UK trip was another fascinating experience for me and my husband.
We have been planning to go out for vacation for several months and had to
reschedule it several times to find a perfect match between my and his work
schedule, and also with other family events. And finally, we made it to
pack our backpacks (yes, it was still backpacking kindda style) and traveled
for 15 days in UK in August – September 2016.
Here is our brief 2-week itinerary (detail story of some interesting places
are still being cooked :-)
Hope this can be of quick reference for a first-timer to go to UK.
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| Our 15-day trip starts from and ends in London |
Transportation
-
Jakarta – London – Jakarta by Singapore Airlines (Look out for a "post Lebaran" promo!)
- BritRail Pass to travel around UK – valid only for intercity trains and airport links. You can buy it from the agent in Jakarta – the same agent of Eurail: dwi@eurail-indonesia.com
- Oyster Card for the ease of using Tube and Bus
- Day Pass – choose the discounted rate of GBP 12.50 for the use after 09:30 (or else, it’s GBP17.50). Purchased from the ticket machine at station.
- …regular local bus paid cash directly to driver. Fare varied from GBP 1 to 3.30.
- The legendary Black Cab – opening rate is GBP
1.8 and can accommodate up to 6 people.
Accommodation
I booked all
accommodation from booking.com. The detail accommodation and its room rate are
mentioned in my daily route detail (keep scrolling down). Please bear in mind
that London is arguably known as the most expensive city in UK for
accommodation, so select wisely :-(
Visa
I’m planning
to write this in detail separately. In short, the visa requirement and process
are similar with applying Schengen visa. I suggest to start applying 3 months
before your departure as the process may take up to 3-4 weeks after the paper
document submission.
Day 1: London
Getting in
from Jakarta by Singapore Airlines
Stay:
London is a
city with incredible wealth of things to see. Since I'm a big fans of local market, I definitely started my trip in this city
with a visit to Borough Market, a local market offering specialties like
organic products, delicatessen, cheese, wines, fish, households, etc. It was
also London’s favorite place to look for a street food and my favorite is
doughnut from Bread Ahead. They’re simply amazing :-)
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| Donuts at Bread Ahead is definitely a must-try! |
If street
food is not your thing, then you can immediately head to Webminster Bridge,
take some snaps with Big Ben and London Eye, before walking through Westminster
Abbey, Downing Street, Victorian Street, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Hyde
Park, Harrods, London Bridge and London Castle.
If you want
to taste a little bit ‘adventure’, go by Tube (the underground metro) and
familiarize yourself with the map, but if you want the easy way, just hop on to
the city-sightseeing bus tour.
Day 2 – Oxford
Getting in
from London by train (1 hour)
Stay: - (back to London)
Oxford was
very easy to get to, especially from London, by trains, busses or cars. There
are several direct trains every hour. The fast train can take you about 1 hour,
with 2-3 intermediate stops.
Oxford city
center was just 10 minutes away by walking from the train station and pedestrian-friendly.
The city was jammed with all the beauty as well as with tourists and students.
Go walk along the High Street, and all the surrounding streets and you will
easily find old buildings such as Oxford Castle, churches, markets, etc.
If you could
set aside more time times, it would be nice to enjoy a tour to a number of
colleges, or even go punting on one of the rivers.
Day 3 – Bath
Getting in
from London by train (1.5 hour)
Stay: University of Bath City Center Campus (GBP105/night/room)
Bath is a
Roman spa city and a world heritage site. It is hard not to see Bath anything
other than a tourist destination, as the city was all about beauty and so worth
visiting. Many attractions are within walking distance one another. You can
start from the Roman Bath where it was easy to spot by the long queue at the
entrance. It is located next to Bath Abbey, the last gothic church in England.
You can then continue to Pulteney Bridge after a relaxing break at Parade
Gardens. My husband and I loved very much to sit back at a park or a bench and
do the people watching or chat around.
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| Victoria Park and Royal Crescent |
Royal
Crescent, the grand Georgian town house is another jaw-dropping view, despite
of some ongoing renovation works. Take another relaxing time at Victoria Park,
right in front of Royal Crescent. If you are a big fans of “Pride and
Prejudice” the masterpiece of Jane Austin, then you may want to pay a visit to
Jane Austin center at Gay Street.
In the
morning (or any given time), a great full-English-breakfast at KingsmeadKitchen is certainly worth considering. It tasted just perfect for me :-)
Getting in
from Bath by train (1 hour)
Stay: Sleeperz hotel (GBP 65/night/room)
Cardiff is
the capital of Wales and often known as a modern city. I would say that one of
the city’s charm is how it embraces the past history to current cosmopolitan
vibe while keeping great space for the natural green. The Cardiff Castle, the
Roman fort, is just few meters away from Millennium Stadium, a modern building
and the largest stadium in Europe. A Bute Park is a perfect sanctuary to relax
from the hustle of the city center. You can also take a boat trip to Cardiff
Bay, a port full of restaurants, bars and cafes. There is also a mini theme
park for kids. If you’re an adrenalin-rush freak, take a speed boat ride with
thrills and screams as it makes 360 degree turns in the water at 70 mph.
Occasionally you can also see a boat race.
If you want
to just relax and perhaps do some shopping, then St Mary Street, Queen Street,
and the Hayes are your battlefield. You can also take a break at one of many
local cafes around this area.
Day 5 – Liverpool
Getting in
from Cardiff by train (1 hour)
Stay: The Z hotel (GBP 53/night/room)
I’m not a fans
of soccer or Beatles and my husband’s favorite football club was Chelsea (not
Liverpool), so why visiting this city? :-) Simply because it was the closest hub to reach Belfast, North Ireland, our next
stop. But, while in this city, why not taking the opportunity to take a
few-hour walk around the city?
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| Beatles statues at Pier Head |
We took a
quick morning walk around the harbor, with notable landmarks such as Pier Head
and Albert Dock, before heading to city center for a quick bite of bacon roast
bread and a cup of coffee, and continued to stroll around the shopping area
near Liverpool One and Liverpool Lime Street.
In the
afternoon, we rushed to John Lennon International Airport by “500” bus from
Liverpool One bus station which took around 45 mins.
If in any
case, you get lost or not sure about the road direction, do not hesitate to ask
“the Scouse” – the people from Liverpool proudly call themselves as The Scouse,
and they’re known to be friendly and helpful people. We proved this twice, when
we were confused about bus route and direction to bus station, we were
approached by local people who nicely asked “Are you lost? Can I help you?”. Oh, such a bless!
Day 6 – 9: Belfast
Getting in
from Liverpool by Easy Jet (50 mins)
Stay: ETAP
hotel (iBis group) GBP 80/night/room
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| Belfast city center |
Belfast is
North Ireland’s capital and still included in UK, while the South Ireland
(capital: Dublin) is not and requires separate visa. From Liverpool, we took
budget flights, Easy Jet, for the cost of GBP 77 (for 2 persons including
additional cost for 20 kg baggage). The plane departed from John Lennon
International Airport, Liverpool and landed at Belfast International Airport
(35 mins to city center by bus). If you take Flybe flight, it will take you to
a different airport, Belfast City Airport.
Alternatively, you can also take a
ferry (Stena Line) with slightly lower cost but take around 6 hours, with two
sailing schedules in a day and no maximum weight of baggage.
Getting out
of Belfast, we took a different kind of transportation, a ferry that took two
hours to Cairnyan port (2 hours from Glasgow). We bought the ticket from
“Travel Center” at Europa bus station at Belfast, with total cost of GBP 56 for
2 persons, including all busses tickets from Belfast city to harbor and from
Cairynyan port to Glasgow city. You can also buy the ticket online. The ferry
took our breath away as we were amazed with the boat interior which was more
like a cruise ship, rather than a crossing ship. Have a try!
The two-day
stay at Belfast was divided into 2 plans – inside and outside the city.
When going
around the city, we took the simplest way – a hop on hop off bus tour. The tour
took us around the central, south, north, west and east side of the city. It
was so interesting to listen to a story of Belfast narrated by the tour guide
and see the reflection of the story right in front our eyes. The bus ticket
valid for 48 hours.
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| Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge |
As for the
tour outside the city, we decided to go all the way up to the north coastal
route with the great Giants Causeway as the main highlight. The journey included several
interesting stops like Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, whiskey distillery (with
whiskey tasting too!). The trip was worth taking, but be prepared for a long
walk which included a medium level of hike, and get your wind-breaker on hand.
Really.
For those
two tours, we paid GBP 30/person.
Day 10-11: Edinburgh
Getting in
from Glasgow by train (1.5 hour).
Stay: Cowgate hostel (GBP 61/night/room)
Similar to
our stay at Belfast, we had a day in the city and another day going a little
bit (if 600 km is ‘little’) further from the city.
Arriving
Edinburgh, we were greeted by rains and hilly path. With heavy backpacks, it
was certainly quite a challenge for us to walk from train station to look for
the address of our hostel. However, this didn’t stop us from going around this
beautiful city, especially when our hostel was only 5 mins walking from the
city center and 10 mins from the castle. However, there’s no harm in being
prepared with raincoats or umbrella.
If you're keen of visiting some haunted places, then Edinburgh is the place. Join a ghost tour that will take you to the underground vaults, taking you back to the terrifying past of Edinburgh. Since I have enough viewing this kind of things in real life, I gave it a miss. I'd rather spend the night enjoying good meal at the corner of a good café.
For me
personally, the second day tour was some kind of highlight of the trip. I super
love it! We went on a bus tour to the Scottish Highland, a mountainous region
encompassing northwest Scotland. During the 12-hour trip, we were immersed in
the beauty of the landscape characterized by dense forest, towering peaks, and
many lakes that together outrageously beautiful view. During the whole trip,
our bus driver from Timberbush, Laura (yes, she’s a female, driving a biig bus), provided good spirit and stories in entertaining manners. It's hard not to consider her as walking story book, as she knew a lot about the
area, including detail numbers – the population, the depth of the lake, the
years of ancient history!
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| Take the front seat in the bus for a better view |
I strongly
recommend you to take this tour when visiting Edinburg (or Glasgow). Similar
tour were also offered by other providers.
Day 12-13: York
Getting in
from Edinburgh by train
Stay: iBis
Center York (GBP 69/room/night)
York is one
of my favorite cities in England. Every corner of the city seemed to cry out
for exploration, starting from the very first spot when we arrived by train.
The station itself was an attraction and was voted the
'nicest' station in the UK in 2007. The city center is small enough to walk
from one side to the other in minutes.
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| Walking down the city in the evening was such a joy |
For me, the
best time to enjoy York is in the evening when the dark has fallen. Go walk
around the alleys, enjoy the dimming lights and all the interesting window
display of the many shops, mesmerize with the majestic York Minster, and walk
along the river side. It may bring out your romantic charm, especially when you
walk with your loved ones.
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| The Shambles |
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| Clifford's tower |
However, you
certainly can’t miss the daylight walks, especially around The Shambles – the
narrowest and most crowded street in York. Have your lunch at one of nice local
cafes or an afternoon tea at Betty’s. Among the attraction at York are
Clifford’s tower, York Minster, Ruins of St. Mary’s abbey, York Castle Museum,
etc.
Day 14: Cambridge
There was
not much I can share about the city as we have an unfortunate condition of
feeling unwell and exhausted. So we decided to give the city a miss, and take a
good rest at our very nice accommodation at Circus Drive.
Day 15 – Bicester Village and London
Shopping at
Bicester Village was a sweet closure to our trip. Bicester Village was
reachable by train from London Marylebone station for around 45-50 minutes. The
train runs every 30 mins and stops right in front of the shopping area (how
wonderful is that?!).
Bicester
Village is a shopping area which offers many international branded items at
special price. For shopping goers, this place is certainly a heaven-on-earth! For those who are not, but have to accompany your spouse, don't worry, the place has a wide range of cafes with good Wi-Fi connection.
If you plan
to go to Bicester Village before heading to airport for a fly back home, please
do plan it carefully as you may lost the time track with all the shopping.
Please bear in mind that you still need to transfer to Paddington station to take
Heathrow Express to airport, while the train to/from Bicester terminates at
Marylebone station. From/Paddington station from Marylebone, you can take Tube – Bakerloo line – or by bus no. 205.
If you are
going to claim a tax-free, do come to airport at least 4 hours before your
departure to allow you enough time for the long queue at tax-free counter.
Otherwise, you will have to let go and walk through the check in process, just like
I did :-(
So, that
would be all for now. I’m
currently collecting all my mood to write further and jogging memories to share
the detail experience of some interesting places that we have during the trip.
