Europe reconfiguration

[seldear]

Due to some reconfiguration of the Europe portion of the tour, I'll more or less be spending two weeks in the UK.

I was hoping to go to Hungary and see beefree88 and Budapest; unfortunately, several factors work against.

1. The airlines. Budapest is not exactly on everyone's flight schedule.
2. The timing. I was hoping to arrive in Budapest early and leave late, so beefree88 and I could go around the city before heading back to her place. Arriving early/leaving late tends to mean an extra night of hostelling/staying somewhere - again, it's related to airline flights and times of departure.
3. The direction. Budapest is east of London. A couple of hours is not much jetlag, but when you're only going for a few days, believe me, it still wrecks the body.

So no Budapest this year - although, it's on the itinerary for next time. I might travel through Europe by train, rather than fly, and end up in London.

Instead of flying out to Budapest, I was thinking of doing some small travel around England/Wales/Scotland instead. I have no idea how feasible this is, nor how safe for an Australian travelling alone (apparently Australians are the biggest sluts when travelling), but I'd rather like to go west towards Wales...actually, I'd like to see Shrewsbury - home of Ellis Peter's medieval sleuth Brother Cadfael.

Will it be snowing in the UK in November? Or just damn freezing?

At any rate, I have to sort a lot of things out before I get to the UK and start wandering around.

Comments

[loriel-eris.livejournal.com]

It'll be wet, but not snowing or that cold. Tho when I say, "not that cold", I really mean, that it'll mostly be above freezing. Reasonable chance of it freezing overnight (not guaranteed, but likely. January/February is when it gets really cold. November is mostly wet.

All that being said? It's UK (Scotland, for me) - the only guarantee is that there's no guarantee... *g*

Ooh, apparently google is my friend:
November 2005 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/year_review/reviews/nov2005_review.shtml)
November 2004 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/year_review/reviews/nov2004_review.shtml).

Scotland/North of England is usually colder than the south of England.

I have no idea how feasible this is, nor how safe for an Australian travelling alone

I... have no idea. I have no fear of flying down to London myself, nor being in Glasgow/going over to Edinburgh myself. I've never felt threatened in the UK, but I'm native and I haven't done a lot of travelling in the UK. (And I'm also largely oblivious people.)

Also, I find trains expensive in the UK. I have no idea what we're like in relation to elsewhere in the world, but I find it expensive.

[tweets.livejournal.com]

Sunny, if the met-office has anything to say about it! :D

However, plan for cold. Not icey, we're lucky if we get ice around March these days...

[suds-from-aus.livejournal.com]

I have family in Wales, plus my cousin Jess from Tassie is currently there in Penarth. I am so jealous!

[bellalarina.livejournal.com]

I think safely travelling around the UK is just a matter of common sense. Late at night keep to well lit areas, etc.
I recommend asking for info at tourist info centres or bus/rail offices or even libraries. If you want to take a taxi (outside Londons black cabs), phone for one. I usually pick up a card with a number on and keep it in my bag. Or directory enquires can give you a local number. Try ringing 118 118, 118 247 or 118 500.
Trains are expensive (to us anyway) but if you book in advance you can get cheap deals. GNER (up the east coast) is a pretty good service. Virgin (various parts of UK) hasn't got a good reputation but you may get lucky. Sometimes you can get a train/bus deal called PlusBus which gives you free/cheap travel around the city you are visiting.
National Express buses are cheaper for long journeys and local buses often do an unlimited travel for a day ticket.
Multimap.co.uk is a good site. Nationalrail.co.uk has all train times in the UK.

If you make it up to York, I'll buy you lunch. :)

[beefree88.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear that you won't come. I was looking forward to meet you.
Europe is much smaller than you assume it to be, and Hungary is a tiny point in the middle of the continent.There's only 1 hour time difference between London and Bp, and our whole country is 500 km wide at it's widest point. Really I never experienced any jet lag within Europe, so I doubt that would be an issue.
My place is about half an hour from Bp, and the airport roughly the same in other direction, so it's not immpossible to go straight to home or back. It's just reasonable to divide the trip and look around rather than go home than come back to do the same.
1. The airlines. Budapest is not exactly on everyone's flight schedule.
Ummm...which companies you checked? Anyway if you'd like to visit Hungary sometime, I'd recommend you to book your flight as soon as possible. The price difference can be 2 or 3 times between early and late booking.
I'm not trying to convince you of anything, just correcting some facts for future reference.