Ideas For England Trip

[I Am The Stig]

I am planning a vacation in April to England. Anyone have any must do's that might not be on the normal list or even better some great locals to stop in for a pint. Hoping to get to Man U vs Chelsea @ Old Trafford the first day we are there...but other than that I need some ideas. We are thinking France for a day, mainly because I just want to ride the train over. We will be there for 8 nights, so I need some good ideas. The more football and pubs involved the better! Oh yea...and who will let me borrow their GTI while I am over there?!? :happyanim:

 

[uberdork71]

I did this when I was there in March.

http://www.silverstone.co.uk/experiences/driving-days/lotus-exige-experiences/

I thought it was expensive for what I got. I think it would be awesome, if you have no track expierence at all. I wish I had done it nearer the end of my trip. So I wasn't so jet lagged, and was more comfortable shifting wit my left hand.

If I had to do it again. I think I would choose the hot laps with a professional driver in the Lotus 2-11. Thats just me.

 

[KingOfJericho]

I did a week there when I was in College. The Tower of London was by far the coolest thing I saw when I was there. One great thing I remember about London was that you could get a one day unlimited pass and just go all over the place. Toward the end of the trip I was just getting off at random stops and walking around.

 

[uberdork71]

7 Bells Pub. Look it up. It's a dive, but apparently, where Jack the Ripper stocked his prey.

All or most of the musueums are free. Natural History Museum is an amazing building, regardless if you find the content interesting. Camden market is tourist trap central, but cool none the less. Portabello road market on saturdays is also a must do.

 

[The Fed]

Don't waste much time in Picadilly Square. All tourists.

 

[Scharf]

Go on The Beatles walk, and Stonehenge (make sure to wear a jacket- it gets windy as fuck).

 

[crypto]

spend a day in Edinburgh, it's one of the nicest cities in GB. There's of course all the typical tourist stuff in London which is worth checking out. Also make sure you check out some of the clubs.
I was born and raised in Newcastle, so i'm a little bias when i tell you to check out north east England.
The train ride from London to Edinburgh is really nice too.

In all honesty, asking for places to check out in UK is pretty vague. What do you like to do? You interested in all the history stuff, tourist stuff, or just having a good time and getting wasted? lol

 

[Snarcher]

Go to York and Chester, such amazing little walled midevil cities.

 

[SimonSaysGTI]

Any true Englishman will tell you Yorkshire is the best part of England (yes I am biased I was born there). Go to the moors and take the tours of blacksheep and theakstons brewery they are really cool. London has a lot of really nice stuff to check out and you may as well take the train over to paris since its not to expensive and a short ride.

 

[VDubVirus]

I went to England on my way home from Iraq 2 summers ago. Met and stayed with "Nobber" (GMKV member) and his family for the 4 days I was there. Prolly the best host I could have asked for.

Try "mushy peas"... they're amazing.

 

[heftylefty]

8 days isnt enough lol. a friend and i went out to London for 7 days and was busy all days. granted we stopped hitting up the museums early in the day to start pub hopping. but make sure you try a different pub every night, probably some of the most memorable times of the trip. you will meet some awesome locals and they can also help you out with your trip.

i had a great time at westminster abby eventhough im not religious by any means.

also id check out the british museum and look at the Queem's crown jewels...those things are HUGE.

oh and they have by far the best fish and chips ive ever had in my life...and ive had alot lol.

ok i think im done.

 

[notsolinear]

+1 for Edinburgh. I went there on a day-trip but immediately wished it had been a week trip.

Of course I recommend the Natural History Museum where I was working for the last 4 months! It and the science museum directly next door are excellent.

I got a real kick out of the Cabinet War Rooms / Churchill bunker tour. It was a little pricier than a lot of the other museums (which are frequently free), but it's in remarkably original condition and was fascinating to see.

On the subject of WWII, I found it extremely fascinating to see bomb damage to the NHM and V&A (Victoria and Albert museum) that they left as a reminder. Just around to the Exhibition Road side of the NHM near the entrance on that side and you'll see huge chunks of the building stone missing from a bomb that landed right in the middle of Exhibition road there.

Camden Market was a madhouse, but interesting just to see. If you get back into the old horse stables area I think it's especially cool.

Kew Gardens is not very far out of London and was really amazing. I was dragged to a lot of gardens by my parents when I was young and hated it, but I actually thought Kew was cool.

Windsor Castle tour gets a "OK" rating. If you're into weapons then it'd be great because they have so many old ones lying around they started making artistic patterns with them on the walls.

I strongly recommend walking along the Thames all the way from Westminster Bridge along the south bank to at least Millennium Bridge / The Tate Modern, or as far as Tower Bridge if you like walking.

I also recommend walking from Covent Garden down through Leicester Square and on to Piccadilly Circus. It's tourist city but for a reason.

If the weather's nice, I went on one of these famous walks and enjoyed it:
http://www.walks.com/

 

[Gene Hunt]

Any true Englishman will tell you Yorkshire is the best part of England (yes I am biased I was born there). Go to the moors and take the tours of blacksheep and theakstons brewery they are really cool. London has a lot of really nice stuff to check out and you may as well take the train over to paris since its not to expensive and a short ride.

............as above & come & say hi. :thumbsup:

 

[I Am The Stig]

In all honesty, asking for places to check out in UK is pretty vague. What do you like to do? You interested in all the history stuff, tourist stuff, or just having a good time and getting wasted? lol

Well the wife will want to see some of the tourist stuff for sure. But she is also down for some pints! I am more into the local kind of stuff. I love cool museums, history etc. Not a big fan of walking tours though. I hate having to follow someone around town for half the day, I'd much rather explore on my own. Some of the walks from the link above seem worth doing. Any of the breweries have good tours worth checking out? Boddington's is a personal favorite, but I haven't met a beer I didn't liked yet. How about going to a Top Gear taping? When do they film? Maybe go down and and check out Dover? My wife is the planner and I am more of a wander around and see what we find kind of guy. The problem is making reservations for the hard to get into stuff so far in advance. On our trip to SanFrancisco we had to book the Anchor brewery tour about 3 months out! We usually do a pretty good job of splitting it up the middle. Also...food, any must do eateries? Anything to The best pub grub, to fine dining.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys! Keep 'em coming.

 

[VDubVirus]

good advice: meet up with someone from the forum.