Plans for tea and adventure

[tardis_stowaway]

O wise friends list!  I need to draw upon your vast knowledge.  This summer, I'm going to be going to the UK for two months.  SWEET, huh?  I'll be spending a sizable chunk of that time doing WWOOF and helpx, programs where you volunteer your part-time work on organic and small farms in exchange for room, board, and learning new skills.  When not on farms, I'll be attending a friend's wedding and traveling around sightseeing.  Due to farmers being slow to get back to me, assorted other delaying factors outside my control, and my procrastination (mostly the last), my itinerary is still really undecided.  I know some of you have traveled or lived across the pond, so I would like your advice on where to go and what to do.

Here's where I'm definitely going:
1.  Aberystwyth, Wales.  This is where my friend is getting married in mid-July.
2.  London.  This is where my plane will land, and I plan on spending at least a couple of days there.  Not too long, however, as London is really expensive.  A stay in London will definitely involve seeing a play at the Globe.
3.  Cardiff.  I can't be in Wales and NOT detour to Cardiff so I can stand in the Plass and try to figure out exactly where the invisible lift is.  The fangirl in me must have her squee!
4.  The somewhat random town of Telford, England (it's in Shropshire), where another friend of mine lives.

Here are some factors to consider:
1.  I am doing this traveling on the cheap.  REALLY cheap, when possible without sacrificing safety.  I'm young and I picked my job for the love, not the paycheck, and part of the reason I'm doing this traveling is that I don't have a summer job.  I'll be staying on farms through WWOOF, with friends, and in hostels.  Yes, hostels, where you share a room of bunks with strangers.  I've done it before and I don't mind.  I prefer to spend my money on activities rather than nice accommodations or fancy meals, though I will splurge on decent restaurants every now and then. 
2.  As you know if you're on this f-list, I am a Doctor Who fangirl.  If you know of anything DW-related that will make me squee, let me know!
3.  I love nature, beautiful scenery, hiking, birdwatching, etc.  However, I have the opportunity to see lots of natural beauty at home in California, so I'm also interested in Britain's historical and cultural stuff.  Castles, ruins, places with relevance to literature and authors, and such are all great.  
4.  I'm vegetarian.  I would love to hear your recs for places to eat that have veg food.

Here's a list of places I'm considering stopping.  Not all of these will be on the final list, so I'm interested in whether any of you can tell me which of these places are totally worth it and which are skippable.  Feel free to add places I should go instead!  In no particular order:
-Oxford
-the Lake District
-Snowdonia
-Stonehenge
- Tintern Abbey
-Scottish highlands
-Liverpool (my friend who's getting married used to live there and keeps raving about it, except when she mocks it)
-York
--possible ferry trip to Ireland for several days, maybe a week.  I'm particularly interested in your feedback on whether this would be worth it, as it would involve the hassle of changing currency and more.  Ferries go from Wales to Dublin or Cork:  which is better?

On previous trips to the UK, one week about three years ago and another back in high school, I've visited Edinburgh (I LOVED IT!), London (where I've seen the Tower, the National Gallery, the British Museum, Kew Gardens, and the outsides of various sites like Parliament), and Sussex (where I traveled with my  high school band.  It was neat, although now rather vague in my memory).  


So, f-list, what do you say?  I've read my guidebook pretty thoroughly, but I want your advice on hidden secrets of awesomeness, what's actually lame, tips for saving time or money, etc.  Anyone want to offer me a free night in a luxurious country estate house?  That's OK too!

Comments

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

As a DW fan, you can't go to the UK without going to Cardiff. I haven't been there since DW restarted, but I know from friends who have been that there are guides available to the filming locations (obviously Plas Roald Dahl, but also streets and neighbourhoods used for Rose's, Martha's and Donna's homes and so on, and the café from Boom Town. A lot of those places you can simply walk to; I know that Sutton Down Beach, used as Bad Wolf Bay, is further away and you'd need transport to get there.

York is a must, too - lovely, lovely city with so much history. The Lake District is also gorgeous, but you need transport!

Ireland - well, you're talking to the right person, since I was born and brought up in Dublin. If you go, go to Dublin because the ferry-ride is much shorter. You travel from Holyhead (about two hours by train from Chester, which is also a lovely mediaeval city, a mini-York), and 90 minutes to two hours later you're in Dun Laoighaire, a lovely port village just outside Dublin. You can take the DART (light railway) and you're in the centre of Dublin half an hour later. Plenty to see in Dublin, from museums to walking tours to classic old pubs, city centre parks and so on. The DART takes you to lovely seaside villages both north and south of the city, and the train ride southside, past Dun Laoighaire, is breathtaking. Currency: yes, you'd need Euros. Worth it? For a week, I'd spend 2-3 days in Dublin, and then get a train or a bus to somewhere like Galway or the Cork/Kerry coast and stay in a guesthouse/B&B. Here's the official Irish tourist board website. If your plans firm up and you'd like to talk more about Ireland, just let me know.

Cheap accommodation: check out youth hostels. There are actually some really nice ones in central London, and they're cheaper still if you don't mind sharing rooms.

May come back later with some more thoughts :) In the meantime, enjoy your planning!

[mysticalchild_isis]

I absolutely and utterly loved the Lakes District and Tintern Abbey. I found a pretty good tour through the International Student House that took us to Tintern Abby, Hay on Wye (a tiny village with more bookstores than anywhere ever), and a couple of close to the border Welsh sites. Also, if you're in Wales anyway, Pembrokeshire National Park was one of the most beautiful places I've been.

Dublin is a freaking awesome city for a lit nerd- the Writer's Museum, Trinity Library, a ton of writer's houses (and a kick-ass Literary Pub Crawl). Not to mention the Guinness Brewery and the Jameson's Distillery...

In London, my favorite museum is the Tate Britain, which has a whole room of William Blake paintings, and huge collection of the pre-Raphaelites. If you like modern art, the Tate Modern is pretty freaking awesome, too.

I definitely highly recommend the walking tours- they're generally pretty cheap, and the tour guides are usually fantastic (England has really high standards). Sherlock Holmes' London, Jack the Ripper, Oscar Wilde, the Beatles, London Oddities... the list goes on, and they're all a blast.

And if you can get there for cheap, I definitely recommend the Scottish Highlands. Especially in the summer.

[minervamoon.livejournal.com]

If you're in London a Wednesday or Sunday night, THE COMEDY STORE PLAYERS. From all my varied Englanding travals, that's really the best advice I can give you.

[kaydeefalls.livejournal.com]

Hostels are awesome. I stayed in a REALLY nice on in London -- private room for quite cheap, more like a B&B.

Stonehenge is worth it. Take the train to Salisbury, which is a really nifty old town with a great cathedral, and from there you can get a cab up to Stonehenge.

If you do decide to go to Ireland, talk to me. I lived in Dublin for a year in 2006, most of my local knowledge should be fairly up to date. There's a day trip bus tour up to Newgrange and Tara Hill that's only about 25ish euros and runs out of downtown Dublin, SO COOL.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for all the info! Very helpful stuff.

Visiting Cardiff filming locations is definitely on the agenda, along with the Doctor Who Exhibition.

I may well hit you up later for more Ireland details. That sounds very doable. Train rides through beautiful scenery are always a plus.

Youth hostels are the place to be. I'm a sound enough sleeper to deal with the shared dorms, and I really like how hostels make it much easier to meet people than traditional hotels.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thanks. I'm glad to hear that Tintern Abbey is good; it's one of the places I really want to see, but I was worried it might end up being so touristed that the appeal is gone. I saw a mention of Hay on Wye in a guidebook, and it sounded exciting. However, I might end up having to throw out all my clothes to make room for book purchases. ;)

Ooh, pre-Raphaelites! I like them. Offbeat walking tours sound good.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

*googles*

Oh, that sounds neat! Thanks.

[tardis-stowaway.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of hostels. So cheap, plus you get to meet interesting people in the common areas. Do you happen to remember the name of the nice London hostel you stayed in?

Ah, good to hear that Stonehenge is worth it. Sometimes things that famous are not all they're cracked up to be (like the Mona Lisa, which is far less interesting than most of the rest of the Louvre).

*looks up Newgrange and Tara Hill* Ooh. That sounds really nifty!