Expert: Bill Cissna - 4/30/2009

Question
QUESTION: I would like to  plan my honeymoon for September 2009 in Great Britain and Ireland. My fiance and I are from the U.S. and have never been to the UK or Ireland and would like to cram as much into the trip as possible. We will only have between 2 to 3 weeks for travel. I have found various coach tours online that do the whirlwind Great Britain and Ireland tour but they are very pricey and we are not sure if the group tour is what we are looking for on our honeymoon. Also we do not want to stress over a self-drive tour so rail seems like the best option. Do you know of any guide books for people wanting to plan a rail tour with example itinerary etc. We would still like to hit many of the spots the coach torus hit but have the flexibility to stay in any given place longer. Also if you do not know of any guide books on rail travel could you give me some general advice on planning a rail trip. Thank you!

ANSWER: Deborah, I'm an American, too, but I have traveled around the UK and Ireland, and I tend to agree with you that taking the train from site to site is a pretty good alternative if you don't want the self-driving approach OR the fixed schedule of coach tours. While I suspect that there MUST be books for UK train travel, I don't know any personally. You might want to try AMAZON or similar web sites to see what might be out there.

As for planning the train travel, I would start with the BRITRAIL web site (www.britrail.com) and then for the Republic of Ireland, Irish Rail (www.irishrail.ie). Both of these railroads will have multi-day or more passes to offer, which you may wish to study since you will no doubt do quite a bit of on-and-off train travel over 2 to 3 weeks. My wife and I have used both, traveling from London to Edinburgh and back (and from Gatwick Airport to London) in England, and from Dublin to Waterford and back in Ireland, recently.

In England, assuming you travel to and spend time in London, you will also have to plan some budget and travel time for taxi cabs. With a city as large as London, you will find that there are multiple train stations, not just one -- and which one you use depends on which direction you're heading. Dublin has at least two, again with your destination determining which one you use.

In London, for instance, to take the train in from Gatwick Airport, you arrive at Victoria Station. But to go to Edinburgh, you use King's Cross. It can be a little confusing. Most other cities and towns, however, only have one station.

I hope that helps at least a little bit!

Bill

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do you have any recommendations for an itienary? I am 31 and Brian is 39. We would like to do the standard sightseeing in London such as Tower of London, Big Ben, Windsor Castle etc. Not sure whether we should explore on our own or take a guided tour of London or how many days we will need for London. We would also like to see Stonehenge, Bath and the Cotswolds, would these be day trips from London or take the train to each? Is there public transportation available from the train stations to these towns and landmarks or would it be easier to take a coach tour from the city?

Generally we would like to visit a few old churches and castles and various other popular landmarks while on our trip. If there are still places to see out of a Jane Austin or Bronte novel I would like to go there. We also want to go to Ireland as Brian’s ancestors were from Limerick. In Ireland we would want to spend time in Dublin, Limerick Blarney and any other recommended place so we can get the full emerald isles experience. Do you have any suggestions? If we can cram Scotland and Wales in that would be great but we are not particularly interested in going to Northern Ireland.

We both like history and cultural experiences. We plan on spending a lot of time in pubs and interacting with locals etc. We do want to see some of the major tourist attractions but would also greatly enjoy staying at a b&b in the countryside. I particularly would enjoy spending at least one night in a haunted castle or manor. Do you have any recommendations?

Is September a good time to travel in the UK?

Answer
Deborah, sorry for the delay in answering, but I wanted to try to give you a complete answer. I'll answer your last question first - yes, I think September is a good time for England travel -- not too cool yet, normally, but schools are back in session and August travel is over (most European countries are on "holiday" somewhere or another in August, so it's not that great a time to visit.)

I think first I would suggest that you have maybe two full days to do whatever you want to do in London; that a coach tour FROM London for Bath, Stonehenge and maybe Avebury, if there is one that combines them, is worth considering (not too easy to access Stonehenge/Avebury by train).

There is train service to the edges of the Cotswolds. I think visiting the Cotswolds is a high recommendation from me. I think you can train to Moreton-in-Marsh or Chipping Campden (I THINK so, check Britrail). Then you can bus from there to other places, such as Broadway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water or Burford -- I like them all, though Bourton is probably the most touristy. A B&B or hotel overnight in Broadway or Stow would be great, by my standards.

If you are NOT going to try to get to Wales or Scotland, I understand, but if you ARE going to get a taste of Scotland, even if it's only one place, my suggestion is Edinburgh -- neat city and you could almost do a whirlwind train up-train back in one day. Princes Street is for shopping; the next parallel street (Rose Street, I think) is for pubs; and then climb the hill and walk the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle (worth a tour) to Holyrood at the other end.

The train ride to Edinburgh, of which parts are very attractive along the coast, is about 5 hours. You might go up one morning, departing from King's Cross, spend one night, then go back to London the next day, if you wanted to see it and be able to say you'd been to Edinburgh!

Otherwise, I would suggest taking in one more English city, probably by train -- Chester, York, or Canterbury. All have good large churches to tour, and lots of other stuff. In Chester, consider the Roman museum (can't remember the specific name -- Grosvenor?) and walk the walls. In York, the Jorvik Viking Centre is pretty cool, and stroll the Shambles. Or in Canterbury, in addition to the Cathedral, there's a place you can go underground and see an original Roman mosaic flooring.

If you went out from Yorkshire, you might see Bronte landscapes; Jane Austin sights are around, too, though the Cotswolds would probably remind you of some of them. British Tourist Authority's web site can probably be searched for some suggestions.

There are quite a few castles to tour - once you decide where you're headed, check the BTA site to see what's nearby.

As for ireland -- I agree with skipping over Northern Ireland. We only traveled the central part of the country, from Dublin in the east to Galway in the west and back (except for a train trip to Waterford from Dublin, not a strong recommendation from me, esp. as the Waterford plant seems to be in trouble and may be closing.)

Dublin is a neat city and walkable in the downtown area -- we stayed in a hotel near St. Stephen's Green and walked most everywhere. Good shopping in a pedestrian-mall street just off the Green (Grafton St.) and a fair # of restaurants and pub/restaurants in that area. As with London, however, driving a car is NOT recommended here. We took a taxi in from the airport, and back out, and there are shuttle buses, too.

For our money, we found small-town pubs in England to be friendlier and more publike -- a lot of the Irish places we visited were more a restaurant that also had a bar. It may be different in the south and west, but not mostly where we were. Prettiest area we visited: far west part of Galway (known as Connemara).

B&Bs are my favorite way to go in the U.K., and some of the best are in the Cotswolds and other small towns in Yorkshire or near Chester. You'll find lots of them around.

As for the haunted castle or manor, I fear I haven't done any of those, though not that I wouldn't, given the chance! Again, I think the BTA web site or e-mailing to them would be your best source.

I hope this helps, too! Sounds like a great trip -- I'm a little jealous.

Bill