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Commodore
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| I am heading to London in May 2010 all the way from Australia for a Baltic cruise on Azura. I am wondering if people could please list cities in the British Isles that you think are really worthwhile seeing in my time before a cruise. It can be anywhere in England, Scotland, Wales or even Ireland. To date I have alrady explored London, Salisbury, Winchester and Southampton.
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Senior Captain
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| Tony, I would reccommend a visit to Cambridge, especially in the summer. The architecture is stunning. If you are brave you could even hire a punt on the river and join the undergraduates. Stratford-on-Avon is also worth a visit in my opinion. Finally if you are sailing from Southampton, why not visit Portsmouth. There are a lot of historic naval things to see (Warrior - first iron clad battleship; Victory - Nelsons ship; Mary Rose exhibition (the ship is unfortunately closed for further restoration work) etc.). Slightly out of Protsmouth is Gosport where there is a fantastic submarine museum which houses Holland 1 - one of the first submarines, chariots from the war and also HMS Alliance, a second world war sub which you are shown around by ex-submariners. Cap'n Bob
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Commodore
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| May in the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland can be highly rewarding. A little nearer, the Lake District is more compact and virtually peerless. Nearer still is Bath, worthy of a full day or a short stay, with some absurdly pretty places near by to visit like Lacock and Castle Coombe (if you've watched a BBC "Bonnet-buster" you will have already seen these sort of places). The northern coast of Cornwall for remoteness and ruggedness and its south coast for charm is rewarding. Making one's final way to Southampton and getting off the Motorways for the last hour plus or so, south of Newbury, down the Bourne Valley ("where the Bright waters meet") and down the Test Valley to Romsey and onto Southampton will give you a rewarding time, with a charming pub or two to enjoy a lunchtime repast (The Mayfly, River Test location, is a fine example).
Derek “The Monocled Mutineer” Kane
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\__/|>o<| Last cruise: Aurora R906 06/2009 Next cruise: Oriana X003 03/2010 For cruise history view "Member's interests" "The past is a foreign country - they do things differently there." - LP Hartley - The Go-Between.
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Commodore
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York is very nice. Lots to see and plenty of history....well worth a visit. There are several museums, A viking one, a train one. There's a racecourse but I think there is only racing there in the summer months. There is a large cathedral (bores me but i know lots of people like things like that!). Lots of proper old world pubs too
Carol
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Durham City and the Northumberland Coast-thats if,like me, you love Cathedrals,Castles and open wild scenery
- Dizzydog
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Commodore
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| Tony What a question there are so many...A lot of my favorites have already been mentioned...Can really recommend York, Bath and Portsmouth. May I suggest you have a look at Shearings Holidays...They organize coach holidays throughout the UK and are, in my opinion, very good tours and are great value for money. They run holidays in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland They are here http://www.shearings.com/uk/ Do you like walking, There is a holiday company that organize Guided Walking Holidays to all the best areas in the UK...The Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District, Snowdonia, Scottish Highlands, South Downs and the West Country. Again they are amazingly good holidays and very good value for money. They are here http://www.hfholidays.co.uk/ Hope this helps and if I can assist in anyway then please do not hesitate in asking.
Paul
Next Cruise - April 2010 on Oceana
E007 & E008
Been on -Black Watch, Boudicca, ThomsonDestiny and Ventura
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Commodore
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| The Lake District in England, Giants Causeway and Carrick-a-rede rope bridge in Northern Ireland, the highlands of Scotland, Llangollen in North Wales .. apart from that any airport that takes you to warmer climes is a good attraction :-)
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Commodore
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| Oh Derek, I live a stones throw from Castle Combe, in a place called Chipping Sodbury..Lacock is up the road too from me, and Bath about 6 miles away. Yes Bath is a lovely place to visit. But agree Portsmouth should be a must-see for you Tony, the navy dockyard , the spinnaker tower - which we see when sailing away from Southampton, perhaps a bit of retail shopping in Gunwharf Quays next to the tower.?
Sue - aka Libralass
Cruises in 2009 - May Oriana Canaries, July Celebrity Equinox Pre-Inaugural 2n cruise, August - Oceana Fjords.
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Commodore
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There's so much that the question is unanswerable, in many ways. But one approach is to think of the things you can see in England/UK that are unique to it, or at least to Europe. So I'd personally consider a historically based tour. Go and nod at Stonehenge, because everyone will expect you to, but don't bother spending too much time there: instead look at all the less well known things of a similar age within shouting distance: Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, Avebury, Durrington Walls, ... Then maybe a trip across to Richborough for the Roman invasion, making your way back through Canterbury for one of the great Cathedrals and a historically interesting town. Follow that theme through Oxford and/or Cambridge, for cathedrals, the great Universities and architecture, pausing in Oxford say to spot the memorial to the Protestants who were martyred in the time of Mary Stuart, noting that the memorial is in fact Victorian, and therefore pretty recent: reflect on why it came to be erected then ... Maybe then a trip up to Ironbridge, for the start of the Industrial Revolution. If you can get up to the north-east there are plenty of places worth a look or a long visit. Another spot to ponder on life in general is the Collingwood monument at Tynemouth. At the time of the battle of Trafalgar communication between ships in the middle of a battle was a bit tricky, so while Nelson was commander of the fleet, in practice almost half was delegated to Lord Collingwood to command. Nelson is, of course, world famous, with statues in Trafalgar Square and in the Caribbean; Lord Collingwood is near forgotten.
Regards,Dave McG
hhhhh milliHelen: The unit of beauty needed to launch one ship hhhhh
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Commodore
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Idiot, that I am! I meant Mary Tudor, of couse, not Mary Stuart.
Regards,Dave McG
hhhhh milliHelen: The unit of beauty needed to launch one ship hhhhh
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