Bath is a beautiful city in England. It is one of my favourite places to visit. It is a blend of Roman, Venetian and British culture. I took train from London Paddington to Bath Spa. It took about 2 hours from Paddington station. I chose the direct train. One can also take the change route via Reading. I think direct trains are the best.
Previously, i planned to stay for one night in Bath. So i booked accommodation in University of Bath- city centre campus. However, when I was in London, i changed my mind and decided to extend my stay for one more day. However, i did not get accommodation at city centre campus. I got one in the main campus which is 15 mins from the main city by bus. I took the U1 bus from the bus station which was opposite to the rail station for the campus. Buses U1/17 go to the University of Bath. The university is known for medicine and sports. The campus is located on a vast expanse of land. As you enter the campus, you can see huge grounds for sports- horse riding, lawn tennis etc. Being holiday season, there were fewer students in the campus. I checked in my room, took nap for a while and headed back to the city. The bus stop is inside the campus near the Lime Tree restaurant.
The city is very beautiful and gives one a feeling that one is in Rome. The architecture is old and fascinating. The houses and lanes leading to these houses are narrow and elevated. I chose to walk about the whole city. There is no need to take bus. If you are a walker, you can easily walk about. All attractions are close by. I got down at North Parade where the beautiful Parade Gardens is situated. The ticket to enter the gardens was 10 pounds. The garden was beautiful with flowers blooming all around. One could see Pulteney Bridge from the gardens. The bridge was built many centuries before and it felt nice to walk on one of the oldest bridges in UK.
Thereafter, i went to the famous Roman Baths ( that is the main attraction, of course). The person at the ticket desk told me it was best to visit the Baths in evening because the crowd in evenings is 10% of the morning crowd. I bought tickets and went straight in. As expected, the crowd was very less and I could enjoy the whole place thoroughly. Lot of history is buried in that place. One can take audio sets to know more about it.
I took the opportunity of an extra day in Bath to explore Stonehenge. The Scraper tours is a small group tour which organises day tours to Stonehenge. I booked it the day i arrived at Bath; cost me about 36 pounds. The tour was at 2 pm. In the morning, i visited the Abbey. It is the second oldest cathedral in UK after the one in Liverpool. There are tower tours which take you to the top of the Abbey. There are 212 steps to reach the top. The tour is for an hour or more. I took the tower tour. The guides gave an interesting account about the bells, how they worked and bit of history of about the cathedral. The cathedral is a Parish one.
There are nice cafes and pubs around the city. Oh i forgot to mention you must visit the Sally Lunn's house. It is supposed to be the oldest house in Bath made in 1482. The lady living there used to make buns. It has a small museum down there.
The way to Stonehenge was very scenic and idyllic. Great views all around. We started at 2 pm and came back to town by 6.
In the evening I walked towards Royal Crescent. The sight was absolutely marvellous. There is a big lawn in front of the Royal Crescent to sit and relax.
Bath is a beautiful town to spend summer. One cannot get enough of the place. It is must see when you are in UK.
Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
My next stop was the home of literary genius- Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is small quaint town situated on the banks of beautiful river Avon. I took the train from Bath Spa to Stratford-upon-avon. The journey had three change routes via Bristol and Birmingham Moor Street. The entire journey was for about 3 hours. I had five hours to spend in the town. Unfortunately, there was no facility in the station for left luggage so i had to carry with me. Luckily, i found a cloak room in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre(RSC) which had a cloak room and they accepted my luggage. The first thing when you are in the town is to visit the birthplace of W.S. There was a huge queue outside his house and with the ticket one could visit his private gardens where he had spend most of his time writing books. I chose to skip that as i did not have much time in hand and i wanted to cover almost all the attractions in the town.
The next thing i did was canal cruise on river Avon. It was a nice 40 minute ride with swans and ducks paddling the waters; lovely view of the gardens where WS spent his time in the city; some people rowing the boats themselves. The whole experience was tranquil and soothing to eyes.
After the boat ride, I walked towards the Holy Trinity Church where the grave of the writer lay open. The Church was close to from where boat ride started. It felt nice to walk on the streets of one of the oldest cities where the famous author lived his life. The buildings were made of red bricks. It was a small quiet church the walls of which displayed stories of how the author baptised himself.
Next to the church was a park where a small theatre group was acting to the play- Antony and Cleopatra. The city seemed to be drowned in the plays and quotes written by Shakespeare.
I could not have missed to visit the school where the author studied. The exterior of the school seemed very old and it was evident that this was one of the oldest schools in the town. I went in and bought the ticket. As i mounted the stairs, my eyes could not ignore the frames hanging on the wall. The frames had names of headmasters who ruled the school for each decade starting from 17th century. Besides place of study, the classroom used to serve the place for rehearsal of plays enacted by students. The tables were inscribed with handwritings of students who studied in the school over the centuries.
As i left the building, a weird feeling dawned upon me upon thinking how it would have been in those days i.e. in an era when the world of literature got a new meaning.
Day 2- I decided to go to Liverpool (the land of Beatles and soccer) and visit the museums. I took a train from Stockport station and arrived at Liverpool Lime Street station in about two hours. The weather was cloudy and it rained in the morning. As i came out of the station, i looked for the tourist information centre. In UK, the first thing you should do is find the tourist information centre (the sign is 'i') before you start exploring around. I followed the sign post for Albert Dock which is the main attraction of the city. The dock dated back to many centuries old - the world war. It was bombed during the war. You must visit the museums to know more about the history of the place.
As i walked down the streets, many pubs met my eyes. Liverpool is also a party place and known for its night life. It was chilly and windy because of rains. I went to the museums in the Dock area and thereafter made my way to the ferry ride. The ride was for an hour. I climbed up to the top of the ship and stood near the edge. The view was breathtaking with winds blowing across the face. Had a cup of coffee to keep myself warm. Post the ride, i went to the Beatles Story. I booked the tickets beforehand to avoid standing in the queue. The entire tour was for two hours. We got audio sets for each section of the tour. It felt as if i entered into an era of Beatlesmania with songs playing in the background, TV shows running and posters of Beatles everywhere on the wall. The tour would take you to each decade of Beatles starting from how they formed the band to the break up. The best part was the quotes written by John Lenon on God, religion, peace, music, life, Yoko. I could imagine what it would have been like to be back in those days when the band was in their blossoming period.
The tour would leave you with the song of Imagine and the lyrics displayed on the white wall. The whole experience was drowning into the golden era of music.
The next thing is saw in the city was its oldest cathedral. It is the oldest one in UK. The second one is the Abbey in Bath. As i walked towards the cathedral, i saw multitudes of people dressed in suits coming out from some place. When i reached the cathedral, i found out there was a graduation ceremony taken place right inside. The cathedral looked magnificent and splendour. The interiors were breathtaking and left me in awe. I looked around for half an hour and made my way towards the rail station.
The day was good and i was returning with lot of memories.
Day 2- I decided to go to Liverpool (the land of Beatles and soccer) and visit the museums. I took a train from Stockport station and arrived at Liverpool Lime Street station in about two hours. The weather was cloudy and it rained in the morning. As i came out of the station, i looked for the tourist information centre. In UK, the first thing you should do is find the tourist information centre (the sign is 'i') before you start exploring around. I followed the sign post for Albert Dock which is the main attraction of the city. The dock dated back to many centuries old - the world war. It was bombed during the war. You must visit the museums to know more about the history of the place.
As i walked down the streets, many pubs met my eyes. Liverpool is also a party place and known for its night life. It was chilly and windy because of rains. I went to the museums in the Dock area and thereafter made my way to the ferry ride. The ride was for an hour. I climbed up to the top of the ship and stood near the edge. The view was breathtaking with winds blowing across the face. Had a cup of coffee to keep myself warm. Post the ride, i went to the Beatles Story. I booked the tickets beforehand to avoid standing in the queue. The entire tour was for two hours. We got audio sets for each section of the tour. It felt as if i entered into an era of Beatlesmania with songs playing in the background, TV shows running and posters of Beatles everywhere on the wall. The tour would take you to each decade of Beatles starting from how they formed the band to the break up. The best part was the quotes written by John Lenon on God, religion, peace, music, life, Yoko. I could imagine what it would have been like to be back in those days when the band was in their blossoming period.
The tour would leave you with the song of Imagine and the lyrics displayed on the white wall. The whole experience was drowning into the golden era of music.
The next thing is saw in the city was its oldest cathedral. It is the oldest one in UK. The second one is the Abbey in Bath. As i walked towards the cathedral, i saw multitudes of people dressed in suits coming out from some place. When i reached the cathedral, i found out there was a graduation ceremony taken place right inside. The cathedral looked magnificent and splendour. The interiors were breathtaking and left me in awe. I looked around for half an hour and made my way towards the rail station.
The day was good and i was returning with lot of memories.
London, the capital of UK, is undoubtedly the city of dreams like Mumbai. You will see people running all the time having no time to look up. Life is too fast and living is expensive. The best thing about the city is it has still got the old Victorian buildings kept intact and developed the interiors of them to house malls, offices. The whole city seems to have the archaeological buildings in every street and corner.
I was in London for a day and did the open bus tour. It is also called Hop on and Hop off tour. I visited the website and booked ticket for a day. The ticket is generally valid for 24 hours. There is option to take different routes in the tour and one can choose as per his/her requirement. I knew i did not want to visit few places like Madam Tussauds etc so i took the one which took me other than those places. Honestly, i am not much of a city person. I love countryside therefore, i did not like the city a lot. I saw most of the attractions from outside and did not prefer to go in. I loved the palace. One must visit the Greens Park just outside the Palace. The park is beautiful and one can spend hours relaxing in the park.
I was fortunate enough to watch F1 live in Trafalgar Square. As i got down the bus near the square, i saw hundreds of people circling round the square. The big board right next to the statue had mentioned- F1 live. It was the first time i saw a F1 live. I could see Jenson Button, Alonso and other big names during the race. The cars were breathtakingly awesome and would take you by storm by the sound it makes. I stood for about three hours watching the whole show. There was a Portuguese guy standing next telling me about the F1 cars, names of the drivers (me being naive about F1 cars).It was the best thing happened to me in London.
I went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant called Wahaka. It is close to Oxford Street. The whole day was well spent and especially watching F1 live could not have made it better.
Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland is a beautiful old city. I took a direct train from Stockport to Edinburgh. The journey was for about 3 hours. I booked accommodation at Student Brae House, Abbey Hill. It was 22 mins by walk from the rail station. The next day i visited the Scottish Parliament, Palace of Holyrood in the morning. As I walked up the streets , I saw many highland tours shops arranging for small group tours. I had read about Haggis and Rabbie's. Right after coming out from the rail station, I went straight to the Tourist information centre and booked myself one day tour of Loch Lomond, Kelpies and Stirling Castle with Rabbie's. It cost me 46 pounds. The tour was a day after i landed in Edinburgh.
I was looking for some walking tour to get to know more about the city. Luckily, I found this Haggis Highland Tours office and the staff there helped me book a spot in the walking tour of the city including entrance to the famous Edinburgh Castle. They also booked for me tour of St. Mary's Kings Close Museum and Evening Ghost tour to the vaults. All these city tours were conducted by Mercat Tours. The tour started from St. Giles Cathedral. The walking tour was very interesting and lasted for about 3 hours. The guide had some startling facts about the city and series of events happened over the centuries. All these tours had to tell a lot about the history of Edinburgh. One thing is of sure that the whole city is in buried in history.
I would strongly recommend to take these walking tours, they would really enlighten you about the history of the place on a larger scale. The guides are good and make the whole tour really exciting and interesting.
Oh yes, you must hike up the hill famously called Arthur's Seat - is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland which form most of Holyrood Park. I hiked in the morning and it took me three hours to climb up the hill. The view from was hill was breathtaking and magnificent. One could get a fantastic view of the Castle while climbing up the hill.
The day after I took the Rabbie's tour for Loch Lomond. The tour was really good and the guide along with driver were very friendly. The whole journey was comfortable and exciting. The weather was fantastic as in warm and sunny enabled us to walk around the lake. If you are in Scotland, you have to try Scottish single malt whiskey and a food called Haggis. I heard it could be prepared in vegan style also. In several shops, you would come across cashmere sweaters, suits. Cashmere is a fibre obtained from cashmere goats. They are extremely warm and good for cold countries.
London, the capital of UK, is undoubtedly the city of dreams like Mumbai. You will see people running all the time having no time to look up. Life is too fast and living is expensive. The best thing about the city is it has still got the old Victorian buildings kept intact and developed the interiors of them to house malls, offices. The whole city seems to have the archaeological buildings in every street and corner.
I was in London for a day and did the open bus tour. It is also called Hop on and Hop off tour. I visited the website and booked ticket for a day. The ticket is generally valid for 24 hours. There is option to take different routes in the tour and one can choose as per his/her requirement. I knew i did not want to visit few places like Madam Tussauds etc so i took the one which took me other than those places. Honestly, i am not much of a city person. I love countryside therefore, i did not like the city a lot. I saw most of the attractions from outside and did not prefer to go in. I loved the palace. One must visit the Greens Park just outside the Palace. The park is beautiful and one can spend hours relaxing in the park.
I was fortunate enough to watch F1 live in Trafalgar Square. As i got down the bus near the square, i saw hundreds of people circling round the square. The big board right next to the statue had mentioned- F1 live. It was the first time i saw a F1 live. I could see Jenson Button, Alonso and other big names during the race. The cars were breathtakingly awesome and would take you by storm by the sound it makes. I stood for about three hours watching the whole show. There was a Portuguese guy standing next telling me about the F1 cars, names of the drivers (me being naive about F1 cars).It was the best thing happened to me in London.
I went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant called Wahaka. It is close to Oxford Street. The whole day was well spent and especially watching F1 live could not have made it better.
Best time to visit UK is in the month of July when there is sunshine and days are warm. Having said that, the weather is so unpredictable and it rains very much against the forecast of a warm sunny day.
This was my first visit to United Kingdom. I landed at Manchester and went straight up to Stockport where my aunt lives. Stockport is a small quiet town close to Manchester. The place is more of a countryside with less population and beautiful parks all around.
Day 1- Being a soccer fan, I decided to take a tour of the Manchester United Stadium (one of the largest stadiums in the world). It can house upto 70,000 people. The stadium is witness to some historical matches and it is not to be confused with Manchester City league. They are different from Man Utd. To book a tour, visit the website and book the available spots for the day. Fortunately, i got a place for me the very next day. The tour lasted for roughly 90 mins. My tour group had fans from across the world. The tour guide gave us a walkthrough of the stadium, dressing room, bars (apparently, it was here where The Spice Girls performed and Victoria met David Beckham for the first time and we know the story thereafter) and the feeling of how it is when crowd cheers as we stepped out of the stadium into the main ground with background music running. The whole tour makes you feel nice and acquainted with some interesting facts about the league matches and teams. The guide was very entertaining and made us smile all the way through the tour.
Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland is a beautiful old city. I took a direct train from Stockport to Edinburgh. The journey was for about 3 hours. I booked accommodation at Student Brae House, Abbey Hill. It was 22 mins by walk from the rail station. The next day i visited the Scottish Parliament, Palace of Holyrood in the morning. As I walked up the streets , I saw many highland tours shops arranging for small group tours. I had read about Haggis and Rabbie's. Right after coming out from the rail station, I went straight to the Tourist information centre and booked myself one day tour of Loch Lomond, Kelpies and Stirling Castle with Rabbie's. It cost me 46 pounds. The tour was a day after i landed in Edinburgh.
I was looking for some walking tour to get to know more about the city. Luckily, I found this Haggis Highland Tours office and the staff there helped me book a spot in the walking tour of the city including entrance to the famous Edinburgh Castle. They also booked for me tour of St. Mary's Kings Close Museum and Evening Ghost tour to the vaults. All these city tours were conducted by Mercat Tours. The tour started from St. Giles Cathedral. The walking tour was very interesting and lasted for about 3 hours. The guide had some startling facts about the city and series of events happened over the centuries. All these tours had to tell a lot about the history of Edinburgh. One thing is of sure that the whole city is in buried in history.
I would strongly recommend to take these walking tours, they would really enlighten you about the history of the place on a larger scale. The guides are good and make the whole tour really exciting and interesting.
Oh yes, you must hike up the hill famously called Arthur's Seat - is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland which form most of Holyrood Park. I hiked in the morning and it took me three hours to climb up the hill. The view from was hill was breathtaking and magnificent. One could get a fantastic view of the Castle while climbing up the hill.
The day after I took the Rabbie's tour for Loch Lomond. The tour was really good and the guide along with driver were very friendly. The whole journey was comfortable and exciting. The weather was fantastic as in warm and sunny enabled us to walk around the lake. If you are in Scotland, you have to try Scottish single malt whiskey and a food called Haggis. I heard it could be prepared in vegan style also. In several shops, you would come across cashmere sweaters, suits. Cashmere is a fibre obtained from cashmere goats. They are extremely warm and good for cold countries.
I loved the city of Edinburgh. So much to explore in the highlands. There are plethora of things to do and see. Summer is the best time to visit the place. My next stop was Oxenholme, Lake District. I took the train from Edinburgh Waverly station to Oxenholme. The journey was for 2 hours.
Day 2- I decided to go to Liverpool (the land of Beatles and soccer) and visit the museums. I took a train from Stockport station and arrived at Liverpool Lime Street station in about two hours. The weather was cloudy and it rained in the morning. As i came out of the station, i looked for the tourist information centre. In UK, the first thing you should do is find the tourist information centre (the sign is 'i') before you start exploring around. I followed the sign post for Albert Dock which is the main attraction of the city. The dock dated back to many centuries old - the world war. It was bombed during the war. You must visit the museums to know more about the history of the place.
As i walked down the streets, many pubs met my eyes. Liverpool is also a party place and known for its night life. It was chilly and windy because of rains. I went to the museums in the Dock area and thereafter made my way to the ferry ride. The ride was for an hour. I climbed up to the top of the ship and stood near the edge. The view was breathtaking with winds blowing across the face. Had a cup of coffee to keep myself warm. Post the ride, i went to the Beatles Story. I booked the tickets beforehand to avoid standing in the queue. The entire tour was for two hours. We got audio sets for each section of the tour. It felt as if i entered into an era of Beatlesmania with songs playing in the background, TV shows running and posters of Beatles everywhere on the wall. The tour would take you to each decade of Beatles starting from how they formed the band to the break up. The best part was the quotes written by John Lenon on God, religion, peace, music, life, Yoko. I could imagine what it would have been like to be back in those days when the band was in their blossoming period.
The tour would leave you with the song of Imagine and the lyrics displayed on the white wall. The whole experience was drowning into the golden era of music.
The next thing I saw in the city was its oldest cathedral. It is the oldest one in UK. The second one is the Abbey in Bath. As i walked towards the cathedral, i saw multitudes of people dressed in suits coming out from some place. When i reached the cathedral, i found out there was a graduation ceremony taken place right inside. The cathedral looked magnificent and splendour. The interiors were breathtaking and left me in awe. I looked around for half an hour and made my way towards the rail station.
The day was good and i was returning with lot of memories.
London, the capital of UK, is undoubtedly the city of dreams like Mumbai. You will see people running all the time having no time to look up. Life is too fast and living is expensive. The best thing about the city is it has still got the old Victorian buildings kept intact and only the interiors are developed to house malls, offices. The whole city seems to have the archaeological buildings in every street and corner.
I was in London for a day and did the open bus tour. It is also called Hop on and Hop off tour. I visited the website and booked ticket for a day. The ticket is generally valid for 24 hours. There is option to take different routes in the tour and one can choose as per his/her requirement. Honestly, i am not much of a city person. I love countryside therefore, i did not like the city a lot. I saw most of the attractions from outside and did not prefer to go in. I loved the palace. One must visit the Greens Park just outside the Palace. The park is beautiful and one can spend hours relaxing in the park.
I was fortunate enough to watch F1 live in Trafalgar Square. As i got down the bus near the square, i saw hundreds of people circling round the square. The big board right next to the statue had mentioned- F1 live. It was the first time i saw a F1 live. I could see Jenson Button, Alonso and other big names during the race. The cars were breathtakingly awesome and would take you by storm by the sound it makes. I stood for about three hours watching the whole show. There was a Portuguese guy standing next telling me about the F1 cars, names of the drivers (me being naive about F1 cars).It was the best thing happened to me in London.
I went out for dinner to a Mexican restaurant called Wahaka. It is close to Oxford Street. The whole day was well spent and especially watching F1 live could not have made it better.
There are lot of stuff to do in London. However, I did not have much time to explore the city and moreover I wanted to visit the beautiful Bath!!
Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland is a beautiful old city. I took a direct train from Stockport to Edinburgh. The journey was for about 3 hours. I booked accommodation at Student Brae House, Abbey Hill. It was 22 mins by walk from the rail station. The next day i visited the Scottish Parliament, Palace of Holyrood in the morning. As I walked up the streets , I saw many highland tours shops arranging for small group tours. I had read about Haggis and Rabbie's. Right after coming out from the rail station, I went straight to the Tourist information centre and booked myself one day tour of Loch Lomond, Kelpies and Stirling Castle with Rabbie's. It cost me 46 pounds. The tour was a day after i landed in Edinburgh.
I was looking for some walking tour to get to know more about the city. Luckily, I found this Haggis Highland Tours office and the staff there helped me book a spot in the walking tour of the city including entrance to the famous Edinburgh Castle. They also booked for me tour of St. Mary's Kings Close Museum and Evening Ghost tour to the vaults. All these city tours were conducted by Mercat Tours. The tour started from St. Giles Cathedral. The walking tour was very interesting and lasted for about 3 hours. The guide had some startling facts about the city and series of events happened over the centuries. All these tours had to tell a lot about the history of Edinburgh. One thing is of sure that the whole city is in buried in history.
I would strongly recommend to take these walking tours, they would really enlighten you about the history of the place on a larger scale. The guides are good and make the whole tour really exciting and interesting.
Oh yes, you must hike up the hill famously called Arthur's Seat - is the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh, Scotland which form most of Holyrood Park. I hiked in the morning and it took me three hours to climb up the hill. The view from was hill was breathtaking and magnificent. One could get a fantastic view of the Castle while climbing up the hill.
The day after I took the Rabbie's tour for Loch Lomond. The tour was really good and the guide along with driver were very friendly. The whole journey was comfortable and exciting. The weather was fantastic as in warm and sunny enabled us to walk around the lake. If you are in Scotland, you have to try Scottish single malt whiskey and a food called Haggis. I heard it could be prepared in vegan style also. In several shops, you would come across cashmere sweaters, suits. Cashmere is a fibre obtained from cashmere goats. They are extremely warm and good for cold countries.
I loved the city of Edinburgh. So much to explore in the highlands. There are plethora of things to do and see. Summer is the best time to visit the place. My next stop was Oxenholme, Lake District. I took the train from Edinburgh Waverly station to Oxenholme. The journey was for 2 hours.
My last stop was none other than Oxenholme, Lake District. Recently, it has been recognised as world heritage site by UNESCO. Lake district is one of the most scenic places to see in England. As the name suggests, the district houses several beautiful lakes. As I came out of the station, I went straight for Kirkstone Pass. This is the highest peak in Lake District. En route, the view was breathtaking and left me in awe. The whole area is surrounded by hills with lakes in between.
I spent some hours visiting few lakes. My journey could not have ended on a better note than this.