This is a good idea for a thread.
Thank you. Thought it might be interesting to see what people are proud of, or think would be great to see. Hoping for lots of places and ideas for when I'm over.
Mine would be:
Ribblehead - viaduct and pub.
Appleby - railway, castle and pubs
Lancaster - castle and pubs
York - railway museum and pubs
Whitby - branchline, town, abbey and pubs
London - tourist sites and pubs.
Brighton - seafront, the 'lanes' and pubs.
Canterbury - west gate, cathedral and pubs
Romney Marsh - Martello towers, Dungeness lighthouse.
Cornwall - Penzance seafront, St Ives, Looe and associated branchlines and pubs.
Great ideas, love going to Pubs and they all sound like fantastic places. Definitely want to go to Cornwall and Penzance, somewhere I really want to check out is Dawlish and see the sea waves wash over the tracks, quite a sight that would be.
Given Aussie_Rail mentioned transport I'd suggest Liverpool is very important as it's the port where many Britons who left Europe for North America and Australia went through.
Actually, now that you mention it, I do love ships of all varieties, so Liverpool and especially Portsmouth would be great places to see.
The Maritime Museum tells the history of Liverpool's Maritime industry, while The Museum of Liverpool tells the story of the Liverpool Overhead Railway. The site of the Rainhill Trials is just outside Liverpool, while the Liverpool Central to Rock Ferry line saw the world's first full electrification of a steam railway. You can also travel on a Mersey Ferry, while over the river in Birkenhead there's Wirral Tramway, a heritage tramway which is claimed was Europe's first street tramway.
Chester is 45 minutes by train from Liverpool, with trains every 15 minutes so you can easily visit Chester while staying in Liverpool.
Being from Melbourne, I love trams, so I definitely want to go and see the Wirral Tramway, so that ones certainly on the list.
From York you can take organised excursions to the North York Moors and Whitby, the former is particularly useful if you don't plan to hire a car as the North York Moors would be difficult to get around using public transport.
Definitely want to see the Yorkshire Moors, having watched virtually all of the episodes of 'Heartbeat' as a kid, actually liked that show, seeing the Moors for myself would be nice. I always envisioned it as sort of being England's equivalent of our 'Outback', so definitely keen to see and would love to go to Whitby as well, for its frequent appearance on the show.
To throw something different in to the mix - Snowdonia. If you're a keen walker you can walk up Mount Snowdon but if not you can take a rack railway up. Also nearby is Dinorwig, a pumped storage power station, which is open to visitors. An alternative/additional place to visit could be Great Orme above Llandudno, part way up you can explore the copper mines.
Sounds awesome. Love a bit of history and a decent walk. The rack railway sounds interesting as well. Thanks
Here’s my top ten:
Blackpool. Absolute, pure, unapologetically English eccentricity. Nice trams.
Yep, being from Melbourne, I love trams, so Blackpool is definitely on the list, I want to see that tower as well, my Dad always uses in reference to something lit up as being like Blackpool tower.
Buxton for the Peak District. Lovely countryside and good for a few days’ walking a self discovery. The ride down from Manchester is quite nice.
Derry. Hundreds of years of political, social, military and religious history all rolled into somewhere the size of Hastings. Some good chip shops too. The line from Belfast is nice, getting prettier as you travel West. The line also crosses the old runway at former RAF Ballykelly.
My last trip, I went to Belfast, that was incredibly interesting. Rode the train out to Bangor, that was a nice place. Would like to go back and explore more of Northern Ireland and Ireland itself.
York. More history and religion, plus the National Railway Museum.
My last trip, did go to York, saw the Shambles, that was great. Really enjoyed the transport museum, one of the best in the world it is.
Llandudno. It’s much nicer than people think, and lies towards the end of a nice railway on the N Wales Coast.
Glasgow. Better and more real than Edinburgh. Quirky Subway system, the Clockwork Orange. Extensive suburban heavy rail network. Full of Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture too. Kelvingrove Museum is highly underrated, as is the Transport Museum by the Clyde.
Liverpool. One of the more unique-feeling cities in England. Beatles, football, docks, and a casually individualistic atmosphere forged through years of English, Irish, Scottish and American influences thanks to the port.
The Lake District. Get there via the Settle and Carlisle line from Leeds which is also not a bad place either.
Brighton. Another very individualistic place. Caution: beards.
London. Of course. Spend a week there. Come back with no money.
Honourable Mentions to Whitby, Newcastle, Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Outer Hebrides.
Have been to Edinburgh, so Glasgow would be next, have lots of reasons to visit Scotland, so hope to plot a decent tour in and cross it all off.
I'd like to try and get a visit in to Wales, I know virtually nothing about the place, except for having long place names and an undecipherable language. So Wales is in.
Beards in Brighton? Hmm, I have a friend who might be keen for that.. lol
Depends what you want to see. Can you offer any better direction?
I like history, architecture, picturesque, quirky and things that move, so definitely trains, steam trains, trams, buses, even ships and planes. So castles are in, scenic and tourist railways definitely. Places made famous or have featured on TV, an example being, on my last visit I went to Sun Hill and shed a tear of excitement (grew up as probably Australia's No 1 fan of The Bill). lol.
TV shows/Movies that interested me enough to want to see places in the flesh are:
The Bill.
Keeping Up Appearances.
At Home with the Braitwaites.
Nuns On the Run.
Notting Hill.
Heartbeat.
Mind has gone blank, but that's a good starting point lol..
I have remained within the 10 location limit by grouping! General ideas:
London tourist attractions ( obvious - Tower, Place, Big Ben etc)
- York, Yorkshire Dales and Moors and Coast
- Lake District
- Bath/Stonehenge/Cotswolds
- Durham Cathedral, Hadrians Wall, Holy Island & Northumberland
- Edinburgh/ Glasgow for a comparison as it is nicer than many think
- Glencoe/Highlands/Islands
- Stratford upon Avon & Warwick Castle
- Canterbury/Leeds Castle
- Snowdonia/Caernarfon Castle/Portmeirion/litlte trains
EDIT - Lots like Liverpool. I have never liked it but you should have a look and make your own mind up.
Thanks! Yes, lots like Scotland and Liverpool, it must be good, or maybe they're Beatles fans haha.
Depends on what you like most - scenery, old buildings/churches, museums, etc. Try not to do too much on a single day, or you may not fully appreciate all that you see. Likewise, don't spend too much time in pubs - too much alcohol can dull the mind & memory.
Definitely, I don't want to burn out, have done that and its not pleasant. Hoping to not do a 'whirlwind tour', a little bit at a time if I can.
Rail interest: Various heritage railways to choose from, but note that, except in mid-summer, many are only open at weekends.
The heritage railways site may help you to choose:
http://www.heritage-railways.com/events.php?bf=1
Thanks! I know there are heaps and heaps about, so a one stop place to plan and see what's out there helps heaps!
National Railway Museum at York, and the subsidiary at Shildon (near Darlington) are worth visiting if you pass through those areas
Some scenic railways: Glasgow - Fort William/Mallaig
Inverness - Kyle of Lochalsh
Barrow in Furness - Carlisle
(Leeds) - Settle - Carlisle
Swansea - Carmarthen - Tenby
(Shrewsbury) - Machynlleth - Pwllheli
Chester - Bangor - (Holyhead)
Cool, thank you! Might have to get myself a map and peg all these in. lol
Note that some "pay on the day" / "walk-on" rail fares can be very expensive. Cheap advance fares can be good value, but are limited to specific pre-booked trains, not always at the time you want to travel. In some areas, you can get "day ranger", or "rover" tickets that allow unlimited travel outside peak hours. A Britrail Pass is also available to non-residents of UK.
Yeah, I've come across that before, almost forgot all about that, will have to do some serious planning to take advantage of that. Also forgot about the Britrail Pass. I got a Japan Rail pass when I went there in March and it was amazing, well worth the money so hopefully the Britrail Pass will be a similar system and good value for money.
Historic Buildings/Churches (10 ideas):
London
Salisbury
Bath
Liverpool
Chester
York
Durham
Edinburgh
Stratford Upon Avon
plus either Cardiff (for Llandaff Cathedral), or Canterbury.
Thanks for ideas.
Note also that staying in London and other big cities can be very expensive. Accomodation / hotels, etc. are less widely available, but usually much cheaper well away from big cities. Coastal seaside resorts tend to be much cheaper outside the main summer holiday periods.
Yep. Have found that out already lol. Finding somewhere decent and reasonable nearish to London is proving to be a challenge, hope to have somewhere in mind very soon.
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