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Trip to England Part 9: This time we're not kidding - Debriefing.

OnTheBranchline

By OnTheBranchline,
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pH

pH

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Sorry, I was thinking multiple millennia and accidentally wrote centuries. Now fixed.

 

But there's not much to see from 13,000 years ago!  I was thinking more like the last 5,000 years.

Yes, choice of building material does make a difference.

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OnTheBranchline

OnTheBranchline

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Hope jet lag doesn't get you, from bitter experience most NYC -U.K. Flights are an evening East Coast departure, followed by takeoff / meal / breakfast and landing... your lucky if you get 4 hours sleep, with time difference a 6.30am arrival off a 6.30pm US departure and a full day ahead of you before bed. Depending on time of year, the jet stream could strip up to 90mins off the booked arrival time too.. (I flew a UA 777 in 5hrs one January.. >100mph tail wind in the pilots own words " we were smokin" that night)..., though if you did chances are you'll do donuts round the boonies or wait on the tarmac for a gate...awake of sorts.

 

You may want to check your hotel is good with an early check in (b4 2pm), but if your planning an action itiniery you need to be awake day 1.. otherwise days 2,3&4 are going to be run off adrenaline, dead mornings and wide awake nights.

(I'm doing a US trip in Jan, and my own experience I'm routing back for an SFO-UK flight.. in 12 hours I should be able to get 8 hours rest !!!)

 

Day 15/16, why not airbnb by hcp.. no need to lug or stash your luggage.. quite nice around their, booked taxi will cost around £20, and take around 20mins outside rush hour to the airport, you'll have no problem finding a nice restaurant for dinner.

 

Indeed I might consider swapping days 5 & 15.. Windsor castle is close to the airport, , HCP and Portsmouth share Waterloo services and saves crossing London termini (1 hour there and there's a baggage storage there, or otherwise leave From Windsor and Elton riverside towards Clapham for a Portsmouth service..don't go back to Paddington for Portsmouth, but then you need to stash luggage..they won't let you take it in the castle !

 

Good dose of UK culture in that itiniery.

 

Final tip, Heathrow alternates landings and take offs half way though the day, on a weekly basis (flight radar will show you which way there doing it that week)..

If your landing mornings from the West.. an A seat gives you a view of Windsor castle, >F window will give you a view of londons water storage.

if your landing from the East, an A seat might give you a view of HCP and if it's the northerly runway a view of Concorde, but a >F window seat will give you a full 360 of central London, starting at Canary Wharf and following a line just south of the Thames showing tower bridge, Tower of London, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham palace, Westminster and Hyde park..even Wembley on a clear day..., and if it's the southerly runway a view of Concorde too.

Either way at 6-9am Heathrow is a cosmopolitan collection of large aircraft from across the globe on a scale of variety and quantity unmatched anywhere else In the world.

I do not know of any left luggage in the windsor area. HCP does left luggage facilities there.

 

I was thinking HCP because it would be a hour straight bus ride to Heathrow.

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adb968008

adb968008

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Sorry, I was thinking multiple millennia and accidentally wrote centuries. Now fixed.

 

But there's not much to see from 13,000 years ago! I was thinking more like the last 5,000 years.

Reminds me of the Abu Dhabi history museum in Al-Ain. It showed the early history of the city, in colour photos ! Edited by adb968008
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Ozexpatriate

Ozexpatriate

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Reminds me of the Abu Dhabi history museum in Al-Ain. It showed the early history of the city, in colour photos !

Around here, most (but not all) of the recorded history of Western European habitation in the area fits within the history of photography - not in colour though.

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jonhall

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Day 15/16, why not airbnb by hcp.. no need to lug or stash your luggage.. quite nice around their, booked taxi will cost around £20, and take around 20mins outside rush hour to the airport, you'll have no problem finding a nice restaurant for dinner.

.

 

Hampton Court- Heathrow will be more like £40 in a pre booked minicab (I'm only 1/2 mile from there - I do this quite a lot) and whilst it can take 20 minutes in the early hours of the morning, it can also take an hour and a half so you do need to be careful about timing. The 111 bus direct to the airport does save changes but takes about a million years to get there via every road in South West London - I did once do this coming back from the airport, thinking I was being clever by reducing the number of changes and therefore fares I would have to pay - NEVER again - take a bus into Kingston (even if its a 111 going the other way! ) and change onto a 285 or better X26! There is a minicab office in the station building at Hampton Court station, you might manage to negotiate a free left luggage facility with your cab to the airport - but always do it fixed price/booked in advance, never on a meter, because it will be mighty expensive that way.

 

jon

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adb968008

adb968008

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Hampton Court- Heathrow will be more like £40 in a pre booked minicab (I'm only 1/2 mile from there - I do this quite a lot) and whilst it can take 20 minutes in the early hours of the morning, it can also take an hour and a half so you do need to be careful about timing. The 111 bus direct to the airport does save changes but takes about a million years to get there via every road in South West London - I did once do this coming back from the airport, thinking I was being clever by reducing the number of changes and therefore fares I would have to pay - NEVER again - take a bus into Kingston (even if its a 111 going the other way! ) and change onto a 285 or better X26! There is a minicab office in the station building at Hampton Court station, you might manage to negotiate a free left luggage facility with your cab to the airport - but always do it fixed price/booked in advance, never on a meter, because it will be mighty expensive that way.

 

jon

Wow, I must have good cabs then, I pay £40 from Sutton, or the x26 is a few £.

Agreed rush hour is 2 hours from my place, but at 11pm it's 30 mins, I pass by HCP about half way in, as with all things UK travel related ...YMMV.

Admittedly round here your cab is more likely to be a 1step from scrap Japanese car, rather than a new Mercedes C class.

I'll let you know how I do tomorrow I arrive back in LHR at 3pm.

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Clearwater

Clearwater

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What about this one via the A55:

https://goo.gl/maps/b4Huty4iXtA2

I've found the Googlemaps time predictor isn't too bad - I generally check it at the time I intend to travel to use the current road conditions. For some reason, the links you have don't show the journey time in current traffic. (Or at least it looks different to the Googlemaps.com version I use!) The issue you'll find, is that a lot of these small towns and rural areas are single carriageway roads and can get very congested at peaks, eg school leaving time. Therefore, if you get stuck behind a slow caravan or tractor, you can find journey time balloons out. An accident or roadworks can add a significant difference to time.

 

By way of example, from my house to Canary Wharf in London is about 9 miles. Mostly three lane roads all the way. In the peak was generally a 20 min drive compared to a fastest journey of sub 15 minutes. My record slow was 2.5 hours when accidents on the north circular and A12 caused pretty much gridlock.

 

In short, I'd always allow a decent contingency for any road journey to allow for unexpected set backs

 

David

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The Stationmaster

The Stationmaster

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Does anyone know what the traffic generally is like on these routes?

 

Caerphilly Castle to Gladstone's Library:

https://goo.gl/maps/qJQ3Zh1BMaT2

 

Fairy Glen Gorge (Betws-y-Coed) to Crewe:

https://goo.gl/maps/QsnEVNX57YB2

 

In my experience any road in North Wales can be pure h*ll in the peak holiday season, especially the A5.

 

Going north from Caerphilly the A470 will be ok to Merthyr - north of there it really depends on whether or not you get stuck behind some one and the short stretch of A40 could be pretty busy. same applies on the A470 then up to Builth Wells  (assuming it's still a popular holiday season route).  The A483 between Newtown and at least Welshpool (and possibly further north) will also be likely to be busy at the time of year you're there.  I don't know it further north but it looks as if it could also be a busy route in the summer.  But there isn't really any alternative to using main roads and if you're in a hurry there's not really time to take some of the scenically more attractive routes south of Brecon.

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OnTheBranchline

OnTheBranchline

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In my experience any road in North Wales can be pure h*ll in the peak holiday season, especially the A5.

 

Going north from Caerphilly the A470 will be ok to Merthyr - north of there it really depends on whether or not you get stuck behind some one and the short stretch of A40 could be pretty busy. same applies on the A470 then up to Builth Wells  (assuming it's still a popular holiday season route).  The A483 between Newtown and at least Welshpool (and possibly further north) will also be likely to be busy at the time of year you're there.  I don't know it further north but it looks as if it could also be a busy route in the summer.  But there isn't really any alternative to using main roads and if you're in a hurry there's not really time to take some of the scenically more attractive routes south of Brecon.

 

Thank you.

 

How about Thornbury Castle Hotel to Tintern Abbey (in the morning):

https://goo.gl/maps/LRp6boBMqez

 

And Tintern Abbey to Caerphilly Castle (via the M4 in the early afternoon):

https://goo.gl/maps/sieATPvsCV22

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rockershovel

rockershovel

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I'd strongly advise that if you don't have a satnav in your hire car, then your first point of call should be Halfords to buy one. Navigating around British minor roads can be a serious problem for tourists, not least because Road numbers and signposts seem to bear no identifiable relation to what you expect (try navigating around the Nottingham/Derby area, for example, or the A14 between Cambridge, the M11 and M6; the M42/M5/M6 complex N of Coventry ... ) and it's possible to become completely lost. It's also an offence to be seen holding a phone while driving.

 

Any town of any size will suffer severe congestion between about 8am and 9am, and from 3pm to 6:30 (depending on your direction of travel).

 

Also, find out in advance about traffic closures, park and rides and one way schemes. Many of the towns mentioned have hideously difficult traffic restrictions (Bath, Cambridge and York to my certain knowledge) and are much easier on foot or on a tourist bus

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The Stationmaster

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Thank you.

 

How about Thornbury Castle Hotel to Tintern Abbey (in the morning):

https://goo.gl/maps/LRp6boBMqez

 

And Tintern Abbey to Caerphilly Castle (via the M4 in the early afternoon):

https://goo.gl/maps/sieATPvsCV22

 

The bit between Chepstow and Tintern will undoubtedly be the worst part - the last time I came down (from Tintern) I got stuck behind a bunch of funereal drivers to whom 25 mph must have seemed like a wild adventure.

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DIW

DIW

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....Also, find out in advance about traffic closures....

 

Here's how:

 

Roadworks dot org - zoom to where you want to view.

 

You can chose whether you want to view the hold-ups for today (whichever day it happens to be), two weeks, three months or twelve months.

 

The site also shows the current google traffic overlay - not of use if you are looking for time ahead, but you can choose various options on the site.

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Zomboid

Zomboid

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If it's rainy, would you say to still do the Castles/Stonehenge/other outdoor activities?

Depends how rainy it is (and has been recently) and what your other options are. I wouldn't let it put you off Stonehenge, since that's rubbish on a sunny day, so rain can't take much shine off it ;)
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Coppercap

Coppercap

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The bit between Chepstow and Tintern will undoubtedly be the worst part - the last time I came down (from Tintern) I got stuck behind a bunch of funereal drivers to whom 25 mph must have seemed like a wild adventure.

I regularly travel that route, and I've never experienced it that bad. Some of it is a bit twisty, which slows some drivers, but I've sometimes found it's slow near the racecourse if there's some event on - chockers if there's a race meeting on during a holiday weekend!

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Zomboid

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I haven't been since the new visitor centre opened, so it might be really good. Plus, if we keep talking it down, you will probably have your expectations exceeded...

In all seriousness, if you've got a fixed itinerary, then you need to be prepared to get rained on at some outdoor places, since you can't wait until tomorrow for the weather to cheer up (or not). I'd recommend looking up a plan b in case it's really foul, but some of your outdoor activities won't have anything nearby which is both indoor and appealing. So pack waterproof clothes and shoes, and enjoy the Great British summer.

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rockershovel

rockershovel

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Figures vary a bit but on average, it rains or snows 130-plus days a year in the UK, including 8 or so days in June, July and August.

 

The British invented the pacamac, and those little rain hoods your gran had in her handbag; the whole world associates the urban upper classes with the unbrella, which tells you all you need to know. Go in any motorway services, any time of year, and they will sell umbrellas...

 

Seriously, another must-have for a British holiday; a decent collapsible umbrella.

Edited by rockershovel
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