travelling in England

Hi everyone. I don't use this board nearly enough, but I thought I'd ask for tips on travel in England. I've lived in London for over four years and would like to hit some places in the UK I still haven't been to since I'll be leaving by May. Can anyone recommend a nice rural trip, say to the Cotswalds, Yorkshire Moors, Cornwall or the Lake District, which is possible to do on a modest budget and without a car? The nearly frigid climate at the moment may dissuade me from even leaving my house unless absolutely necessary, but I do have a down coat! I've been (though not in the past few years) to most of the basic tourist sights (Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Stratford) and went with my husband when we had a car as he  learned to drive on the left. (No car now, I'm afraid.)  My ideal trip somehow involves going to a run-down industrial Victorian city followed by a very, very long rural ramble with hills, sheep and unseasonably warm air, with perhaps a stay in a farm cottage. But it all must be accessible by train from London! Any tips would be so appreciated! I'm looking for a trip of between two and four days.

Come to the Isle of Man

You can train up from London to Liverpool and then take the ferry over to the IOM. If the ferry is running from Liverpool (I think they only do the weekends in the winter) then it would be a train up to Heysham up by Morecomb and then a ferry over Heysham. You can buy whats called a boat/rail ticket that incorporates the 2 modes of transport.

OR

it may be cheaper to fly from Gatwick or London City

We have a HUGE diverse landscape...and there are farm house that have rental cottages.


http://www.visitisleofman.com

Those are good ideas!

You could also take a train to Penzance and then use local transport or rent bicycles if you wanted to check out the countryside.  Penzance (no where in Cornwall for that matter) fits your description of a run-down Victorian city, but it's gorgeous down there!

The South coast is lovely (and slightly warmer this time of year). You can get a high-speed train down to Brighton, and from there...East or West to any number of lovely towns. (I'd give a shout-out to Rye, but it's a tad older than Victorian).

Look at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ for train tickets.

Tickets go on sale 12 weeks in advance of the date of travel.  The earlier you book, the cheaper the tickets, so make sure you keep an eye on the date. 

You can also look at getting a Network Card, which costs £20 and gives a 1/3 discount on travel on certain trains.  Or, if under 25, you would qualify for the Young Person's Railcard http://www.railcard.co.uk/

Finally, if you are considering travel with friends, you may be able to take advantage of Groupsave http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/groupsave.aspx

One other thing - If you get on the mailing lists of the various train companies, you can get early notice of special offers.  National Express, who run the London/Newcastle route are often good at this, and you can also look out for coach discounts on their website.

Enjoy!


Vicky

There's always the Peak District- quite a few of the small villages are accessible by rail (from London, changing at Derby or Sheffield.)  It's gorgeous and great for rambling, but I'm afraid this time of year it's certainly not going to be unseasonably warm- you'd need to bundle up!

Get a train to Leeds (some wonderful Victorian buildings and some run down corners if you look around. You could get a half hour train to Saltaire to see the Italianate alpaca mill and model workers village (www.saltaire.yorks.com/)  You could get a train out to Keighley (takes about an hour) and a bus from there to Haworth (www.haworth.yorks.com/)  where you could find a nice B & B and country walks from the door, not to mention the Bronte Museum.  Or from Leeds station you can connect with the Settle to Carlisle railway (www.settle-carlisle.co.uk/) which stops close to several nice villages in the Yorkshire Dales, and gives you a comfortable train ride through stunning scenery.

I love walking on the Cotswold Way.  Quintessentially English countryside, beautiful views, hilly but not mountainous.  My avatar is a photo I took on it.  Several towns and cities have good access to the the trail and are on train lines from London.

http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/Cotswold/

Leeds ,Bradford ,Halifax, in west yorks and Whitby (the place where Bram Stokers Dracula
first set foot in England) and York in north yorks would be a my choice . A good mixture of Industrial heritage , history and stunning scenery.