England- by car :(
 

Hi ;

Me and my wife are planning travel around England, especially Scotland.

Unfortunately by car... cause of time limits.

We plan to fly (and land) to London and carry on ...

1- Any suggestions? not to miss, have to see, must to eat etc.

2- Cheapest way to rent a car and how?

thanks,

The first thing i think you should you is the country is known as the "United Kingdom" or "Britain".
Scottish people don't tend to like being called English.

In terms of where to go, definately the Northern and west coast of Scotland, although the weather isn't usually too good.

In England, Devon and Cornwall coasts are nice, but the coast gets busier and more tacky the closer you get to London.
I would also recommend the lake and peak districts and the yorkshire dales.

The southern and west coast of Wales is also worth a trip, but like scotland can be a bit weather dependant.

Eating, just stop at any random country pub and get a roast dinner, fish and chips, bangers and mash etc.
Pubs are generally the cheapest and best way to eat out.

Have fun :)

Scotland is stunning.... yes I agree, take your time going north, and don't miss out the national parks, grate scenery... enjoy it... make rest at the "Hadrian's wall" the red line the Romans draw, everything north of the wall dose show you a different picture of the British island and understanding of the Brits in generality...

regarding eating out... yes the down to earth country pubs are best, call it the "nations living room" where you meet real and funny folk...

eating... ?
in my opinion... well asking a "German passport holder"... :blushing:
well there is nothing like a real national dish (part of Yorkshire pudding with mint sauce), any way scientists did ask native British children about there favourite meals.. a big surprise was that the answer was not "fish-and-chips" or "Sunday-roast"... guess what.. it was "Chili concane"... :taz: the most popular meal around... :smartass: doesn't sounds like a very British meal to me... :devil2: but.. hey... may by it's British exact for that reason, .. dose it tells a lot about the British society... :alien::sorcerer::chinese::arabia::cowboy::tt1::pu nk::tt2::flowers::batman::red_indian::chef::alucar d::donatello::tooth::wub::santa::thumbup:

put it like this, even the so called "good old British breakfast" I suppose was invented by Romans and other invaders like the Saxons and Vikings in the old days, even today the modern new residential from Asia, Africa, Mars and Clingon change the culinary taste among this multi culture island.... "love it" :thumbup1:
anyway... you should try "Haggis" if you get to Scotland, made with lots of lamb or what was left over of the dumb sheep... that's what you can call a national Scottish dish :clap: but remember the real thing "the wild Haggis" can only be hunted down in a kilt, wondering around in the highlands all day with a stick in your hand, ending up in a lonely country pub, flushed down with a few well deserved pints of real local Ale in the evenings for tea... (after 18pm)
(dammed I'm missing this Ales over here... )

Enjoy your trip...

for a car... well don't buy a white van from a "wacky give me cash" guy... that van is more likely be stolen the night before....

have fun
spooky

cheap hire cars in London aren't always in easy to get to places. the hire car companies are located in cheap to rent places, not easy to get to. you can easily spend half a day or more just getting your hire car. and public transport in London isn't cheap (unless you take a full day working the buses out!)

for the short-on-time tourist I don't see much interest in the lower third of the UK (except for the ferry ports where you can get to France). if you have a lot of time, or a love of traffic jams, then there is a wealth of interesting stuff to see in that lower third. However, if you don't like jams and are limited on time, then things get interesting above Leeds.

the cheapest way to travel distance in the UK is by (overnight) bus. London (Victoria/Heathrow) to Edinburgh is about £40 return: National Express // Buy Cheap Coach Travel, Train Fares, Bus tickets & Airport Transfers to London, Southampton, Portsmouth & more.

I would suggest a cheaper way to do this is to arrive in London, then when you want to get away take the overnight bus and hire a car in Edinburgh (or York, Inverness, Glasgow, etc). It will save you the 7 hour drive (one way) and the cost of fuel, and you arrive in Edinburgh reasonably awake.

Edinburgh is small enough that you can walk to any of the hire car places. Book in advance to get cheaper rates, email or call them to find which dates are the cheapest (they hike the prices on some 'busy' dates).

check the milage allowance. Especially if hiring in London, you'll need to add at least 900 miles for the London/Edinburgh round trip.

Hi Usl,

I don't think i saw how long you have in the UK but I agree with some of what's already been written.

Assuming that you don't want to see London (you are touring after all) which you could spend 2 weeks in and still have things to do, there are loads to see.

Don't agree at all about missing out the bottom third of the UK though:

The Scottish highlands/western Scotland and absolutely stunning, as is the Lake District (NW England) which borders Scotland.

The Peak district (Derbyshire) and the Yorkshire Dales are also beautiful.

The Cotswolds (beautiful hills and villages) which is north west of London are definitely worth seeing.

In the South of England, the North & South Downs are fantastic - rolling countryside and beautiful little villages (I agree about staying away from the coast anywhere near the south east.

Cornwall, Devon & Western Dorset (often forgotten) in the SW are lovely and too good to miss.

Shouldn't forget Wales - the western coast is beautiful, as is the north around Snowdonia.

If you plan to visit a few towns or cities, Cambridge is great and seems to really sum up what people see England as when i take foreign friends.

Foodwise, cream tea in Devon is favourite, Fish and Chips in a small village on the coast (whilst sitting on the waterfront!), a good pub meal (check the Good pub guide) and of course the Bristish national dish - a good curry!! (there are Indian restaurants everywhere!)

remember, the weather is more reliable in the south but given that you're driving that shouldn't matter!

Hope that helps!

Here's my map where I collect good itineraries - all based on scenic and interesting countryside.

Go to UK Itinerary Ideas - Google Maps

Just added Cornwall and the South-West including Wells, Glastonbury and Bath, which should not be missed!

If your going to spend anytime in London before you move on don't bother hiring a car to your ready to leave, your much better off using the tube to get around (all day travel card is around £7 off peak [9.30am]).
Personaly if i were heading to scotland on a bit of a tour I would head up into Wales (thourgh the Breacon Beacons)/Birmingham/Liverpool/Manchester then up into the lake district before scotland. Then head back down towards London via Newcastle and Leeds :)

If its holiday time, Easter/ Bank Holidays/ Christmas/ summer etc etc you may struggle to find accomodation without booking. A tent would be easiest and cheapest, although some campsites are getting very posh these days! You could easily walk into one shop and buy all you need without flying in with it, some is very cheap in supermarkets now but maybe not good quality, a £3 sleeping bag??? You can't guarantee the weather at all! It snowed here in Yorkshire last week!

I could also suggest a campervan depending on how long your trip is, and wether a tent is an OK alternative or not. Hiring is not cheap, but may be compared to a car plus hotel/pubs/Bed and Breakfasts every night. In Scotland you can park up generally everywhere in such a van, so no overnight fees at all, England and Wales legally you need to be in a campsite overnight but some succeed in finding somewhere quiet and not being disturbed. A camper in a UK national park during the summer can be pricey, depends how long you intend to stay where. A camper also allows you to control your food costs more easily! A big camper (bigger than a transit perhaps) might struggle with some of the tiny little roads you will with luck find yourself on. IMHO the further from busy towns the better!
There was a street in London where backpackers flying into the UK would meet to buy older VW campers etc from people about to fly off elsewhere, probably dubious mechanically though!

Thanks everyone .... great tips ...

cheers,