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August 2013 ESW Trip
We are looking forward to the August 16, 2013 trip, our first with Tauck. What makes Tauck excursions so special? If you have gone on this trip before. what was the absolute don't miss part of the trip? Can't wait!
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Everything that you will do on this trip is worthwhile and enjoyable. That said, you are very lucky to be going on your date, as you will see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This is certainly a "don't miss". I made a slide program of our trip. It can be viewed, if you wish at http://www.photodex.com/share/yelblvd You will be asked to download a short "Presenter Program". This is safe because the website is run by my software program, "Photodex".
Enjoyy your trip.
Bev
Bev, besides the Military Tatoo, which we will not see, any highlights, must-do/must-see to suggest? Thanks!
You will stay at the Hotel Portmeirion in Wales, which is quite an experience. The TV series "The Prisoner" was filmed there and it is like a miniature Disney World.
There are so many wonderful things to see and do on this trip, that it is impossible to list them all. You can see some of them on the website listed in my last post. Watch it on full screen with your audio on.
You will thoroughly enjoy this trip.
Bev
Nancy
We are on the 7 July tour, arriving late morning the day before. We are also looking at things to do for the day and a half prior to the joining dinner, that are not on the itinerary.
Our list includes Rosslyn Chapel - please tell me more about the bus?
Also on our list are the Royal Yacht Britannia and Craigmillar Castle. The castle was on a recent episode of "The Amazing Race," and though a partial ruin, looked interesting and is only 3 mi. from the hotel on a local bus route. I am also, looking at two places to the west in Lothian- Linlithgow Palace (reachable via train) and Hopetoun Estate but not sure how to get there.
Did you get help from the concierge or did you figure out the the bus schedule to Rosslyn Chapel? I thought about visiting one of the the nearby sites in the afternoon after we arrive and save the more distant stuff for joining day. I am also trying to research renting a car and driver so we could do both Linlithgow and Hopetoun, but I suspect the cost might be more than I'm willing to pay.
Any comments about any of this? Anyone else is free to weigh in.
Thanks.
Great video!! A few questions-
When did you take the ESW trip? The reason I ask is that the Rosslyn Chapel website says no photography is allowed inside the chapel and it appears you went to places (on your own?) that do not appear on the current Tauck ESW itinerary.
Could you list places shown in your slide show that you visited on your own?
We are trying to maximize our time during the extra days before and after the tour to see as much as we can. I'm looking at various options and don't want make plans to visit a site included in the tour. For example we plan to visit the Eye, British Museum, Tower Bridge if we can.
Thanks!
Alan
We arrived a day early in Edinburgh and hired a car and driver to go to St. A-n-d-r-e-w-s. It is not as pricey as you might think and the driver, although not a "tour guide," was a former police officer in Edinburgh and knew the region very well. We walked around the golf course (unfortunately, I didn't play St. Andrews) and then took a long ride south through the fishing villages. The driver will stop where ever you want him to and will give advice on some places to stop for lunch or a snack or just to see something worthwhile. The personal service is worth the price and the ride was comfortable after a long flight from the states. I even caught a little snooze in the back of the Mercedes.
Your bus trips are mostly on small back roads where you will visit, or at least drive through, small villages and once in the mountains you will see some spectacular views. We had Corey as our guide and she did a great job.
We also spent two extra days in London. My best advice is to go online and get the "London Pass" which will allow you to forego entry fees to most places you want to visit and in some cases gets you directly to the head of the line. It can also include a variety of days of passes to the transportation system in London. The Tube is an easy way to get around.
If they are still staying in the London Horseguards hotel you will love it. We had a couple of extra nights added to our trip on Tauck's dime, so I have no idea what the charge would be without that service.
By the way, we piggybacked the Best of Ireland tour to this one and it was great as well. There I got to play some golf (rented the clubs).
Thanks!! I assume you went to St. An dre ws?
Could you give me an idea what the car and driver cost for the day? Are there time or mileage factors. There will be two couples, to spread out the cost, but does the number of people make a difference? Thanks again.
Alan
Have a great trip. I hope you report back on your tour. We are taking this tour Sept. 15 and we can't wait to go.
Doing this is actually a great way to see something specific. We did the same thing in Rome and went to see the Amalfi Coast, including a stop at Pompeii, in northern France to see the D-Day Beaches, and in Berlin to visit Potsdam.
I like the suggestion above also. Often when we arrive in a major city (Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul, Athens, etc.) we take the on-off bus to get a "lay-of-the-land." We usually just take the bus all the way around the city the first time and see which sites we'd like to spend additional time at and catch them the second time around.
We often tag a public transportation pass and a museum pass also if we are going to spend extra days in a city. The London Pass and transportation pass will pay for themselves rather quickly, especially if you are going to visit Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Parliament, Churchill's War Rooms (a must) etc., which are not included on the tour. You do a drive-by for most of them.
Hope this helps.
Nial
These are group tours, and the prices are very reasonable. The pickup and drop-off at the hotel, as opposed to the tour company's headquarters, is very convenient. Hotel pickups do not appear to be common for Edinburgh group tours.
The concierge has been most helpful and all responses were prompt. I suggest that anyone interested in similar tours email the hotel concierge.
We are also planning on visiting the Britannia on our free afternoon August 10th. We will either take a bus or taxi.
Rhonda
I am also looking at possibly renting a small car.
Yikes, driving on the left side of the road! It also looks like parts of downtown and out by the airport are being torn up for for a light rail/metro.
Anyway, the cost of a car would only be around $65 USD per couple (there are four of us), not counting admission and we could stay as long or as short as we want. Most of the driving will be on Sunday, so hopefully the traffic will be light. A few car rental agencies are located w/in 3/4 mi. of the Sheraton which has underground parking. I would pick it up on our arrival day and turn it in just before the welcome dinner.
Just more options to consider.
UPDATE: After reading about the traffic, one-way roads, and tram construction in Edinburgh I may rethink this. It doesn't look too bad outside of Edinburgh, but getting out of and back into the city looks like it could be a major challenge.
We purchased Britannia tickets online. It is usually possible to buy them onsite the day one is visiting, but we decided to buy them in advance since we are visiting in August which is prime time with the Tattoo taking place. We also plan to have lunch at the Tea House on the yacht. It should be a nice way to spend our free afternoon!
Rhonda
Back roads are VERY narrow and usually bordered by stone walls...no space to move off the road when another car is coming. Some are only one, or one and half, lanes. It can get interesting if a big truck is coming your way. They have the right of way and YOU have to back up until you can find a place to pull over and let them pass. The exception to this is on a steep grade....then the car/truck going UP the hill has to back down.
The A roads (like our freeways) are ok to drive on but you just don't see the interesting little places the back roads have. We do the same type of driving on US driving trips...sure is a lot nicer scenery. Be sure to remember that the "slow" lane is the left lane and the passing lane is the right lane. By the way, UK, and other European, drivers are much better than US drivers when it comes to staying in the "slow" lane unless they are passing. If you are cruising in the passing lane they will flash their lights at you to move over. They are not being rude, they are just telling you to get out of the way.
Also, speeds and distances are given in MILES in UK.
Oh yea, parking in the cities is more expensive than the car..and harder to find.
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
It will be a bus to the Britannia for sure on Saturday, 6 Jul. Now I just need to get everyone in our group of four to agree on the other locations and method of travel I proposed for the following day. I really want to make the most of the free time we have before the tour starts on Sunday evening. I don't want to sit around and do nothing nor do I want to do too much in the city since it appears there is free time in the afternoon of Day 2 to see more of the city if we want.
I'm still up in the air about renting a car. The Sheraton has parking for 9£ per day if I decide to pick up the car on Saturday after visiting the Britannia. Good comment about auto vs manual.
RMSLL,
How did you contact the Sheraton concierge? Email or phone? If email do you have the address. A few days ago I sent an email to the main Sheraton Edinburgh address, but don't know if it was received since I haven't received a response from either the hotel or concierge.
I did some research on local tours and tour companies. Many use small 16 passenger vanpool-type buses so you won't have a big crowd. Note, however, what the tours do not include- it appears most do not include attraction admission charges or meals.
http://www.viator.com/tours/Edinburgh/The-Royal-Yacht-Britannia/d739-2026ROYALBRIT
Hi, Alan,
Sorry for my delay on responding. I was on travel.
I emailed the hotel directly and put "Attn. Concierge" in the subject line. My email was forwarded to Joel and he then responded promptly. It appears you did similarly. Joel, the concierge, has been most helpful.
It is true that the cost of admission and meals is not included in the tour prices, but the tour cost is small so it is still reasonable to add on those additional expenses. After looking at other tour company options, I decided that the convenience of the hotel pickup made it well worth booking the company through the concierge.
Rhonda
At today's exchange rate, that is about the same two people for the exact same tour than if tickets were purchased directly from the HMY Britannia website (including the £1 booking fee.)
The description on the Viator site lists hotel pickup and dropoff as an exclusion.
Rhonda
FYI, the Lothian online bus schedule can at first be confusing, but (the March 2013) times, routes and stops are more current than those on Google Maps Directions. I combined the Google Maps walking times and distances from the bus stops to the attraction, however, for what I hope will be very accurate info. Time will tell. (Using Google Earth, I verified the location of the stops by looking at the actual signs or noting where "Bus Stop" was painted on the road surface!
A little OCD? Maybe, but our trip is still 3 weeks away and I gotta fill the time till then somehow! Now, depending on the weather, I still need to decide which way I will walk from the stop to Craigmillar Castle- the more dramatic and photogenic approach, up the hill and through the park or take the walking/bike path past the Royal Infirmary.
We are also going on the 8/16. We live in NM and are looking forward to our trip. We will be in Edinburgh on the 13th.
We are also going on the 8/16. We live in NM and are looking forward to our trip. We will be in Edinburgh on the 13th.