Suggestions Invited from UK / Scotland Members

jinjapaleskin

Ah Dunrobin.....Yes apparently he moved to the castle after he'd "finished stealing!"
Plockton was the site for "Hamish Macbeth" series with Robert Carlisle- very scenic.
Skye (mind the sheep lying on the road) and Scotland you really must get a car- ditto travelling the Lake District- it gives you so much freedom and Skye is easier to get around and onto. The castle on the island is more a big house, but the scenery can get to you no matter the weather and there is a coral beach!
As you have your reasons for Loch Ness i'll say no more- but it is a lovely drive down the Caledonian Canal and the drive through the battle site south of Fort William ( it escapes me - help someone?) is eerie it really closes in on the road.
London- tube and get walking if you can.
Cambridge not as nice as Oxford but nice to get around by bike!
Have fun- makes me want to tour the UK! How bizarre to be discussing this on India Mike.
Jinj

Nick-H

A big seconding to not driving in London. It is difficult, expensive, parking is horrendous, and also expensive; you'll be staying in Central London so there is a congestion charge to pay everytime you move the car. Public transport does actually work.

The only thing I disagree with Uncle M about re the rural public transport, is that a lot of it never even appeared on Monday to Saturday! But when you have only a day or two in a place you will not have much time for extensive exploring anyway.

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karuna

Seconded on the dropping the car at Lancaster. The M6 south of Lancaster is deadly, deadly dull (north of there it's very scenic) and you do not want to get involved with Birmingham motorway traffic at any time ever.

Plus Lancaster has a few nice sights- the castle and priory, Ashton memorial (views over the bay, butterfly house and you can climb to the top of the memorial), Maritime museum etc that you could see whilst dropping off the car. Preston is...not so scenic. Better shopping though.

From Lancaster trains run to London Euston. There are National Express coaches, but I really don't recommend it. My knees took a battering in the tiny little seat space the one time I tried it...it's a loooooong drive.

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Mickey S

We could go on for weeks making suggestions of things to see in the UK.

But I think the main thing to get across to the OP is that his current itinerary, which is little more than random criss-crossing of the country with barely a stop for breath, is not going to be particularly rewarding.

Choose - Skye or the Lake District. You can't see either of them in a day, and by dropping one you'd have three days in the other.

Uncle_Martin

Hamish Macbeth, actually

kristinm

which was the Local Hero one then?

BabeInTheWoods

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BabeInTheWoods

Actually, I've always thought a canal boat tour through nice bits of England would be fantastic. 'Tis only a hop, skip and a jump to various inns along the way, so I'm told.

kristinm

I've always wanted to do that in France

fsg

Local hero was Pennan in the N east coast.

As predicted Babe in the woods came up with the goods!

My previous post should refer to Kinloch LODGE, the castle of that name is on Rhum

Sadanand Kamath

While in Windermere in Sept'01, I had taken a short train ride from Haverthwaite to the Lakeside terminus in well preserved old rakes driven by a steam engine. If the train still runs, it is a journey worth taking at least for the sake of enthusiastic former employees of the Railway Company as well as steam engine enthusiasts who had not only preserved the track but also run the train.

Sadanand

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Nick-H

The train does run, and there is an excellent aquarium at Lakeside*; very interesting. Also an excellent, but expensive, hotel called Lakeside. I have spent some very happy days there --- but courtesy of a relative, it'd be rather out of my budget.

Actually, I'm afraid most decent UK hotels are out of my budget; it's an expensive place for tourists .

This is also the Southern departure point for the lake steamers. I have not been on the train, but I believe various combination tickets for train/boat can be had

Uncle_Martin

All these memories of Skye made me thirsty, so I opened my last bottle of Black Cuillin, a dark Scottish (but not sottish as my spell checker tells me) Ale brewed on Skye ... whatever you do try some of the local beers on Skye, they are excellent. The Isle of Skye brewery ( www.skyebrewery.co.uk/products.htm ) beers are well worth drinking and I wish I had another bottle, or two or three .... sigh

puchoo

Thanks for all the info guys, really appreciate it...

Ok...a few more things...

Good Pub's in London / Edinburgh / Cardiff / Glasgow..... not too expensive but not seedy either...

Places to get good steak ??

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Mickey S

Get a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet to Great Britain. They'll have plenty of objective reviews of pubs and restaurants geared towards tourists.

Failing that, just pick a local pub you like the look of. You'll find them on almost every corner in every village, town and city, and many of them serve food throughout the day too. Expect to pay about £3 for a drink; there's no need to tip the barman/barmaid.