Traveling to England, Scotland, and Ireland

Love Chester. That said, you needn't much time there.

Ok a few things here

Be forewarned, while the trains system is amazing getting to and from cities. It can be crazy expensive if not booked early enough or traveling on the weekend. I recommend downloading the national rail app and for checking times and book using their website. Virgin Trains are the best and fastest but the most expensive.

Gatwick is not in London, its about 2+ hours drive if traffic is bad to Kennsington. Best bet is to take the train to the London Bridge station. That will put you right on the river.

London is London of course, so much to do and if you are in central London you can walk and tube every where. As for the tube get an oyster card. After you spend like 7 quid for the day on tube rides, the rest of the day is free. Getting to Chelsea and Arsenal is extremely easy by tube.

In London check out the Borough Market and Bank Street Market, tons of amazing food and lots of places to drink. Both are on the south side of the river. They are about a 30 min walk from each other. Basically walking from London bridge to the eye. Check out the BrewDog restaurants ( there is like 8 in London), great craft beer with a british twist and amazing food(not british food). We would literally go to them in every city if we knew they had one. Like Manchester, Cardiff, Bham etc.

When in North London checking out Arsenal, go to Camden. Its super hispterish but its fun. Lots of bars and places to eat, also a crazy market. One time we went day boozing there and hit a bar from each different country. Also in north London is the kings cross area with tons of bars and pubs. Kings Cross and Euston are where most trains travel out of London to the rest of the country. Its about a 30-45 walk from there to central London. Back in central London on the north side of the river SOHO is pretty awesome and its right near china town. Again just and insane amount of bars and pubs.

Chelsea really isn't in an area worth visiting other than doing the tour. West London is basically just houses and apartments.


When booking your flights you should be able to get RyanAir from Manchester to Dublin for about 30 euro a piece if you book now. Its the ultimate budget airline so there is your warning. In Manchester the deansgate area is probably your best bet for stuff to do. Everything in central manchester is in walking distance. Getting to either stadium is super easy but you will have to use the metrolink. The city the last 10 years has gone through some serious upgrades and its looks very modern.

Dublin is awesome but Temple Bar area is expensive. I'd say drinking and eating there is more expensive than London. Everyone does the usual checking out the Guinness factory and stuff like that. Central Dublin isn't that big and the airport is about a 45min bus ride away.

Cork or Wolverhampton

(no message)

quote:

---

Are there any stadiums that have very good tours? I would assume Chelsea, Arsenal, or Tottenham could be one of the best choices in London or the Manchester clubs there

---

Well that stadium site is still a construction zone....so I'm going to think that it won't be a good choice this summer.

quote:

---

but I also may look at Swansea, especially since they have been promoted.

---

Be sure to spend time in Edinburgh.

I live in Chester, please try to stay away


In reality, you can do a chester in a day. The walls are the main attraction(about 3km with steps so probably a good idea to take breaks depending on grandparents condition)I’ve never done a tour but I’m told they are good. You can break it up with drinks on the river at the boat house, or stopping at coffee shops either on the walls or in the rows (historic but low ceilings).


I’d use the other day to go to Liverpool, 40 minutes on the train ($8 for an all day pass) you can do all the Beatles tours, drinks on mathews street and Albert docks, could do an Anfield tour if you wanted something football related. They also have a cool little museum that is what’s left of the Atlantic front headquarters. You can do a Mersey tour which includes a WW2 submarine tour.


Edit: 30th June is a race day at Chester Racecourse(horses) final race is usually around 5:30, the city centre is small and will be mobbed, the race course is right by the city walls - you can actually stand and watch from them - so I’d recommend booking a table somewhere in advanced - there’s loads of great choices. On the plus side you’ll get to see Scouse and north wales girls at their best aka shoes off and stumbling around

quote:

---

The Scottish, welsh and Irish are some of the kindest most welcoming people on the planet there’s really no way you can go wrong there.

---

We got lost in Dublin and a college kid overheard our convo and literally skipped class to be our tour guide for a couple of hours. We offered to buy him drinks and he refused and instead bought our drinks because he insisted we were guests there and should be shown a good Irish welcome.

As I said, nicest people on earth.

quote:

---

Stamford bridge is a short ride on the tube or taxi from places like Piccadilly or Leicester square, and in Chelsea (obviously). They offer weekly tours of the stadium involving different levels of “VIP”. The area around Chelsea is actually really nice filled with little boutiques and bistros up and down Fulham Broadway, and cheaper than the main tourist area of downtown London.

---

Not even IN Chelsea.
Don't bother with Stamford Bridge, it's got little soul ;)