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Then train to either the lakes or the cotswolds (I suggest Keswick or Woodstock) lakes best if you want to get out into the beautiful countryside - cotswolds if you want history (by staying the Oxford side of cotswolds you can spend a day or two there to).
Lastly into London the capital of the world - the main tourist traps are always heaving but you can see a suprising amount of history just walking around the streets if you know what to look for. There's a guidebook called secret london which compliments LP perfectly.
Have a great stay
And, as you seem quite keen on York, this will probably help you with local buses, including connections to neighbouring towns http://www.itravelyork.info/buses/bus-routes-and-journey-times/
I really can recommend the 2 1/2 hour journey across the North York Moors to Whitby on route 845, most of the buses are double deckers and you get really good views of the countryside from the upstairs deck
To me Bristol is a slightly odd place to consider - not that I wish to slight its charms - but it isn't central southern England (think Salisbury, Winchester, New Forest, Dorchester etc) or the south west (Cornwall, Devon, Glastonbury) and not ideal for the Cotswolds by public transport. So what are you aiming to see?
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15
My suggestion, get a cheap flight from London to Newcastle (Englands Northernmost Big City) very historic from a the royalist clashes with the scotts plus it was once a heavily industrialised city which has re-invented itself, now very cool. I prefer it to York as is less of a tourist trap and is a better example of modern England, in York you end up paying £15 to stare a wax effigy of viking... (and before people kick off at me, my family all live in york)Then train to either the lakes or the cotswolds (I suggest Keswick or Woodstock) lakes best if you want to get out into the beautiful countryside - cotswolds if you want history (by staying the Oxford side of cotswolds you can spend a day or two there to).
Lastly into London the capital of the world - the main tourist traps are always heaving but you can see a suprising amount of history just walking around the streets if you know what to look for. There's a guidebook called secret london which compliments LP perfectly.
Have a great stay
16
#11 you could get to Manchester just as easily from Birmingham too. It sounds as though you haven't yet found the websites http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ or, if you really want to see just about every train in Great Britain http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/3828.aspx.And, as you seem quite keen on York, this will probably help you with local buses, including connections to neighbouring towns http://www.itravelyork.info/buses/bus-routes-and-journey-times/
I really can recommend the 2 1/2 hour journey across the North York Moors to Whitby on route 845, most of the buses are double deckers and you get really good views of the countryside from the upstairs deck
18
Question: Some friends suggested Manchester instead of York, what do you say, or are they different from each other? Remember that what I'm after is somewhere centrally based to take 2 day trips to outer nice cities/town, no need to see mountains, but I don't want a dull base.19
They couldn't be more different, really. One's a small touristy city with a great medieval atmosphere while the other is a large(ish) city that while it's not so easy on the eye has a lot more going on in terms of culture/nightlife/restaurants/pubs. And if you want to get away from other tourists the ones that are there fade into the background in Manchester.20
Agree with #19 -York has a population of about 100,000 and is a very historic (and therefore touristy) city. Manchester is 10 times that size and owes its existence to industry and commerce, developed in the last 200 years or so, and is still an industrial centre. Really depends what you want to see and experience while you are in England - I've relatives in Manchester (my father was born there) and I've lived in York, so I can say my personal preference is York, even for the criteria you set, but I can't say what's best for you or whether you would agree.21
OK so, first 2 bases ready (York and London). Now I'm deciding on the other base..its a fight between Bristol and Bath...Bristol looks to be more central especially for trains, while Bath although it looks nice, I'm worried that its not central especially for trains, also I ready that there are too few restaurants in Bath...correct me if I'm wrong.22
Bristol. Much bigger, more buzzy, less picturesque though. And you can do a day trip to Bath easily from there, they are only about half an hour apart by train.23
Bristol over Bath. I'd be curious to know what you're going to see down there.24
I'm beginning to think your plan of deciding where to base yourself and then see what's available for trips out isn't working here in the south west - certainly it is far less obvious than York is as a base and a tourist centre. It would be a good idea to search what interests you and then find a base that is convenient.To me Bristol is a slightly odd place to consider - not that I wish to slight its charms - but it isn't central southern England (think Salisbury, Winchester, New Forest, Dorchester etc) or the south west (Cornwall, Devon, Glastonbury) and not ideal for the Cotswolds by public transport. So what are you aiming to see?
25
OK, so what I want is this...3 centralised bases (not in the center of the country), that from there I can do easy day trips to other cities. One of the base should be London. Now, the other 2 bases should at least have things to see in themselves and restaurants for evening dinner, and they should obviously be nice and should have good transport to other cities for day trips.26
mike9..so York and London, should be OK..what I need to focus now on the 3rd base..am I correct?28
You said that you were going to use Bristol as a base, what are you going to see around the Bristol area? That is what I am curious about. Even moreso as you're only using public transport.
