Shawbrook
Traveller
0 comments
Posted 13 years ago
A mate and me are going to go on an Interrail-trip around Europe this summer and we're going to spend about 1,5 week in the UK, of which about 2-3 days in London. We will be taking the boat from Amsterdam to Newcastle upon Tyne and then head north into Scotland. After that we will go back south and end up in London eventually.
Of course we will figure out our own itinerary, but I have a few questions to get us on the way:
1. Should we stay in Newcastle? We will probably arrive in the morning, and if there's not much of interest there we would rather head to Scotland right away. We're not particularly interested in the nightlife (moreover we don't want to spend money for it).
2. For Scotland, we're mostly interested in hiking, and we also would like to see Loch Ness (or another loch). I was wondering whether places like these are easily accessible by train (or at least get us close to it), or if we will need to use the bus a lot.
3. Any sightseeing recommendations in general? Preferably not in the very south-west.
Thanks!
nltrainer
Traveller
1416 comments
1.your frasing sounds much like UK-are you aware IR canNOT be used in your homecountry?
2. stay in NC or not; infact you have alrteady sumnmed it up, neither do i see any reason to linger there for longer.
3. Scotld-the raillines are patchy and AFAIK Loch Ness, yet another giant tourist trap, is not on or nearby, so that means bus. The rails mainly run to/fro the big towns, Glas and Edinbg. and not between and service is sparse. If that also means you have to use bus often depends on your specific and unspecified itinerary-but there are loads and hondreds of possible hikes from small isolated trainstations. Im am neither UK nor much into hiking, but have notedthat both tourist offices and bookshops there stock enormous loads of hiking maps and advice, so it should not be that difficult.
Tophie
Traveller
6 comments
just a couple of things.....
it may be cheaper to travel Amsterdam to Hull ? its a little further south, but the overnight ferries are often on BOGOFF, then train to York (York is lovely) and has lots of regular trains up north.
Loch Lomand is beautiful in Scotland and not as commercialized as Loch Ness, however if you are going hiking Im sure you will come across many beautiful big lakes etc.
Sophie x
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
Hi!
1) Stay there at least some hours during the day and have a look around. If you do not like it, you can always hop on a train to the north. Sit on the right if you want to have some glimpses of the north sea along the way! ;)
2) [b]Go to Fort William and Mallaig![/b] It is one of the nicest railway lines we have in Europe (and I did not make it yet, d'oh!). If you fit it in at the end of your Scotland trip, you could use the direct sleeper service to London from there to save on accomodation costs. Ben Nevis is close to Fort William as well.
Loch Awe is on the (Glasgow -) Crianlarich - Oban line with two stations at Loch Awe and Falls of Cruachan
Loch Laidon is on the (Glasgow -) Crianlarich - Fort William route with Rannoch station nearby
Loch Ericht is on the Perth - Inverness line, Dalwhinnie station is nearby
Have a look here :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/maps[/u]
3) I moreorless only now the London area and Glasgow/Edinburgh...
Flo 8)
anonymous
Traveller
2469 comments
[quote]A mate and me are going to go on an Interrail-trip around Europe this summer and we're going to spend about 1,5 week in the UK, of which about 2-3 days in London. We will be taking the boat from Amsterdam to Newcastle upon Tyne and then head north into Scotland. After that we will go back south and end up in London eventually.
Of course we will figure out our own itinerary, but I have a few questions to get us on the way:
1. Should we stay in Newcastle? We will probably arrive in the morning, and if there's not much of interest there we would rather head to Scotland right away. We're not particularly interested in the nightlife (moreover we don't want to spend money for it).
2. For Scotland, we're mostly interested in hiking, and we also would like to see Loch Ness (or another loch). I was wondering whether places like these are easily accessible by train (or at least get us close to it), or if we will need to use the bus a lot.
3. Any sightseeing recommendations in general? Preferably not in the very south-west.
Thanks![/quote]
1) Newcastle is a pretty groovy city actually. Definitely worth a day trip at least.
2) To get to Loch Ness, you will need to get a train to Inverness, which is about 3 hours from Edinburgh/Glasgow. I can't remember exactly how to get to Loch Ness but it''s not hard. As mentioned, the Fort William/Mallaig line is definitely recommended. I'd go for a Freedom of Scotland pass, if you plan on using the train a lot in Scotland, and is also valid from Newcastle and Carlisle in England.
3) Sightseeing where exactly?!
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
And if you go up more to the North starting from Inverness, have an overnight stop in Culrain - stay in the youth hostel Carbisdale Castle. I really enjoyed it there. But I think it became a bit expensive the last years. Check the prices before. :)