Scotland to London, getting around question

We are going to be testing the waters in Scotland in July, then we go to Oxford (outside of London) for a wedding.

How's best to get from the North to the South on that Island...? any recommendations on trains/ transportation ..?

My wife likes Scotch.... She "needs" to try all the different kinds.... Also any recommendations for B&B's or other shelters for the night...

Thanks Kem

To answer your how to get from North to South, use a compass.

Now about the scotch, don't be blaming that on Alice, she wouldn't take a drink if you paid her.
As far as B&B's. When you drink all that scotch, it won't matter where you stay.

Good okie advice, just trying to help out.


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Train. http://m.nationalrail.co.uk/pj/home#

comp ass...

Just don't use the last part of that for advice

Rent a car. you can travel from London to Oban in 2/3 of a day I think. Make sure you visit the Roslyn Chapel just outside of Edinborough. We stayed in the B&B there and had a great time. Can not remember the name.

Rail. Relatively easy, high frequency and occasionally scenic. Much, much easier and less stressful than driving. Especially with the "left side" factor.

Yep.. left side of the road is FUN!! Traffic circles let you rotate until you find the correct outlet and make if FUN. Drive if you can and enjoy.

Drive. ALWAYS keep the center of the road next to the driver. This always works either here or over there. Makes it easy except for parking lots where it gets confusing if you don't "think" where the center is.

Trains are expensive and PIA. Lugging luggage with you everywhere is a pain, luggage is safer in the "boot" you have to fit the train schedules verses you deciding when you come and go, Less crowds at attractions if you time it right, routes can be confusing, and the biggie: The locals near the stations "got ya". Everything is more expensive near the train stations. The rental cars are cheap and the distances short. Get a diesel. Country B&B's generally don't need reservations and you can help around the farm before dinner if you desire. You will meet more local people. Do not drive in London: use the "tube", or Edinburgh. DO NOT ask Welsh or Scottish people how they like living in "England" or say how much you are enjoying "England". For some reason they still consider themselves "different" even though they all seem to have the same pubs and sports.

All that said traffic signs are different. I almost went the wrong way on a freeway entrance in the first 5 minutes of driving over there. Luckily a local beeped at me from a distance "Damn Americans" and I got a clue. Think before using on ramps. Expect people on coming to pass using the center of a genuine two lane road! Get over when one pulls out into the center, there really is room for three no matter how it looks and you will have time get out of the way but be ready. They seem to be excellent drivers and they expect the same.

Oh I almost forgot: On returning and picking your car up watch out! Your brain will still be driving on the "other" side for 15 minutes or so.

You will probably love the place.

When in doubt following the car in front of you will get you out of trouble. Drive thru at bank or food and you might end up on UK funniest videos Before leaving any parking lot wait to see which way road traffic is going
More dangerous then driving is walking. before you cross any motorway look both ways because you will look the wrong way first

After you get the hang of it it's a blast

Glenn

Take MX440's advice, 4 door rental for all the crap you might have! Hostiles are cheap acommadations, but be leary of things not welded down walking. B&B's or farms sites might be a good options. Two Lanes will seem like your on a Go-Kart track, Round-a-bouts will get you a ticket if your having too much fun!

Renting a car will be the easiest option. It will be a manual gearbox unless you specifically request automatic, which may limit your choice somewhat.
Oxford from Heathrow is easy - M25, M40, A40 about 1 hour. Get a UK SIM card from Three.com for about £15 for a month/1GB and then google maps will work on your phone/IPad.
Trains go from London to Oxford, but on to Scotland would mean returning to London and an underground transfer.

You'll quickly get used to driving on the other side. No all-way stops and at roundabouts just give way to traffic on the roundabout until there's a break in the flow. The most dangerous time is starting out when there's no other traffic visible and your instincts send you to the wrong side of the road.

Plenty of reasonable cheap accommodation on AirBNB and all the hotel web sites and Trip Adviser etc cover the rest.

Pretty well all the distilleries offer tours and sampling, but save it for the rainy days (there will be some) and enjoy the scenery on the good days.

If driving to Scotland from Oxford take the M40, M6, A74 and consider a stop in the Lake District to see what inspired Wordsworth.
North of Glasgow/ Edinburgh the roads get a lot slower but very scenic. Loch Lomond to Glencoe and on to Mallaig is a spectacular drive and you can then get the ferry to Skye. Oban is a good centre to explore the Western Isles.

Ruffair said:

We are going to be testing the waters in Scotland in July, then we go to Oxford (outside of London) for a wedding.

How's best to get from the North to the South on that Island...? any recommendations on trains/ transportation ..?

My wife likes Scotch.... She "needs" to try all the different kinds.... Also any recommendations for B&B's or other shelters for the night...

Thanks Kem

Click to expand...

Couple of tips. Over there it isn't called Scotch, it Scot's Whisky, or even just called Whisky or malt. (no E in Whisky) Scotch is tape. As for "England"... The United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - for now at least. Also referred to as Great Britain.

Driving offers more freedom than a train but if you are going one way, I recommend the train to London, then a "hire car" to Oxford. Book the train on-line in advance to avoid high cost. High speed Intercity trains are amazing, and the view is fabulous -- AND you can drink! Best to take the "tube" (subway to Heathrow from Kings; Cross station and rent the car there. The UK motorways are good but not as direct as we are accustomed to. One nice thing is that most people drive in an orderly fashion and expect the same. Travel in the slow lane and over take (pass) only in the passing lane. It's the law! People will pull out from the travel lane to let you enter from an on-ramp, and expect the same from you. B and B's are plentiful and the people that run them are generally very nice. If you want more privacy I recommend the Premier Inns chain of motels. They have an app. Reliably clean, and fairly reasonably priced, and have a restaurant. (not great as it is a formulaic chain.) You are expected to be very quiet in the hallways and rooms and you'll see signs to that effect. Native Brits are considerate, polite, and well spoken.
As for flying, there are a zillion airfields. I have a PA-20 Pacer near Cambridge at Little Gransden, Within 20 minutes you have the Shuttlesworth Collection with a fabulous collection of WW1 and unique airplanes, and the other way you have Duxford with the Imperial War Museum. WW2 collection of fighters, bombers etc etc. You can also rent a Super Cub at Clacton, Essex or White Waltham, west of London.

Feel free to pm me if you want any specific info.

I just caught this post and wanted to make sure everyone knew about a fairly new find, a WW1 base called Stow Maries

Amazing place, less of a collection than Shuttlesworth certainly but fantastic place.

They are East of London near Chelmsford and in a beautiful part of England. Not quite along the path mentioned in the question but if you're in England for holiday you need to see this place.

The Zeppelins used the Blackwater and the Crouch River and Thames as navigational gross error checks on the way to London during WW1. Stow Maries lies between the Crouch and Blackwater. The squadron couldn't climb fast enough to intercept them, but would try and shoot them down as they returned to Germany.

Stapleford also has a nice Super Cub available to hire and is near to Stow Marie's.


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The Stow Maries site is quite interesting. I will have to visit next run over.

As for getting about, the advent of Uber has been fantastic in and around the cities. I use the trains a lot, too, as well as the Tube when in Town. I enjoy driving in the UK--most of the time. AirBnb is also a real lifesaver for affordable, comfortable accommodations.

England, Scotland and Wales may seem like a small area but the more you explore the bigger it gets. Really something to look at with every turn.

We did the trip last year. 2016. Had a GREAT time. drove a rental car.... It was a midsize. I would recommend a smaller one like we rented in Ireland this September a two door speck.
cause the roads are narrow.. very But had a Great time...!! The people were great..! so was the food and Whisky...!



the places one finds a SuperCub.Org sticker...!

My wife and I are in Northern Ireland right now, got in yesterday, any recommendations? We rented a car and are just planing on driving around the island. The roads are a eye opener here for sure, after flying all night drove from Dublin to Bangor , get the full insurance package!

Because of the nature and legal structure of auto insurance in Ireland, get the "SuperMax" coverage. Do not rely upon your credit card's coverage. At first blush, rent a cars seem like a bargain, but the insurance raises the rates to normal.

algonquin said:

My wife and I are in Northern Ireland right now, got in yesterday, any recommendations? We rented a car and are just planing on driving around the island. The roads are a eye opener here for sure, after flying all night drove from Dublin to Bangor , get the full insurance package!

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When you get over to west coast, the city of Galway, we stayed in b and b in the Latin district. Thats like Temple Bar district in Dublin. Great music food and lots of old stuffs to see. Dine on Monk fish...! That's a real ugly fish, but delicious. Texture like lobster, sweet and yummy.
North of Dublin are these Old Neolithic domes built as tombs before the Pyramids. It's in county Meath, north of Dublin. We stayed in Swords, near there.
Every town seems to have a castle worth seeing.... and friendly pubs everywhere...!

yes we got the full deal on rental insurance. It was recommend to get rent car locally. As in a web site ending in .ie versus .com.
The Gravity Bar on top of the Guinness Store, redeem your ticket for a "fresh" pint, enjoy the 360 degree view. !

here's a picture of the neolithic domes.
We stopped at an Aerfort, and wondered why they have bleachers? They had a real nice grass runway. Nobody around when we were there.

Thanks for the suggestions, we will look for the places. Today we toured Belfast and then drove to the nort coast, portrush. Just wonder how much a rim on a brand new Beamer is gong to cost the ins. Company, man those roads are skinny,lol.

algonquin said:

Thanks for the suggestions, we will look for the places. Today we toured Belfast and then drove to the nort coast, portrush. Just wonder how much a rim on a brand new Beamer is gong to cost the ins. Company, man those roads are skinny,lol.

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You should feel right at home, you drive down the middle back in Seldovia

Glenn