1

BHX airport is closest to Wolves
but as your thinking of going to Bath
you could fly to Bristol BRS with AERLINGUS.COM /
from JFK via Dublin
only 20 miles away
use NATIONALEXPRESS.COM /
to Wolves and back.

Edited by: yofletch

2

#1 But that's after the show, not before :) So maybe JFK to DUB to BHX, then back BRS to DUB to JFK.

Alternatively OP, consider an open jaw. United do one flight a day out of Newark to BHX, but there's nothing out of JFK. You could take that, then return back to the US out of either Manchester or London Heathrow, both of which have multiple options. If the flight into BHX is too expensive (and it could be), fly into Manchester or HEathrow and then take a train or intercity coach. http://www.transportdirect.com will tell you how to get from the airports to Wolverhampton.

PS - Concert aside, if I was you I'd minimise my time in Wolverhampton to as little as possible. It's not that pleasant a place to be.

3

Hi.... Welcome to Thorn Tree.
As a longshot....
JFK-Manchester. Non-stop and about the same price as with a change on other airlines.
From Manchester Airport to Wolverhampton by train is 1hr 20m. Change just once - at Crewe.
Cheapest advance fare.... £11.20.
Just an idea.

4

Bath is an option but there's plenty to see even closer to Wolverhampton. For example, the cathedral cities of Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester, the fantastic countryside and historic small towns of Shropshire and Herefordshire, the Industrial Revolution museum at Ironbridge, and so on. Some of these will be a bit easier with a car than by train, though not impossible on public transport.

5

In case you hadn't noticed, BHX is too close to either London or Manchester for there to be internal flights. So to land in BHX you'd have to go via somewhere like DUB or AMS, as people have suggested, that have regional flights to BHX.

You might prefer to take a direct flight to London or Manchester, and then use surface transport to get to BHX. As has been pointed out, the surface journey from Manchester Airport would be easier. But you might like to think about where you are staying overnight. Wolverhampton is not a place many tourists choose to stay.

6

Good walking and cycling around Cannock Chase.

7

My thanks to everyone. Very much. I'm thinking flying to Manchester and finding my way from there is sounding good. I also really like maritime history. Does anyone know anything about Portsmouth or Ipswich or Plymouth?

8

Yep, whaddya wanna know?

9

Portsmouth has a historic naval dockyard with a collection of sights, including HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship) which is impressive, plus the ironclad warship Warrior & the remains of Henry 8th's Mary Rose, which sank just offshore. There's also a naval history museum. If you google it you'll get more details. You can get a ticket for the whole thing, would fill a day if that's what you're into. Nearby you can walk the old walls around the old bit of the city and then follow the path into Southsea, a seaside resort with a decent shingle beach. There's also Henry 8th's castle Southsea Castle and the D-Day museum as well.

If you're into naval history, Portsmouth is probably the best choice from the three you mention, and probably the easiest to get to. It's 90 minutes on train from London Waterloo if that helps. Although it takes about four hours by train from the midlands. There's probably a bus.

It's my hometown. It's an interesting place for naval buffs and has some really interesting stuff but probably you'd only want a day there.

10

I'm thinking flying to Manchester

That option of changing in Crewe, was just one of quite a few choices.
You can also change at Manchester Piccadilly, Wlimslow - and Stockport.
Plenty of routes to choose from.

11

If you're flying into Manchester and you want to see somewhere with maritime history then you can do no worse than to visit the city that was once the largest and most important port in the former British Empire: Liverpool.

It's much easier to get to than Portsmouth, Plymouth or Southampton from Wolverhampton as it is on the direct train line from London to the North West. Liverpool is only 35 miles from Manchester and there trains between the two cities about every half hour.
There is the excellent Liverpool Maritime Museum that charts Liverpool's maritime history back over the centuries. There are parts of the museum dedicated to two of history's most tragic ships: Titanic and Lusitania. Remember they were both registered in Liverpool with White Star and Cunard respectively.

Sadly one aspect of Liverpool's maritime past was that it was the main European port involved in the Atlantic slave trade. But today the city tries to make amends for the past with the excellent International Museum of Slavery that tells all about Liverpool's past as the hub of the slave trade and of the misery of slavery.

The area around the Albert Dock, the Pier Head and William Brown Street is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site called 'Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City' and the are lots of places to visit there.

Liverpool has reasonably priced accommodation, has far better shopping than Portsmouth, Plymouth or Southampton (it's a much bigger city) and has great nightlife - this was the city that gave birth to The Beatles and yes, there's also a museum dedicated to them!

Have a think about Liverpool.

12

I'll second that - I'm not even particularly interested in maritime history, and I found the Merseyside Maritime Museum absolutely compelling.

Portsmouth is also a good bet on that front.

Ipswich is a pleasant enough town in an interesting part of the country with lots of history, but it doesn't have anything comparable to Portsmouth or Liverpool from a visitor point of view.