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Going to England
Speakeasy
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So this January I am planning to travel to the Queen's country for about 2 weeks...but I have no idea what to do aside from getting the tickets and hotel room.
Some questions I have:
Aside from going on the wrong side of the road, is there anything I need to know about driving there?
Any places I should go out of my way to see? I know the landmarks, but are there less-known places to go to?
How long does it take to get a passport renewed these days? I'm coming from California, if that helps any.
I'd appreciate any other advice. Thanks in advance.
Some questions I have:
Aside from going on the wrong side of the road, is there anything I need to know about driving there?
Any places I should go out of my way to see? I know the landmarks, but are there less-known places to go to?
How long does it take to get a passport renewed these days? I'm coming from California, if that helps any.
I'd appreciate any other advice. Thanks in advance.
Speakeasy on
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Seriously though:
Driving - watch out for roundabouts. People already on the roundabout have right of way. We drive round them clockwise. You can't turn on a red signal at traffic lights. Don't drive in London unless you are used to major city traffic, its hard work.
Places to go - York, its old and pretty. The Lake District - its very pretty, mountains, hills and lakes. Cotswolds - very pretty little villages. London - use the tube, parking is a nightmare. Bath - spa city, roman stuff.
Weather - it will be cold and wet, maybe snowy, probably frosty.
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"The power of the weirdness compels me."
I went to London for a few days once. I could've spent a whole week there, at least, so keep that in mind.
The more I read about it, the more I'm discouraged at getting a car there. How is the public transportation there? I'm talking subway, buses, taxis, etc.
Also I think it's ridiculous, but a couple of friends brought on the idea that certain parts of England aren't too keen towards hispanics. If this is true, then where should I avoid?
Thanks a lot.
1. Stay in the left hand lane unless you're turning right
2. Always give way to cars on your right
I have never, in my entire life, heard anyone in England say they hated hispanics. The vast majority of English people have never met say, a Mexican. Very few hispanics say "let us leave our land of sun and flavour, and go to the land where it pisses down rain all the time, and chips are served with every meal". Don't worry about it. You're more likely to be distrusted for being American.
While you're in London, pick up an Oyster card. You put a certain amount of credit on it and just touch it against the panel when you go in and out of the station, and it automatically deducts your fare. It works on all buses and Tube trains. Very handy.
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As Tube said: we don't have hispanic people here. People won't notice/care. We're a multicultural society, and the hispanics haven't done anything to piss off the far-right (DEY TOOK OUR JERBS) so you really have nothing to worry about.
Being American is another matter. I've heard some stories about Americans getting harassed on the Tube, but I expect that's really really in the minority. Most people you meet will be enamored by your American accent.
This distrust will range from complete apathy to outright hostility depending on wher you are. Cornwall, for example, the most beautiful place in England (and in my opinion the world), will likely not suffer your accent gladly.
It doesn't matter which accent you have, it's simply because you don't have a westcountry one. But still, visit anyway, head down for a day or two ifd you see Bath. I recommend St Ives or Penzance, but stay away from St Austell, Newquay and pretty much the whole North Coast.
An essential visit is to the London Eye! I'd avoid the London Dungeon and the Madame Tussauds, both a complete rip-off.
No-one will care you're hispanic, if anything they'll think you're from the Spain, Italy or Portugal. Most stick you'll get is from antiamericanism, but most of that will be good humoured.
On motorways, use the right hand lane to overtake, and undertaking is against the law.
I'm calling utter BS on this one. Complete nonsense.
It will be chilly in January, but most importantly it will be dark. The sun will be setting at 4 pm, and what sunlight you get will be gloomy because of the sun's position in the sky.
:^:
Another option (if you're looking to save money) is the megabus network (www.megabus.com) which operate no-frills buses between most cities with tickets often starting at £1 ($2). They can take forever (the make a lot of stops) but are the cheapest way to get around.
Don't discount the rest of the UK either, are you dead-set on only staying in England or are you just using England as a term to refer to the whole of the UK? (which, by the way will get you shot if you call Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland 'England'). Everywhere in the UK will be wet, cold and windy in January but if you can then I highly recomend Edinburgh for 'Hogmanay', which is December 31st/January 1st. It's a great night here with a ticketed street party of over 250,000 people (as long as the weather holds up) or you could buy tickets to any number of celeidhs or parties, bloody good fun.
I'd actually recomend staying away from any of our 'landscapes' in January as you'll probably find the weather asolutely miserable and prohibitave to anything other than sitting in your car and looking out. At least if you stay in towns then you can run from one pub to another!
And with the current exchange rate you should expect to spend A LOT of money. The UK is hugely expensive for almost everything (petrol (gas) especially if you decide to drive) and with the current exhange rate almost 2-1 expect to pay over double what you would normally pay in the US.
Horseshit.
I'd say definatley come up North for some of your trip. If you're spending 2 weeks here, you have a lot to see in a very short space of time. I would probably advise staying in London for a while, as there is plenty to see and do there, and then perhaps catch a train up to Manchester. Stay here a few days before getting a train up to the Lake District to take in some of the beautiful English countryside, and then hop over to York for a day before going back down to London for your flight home. There really is no need to drive here, except if you go to the Lake District. You can get around London and Manchester using public transport, all that you'd want to see in York is in the centre of town so no need to worry there. So perhaps after Manchester, hire a car to go up to the Lake District, stay there a while, come back to Manchester to drop off the car, then get a train to York, and then back down to London after that. That would be my plan of action anyways. It really depends on what you want to see, and what you like about England and our culture.
As for you being hispanic, really, don't worry about it. We're a multicultural society, and no-one will bat an eyelid at your ethnicity. As people have said, the only thing that could cause a problem is your American accent, but I would think even that won't be a huge problem.
Anyway, enjoy your trip here, and tell us all how it goes... even though its really far in the future. Hehe.
*Thanks Thanatos!
There's no doubt a good deal of US mistrust knocking around but I would be amazed if you were harassed because of your accent. Get an Oyster card.
As for referring England as the whole UK, whoops on my part. Chalk that up to my narrowminded American view of things. If I have time, I will travel up to Wales and Ireland.
Most of you have been saying that January is damp, miserable weather. I'm kinda looking forward to it, since all I get here in California is hot, horrible sun. But if it will impede my traveling around, how is it like in December or February? I'm looking at the end of this year/beginning of next because of job-related reasons.
Very little will impede you; Britain rarely gets bad enough weather that you can't drive somewhere, and we don't have the altitudes where main roads can become closed or impassable. You should be able to go wherever you want. However, as a Californian you are going to find it cold. Like Tahoe in the Winter cold (without the snow). We'll be acclimatised to it when you arrive, but you won't be. You're going to feel it, even though you'll see Brits happily mooching around. The trick for you will be to keep yourself wrapped up; the wind isn't particularly bitter here, so as long as you are wearing a layer of clothing around you it won't tend to go through. You'll want a scarf to help in this.
It also depends on your constitution a little bit. My CA girlfriend gets cold pretty easily in CA, so when she comes over at Christmas she's going to wrap up very warmly indeed!
You should bring a coat you don't mind wearing a lot because it will rain, but not as much as the stereotype would have you think. Unlike CA, where it's kinda obvious whether today will be a rainy day or a fine day, the thing about the UK is it's pretty "changeable". It can rain on a day that looked like it was perfect blue sky. That's why we're always wearing coats unless it's July/August
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"The power of the weirdness compels me."
And if you're going to the Lake District, try the local cream teas. The best will have a few sandwiches to start with, then huge scones with butter, cream and jam (and maybe strawberries if you're lucky), endless cups of tea, and then several slices of different cakes.
Places in London to visit not already mentioned: the National Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, Tate Modern and Tate Britain. All great. You could watch a footy match while you're here, though you might find it pricey depending on who you see (London has plenty of clubs scattered up and down the price list for you to choose from). Go see Shakespeare at the Globe (only a fiver if you don't mind standing) or Stratford Upon Avon (bit of a tourist trap as far as the town goes, but there's always something on at the various theatres).
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Or...this is what I'd recommend for a summer trip. If it's January, maybe just hit Edinburgh if you can. It's going to be dark for so much of the day that you may not want to romp around the countryside.
When I visited, I went to some castle or something outside of London with a massive hedge maze(one of the big name royal castles/manors etc), I'd recommend it to anyone else.
You ought to visit Harrod's if only because it should be easy to get to, and it's just an absolutely massive store. Definitely go see the British Museum as well, what with all the amazing ancient artifacts(Rosetta Stone!) it has.
If you can appreciate plays at all, see what's running. I had the delight of seeing a production of My Fair Lady at one of, or the most famous theatre in London, starring Richard Price, and it was fantastic.
2. Forget about driving. I knew someone who insisted on driving her way through England and gave up after wrecking 4 cars in as many months. Anyway, if you think gas is expensive here, you'll laugh and then cry when you see it there. Anywhere you can't get by train or tube, a cab can take you but
3. Never take a cab in London. They'll drive you around the same block 4 times if you look like you don't know where you're going. Most everywhere in London proper is walking distance from a tube station.
4. Get a voltage adapter if you have any must-have appliances, like a razer or hair dryer. I forget if laptops have them built-in now, but if you have a laptop that doesn't you'll need one for that.
5. Be very, very careful to check what your airline will allow as carry-on. Due to an incident a couple years ago, British Airways stopped allowing carry-on luggage at all, and I'm not sure if that rule is still in effect.
6. Try all the candy! Bring home lots of what you like. Even some of the best chocolate here really tastes like crap compared to what they mass-produce in England.
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You got 2/6. Please try harder.
2: Just because your friend can't drive, doesn't mean Speakeasy can't. He's completely F'd in the A if he wants to use public transport to go or see anything in the countryside, or to move around anywhere that is anything less than a city.
3: London Black taxi cabs are reliable and safe. Other cabs can be hit or miss. There's nothing wrong with taking a taxi, especially late at night when the Tube is either shut, or is full of dodgy people. Better to get into a cab and be safe than try and navigate your way through places you really don't want to be after dark.
4: As you noted, UK is on 240V. Step-down voltage converters cost a lot of money, it just isn't worth it.
5: Carry-on luggage has returned to almost normal. That was two years ago, bro. There are still restrictions on taking liquid on board.
My experiences with cabs outside of London were all fantastic. They were usually reasonably cheap and made getting around small towns much easier since I didn't have a car. Anywhere I ever needed to go, once the train took me as far as it could, a cab could get me the rest of the way for not-too-much. Not quite so inside the city limits. Please note that I had plenty of warnings about what cabs to take inside London and what to look for because I had family there. They are safe (though scary as hell and you might want to bring some dramamine with you) but they will also sometimes take you for a ride if you don't look alive.
This car/train/tubes/cab business is all in my experience (except the driving, I found I didn't need to bother anyway) as both a tourist to different parts of England and a resident for about a year. I'm not interested in arguing whether or not any of it actually happened, so YMMV.
The converters do cost about $10-15, but if you have something that requires power that you really need with you, it might not work without one and if that's the case it's better to have one than not. If you don't own anything like that, don't bother. If you absolutely must have your laptop or shaver or cell phone charger or whatever and they aren't compatible with UK plugs/voltages, you might want to pick one up. Up to you.
and
I did say I wasn't sure about 5, that the incident was a long time ago, and that you should check with your airline to double-check any rules for baggage. This is always a good policy when you travel by plane, but perhaps even more so when you're traveling internationally.
You should go to a proper castle whilst in England. The best one's are in North Wales, but Warwick is much nearer.
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