Travel suggestions?
Now that I've finished up my essays, I find myself with considerable free time on my hands. Or, more accurately, I've got lots of work to do, but no real structure to dictate exactly when I'm going to do that work.
The point is that now, unlike last term, I have time to travel. And as an American living in England, it would quite foolish of me not to take advantage of the fact that I am, you know, in England.
I know I've got a few British readers out there. Any advice for adventures in Britain? Bath and York are definites, but I'm a historian* so they're practically a given. I'm up for nearly anything, though I must admit I'm a bit of a sucker for medieval architecture. Getting to see a bit of countryside would be nice, too, what with being cooped up in my room nearly all of last term and leaving Cambridge exactly twice.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
*I don't feel qualified enough to call myself an historian quite yet, but over here people who study history, even at the graduate [Correction: This should be 'undergraduate' instead of 'graduate'.] level, get the label, so I don't feel too presumptuous.
posted by Danny @ 8:00 PM
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7 Comments:
I hope you've been to Ely cathedral. King's Lynn has some nice parts if you overlook the ghastly shopping centre in the middle. Read a guide book and you'll find the better parts. There's not much there but it's ok for a short day trip. Definitely visit Norwich. Peteborough cathedral is nice but can't say much for the rest of the city. If you're in Norwich in good weather try and take a boat trip. I know your part of England very well so let me know if you need any tips.
You're only an hour by train from London (and they're pretty decent regular trains too). Look up what's on at the big museums and galleries; there's always something marvellous. And go up on the London Eye! (It's the one thing I really wanted to do last year that I didn't get round to.)
What's your transport situation? The trouble is that a lot of beautiful rural areas are really hard to get to by public transport.
Suffolk is full of medieval-ness: you're half an hour from Bury St Edmunds, my old home town (I wouldn't go back to live, but it's good for a visit), and you could take a trip to places like Lavenham (soooo pretty, lots of rich medieval merchants' houses) and Long Melford.
If you're planning a visit to Bath anyway, carry on and take a tour of Wiltshire (but don't stop in Trowbridge, it's a dump. I know, I used to live there) and Somerset. Glastonbury (not during the festival...) is lovely; you can visit the hippy shops (!), the abbey and then hike up Glastonbury Tor and see the view over the Somerset levels. (Taking a moment out for some nostalgia now...)
And I would say this of course, but in a couple of months when the weather gets better, try to get in a visit to Wales. (Come to Aberystwyth!) You could take your pick of the countryside, a lot of it quite different from England: Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshire is gorgeous, Anglesey, Snowdonia... Oh, and Chester is a lovely little city to visit (I have to go do some research there later this year).
The good thing is that you can pick almost anywhere - stick a pin in the map - and you'll find something without having to travel that far (by American standards, anyway). And you can use Google to find out what to visit when you get to a destination. I'm rather fond of The Knowhere Guide: http://www.knowhere.co.uk/
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'll be sure to write up the trips I do take, hopefully with pictures.
I visited Ely towards the beginning of last term (one of the few times I left Cambridge) and recently found out that my college's grad society is organizing a trip to Norwich, so that's definitely on the list now.
Unfortunately, I'm pretty much restricted to public transport. I know a few people around here with cars, but none well enough that I would feel comfortable asking to borrow it (to say nothing of me feeling comfortable enough driving on the right!), so I might need to use whatever persuasive skills I have into talking someone else into joining me for a trip into the countryside.
stonehendge! take the train to salisbury, then the red bus to stonehenge. on the way back, be sure to stop at old sarum (ask the bus driver to drop you off) and wander around the ruins of william the conquerer's castle (i think that's who's it was). i actually liked it better than stonehenge itself.
sarah rose
Don't forget there are nice seaside places too. For a pleasant weekend Broadstairs in Kent is nicely cultural (continental influences, Dickens, the first news of Waterloo), while for maybe a bit longer (given journey times if nothing else) Lyme Regis in London allows a nice mix of history and fossil-hunting.
It's a pity about the lack of car. I've got the same problem. If you ever find yourself with a group of friends who want to go somewhere by car then the North Norfolk coast is very very nice in the summer. Go round by Burnham Market and Walsingham.
If you're going to York, Durham isn't that far away by train and it's really pretty - the cathedral and castle (which is part of the university) are really famous. If you can get cheap flights from Stansted definitely try to see Scotland, too. :)
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