UK travel

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I hope to travel in the UK in the near future. I'm psyching myself up for next year, all being well.

A friend of mine travelled in the UK, spending a month there touring it by train, staying in London, Bath, Wales, York, Edinburgh, Inverness.

I'd love to do something like that. Considering I'd have say 3 weeks, what should be on my itinerary for the most varied cultural experience one could have in the UK? Not just tourist cities, as my friend's tour tended to entail. But in addition to that, which areas should I go to have experience of both ends of the socio-economic spectrum? Can anyone give any useful pointers on that?

My main concern, I guess, is the UK tends to be more liberal than the rural, southern environment I'm used to. Would this make me likely to experience a cultural rude awakening, if vacationing in the UK?

Is there anything in particular you like about the UK? For example do you like any particular music? You could visit places that have a link to bands you like.
It really depends what kind of things you want to see. Do you want to go to museums, or local pubs? Do you like books, or countryside, folk music, or sport.. etc etc.

You might have a rude awakening yes. Depending on where you go. But there are still some conservative areas in the UK, eg where I live is rural, pretty similar to how it was 50 years ago.
I could make some suggestions, but I'd like to hear your interests first.

Well, I'm most interested in the social aspects of the UK (or anywhere I travel to). Like social history, and the whole socio-economic state of life now, as well as history in general. Definitely museums would be a good pointer for that. So would the local pub thing, because I'm very interested in how the social scene is.

Where in the UK are the worst health records (obesity etc.)? And conversely, the best health records and fittest population?

Where in the UK is life most grim and gritty? And conversely, where's the best quality of life i.e. "happiest" parts?

What are the most liberal parts? Somewhere like London? Or university cities like Oxford, Cambridge? I'm slightly surprised if what you say is true that places like that would be a rude awakening, but it's one of the things I'd want to see as part of the whole experience of visiting the UK.

These things would help me consider where to go for the most rounded, diverse view.

I've always had this life long dream to travel across the UK with a tour group. A month long tour would be ideal, so that I could see almost everything.

For culture why don't you visit Liverpool we're rich in culture here, we were an European capital of culture back in 2008.

The best way of finding out about things like that, in the modern world, is to start routing through photos of the UK taken by UK-based photographers. Like myself, for instance.

Also, you might want to try a book called Welcome to Anytown by Julian Baggini, in which he spends six months living in the most statistically 'normal' part of the UK, S66 (on the outskirts of Sheffield in South Yorkshire).



The pub scene is in serious and terminal decline in this country. There are something like 50 pubs closing every week. Many of them have turned from being pubs into eating pubs or even restaurants just to survive. High taxes, the smoking ban and the often unpleasant atmosphere of a lot of pubs (due to deciding to cater to yobbish clientele) mean that a large proportion of the population simply stays at home with their bottled beers or 'tins' of mass-produced, industrial lager.



For obese people, I'd say probably somewhere like Glasgow. What would you be trying to prove by this, though? We have a lot of denormalisation and discrimination of 'unapproved lifestyles' here at the moment - we really don't want other people 'weighing in' as it were.



You'd be better off looking on the Internet for that sort of information.

That said, if there's one thing the British really don't like (myself included) is being looked at like lab rats in some sort of giant experiment. We have enough of this going on at the moment already, with the increasingly authoritarian, "we know what's best for you" nature of the NHS and other agencies.



You don't want to travel to those areas. Most of them aren't safe for the (decent) folk that live there and, as soon as they're able to, they move to somewhere better unless they're stranded there. For outsiders it can be very dangerous. I'd say probably somewhere like the divided areas of Lancashire mill towns or Birmingham, perhaps. Areas of Salford. Areas of Burnley. Moss Side. Inner city areas of Liverpool. Or South London with its gang warfare. Or a lot of Glasgow. Parts of Belfast. They're not sort of places that anyone would walk round unless they really had to and, especially in places like Glasgow or parts of South London, you risk a kicking wandering around these places on your own. The roughest places tend to be council estates, full of benefit-claiming thugs and gangs. Sensible people avoid these areas like the plague.

Put it this way, if you pitched up at most of those areas you'd be regarded with immediate suspicion and hostility. The British are often very suspicious people. That's on top of you being American.



Probably in the nicer areas.



Depends what you mean by 'liberal'.

London would be more of a culture shock to you then the rest of the UK in some respects. It's more of an international city on the world stage then a "British" city in some respects. If you want to emerse yourself in English culture venture to other towns and cities in England.

Oh I have an ex from around there. It's actually Rotherham not too far from Maltby (lot of BNP supporters live there) I sometimes used to go shopping at the Morrisons around there too. Thats statistically normal!? Deary me



Barnsley, by far

Yes - it's almost like London is separate from the rest of the country. It is, as you say, a world city rather than specifically a 'British' one.



English culture varies throughout England though. The people of Lancashire are different, say, from those in Sussex or Newcastle.

As Tequila says, the problem with getting the most rounded, diverse view, is that it will take you to dangerous areas that most Brits would do their very best to avoid. Most grim and gritty tends to be poor parts of cities. Happiest, I don't know, but probably nice upper middle class areas of smaller cities, and more rural areas, although that's debatable. Glasgow has the worst health record I guess. But its still a great city.

You don't need to necessarily travel all over the country to get a rounded view though. For example, Oxford has council estates - Blackbird Leys, working class areas that used to have a good community spirit, but are now being lost because of industry closing and new communities coming in that don't integrate - Cowley, posh areas with lovely big houses - Jericho, Summertown, Boars Hill. Plus of course the centre, which has museums, bookshops, the colleges, meadow, woods, the covered market, McDonalds and Burger King, and a million tourists.

All tourist cities have these extremes. I did my final years of school in Oxford. I love it, but there are areas I wouldnt go to. Yes it has liberal people, but it also has conservative people, and scary rough as hell people. Go for a walk through the colleges early Sunday morning in spring, and it will be lovely, all misty and mellow. Go to Blackwells bookshop on a Sunday afternoon, and you'll find middle class people browsing the shelves. Go to the wrong part of town at 10pm on a Saturday night, and you'll probably see a whole other side to English culture, drunkenness and violence.

3 weeks really isn't very long to see the whole country. If I had three weeks, had a car, and didn't want to just go to tourist areas, I would probably go to some of these places: But you could spend a week in each county really.

Brighton - Very liberal, a bit touristy, but lovely. There are beautiful villages and countryside nearby. Sussex is lovely

Oxford - You can't miss Oxford. But then again I would say that as I love it. Just don't go in the summer.

Coventry - (some might say ugly city, but interesting and has old parts as well as new. Bombed massively in WWII. Has a heart to it.)

Shropshire/Hay on Wye - If you are going to be driving, then this is a lovely, rural part of English/Welsh border. Church Stretton, Ludlow, Leominster and Hay on Wye (best place for bookshops in the country) are all lovely. Ironbridge for the history.

If you want to go further into Wales, Aberystwyth is a univeristy town, Lampeter is small but nice, Caernarfon has character and a castle, Llanberis and Betws-y-coed are ok, Anglesey is like being in another world, and if you go to Blaenau Ffestiniog you will find yourself completely depressed.

Liverpool - Culture, great people, interesting history, fewer tourists. Or Manchester. Just stay in the centre of big cities.

Glasgow - same as above.

Aberdeen - chilly, granite city, ancient university town, beautiful buildings, port, oil, history, North Sea. You could go to Fraserburgh too.

On your way back down the other side, depending where you are flying from, you could visit Newcastle for a more urban experience, or Alnwick for more rural. Scarborough or Whitby (best fish and chips in the country IMO). Leyburn, Skipton or Ilkley for good Yorkshire folk. Leeds for more good Yorkshire folk, but slightly more cosmopolitan/towny, more drug addicts, and a load of students. Bradford for great curries, and thousands of Pakistanis. Bakewell for the pudding, and the Derbyshire dales for beautiful countryside. Lincoln is lovely, Ely is beautiful, Norwich is great, Bury St Edmonds is smashing, Framlingham is small but very Suffolky, and has a castle and good pubs. Rural Kent is still beautiful, try Sevenoaks or Canterbury.

There are a thousand other places you could go to. But those are some of my favourites.

Devon, Somerset and Cornwall are lovely, but take longer to get to and get out of again (esp Cornwall (avoid Newquay)).

Northern Ireland is beautiful, but you'd need a fortnight to do it justice.

Personally I could quite cheerfully miss out London altogether.

If you will be going by train, then you'll find they are expensive and crowded, and don't take you to the places you necessarily want to go to. You'd have to mainly stick to cities, and in the south they all link to London. Trains are better in Yorkshire, where they still link to smaller villages and towns.

Don't go during school holidays. Touristy places like Oxford will be hellish. Go in mid September - October, or April/May/June (avoid the two weeks around Easter). The summer holidays are roughly mid July to late August here.

I've gone on far too much haven't I. Ho hum.

Fewer tourists you got to be kidding me, there been a big rise in tourist numbers over the last few years.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -19715117/

Ah ok. Not been in a while. Bet there's still fewer than the big tourist destinations like Oxford and London.

The city has changed a hell of lot of the last 10 years & still is. My aunt was born her & now lives in the north-east.
She come over there back in 2008 (the last time she was here was about 15 years before), she thought she was in a different city.

birmingham has al lot to offer german market at xmas time sometimes an ice skating rink and there is numerous events in the city centre at times and throoughout birmingham a lot of carboots sometimes in the year and fairs and a lot of places to visit just avoid hawkesley yardley wood billesly and northfield other rougher parts if you can especially busses in these areas cos you get some right little twats hope this helps

Yes - places like York, or even smaller, affluent medium-sized middle class towns. Try otherwise-rural parts of Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Lancashire for these.

I haven't seen a massive amount of my own country so I can only go on my own experiences. The most southerly part of the UK that I've been to with any regularity is Yorkshire and Lancashire, which is where I'm from.



That's true. You can tell a lot about a city just by looking through its inhabitants and looking on Flickr. It helps to watch some British TV or read our newspapers, although that tends to reflect the very worst in British society. There are lots of snippets of The Jeremy Kyle Show on YouTube for instance - when people talk of 'chav scum', they're usually referring to the sort of people that would appear on it. I have my own reservations about the show - especially how they treat their guests, for instance - and Kyle's manner is obnoxiously judgemental and aggressive. Still, it will probably give you a decent idea of the sort of areas you probably wouldn't normally venture into.

In any case, you generally get enough of an idea of the mentality of these feral yob types just by being in town centres.



Indeed. One of the biggest problems in British society is the breakdown of voluntary community and the communal spirit, leading to atomised, rudderless individuals that sometimes have no respect for anything.



That's the thing. Going for a couple of pints in a town centre on Tuesday or Wednesday night shouldn't cause you any problems (although you'll probably be drinking in a lot of empty or nearly-empty pubs). On Friday or Saturday night, though, expect yobbish behaviour and hassle from mindless idiots. It's all about context here.



It isn't. The United Kingdom (ignoring Britain's other dependencies and territories) is the ninth largest country in the European Union and is the third-most populous member state. Granted, over 80% of the population of the UK lives in England but that still leaves an awful lot to see. You can't do the UK justice with just a flying visit. If you're going to come to the UK for a few weeks, I'd suggest just looking at a region rather than flying all over - it can't be done. Britain looks small but it isn't that small. So just try one particular area - Northern Ireland, say, or South East England. Or the north-west, my own area - it has everything you could really want as it's definitely a mix of everything.



Quite socialist in character, politically - part of Brighton has the only Green Party MP in the country.



This is good advice when dealing with larger cities, really. You should be fine in the centre but unless you know where you're going beforehand, ask someone to go with you or do your research.



The home of BrewDog! They don't do tours, though, unfortunately.



County Durham is well worth a look in too. Is mostly very rural but quite friendly. Durham itself is a very, very compact but fascinating city - a bit like Oxford, but in the north-east. Having said that, the friendliness can sometimes come across as nosy, intrusive behaviour at times!



Scarborough is a terrible, rough, grim hole poorly masquerading as a seaside resort. The town centre is dreadful. Avoid!

I have heard many good things about Whitby and want to visit at some point.



SKIPPY!

Yes, an amazing place. The biggest, fattest fat bastard pork pies ever. It is against the law not to stand outside the shop greedily munching on the pie whilst all the gravy falls down your greasy, fat chin while all the staff watch the spectacle. Some fantastic alehouses there too.

Skipton is also not that far from me.



I've visited Northern Ireland five times and haven't got tired of the place yet. It is wonderful over there. Cheap, too, and generally extremely friendly people. They've had their problems over there (and they haven't entirely gone away either) but it is fantastic. Perhaps my favouritest part of the UK.

Just a few of my thoughts.

My Dad lives in Gargrave. I had at least 2 school field trips to Skipton, and 2 to Malham, when I was at school.

I still like Scarborough. Its not the most picturesque, but its got character. Mind you, I like Blackpool too.

LOL. I certainly wouldn't be going to the UK to do experiments on people's health or anything like that. I guess being from the fattest state in America has caused obesity to be a reference point. It's just a way of getting an idea of both ends of the socio-economic spectrum, and certainly here there is more obesity in poorer states and places. I wondered to what extent this might be true in the UK.



Yeah, I was thinking along the lines of general areas/regions for this one. Certainly not so local a level as "parts of" Burnley, or places that size. You don't want to go too far out of central places, for the exact same reason I wouldn't do so in the US.



Not in a political sense. But in a cultural sense, i.e. tolerance for different lifestyles, ethnicities, sexual orientations - as well as people thinking they are too sophisticated.