>>2851939
What do you want to see in Bath or York?

>>2851942
Historical stuff. Would it be better as a single day trip to these places?

>>2851943
York is a nice city if you like history but London to York and back in a day is a bit much.

Oxford and Cambridge are way closer.

>>2851945
>Oxford and Cambridge are way closer.
Which would you recommend or are they about the same?

>>2851946
Cambridge for small town feel. Oxford is bigger. Both good.

>>2851948
Thanks.

>>2851943
York is more than a day trip - or rather, if you went on train there, you'd want to do a night stay, then come back. The initial 2 day makes sense, but maybe account for one more, so one day without travelling
I'm tempted to say Bath is the same, but it's a lot closer so maybe 2 days with travel each day works.

>>2851946
Definitely Oxford, there's a lot more to see

>>2851948
2nd for Cambridge. Great little city

>>2851939

London is shite. Go to Manchester, Glasgow, hell even birmingham

>>2851939
Newcastle. Some of the best architecture in the country, cheapest place in the country, funniest people. Very underappreciated city.

>>2852931
bitter northern cunt detected

>>2852931
>>2853113
oh great, britpol shit is leaking. all your cities are the same mate.

>>2853106
Is there much industrial heritage stuff knocking around the region? My only impression of the city is from Get Carter.

Is there also some kino Northumbria historical stuff? Loved the Last Kingdom, and would like to soak up the history a bit.

>>2853116
The Ouseburn is near the city centre and used to be a huge industrial dock, but it has since been gentrified. It still has little canals and classic terraces, and a few bars, most of them hipster IPA bars unfortunately. The city centre is a mix of neo classical (Tyneside classical) and ugly 60s abstract looking stuff. Grey street, Greys monument are well preserved and it's entirely walkable with great transport links. The Northumbrian countryside is not far at all and it is as beautiful as everyone says it is.

>>2851946
Oxford is better than Cambridge for architecture and just general "things to do" factor. 6 days in London is probably excessive.

Bath and York are both able to be done comfortably in one day. But York is much more of a trek (in terms of physical distance), at that point I'd say go to Norwich instead via Ely and Cambridge.
If you go to Bath you may as well do Bristol and maybe even Cardiff as well.
All of these will give you a good amount of history and a much broader look at the UK than.

>>2853116
Northumberland has some nice castles in small villages, like Dunstanburgh, Warkworth and Alnwick
Monkwearmouth-Jarrow is a fine example of an early Saxon monastic site. It's not remotely as imposing as, say, Westminster Abbey or another grand cathedral, but it's important in its own way

>>2851943
if you are in bath or york for more than a day and u run out of stuff to see, you can get a short train somewhere else.
bath - castle combe, lacock (has lacock abbey from film) are small interesting nearby places. chipping norton is a famous rural area rich people live like clarkson's farm.
salisbury historical town not too far (from there stonehenge not too far)
bristol.. not specific a historical draw, not saying there is nothing but usually its other reasons peolpe go there. SS great britain histoircal 1800s ship and suspensino bridge are as far as i know the main histoircal thigns there.
Oxford can be reached from bath in 1 hour, its nice to walk around but i duno how much you'd get to, blenheim palace just outside town.

castlehoward is a grand estate outside york. (google grand houses near xyz town you choose to stay) they are everywhere but many in countryside of yorkshire.
york you could get to durham - very nice town for a day, has old university/cathedral/castle hilly clean town overtop a nice river to talk along.
Getting a bit far away from york 1.5hr to alnwick castle, under 2hour to bamburgh castle.
If you tried a car for one day - york to north york moors, to whitby (seaside town, dracula's landing point). the neighborhing areas are cool.
many cool ruined abbeys across the land especially north england, Rievaulx Abbey
is famous but needs a car. But in york there is st marys abbey ruins right near everything

>>2853116
>Northumbria historical stuff?
bamburgh is bebenburgh
alnwick as was stated
holy island lindisfarne is where vikings first started attacking anglos
berwick upon tweed u never hear about it so maybe its crap but seems to ahve some neat architecutre like viaduct and fortifications
there are ranodm roman archeology sites across the north england, tho i dont think any are famed grand in size. hadrians wall.

carlisle has a castle over in cumbria. south of carlisle goes into lake district thats more small touristy villages among great nature area.

carlisle to settle (on the way to leeds) is a nice scenic train route, that goes over an old viaduct the ribblehead viaduct.
tho northumbria coast is also a scenic trainline up to edinburgh - edinburgh is one of the best bang for your buck old historical sites to see in uk.

Durham south of newcastle so not northumberland, very much worht a day if you're in the neighrbohood and like old architecture

>>2853128
>>2853126
>>2853122
Amazing replies, thank you.

Is rail quite easy between key places in the nort/scotland, or is it like Albania up therefor public transport?

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>>2853131
Edinburgh and Glasgow are served by the West/East Coast mainlines.

>>2853131
yes any population centre has rail.
Most of it is now fingers extending from london, with a few regional ones going perpendicular.

maybe train prices hurt a bit more than in europe but there are trains london to glasgow,
london to edinburgh (that usually passes thru york, newcastle, maybe durham, (sometimes there an adjacent smaller line) bu LNER is london to edinburgh one of the faster ones.
Connection between glasgwo and edniburhg is plentiful

London to bath is easy usually is a train towards bristol, sometimes those trains are going further into wales or further into southwest england.

from my experience even regional buses/coaches werent so bad if i was looking to get to some tourist attraction in a less populated area.

Travelling in london itself or the greater periphery of london there are tons of connections i dont know how fast it is outside the main ring tho.

There are many castles and palaces in the greater sphere of london's area too, maybe they are in nothing towns, but if you are bored and looking for a day trip, plenty of places an hour outside by train that have 1-2 key historical landmarks even if the rest of the town isnt anything too interesting.

Hampton Court Palace on outside edge of london.
Ive never been to richmond park but my favorite youtube video is from there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

Periphery areas
Dover run down depressed town has the cliffs, the castle, less known fort.
Cantebury - famous church and little old town has the general run down depressing parts of past it england too but nothing bad
there many more places that hve a landmark or two but i duno if you couldnt find something equivalent niche in london in less than a week - like other norman castles like rochester, Leeds castle (not in Leeds),
There is a train stop past ipswich called melton, where you can get to sutton Hoo - saxon burial site found on some rich ladys estate, netflix made the movie "the dig" about it. just over an horu

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>>2853131
if you're in scotland and getting around by train you can get one of the trains across the glenfinnan viaduct and pretend you're going to hogwarts

Norf >>> souf

Northern England and Scotland have so much more SOVL than the southern part of the island. London is worth a visit to say you’ve been there but the real UK is up north.

>t. burger who has visited several times

>>2853148
Train prices for pre-booked off peak distance are generally comparable.

Someone did a UK vs EU train fare comparison and the reason the UK looks so bad is because of the peak travel costs (and comparing these to special promotional fares), if you compare all fares and distances they're very similar.

for your historical interests of york
york obviously yorkminster, but then there st marys abbey ruins, yorkshire museum(anthropology msueum mostly of local stuff - but for museum time london is better, edinburgh and glasgow have decent big ones to scratch the itch). all of this is in a nice central park area thats pretty chill. City walls. a little castle on a hill nice photo framing. there are medieval shopping streets (the shops are touristy but still nice vibe).
national railway museum - has lots of full size trains of all eras.
jorvik viking exhibit - never went inside, maybe it is a performance show aimed at families i duno.

>>2853322
I've been to the viking exhibit many years ago (probably decades now), I remember it as a show more aimed at families.

>>2853255
Splitting the UK into North/South is the biggest delusion of the most irritating people on this island (not blaming you, being a burger and all).

Even between counties life is significantly different, let alone East vs West or getting into Cornwall/Wales (and then South vs North Wales within that).

Most of the people who perpetuate Norf/Souf are old boomers from Thatchers days or Norfern Uni students whose only personality trait is living in the North and desperately want to believe that it gives them working class kudos.

The real divide in the UK now is between big cities (Liverpool, Manc, Brum, London) and "the rest" which ironically makes it heavily Northern biased.

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>>2853338
Most global cultures are connected to drainage basins. Rivers were ancient motorways, and the first kingdom were formed by owning the rivers, with hills and mouuntains between basins forming nice defendable borders.
Eventually, sea trade then gives each basin its unique flavour, as people start to develop external connections.

I'd argue the basin districts massively match the cultural groups of the UK

anyone been to south west wales - further past swansea?
any neat sights to see
(assume im cursed and have to spend time there, make the best of it)

>>2854252
there's the national botanic garden
the usual collection of castles
a couple of steam railways
most towns etc will have a museum or something of that nature

>>2854291
Any recommendations for most kino train routes?

>>2855020
Wales offers incredible train journeys, from the world-renowned Cambrian Coast Line for stunning sea views to heritage steam lines like the Snowdon Mountain Railway and Ffestiniog Railway for mountain scenery, plus the historic Heart of Wales Line through rural landscapes, catering to both modern rail enthusiasts and lovers of steam nostalgia.
Top Scenic Mainline Journeys
Cambrian Coast Line (Shrewsbury to Pwllheli): Considered one of the world's most scenic, hugging the coast with views of beaches, castles, and rolling hills.
Heart of Wales Line (Shrewsbury to Swansea): A long, picturesque route through unspoiled countryside, connecting historic towns and rural heartlands.
Conwy Valley Line (Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog): A beautiful ride through the Conwy Valley, past rivers and villages like Betws-y-Coed.
Iconic Heritage Steam Railways
Snowdon Mountain Railway (Llanberis): The only public railway in the UK climbing a mountain, offering breathtaking views of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa).
Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways (North Wales): World-famous narrow-gauge lines with powerful steam locomotives, taking you deep into Snowdonia's landscapes.
Talyllyn Railway (Tywyn): The railway that started the preservation movement, offering a delightful steam journey through countryside.
Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway (Mid Wales): A charming narrow-gauge line winding through beautiful Mid-Wales countryside.

>>2855020
are you referring to south west wales? main one is the gwili railway
if you're talking about the uk as a whole it depends on what you're looking for

>>2851939
spend 0 in london, 2 in chester, 3 in buxton and 3 in betws y coed in wales.

>>2852931
regret to inform you manchester has fallen, Manchester is just as bad as london now.

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>>2853255
>le norf is le good, le souf is le bad
Ridiculous and tedious myth. Amerimutts are particularly susceptible to parroting this, for some reason.

>>2851939
Would highly consider using couchsurfing while travelling in the UK, I know a couple people who travelled multiple weeks without having to pay for accommodation (hostels are £20 a night at the very least). Admitted they were girls your mileage may vary if you're a guy.

I host in bath but unfortunately I'm moving in a few months or I'd offer you to stay

Weirdly I grew up in Alnwick mentioned by a few others (it's a small town so seeing people talk about it is weird). Lovely beaches and castles up there! If you go there from the Bath area the cheapest and probably fastest way is to fly from Bristol to Newcastle then get the bus /train. Flights are about £15 one way atm

>>2851945
It's like a 2hr train journey. Oxbridge is closer but the train is slower. Would still take an hour to get there.
>>2851946
There's more to do in Oxford.
>>2852931
Yikes.
>>2851939
If you are going to stay overnight in each place you may as well get the coach because trains are 5x the cost.

>>2855686
>It's like a 2hr train journey. Oxbridge is closer but the train is slower. Would still take an hour to get there.
That's fair. It's crazy how long it takes to get from say Victoria to Brighton considering the distance. Just dog shit rail service in some areas.

>>2855688
>It's crazy how long it takes to get from say Victoria to Brighton considering the distance
huh? it only takes about an hour to get from london bridge to brighton and that's only because it stops several times along the way

>>2855754
Must have started after I left. It used to take an hour twenty from Victoria. It should be 40 mins.

>>2855589
he's referring to the people, who are far more pleasant in the norf than the souf

I'm doing this. What I'm thinking is:

2 days in London
3 days in Edinburgh
3 days driving around Scottish Highlands

>>2855935
keep in mind it takes 4.5 hours to get from london to edinburgh direct by train
book first class if you can so you don't have to mix with the plebs, it makes the journey much more pleasant especially if you get a crew who are a bit more free and easy with the booze and food
you can also fly from london city airport to edinburgh in 1.5 hours for not much more than the train fare
(london city airport is not far from central london and is much more convenient than gatwick/heathrow for domestic flights if you are already in london)

>>2855935
>2 days in London
>3 days in Edinburgh
lol
lmao, even

>>2855935
Looked into the Caledonian Sleeper? Go overnight London to Aberdeen or something, rent a car, drive down to Edinburgh, then fly back to London. Will help you optimise time and maximise experiences.

>>2855935
Americans always make the mistake of thinking that because the UK is small compared to Odawaidaho you can get around it in 30 minutes.

>>2856455
well certainly every holiday is different
The anon while in london could try to do as many museusm and historical sites as possible in london, but then go to edinburgh and while it has museusm and tourist spots is easier to jsut relax there.

everywhere is expensive but london is the most expensive place for a dingy tiny hotel room in a hustle and bustle area.
It can be enjoyed - but if all of it is new, how much london specific experience does someone really need vs the other palces to visit yea you do sight seeing for one day... see the major stuff, then are you doing more of the same? what has to be in london if the whole country is new to them

>>2857720
London's always there, and it's connected to everything. If you're going up to the highlands, the journey should be focused around that. Spreading yourself too thin is instagram tier.

London enhances Scotland/Edinburgh through being able to fly there and buying a non-wing window seat (seeing from above if weather's good), and taking a sleeper train. Everything else should be 99th priority.

>>2852931
To anyone reading this absolutely do not go to Glasgow

>>2851939
Not sure your level of travel experience. If it's substantial, disregard. If you have not traveled much, make sure you don't spread yourself too thin. In 9 days, pick three places at the most. Two would be better. If you want to go to Scotland, arrive or depart from there. Don't fly into London, go somewhere else, and then need to come back to London to fly home.

London is my favorite English speaking city and it's not even close. At the very least go to British Museum, National Gallery, and Imperial War Museum. If you play poker the game at the Hippodrome was soft last time I played there. Figure out how you will pay for bus/tube rides before you get there. Oyster card is probably the best option, or just swipe your credit card as you go. But look into it ahead of time.

I like Cambridge. Take a punt on the river and go to the botanical garden. Can't speak for Oxford.