Question about travel - A Canuck in need of help!

[Veronik 19]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for help on an upcoming trip and would like your input on some things.

I plan to travel for 8 days and would like to cover many towns/areas. Rather than driving, I was thinking of buying a GWR train pass. Do you recommend using this as a main means of transportation in general? I thought I would rent a car at first, but honestly I don’t think I’ll be able to. I gaze out the window too much as it is, the last thing I need is to end up in ditch or a fence somewhere.

I would use London as a “home base”, but would like to visit Cotswolds, the Jurassic coast, Bath & Stonehenge and possibly York. Apart from York, could these other locations be done as day trips? Does anyone know of a tour for the Jurassic coast?

Thanks in advance for your help, tips and comments!

[JFH 12,190]

I am from the Jurassic coast. 

 

People from the UK don't really know much about tours of certain areas because we just drive ourselves there if we want you visit, we wouldn't join a tour group. So Google will need yo be your friend there or nah e TripAdvisor forums.

 

One thing I will say is that many non-Europeans have a very romantic idea of train travel in Europe, particularly the U.K. Trains do not run everywhere - Stonehenge, for example, is in open countryside with no rail station within walking distance. There are buses but it's all very inconvenient and means you are tied to timetables. Likewise to really see the Jurassic coast trains will not help. You could get to Weymouth by train but to get to Kimmeridge and Lulworth, for example, there are no trains. I strongly recommend a car. And if you really want to see the fossils and caves, you need to be where the trains don't go. 

 

The same applies to the Cotswolds - to really see the villages a train won't help much. Trains don't go to the small picturesque villages that people think of when they think of the Cotswolds. 

 

Personalky I wouldn't recommend trains at all. Delays, over-crowding, dirty, expensive...I have no fond memories of them. 

[Londonergirl 133]

I disagree @JFH. I always traveled by train in the UK and it was super easy. I lived in London so I didn't have a car but I went pretty much all over England by train and bus and I didn't have any issues. 

If it's snowing however, then you are better off staying at home, lol. 

[ambrella 62]

Trains are really really expensive here. It's cheaper to fly normally. 

Edited March 11, 2018 by ambrella

[cyclone27 710]

Coaches will get you where u need to go!!!

[Londonergirl 133]

3 minutes ago, ambrella said:

Trains are really really expensive here. It's cheaper to fly normally. 

It doesnt have to be expensive at all, especially if you plan beforehand. 

I used to pay 50 quid return from London to Manchester. 

[JFH 12,190]

1 minute ago, Londonergirl said:

It doesnt have to be expensive at all, especially if you plan beforehand. 

I used to pay 50 quid return from London to Manchester. 

They are good for people who live in big cities such as London or Manchester. But for those of us who live or lived in rural Dorset, it's another matter. If she wanted to go to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, etc then trains might be an option. But the places she wants to go....there are no trains. 

[Londonergirl 133]

11 minutes ago, JFH said:

They are good for people who live in big cities such as London or Manchester. But for those of us who live or lived in rural Dorset, it's another matter. If she wanted to go to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, etc then trains might be an option. But the places she wants to go....there are no trains. 

Yes, I know. But me and my friends traveled to Dorset etc and we never had any issues. I think there is even a bus from the train station to Stonehenge.

[cyclone27 710]

Can book tours as well - remember going Stratford Upon Avon, Warwick, Blenheim Palace,  Bathe ect by coach. 

[Londonergirl 133]

52 minutes ago, Veronik said:

Hello everyone,

I am looking for help on an upcoming trip and would like your input on some things.

I plan to travel for 8 days and would like to cover many towns/areas. Rather than driving, I was thinking of buying a GWR train pass. Do you recommend using this as a main means of transportation in general? I thought I would rent a car at first, but honestly I don’t think I’ll be able to. I gaze out the window too much as it is, the last thing I need is to end up in ditch or a fence somewhere.

I would use London as a “home base”, but would like to visit Cotswolds, the Jurassic coast, Bath & Stonehenge and possibly York. Apart from York, could these other locations be done as day trips? Does anyone know of a tour for the Jurassic coast?

Thanks in advance for your help, tips and comments!

You say that London will be your ''home base''. My questions is, will you stay in London the whole trip and then visit all these places during the day and then go back to London the same day again? 
If I were you I would just go to stonehenge, then travel from there to Jurassic coast and then Bath. Not go backwards and forwards every day to London to all these places. 

[cyclone27 710]

^might be better to look at Oxford as a base so to speak, but just an opinion.

[Veronik 19]

Thank you everyone! This is great, and I guess I’ll be looking at renting a car after all! I would love to just play it by ear once I get there, but hotels were starting to get scarce in York for the dates I was looking at. Maybe I’ll plan part of my trip by train and part of it by car?

In general - and I know I’m probably irritating some with my silly questions - but do most cities have a park and ride type thing? So I don’t have to drive in cities and be a danger to society?

If time allows me, would you recommend Peak District? On my way from York to Cotswolds?

[trudi 1,317]

Park and rides are getting more common (or they were when I left) and most cities/towns have car parks.

 

Peak District - definitely if you can. There are so many places to go, things to see that you'll need to pick your preferred highlights and plot your route accordingly.

Have a great time