My brief 2-week itinerary in UK (for first timer)

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.

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:

• Leonardo Hotel London Heathrow (GBP 68/night/room)
• Golders Green Guest House (GBP50/night/room) 

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 :-)

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.

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 :-)

 

Day 4: Cardiff

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?

 

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

 

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.

 

 

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!

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.

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.

The Shambles

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.