passport), so I'm hoping you guys can help with some advice/suggestions/tips, etc.

Some specific things I'm already wondering:
Is a week going to be a long enough trip?
Are we better off hunting for better airfares to a city that is not London? (Besides the wedding we do not have to be tied to any one city/area/country for the whole trip)
Is there a way to make this kind of trip affordable but not in the backpacking kind of way?

Oh and wow! I'm so excited about the possibility!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

If at all possible, you must visit Wales, especially the valley of the Wye. If there is any chance that Heaven looks like a part of Earth, this is it!

 

[sr71plt]

I'm working on a trip to generally the same area and am finding air fares to Birmingham cheaper than to London (and transport from there more convenient).

 

[sophia jane]

I'm working on a trip to generally the same area and am finding air fares to Birmingham cheaper than to London (and transport from there more convenient).

I found the same with airfare in my preliminary looking.

 

[ishtat]

1 Take half the baggage and twice the money you think you need.

2 Birmingham and Heathrow Airports are both about 1 hour from Oxford. Remember your terminal if you go to Heathrow, there are 5 of them. Small difference in fares, far more flights from Heathrow, Birmingham or Bristol are cheaper.

3 Transport by train in UK is horrendously expensive especially if you buy on the day you travel. Intercity coaches are quite good.

4 B&B's are generally good value accomodation at about 50 pounds/ night/ couple. Accomodation in London is double most other places.

5 Eat in pubs rather than restaurants.

6 Don't tip anybody, except perhaps in the restaurants you may not go to and restrict it to 10%. Cabs are the only other exception and max is 15%.

7 Consider hiring a car for transport. Driving on the other side of the road is a surprisingly easy adjustment.

8 Even if you don't plan to drive take your licence as a useful id.

9 Best way to save money is to stay away from London.

10 Go see Berkeley Castle on your way to or from the Bear's Wye valley and find out how the English got rid of a king they didn't like.

11 Oxford itself is worth a day out and is walkable.

12 Six days is not enough but neither is six months!

13 Try and restrict the amount of booking of accomodation from the US to perhaps your first night. Travel agents tend to use hotels rather than B&B's and can end up costing you a lot. A B&B can generally be booked the same day that you wish to stay.

14 Tell friends and relations you will not be bringing presents back. 20% VAT(value added tax) is added to everything you buy and the UK is generally much more expensive than USA for consumer goods.

Useful info on items 2,3,4,7,10,11, can be found on the internet.

 

[sophia jane]

1 Take half the baggage and twice the money you think you need.

2 Birmingham and Heathrow Airports are both about 1 hour from Oxford. Remember your terminal if you go to Heathrow, there are 5 of them. Small difference in fares, far more flights from Heathrow, Birmingham or Bristol are cheaper.

3 Transport by train in UK is horrendously expensive especially if you buy on the day you travel. Intercity coaches are quite good.

4 B&B's are generally good value accomodation at about 50 pounds/ night/ couple. Accomodation in London is double most other places.

5 Eat in pubs rather than restaurants.

6 Don't tip anybody, except perhaps in the restaurants you may not go to and restrict it to 10%. Cabs are the only other exception and max is 15%.

7 Consider hiring a car for transport. Driving on the other side of the road is a surprisingly easy adjustment.
I read somewhere that gas is horribly expensive, though, so hiring a car is expensive. Is that not accurate?
8 Even if you don't plan to drive take your licence as a useful id.

9 Best way to save money is to stay away from London.
I'm sort of leaning toward this already, though there are SO many things to see in London!
10 Go see Berkeley Castle on your way to or from the Bear's Wye valley and find out how the English got rid of a king they didn't like.

11 Oxford itself is worth a day out and is walkable.

12 Six days is not enough but neither is six months!

13 Try and restrict the amount of booking of accomodation from the US to perhaps your first night. Travel agents tend to use hotels rather than B&B's and can end up costing you a lot. A B&B can generally be booked the same day that you wish to stay.
Good to know!
14 Tell friends and relations you will not be bringing presents back. 20% VAT(value added tax) is added to everything you buy and the UK is generally much more expensive than USA for consumer goods.
I wouldn't have thought of this at all, so thanks for point it out.
Useful info on items 2,3,4,7,10,11, can be found on the internet.

This was awesome info. Thanks so much!

 

[ishtat]

Gas(petrol) is a bit less than one pound per litre so yes it is expensive. If you hire a car get a diesel of not more than 2 litres engine size. About 40% of all Brit cars are diesels and will do between 50 mpg. or therabouts.

One warning on hiring cars in UK. The Brits are obsessed with manual gear boxes and if you must have an automatic they can be harder to find. You can always get them at Heathrow but I am less certain about other airports.

The one advantage of concentrating on London is that a hire car wouldn't be essential provided your accomodation is near a tube station. However the accomodation and food costs will be much more than outside London.

If you decided to stay in London I wouod reverse my previous advice about booking accomodation. If you only stay there book your hotel from the US either on line or through a travel agent.

 

[oggbashan]

The Youth Hostels Association http://www.yha.org.uk/ is much more upmarket than it was in my youth. Many of its places are in town centres.

Apart from budget accommodation, you are likely to meet a wide range of people and get recommendations for places to visit, places to eat (if you don't have meals at the hostel) and how to get around.

Although there might be backpackers, there can also be tourists travelling by car, by coach or bicycle.

Og