Latest / UK Travel Planning / UK Top 10: Best Cities, Castles, Museums and Day Trips

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UK Top 10: Best Cities, Castles, Museums and Day Trips · UK Travel Planning

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: We've been helping you plan UK trips for years, but what do we actually love?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_03: A favourite city, favourite castle, favourite train journey, favourite meal?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: Ten categories, two opinions, and we did not always agree.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Your host is the founder of the UK travel planning website, Tracy Collins.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Each week, Tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: Before we get started, we'd like to thank our sponsor, Walks and Devour Tours.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_03: If you're planning a trip to London, you'll already know the challenge.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot you want to do and only a limited amount of time to fit it all in.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's where the right tour makes all the difference because you want experiences that are the best use of your time with more access, less waiting, and a deeper sense of the city.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's why we recommend Walks and Devour Tours.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_03: They offer walk-in tours and food tours designed to make your time count, often with early or after hours entry.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_03: You'll also be with exceptional local guides who add the stories and context so you leave with a richer understanding of what you're seeing and a trip that feels genuinely memorable.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_03: If you're visiting London as a couple with family or you simply prefer a more intimate experience, walks and devour tours also offer private tour options.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: To learn more, you'll find the link in the show notes.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: Now let's get into this week's episode.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: Hi everybody, and welcome to episode 206 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: Now, today with kind of a slightly different uh episode of the podcast.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um I've kind of uh just said to Doug, this is what we're gonna do.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_03: I was chatting to somebody the other day and I thought, oh you know, we get asked a lot of time what our favourite things are, favorite places, things, favorite experiences.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so basically I've come up with 10 categories.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: So places, foods, experience, and moments that we've kind of enjoyed um during our time living and travelling around the UK, which we're talking about um nearly 60 years.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's really sad.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: I want to say that for a little bit.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: Nearly 60 years for me, not quite 60 years for me.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Not 60 just yet.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: Not quite 60 years for you.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Not far off, to be fair, but yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so it's kind of sharing that experience.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: Now, if you are listening to the podcast for the first time, just a quick introduction.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: I'm Tracy Collins.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I am the podcaster, um, writer, uh, social media manager in general, bossy boots behind UK travel planning.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: And Doug's here again this week.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm the quiet person in the relationship.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm Doug Collins.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Work for the Railways for many, many years in the UK in many different roles.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: So basically, Doug is the train expert.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: So if you need any help with your UK train travel, Doug is a person to go to and ask.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: So um, we did also just want to I I guess just give a little bit of our background because it's we we do the podcast every week, and I kind of don't really get into chatting a little bit about who we are and what we've done.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we have got some podcasts.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: So a while back, um, Deborah interviewed us and asked us a whole lot of questions.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_03: I will share, I can't remember the number of the episode actually, but I'll share that in the show notes.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: So if you want to learn a little bit more about myself and Doug, I can.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: So a little bit of an introduction.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: I was born in the northeast of England um nearly 60 years ago, um, not too far from Hadrian's Wall.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, lived in the UK until I was a teenager, then moved abroad.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, since then, I've actually lived in seven different countries across the world, worked in seven different countries across the world as well.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I did train as a history teacher, so that was my background for quite a few years.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, then went into advising in teaching, and then basically about 10 years ago or so, it was about 10 years ago, decided I want to do a little bit of travel writing because I've always loved traveling.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: So started our first website, which is Global Travel Planning.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then 2000 started UK travel planning, 2020, I should say, um, started UK travel planning and this podcast in uh 2022, I think it was.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's four years it's been going.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, so we're basically um experts on UK travel.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: What about you, Doug?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, my story is not quite so interesting, um, but I'm born in Burton on Trent, which is in the middle of the Midlands, and I worked for the railways for many, many, many years.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm also a fully qualified registered nurse, um, so I just had a whole lifetime growing up.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: My father was on the railways, so even from a very young age, I was travelling the railways all around the UK, and then when I was working for the railways myself, I was taking myself off at weekends.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: I commuted to and from work by train, I worked on trains and around trains, and then at weekends I travelled by trade everywhere around the UK, and I did actually do every single mile of track um on the public railway system when I was an apprentice, so we used to tick it off.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: A friend of mine and we used to tick it off, and I've just built on that knowledge across many different sides of the rail industry from uh electrical engineering, commissioning, uh operation size, um route modification work, procurement.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: I've done so much, even worked in an autumn control um when the leaves were falling down.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: Stopping the trains running.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Stop the trains, yeah.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: So basically you can find us on the podcast, obviously UK Travel Planning on our websites, uktravelplanning.com and Londontravelplanning.com.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: We do have a general travel website as well, globaltravel.com.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: I would ask that you do support us if you like the podcast and do use the websites.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's getting incredibly difficult now with the uh changes on Google and AI to actually um for our websites to be visible.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_03: So thank goodness we have the podcast and and that you're tuning in and listening that way.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: We also are on YouTube.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: Doug's doing a lot on YouTube, aren't you?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's right, yeah.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: So so what over the last 12 months really, um the popular routes and the questions that most people ask or find confusing.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: I try and cover on a route-by-route basis as to you know some of the nice things to see.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's warts and all, so you know, things that always go to plan.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so I try to include the the reality of UK rail travel.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so that's a bit of a brief introduction.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, if you listened to the podcast last week, you'll have listened to a little bit of a bit more detail about exactly how we can help you plan your trip.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: But we just thought this week would be a little bit more fun in that we would just kind of because we get asked all the time about you know, if you could only pick one, what would you recommend?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, I I ask people this question myself, so we're uh we're kind of putting ourselves on the spot.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: So we've got 10 questions, two opinions, because mine and Doug's won't be probably quite different.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: Almost definitely.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, we're not gonna cheat.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_03: So actually, we haven't shared the answers beforehand, so I don't know what Doug's gonna say.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, he has no idea what I'm gonna say, so it's gonna be interesting to see what we both pick.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so okay, so these are kind of uh different questions all about the UK, as I say, different experiences.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_03: So the first question, um, I do you want to start with the first kind of ask you it?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: Or do you want me to answer it?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so here you go, Doug.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: What's your favourite city in the UK outside of London?
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Outside of London.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: So many have got so much to offer.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm probably gonna have to say York.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so what makes it genuinely different from anywhere else?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's because York is obviously on the East Coast main line, and it's a place I've visited from a very, very young age.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: My parents used to take us up there, um, and it's home to my favourite museum.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I hope that's not a question later.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: It might be.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh National Rail Museum.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually the first national museum of any sort outside London, it was.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: It opened I think so mid-70s, early 70s.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, we went up there for then.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: So outside of London, I'll probably say York.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, I mean historic as well.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's just so much to offer, so many of all ages.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, even British people head to York.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because we've got the history, got the Roman uh walls that surround York, there's some Viking history that surrounds York.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: There's lots of great places to eat.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Not to mention the um the Wars of the Roses as well.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So later period, it's very pivotal in UK history, full stop.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, you folks in the history have start talking about food.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_03: Great places to eat and drink, and some fantastic historic places to stay.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: We stayed at the Bar Convent one, which is actually a working convent still, which uh we really enjoyed.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you can eat at the Guy Fawkes Inn as a favourite to eat uh because it um again was where Guy Fawkes was born.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, Iguido Fawkes, who tried to blow up Parliament.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it was Italian.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: No, it was English.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: Guy Forks.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um York.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um I'm not sure about his heritage, maybe he was Italian background, but um anyway, it tried to blow up the House of Parliament quite a few hundred years ago.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: But uh so he's quite famous for that.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you've got the the Viking uh museum, the museums are very good, the Viking experience.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: So many museums.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: So there's a lot and lot to do in senior.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_03: So I can understand why you chose York.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um we do have a podcast episode three, actually, all about York.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: It's probably about time that we did another one about York because it's um a very, very popular episode.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll never come back to the UK, visit the UK without actually going to York at some point, usually to visit the museum.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: That's true, that's true.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um now, I guess that same question to myself.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: What my favourite city in the UK outside of London?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: I really struggled to answer this question.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I know it's really, really hard.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I kind of I was thinking I love Cambridge and I really love Bath.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: I also love York.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I kind of I'm gonna probably say Edinburgh.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Edinburgh's special.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: I do really love going to Edinburgh.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: There's just something about and this recent trip, I was in Edinburgh a few weeks ago, and actually for the first time, I know you've done this yourself.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: I went to Mary King's Close.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's really cool.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my goodness, the real Mary King's Close.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, if you get a chance, if you're in Edinburgh, go and check this out because it it it is literally a time capsule to see how because you know when you walk down the Royal Mile, you get a feeling for what it was like a couple of hundred years ago to live in Edinburgh and the close is, but you can actually go and see one.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_03: You can go and um I'm not gonna kind of I can't remember exactly how it was made, but it was a base up basically like the the the close that the top of it was kind of taken off and building was put on top of it, so you've got what existed underneath.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, um, and and that's where you could you go down these steps and then you go into these rooms that were original.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it's just incredible.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but just you know, Edinburgh Castle, the views over Edinburgh itself.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: Again, I I absolutely enjoy it to have my haggis, snips and tatties when I go to Edinburgh.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Edinburgh has been a place that I've been travelling to since I was a small child, so I've got just a lot of memories uh attached to it.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's just uh it's a great city to go and explore.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: Again, and I it doesn't matter how many times I visit Edinburgh, I never run out of things to do and see.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: True, true.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, in fact, we're gonna be there next week, and I've already thinking of things that I've not done that I want to go and see and experience.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I would say um outside of London, it's probably gonna be Edinburgh.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: We are talking about cities here because um it would be different if we're looking at kind of smaller things, towns and villages.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but for cities, yeah, I would say um Edinburgh, and I know a lot of people um actually you know, London, York, Edinburgh is a very, very popular uh itinerary that people build on.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um so yeah, I I kind of so York and Edinburgh are answers to that one.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, oh here's this is a good one.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: You ready for question two?
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: Go on then.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what's your favourite day trip from London?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: So uh I'm just wondering if there's a train angle that's gonna make your choice particularly good.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: So what which one are you gonna choose?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: Because there's lots of great places to go by train.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned the place I like going down to Bath Not just from Bath itself as a place, but also one if anyone's looked at our website and you know, our train itinerary, I like the great Western train route from Paddington out to that west country to Bristol and to Bath.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: I've always enjoyed doing that one.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um from not from years back, really.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's one of the first places I I thoroughly enjoyed visiting.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Usually mostly about the trains that were used on that line, they're just these years ago.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: But also I like Paddington Station, I like the route, and I like Bristol, and I like Bath.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it's always it's a shortest journey.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually one of my I think it was one of my first uh YouTube videos I did actually.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that that's on there as well.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I would say possibly Bath from London.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: And again, Bath's got so much to offer.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's actually it's it I I would like just if I'm gonna say if you're gonna go to to Bath, um go and stay longer than one day, but it is possible to go on a day trip um on a train, isn't it?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I mean uh and again Bath historic is only UNESCO World Territory City in the UK, um History Jane Austen connection, the Roman baths again, it's like has a huge amount to offer, uh depending on you know whatever your interest really is.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, Bath is a wonderful place to go.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: We actually have got a couple of podcasts on our top um places of visit by train uh from London for day trips, and that there's so many different places that we've actually talked about and so many to choose from.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I guess the question for me is where would I send a first-time visitor who has only one day and wants to feel like they've properly left London?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Is that a separate question?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's the same question.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_03: What's your favourite day trip from London?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: And um I've done so many different day trips with so many different, whether by train independently or whether we've gone out on a company.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I have to say, I did do some trips with English bus.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so the podcast, I think it's episode 200 and it's either 201 or 199.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_03: I'm no, it's just around that 200th episode last month where um I've done a few trips out with the English bus.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_03: So this is if you don't, if you don't want to do it yourself, you you want to go and be taking out on a tour.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: I really enjoyed they've got a Stonehenge bath and secret place.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: And what I really like about that is that um you get to see Stonehenge, which is a lot of people want to go and see Stonehenge.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_03: I love going to Stonehenge, so that's good, it's a great place to go and visit.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you get to go and see Bath.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: So, again, like you've talked about, you get that um get the experience of bath and the secret place, which I'm not allowed to say where it is because Chris would tummy off.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um but again that will give you another additional great experience.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: So that will give you three kind of three different things you can do on a day trip.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: Most definitely.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: So that would probably if you're a first-time visitor and you want to go and take a day trip out of London, which we would highly recommend that you do, don't just stay in London, go and do a day trip out.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_03: That would be something I'd like to do.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's so many choices you've got there.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I think it my first thought is always trains, obviously.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, the the South Coast, you've got you know Brighton, yeah, or further around, you've got the White Cliffs of Dover, good place to visit.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can go for the day.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: You Canterbury, another place you can go for the day.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's all very achievable.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: Windsor, Cambridge, Oxford, the Cotswolds, honestly, the list Winchester, the list Portsmouth, the list Brighton, the list can go on and on and on.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: There are so many, and actually, really, the best way for you to decide.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so we can give you our recommendation, but to be honest, the best way to do this is to actually think about what it is that you want, what what appeals to you, what are your interests, which is of course what we do when we do consults or we do video reviews is we look at what people's interests are and then recommend because we know all these places, we've visited them on multiple times, so we can recommend what we think would be the most interesting destination for you to visit based on what you're interested in.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: So we do do that um a lot and um obviously help plan that as well uh if we do it if we do the one-to-one consult.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_03: So we do that.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's something I guess um we can do when we have that conversation and get in what it is that people are very interested in um and be able to tailor make it because we have the experience.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: And also, if you want to do a day trip out, we know the companies, we've done the research.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_03: And I was actually out on a trip yesterday with my tailored tours, and we're just talking about um went out with a lovely Wendy who invited me on the tour with yesterday, and just like people trust what you say, they know that you've done that research and know that the companies that you work with are they're gonna have a good time.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely so.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: So that's really good.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, or question three, this one's just for you, it really is just for you.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: What's your favourite train journey in the UK?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's a nightmare question.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've just got so many.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_03: Come on, full of things.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoy them for so many different reasons.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I like train routes uh as opposed to single journeys, but a single journey, settle Carlisle, uh over the Orchadell's into Cumbria, over the Ribblehead Viaduct.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's special.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: You catch it from Leeds because it's settled up to a Carlisle, that's beautiful.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, I was going to do it yesterday, but the weather closed in.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um the West Island line from Glasgow to Oban Fort William Malig, that's special.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's special.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I like it from uh Dingle, North Inverness up to Thurstone Wick, but one picking it.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: I was just gonna say this is one train journey, not multiple good grief.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean you can choose a route, you can choose a route.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm gonna say settle Carlisle then, really, at this moment in time, because it's it's a unique single journey, and that's more in line with what the question is, and that is just both sides of the train, the what is special on that one, the train conductor with the um the freshman trial, they give a bit of a chat as you travelling along as well, which is really unique, I I find.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, and their passion for that whole route is something special, and it was so close to uh closure, uh, but it's rescued by a society to you know try and preserve the line, which is very, very good.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, we'll stick with South Carlisle in Yorkshire into Cumbria.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: You eventually got eventually got that out of you.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, don't get me wrong, I love all the others too.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, right, for for I'm gonna say well, I you know I think you know what I'm gonna say, where the journey is actually you know, the journey is it's in itself the destination in a way, is the Caledonian sleeper.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: I love the Caledonian sleeper.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_03: I absolutely I if I especially if I can go in the club room, I particularly like the Caledonian sleeper, um, because that's such a lovely experience.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Which uh which route are you talking?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Are you talking to Fort William or Inverness?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_03: London upwards.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I would say London to either, to be honest, either Fort William or Inverness.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: I guess if I had to choose the one of those trips that I take, it would probably be the one at Fort William.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because I love waking up in the highlands and you know, just looking out of the window.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's just beautiful.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, doing the opposite way is not as special because you're arriving in London.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: I've done that a number of times as well.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: I thought we're we're actually on the Caledonian sleeper this week.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um so tomorrow?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: Tomorrow, actually, yeah, tomorrow night.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: Again, I was on the Caledonia sleeper a couple of weeks ago.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: I came back, I came actually I did Fort Williams down to Birmingham because it's now stopping in Birmingham.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Bergham International, International, yes.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I got off there, which is the first time I've done that.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, I would say every trip back we've done at least uh one or two trips.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because I love sleeper trains.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: Now, not everybody can sleep on them, so you know, make sure you they do provide you with earplugs and a mask, and you might need that.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: They are special.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I think the the northbound uh Highlander is um particularly special.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about this before was it yesterday or today?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um my first experience of doing that one where you can still open the windows slightly, and that first experience I got off at Cren Larrick on the West Island line, uh, before Fort William, and you open those windows and you get the smell of pine, because that was uh uh March-April time I first did that one years and years ago, and yeah, you get that smell of the pine as soon as you open it up.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a contrast to where you get on the train in the evening in London, Houston.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um but that's special but I'll talk to sleepers.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh last year I did the Night Riviera from Paddington down to Penzance, and that was a special experience for single journey.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: I haven't done that one yet, so I can't I can't say that's my favourite, but it you did enjoy it, and that actually that video is done extremely well on YouTube.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: So if you want to actually see about that, and what well hopefully we'll get a video this time of the Caledonian sleeper experience.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um kind of that question is is it worth it?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: We we think it's absolutely worth it.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: We love it.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: It is worth it.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: It's an experience, um, and again, it's where with that that that experience, the the journey itself is really the destination.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, you get to a fantastic place, but it's just an amazing journey.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it really is.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: So, and I'd just do it just to be on the Caledonian sleeper, to be honest.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's what it is.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: I love it, right?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of a little wrap-up there about trains.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, now we're gonna talk about one of my favourite things.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: What's your favourite food or meal you've ever had in the UK?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: Now we can't, I guess you can talk about family stuff as well.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but kind of I guess what I'm thinking about is recommending for people who are coming to visit the UK something that we've eaten that other people can get access to.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because I'd love to say my my my grandmother's Sunday roast, which was always the best.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, our friends in Burton on Trent do the most amazing Sunday lunches, they do as well.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: But unfortunately, not everybody's gonna get access to that.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: So we need to think about um something like a dish or a place or a moment or a meal that you think that somebody else would like really enjoy and we could recommend.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: How long have you got for me to think about this one?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's so much falls into that one.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: I actually one that's just occurred to me, this was years ago, on the Channel Island of Guernsey, I had this dug-in black cherry sauce.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's a meal that's sort of stuck in my mind.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right, but again that was a long time ago.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm thinking about what would be a meal or food food that you've had that somebody else can experience.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, I will talk about this one because I Particularly like um Scotch eggs.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_03: You do.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: I love Scotch eggs.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: So scotch egg is basically it's um uh an egg in the centre which has been boiled, uh so uh boiled egg, um, then shelled, and then it's basically wrapped in sausage, sausage, uh sausage meat, and then breadcrumbs and then fried.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and they can be eaten cold or hot.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, they're very good on picnics.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I particularly like um Fortnum and Mason, apparently they were the ones that invented the Scotch eggs.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: So you can go to Fortnum and Mason on the first floor, it's like the ice cream parlour in Fortnum and Mason, but they do serve the Scotch eggs there, um, delicious, um, with picolily, which again, if you've not experienced that, is really good.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I did have that as well on the Taste Tales and Traditional Ales Devour Food Tour, which I've done twice now.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: I did that last month again.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's one of the dishes that you get to taste, and I really look forward to it because the Scotch egg is the last thing that you get to taste on that tour, and I really looked forward to it.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_03: And actually, everybody always says, Wow, it is so good.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: So, if you want to actually taste a bit of British food, that is a good way to do it, and I also you'll learn all about the pubs as well.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: So, that's a really good cool one to do.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're in London, you can do that.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I am gonna throw in.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna cheat.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: Can I cheat?
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, go for it, yeah.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I I we I love Maka Smashboard when I'm in Edinburgh because I love my Haggers noops and teddies.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so there's there's a couple of things there.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: I it's really difficult to well like the fish and chips we had that time in sometimes, that was delicious.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know what?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think we've cheated on this question.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to pick one, isn't it?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh favourite food a meal.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_03: Honestly, you've got lots of options, and we do have a podcast about different foods.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_03: We've got an article about different foods.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_03: So if you want to try some traditional uh British foods, um take a look at that.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: Honestly, there's so many different places across the UK.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: Your best bet is to really go online and just check uh reviews because we unfortunately, as much as I'd like to, I haven't eaten it, I can't eat in every possible restaurant in the UK.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's true.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but yes, I think uh food we could talk about that for an entire episode.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, we are going to talk about Sunda roasts and afternoon teas in in a future episode.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: I like going back to food, I'm a great one for Victoria sponge cakes.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody knows that.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows that.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, when I was out yesterday and we were looking at cake, Wendy who was out yesterday, she looked and she went, Oh Doug would like there's a Victoria sponge cake.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody knows.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a it's a sponge cake with cream or jam in the in or cream and jamming the inside, a bit of ice and sugar on top.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's quite a basic cake, but when it's done properly, with a nice cup of tea, it is special beyond belief.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: Excellent.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, another thing I'm gonna just throw in there is a jacket potato as well because we have jacket, I had jacket potato yesterday, and apparently in place South America it's not considered to be a whole meal.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we can have that as a whole meal because you have it with you, I had it with baked beans and cheese, coleslaw, and salad.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I have it with um Cation salad sometimes.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: So again, we could talk for an entire episode and never get to question five.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: I said the word spud.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: Spud is a potato, yes, another potato with potato, yes.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: Right, we're gonna kind of pivot away from food and we're gonna ask your favourite church or cathedral.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, there's so many to go and see.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: I know this one because it's actually on my consciousness in the last few days, uh, because it came up somewhere else.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've mentioned again the Channel Island of Guernsey.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: There's a little chapel and it was made early 20th century, I think it was by a monk who it's based on uh Lord's in in in France, and it's made it's it's miniature, it's a tiny miniature church, uh but it's been coated with shells and broken glass and pottery and things.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's very special.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's all up in the uh like a rural area.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's very special.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you ever go to Guernsey, I mean I've you've not been to Guernsey, I don't think.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: No, a bit Jersey, but not there.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'll take you to have a look at that.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's very special.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's called the Little Chapel.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: And also, I'll just mention that's a bailiwick of the UK.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_03: So do you want to explain why that is?
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: A bailiwick is an independent state, but still under the uh sort of crown cover of the UK, but they have that though in tax, which is why a lot of rich people go live there.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I actually went to Jersey for years.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's still considered by many to be part of, but yeah, if you're being pedantic, no, it's not.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_03: Right, so is there one that you want to specifically say about in the UK rather than Guernsey?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um Salisbury's pretty special.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Salisbury's very nice.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's got the highest, tallest spire.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: And it's also got the um Magna Carter in it as well.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so nice because I like Salisbury's nice, uh, it's a nice place to visit.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, one a little obscure one is um Lichfield near Birmingham, because I I worked that way for a little while, and that's one of the I'd say lesser known cathedrals.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't mean that in the fact that it's any lesser of a cathedral, it's just not one talked about so often.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: And that that's a pretty one.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_03: That's true.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm gonna choose um Winchester.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: Winchester's so Winchester Cathedral was the biggest uh largest cathedral in Europe for quite a while.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's it is massive.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_03: It is, it is impressive.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it was sinking at one point, yeah.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_03: It was, and this guy went uh dived underneath and kind of shored up.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_03: You can go and see the diving helmet that he wore and how he shored it up, but this isn't the 1800s, I think he did it.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: Is he French?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm not sure.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but Jane Austen's buried there.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's a very impressive cathedral.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it was the cathedral that where um William the Conqueror was crowned.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's right.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, yeah, it's it it's just impressive.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Has it got some uh story of the civil war with horses inside the cathedral as well, or something?
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think I think that might be Bath Abbey, but I might be wrong.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe more than one.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, some expert can tell, give us feedback on that one, please.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_03: I know maybe see with this, you can tell the sad hoc because it's now I'm trying to think.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because there are quite a lot to to visit.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: But um I just think I've been in Winchester quite a few times.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: If you're a Jane Austen fan, it's an absolute must because that's where she's buried anyway.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm allowed to choose two.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: I just think uh Canterbury.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Canterbury is seriously special.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you know, we do have a lot of churches and a lot of cathedrals, so there's lots to choose from.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um I mean I I know you've I actually recently climbed up uh Bath Abbey to to see the view of Bath, which was amazing.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: You've climbed Yorkminster um to have a look at at that as well.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um that the you know St.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_03: Giles in Edinburgh is a beautiful, beautiful church.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_03: There's just so there's so many, and they see I'm only supposed to choose one, and I'm chucking out loads there.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um but there are some beautiful churches and cathedrals to visit.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_03: But I think I just love Winchester, just a it's a it's a beautiful um smaller city to visit.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's a city because it's got a cathedral.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, but and it's that's an easy day trip from London as well.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: It is so's Canterbury.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so we're kind of all of these questions are all melding into everything.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_03: Can I see how everything is interconnected?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um okay, so question six uh what's your favourite castle?
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, good grace.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is this in London or outside London?
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_03: Anywhere, anywhere in the UK.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the Tower of London has to be up there where everybody's really because that's such an attraction.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: But outside London, I have to it's gonna have to be one of them in Wales, it's got to have been Canarv and all Conway.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: They are both magical, fantastic places.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: And you did a trip to North Wales a few years ago, didn't you?
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, travelled all about our public transport, lots lots of trains, obviously.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, went to uh Whitfer on the cable car.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_03: Snowdonia.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Snowdonia, sorry, yeah, um but yeah, castle wise, because I love Conway as well, not just a little village there, it's it's really special.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, Canalvin and Conway castles.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm gonna I I'm gonna say Tower of London.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I don't think you can avoid the Tower of London.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_03: I I think you should visit the Tower of London.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_03: Please don't just walk past the front of it because you're not gonna have any idea.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and I've heard that before, so I'm just gonna drive past.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_03: Well, uh don't bother.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna promote Wales here.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: Don't forget Wales because it has such a lot to offer.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_03: No, that's true.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_03: But if you are in London, seriously go and visit the Tower of London, go into the Tower of London, go and meet one of the yeoman warders, you can ask them questions.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, if you want a special treat, you can do the um opening ceremony of the Tower of London, you can do the um ceremony of the keys, which is a closing ceremony of the Tower of London.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_03: I've wrote about those, both of those ceremonies because they're they're brilliant.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: I've done them both, we've done them both a few times, haven't we?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um really good.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: But if you you know you can just go in, have give yourself a good three or four hours to explore the Tower of London, you're gonna need that length of time.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: The White Tower is the is the central uh as you go into the Tower of London, you'll see this again a white castle.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: That is the original castle that was built by William the Conqueror.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, um, so that's the original, and everything else is kind of built round it.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you can go into the chapel, um, that's where Anne Boleyn was buried.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um you can see there's just so much to see.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: This graffiti that was written by prisoners, which are kept in the Tower of London.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's really interesting uh and very accessible, especially if you're in London to go and visit.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: So I would say that um outside of London, because I'm gonna cheat as well.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, outside of London, outside of London, go um Northumberland.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm originally from Northumberland, which is the northernmost county of the UK.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's got the most castles.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: Any other any other county in the UK became in because we were kind of invaded from the north, invaded from the sea by the Vikings, so we had to have all these kind of these castles to protect ourselves.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um most of the ones in Wales will protect the Welsh from the English.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so yeah, it's true.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I would say so.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: Annette Castle, Bamborough Castle, yeah.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: There's just so many castles to visit.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah in North.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot up there, that's true.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_03: So that's what I'd say.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: Now, question seven.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm gonna answer this one first.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: Go first.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_03: What's your favourite wildlife or landscape experience in the UK?
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I am gonna I can't not hark back to my recent trip uh when I stayed on the Isle of Mole and I took out a um a tour to go to Lunger to see the puffins.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_03: I've been wanting to see puffins, bearing in mind I grew up in Northumberland, I hadn't seen puffins before, and we do have puffins of the northeast.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I had not seen puffins, so I went on this day trip out on the boat from Tobamori to the um island of Lunga to see puffins, and they were so cute, they are so much smaller than you would imagine.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: I thought I think kind of for some reason I have no idea, I kind of thought they were kind of penguin size, but they're not.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_03: They are tiny, tiny cute, and they're so they love people because when people are around, it means that their predator birds won't come in and try and um you know get them or their eggs or their chicks, so they actually like it when people are around.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I say that was my that's probably my all-time favourite wildlife experience.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: Landscapes I can talk about.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not sure.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: It is, it is, it is a bit of a it's a bit difficult one, but I guess kind of wildlife or your landscape.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I've gone for the wildlife.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: What are you gonna go for?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: For wildlife, because I've had a few moments to think about that one.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Years ago, I was driving in the highlands in Scotland and I came to a T junction.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: T junction is where obviously two roads meet.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right in front of me, literally about seven or seven or eight feet away from me, was a golden eagle sitting on a post.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, and it was a wow, that's big.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and we we just obviously waited a few seconds, I would be somewhere else.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and it was a lovely summer, sunny day.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it was that no, it wasn't summer, it was April.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that was earlier than that, but it was the sun was shining, and there's this massive golden eagle just sitting on a post on a fence watching the world go by.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: And you can see them in Scotland.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, I did see them on the Island of Mother's Well, Golden Eagles.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that was beautiful.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um but from a landscape experience, I th Yeah, also the West Highlands is it's stunning.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think the uh views of the White Cliffs of Dover was seem pretty special.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm gonna go for I've mentioned Snowdonia Whitford driving around that area there, and oh, it's just stunning scenery everywhere.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, um landscape-wise, I'm gonna go up to Scotland again.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_03: So um, and the Isle of Mull um is amazing, but I've just been at Harris and Lewis, and the Isle of Harris is like something I've never seen before.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it kind of harks me back as well to kind of do that North Coast 500 in the far north of Scotland.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: It's like nowhere else on earth.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's beautiful.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it's contrast in North Scotland, you get yeah, and I guess I'm gonna have to mention Glencoe because that just every time I go to Glencoe, that moves me.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: It really does.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: I just absolutely love it.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_03: So we're really cheap.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_03: We're supposed to be choosing one.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: No, because there isn't any one, is there?
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's really, really difficult.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_03: Really difficult.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, question eight might be a little bit easier for me.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_03: Go on then, and maybe easier for you, I'm not sure.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_03: So, what is your favourite museum?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's easy for me.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: Go on then, go for it.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: National Railway Museum in York.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: It just goes without saying.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_03: The what, sorry?
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: National Railway Museum, NRM.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_03: Ah, National Railway Museum.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's now more than one, but it was the first.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think I've mentioned it was the first national museum of any sort outside London.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I would just never go through York without getting off the train and having a visit.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's had how many different developments over the years, uh, but it's right next to the station, and yeah, it's almost my second.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: Even when I I was working round there when I was at the railway, when I travelled up and down the country, never failed to go into the National Railway Museum in York.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_03: So that's definitely your choice.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I know I don't know how many times you've been because every time I go to York, you want to go and you do go.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_03: Dozens of times.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's a bit like me for London.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_03: When I come in and I go to the code, I know what you're gonna say.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm gonna say the VA.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody who knows me and listen are gonna say that I absolutely love the VA.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_03: And a good point again, I was having a discussion the other day.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: Someone said, I don't want to come from my country to do to see things that I can see anyway in my own country.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_03: So something like the Natural History Museum, perhaps if you've got something similar on your own country, you don't want to do that.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_03: You won't have a VA, you won't have a Victorian Albert Museum.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I was asked my favourite things to do and see in the VA, and it's definitely gonna be the cast courts again.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_03: I absolutely love the um the cast courts are just absolutely my favourite.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, I think if we get time, I'm not gonna actually mention anything else that I really like in the VA because uh we're gonna I'm hopefully gonna do a bit of a video so I can show people what my top favourite things are.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: My galleries that I like to go to, the particular exhibitions that I like to go and see, yes.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_03: Tea rooms are beautiful, I can get they can get very crowded though, but um, but the beautiful art deco, yes, and the tea rooms, the specific things that I recommend go and see it.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: Unfortunately, their fashion is closed at the minute till next year because I always love the fashion.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: And also, you mentioned the VA, part of our trip in Scotland, we're going to go to the other VA in Dundee.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and there's actually a new one as well in London that I haven't managed to get to, um, which has got a David Bower collection.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I'd like to go and see that.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_03: I actually am a member of the VA, so um we need to try and fit a bit more VA in.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and because we're doing an episode, hopefully in a couple of months' time, about the lesser known museums in in London that we're talking about.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_03: So we've got the Postman Museum, tomorrow postal museum.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that'd be good.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm looking forward to that.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: Charles Dickens Museum, Florence Nightingale Museum, some of the other smaller museums in London that you might be interested in.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_03: I guess that's just quite a few, isn't it?
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_03: There are a lot, and I guess that new VA will come into that as well because whenever anybody thinks of the VA, they think about the one in South Kensington.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um so we'll we'll I think we'll cover that.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um so do if you're interested in museums in London, we have got a recent podcast where we go through the top ten, but they are like the more famous museums.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: Quite a few my fair, are they as well?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, well the VA is free, except if you go to an exhibition.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_03: I went to the Marie Antoinette exhibition a cue a couple months ago.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_03: Because I'm a member, I didn't need to pre-book a ticket because they sold out.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: So in the British Museum, they have a few bits and pieces on there.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, uh British Museum uh coming up is gonna be the um Bayo Tapestry from September.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_03: I'd love to be here to see that.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_03: So if you want to see the Bayou Tapestry, so basically, once in a lifetime opportunity to see it in the UK, that is going to be at the British Museum later this year, but you'll have to pay for that.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_03: But if you're interested in that, I'd I'd check that out now.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um and get get your tickets for that.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, that's I think September.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not quite sure when it runs to next year, but it starts September.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, right, let's talk about question nine.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_03: What is your favourite season to visit the UK?
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: Not when we lived here, but when we come to visit, what would be the advice?
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's the same season.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, when we lived here, I used to grow lots of um vegetables and whatever, so it was always a good season for growing, you know, because I grew everything from seed, so yeah, the spring months are fantastic, and that's not changed for visiting to me.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: I I like daffodils and then towards the end the tulips and the other spring flowers, bluebells, snow drops.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_01: I just I just love seeing those, and it's just like the new season.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_01: I just think it's nice, nice to visit as well.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's quiet as well.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: The weather can be a little bit variable, but then it can be you know, we're in summer at the minute, and it's just variable as well.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think the thing is about spring, is it's quite if you maybe May, I think, would be the month I would say out of the spring season, that is probably the best.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, uh May wasn't too bad weather-wise as well, but it's less crowded.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um outside that there is a week's um holiday in the UK, and there's two public holidays in May, so you do have to check that if you want to come in May.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_03: But May is a is a good season to visit.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I was last year I was here towards autumn months, and some of the autumn colours were absolutely stunning.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a difficult one, but I think I think spring just edges it for me.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna go for autumn because I really like September.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so heading into the um September, October, you know, into autumn, change of the leaves are beautiful.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_03: It can still be warm, which is what's really nice.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's also quieter.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_03: The kids have gone back to school.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's no public holidays in September, so you don't have to worry about that.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_03: There's no kind of major events like you know, um, any.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just thinking about if you come to London in April and you've got the London Marathon, there's lots of things going in June, you've got the Trooping of the Colour, there's not any, you know, got Wimbledon come up in July.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_03: There's not any major, as far as I'm aware, major, major events in September.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a kind of nice, quieter month, warmer month, less tourist month to go and it was.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: I was here in September last year and it was just so, yeah.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: It was nice, yeah.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so I I would say I'd say September.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_03: I am gonna throw a little mention in because that winter I wouldn't recommend January, February, it's dark, it's colder.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but if you are kind of thinking winter months, then you know it is beautiful here in December with all the Christmas decorations.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's something to offer all through your hand.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you can own if you're not yeah, you know, if you don't uh have much of a choice when you do visit, and you know, for whatever reason, you have to come to X time.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: There is something.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: There's you know there's places you can visit to get the best of it.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_03: Well, actually, we've just had uh a couple of weeks ago, we've just had the podcast out about things doing summer, and we've looked at five different regions of the UK.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_03: We have that episode as well for spring for those different five regions, all the way from far north of Scotland down to Devon.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we've talked to experts from each of the different regions.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_03: So we've got the spring episode, we've got a summer episode just out.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_03: We will be doing an autumn and winter episode with on those five parts of the UK as well.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're interested in thinking, well, I'm going to actually be visiting in the autumn, fall, I'm going to be visiting the winter, those are episodes that are worth listening out to because we've got the actual experts from each of the regions to tell you what are the best things to do and see and not things not to miss.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, those have been very, very popular.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_03: They will be.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_03: This is good to know, yeah.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so the last question is the hardest one.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: Go on then.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_03: You ready for this one?
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_03: Because it's hard.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_03: I I had a sneak peek, so I'm already struggling.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: If you could if you could only take a first-time visitor to one place in the UK, a city, region, experience, whatever you want, what would it be and why?
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's a hard one.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say Chatsworth, Chatsworth House in the Peak District in Derbyshire.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's closest to where I'm from.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Chatsworth is just so quintessentially I'm gonna say British, not just English, but British.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's just if you get on the right day, it's a stunning house, stunning gardens, and the whole area of the Peak District is the UK's first, maybe the world's first national park.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just stunning from one side to the other.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_01: But Chatsworth House is just ticks out of the box with something so quintessentially British.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, um I'm choosing a region.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and this is actually not an easy choice because I know it's a very, very touristed area, but it's a very touristed area for a reason, and that's the Cotswolds.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: The Cotswolds are so big area, though.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: It is a it is a big area.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_03: We've had Lisa from Go Cotswolds to be on the on the podcast, I think about five times now, talking about different areas and things to do and what to see and how to get around the Cotswolds.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but the Cotswolds are quite essentially English, I guess, is that's my word, you've got to find your own.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh well, sorry, but they are I I myself particularly if the I guess this is when you're visiting the spring summer, is I love going to places like Hidcut Gardens.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_03: So it Hidkit Manor, the gardens are they're just beautiful, and you've got Kiffsgate for the roses opposite.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: You've got the you know, the just the beautiful.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um now Thatch isn't actually something that we Associated with the Cotswolds because they're more stone roof, but they do have thatched cottages as well with the roses around the door.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's one of those things if I ever won a like the you'd have to win probably more than a million, actually, on the lottery, you'd have to win quite a few million to be able to afford a house in the Cotswolds.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's very picture postcard, yeah.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_03: It really, yeah, it really is.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_03: And actually, I was having this discussion yesterday and we're sort of saying, if which which village in the Cotswolds would you live in?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_03: And I'd have to say I'd probably have to ask the tourists to leave, but I just love Barberry.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: Barber's lovely.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Barber's lovely, but again, it's too many people going, and I guess it's one of those.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if I could live in a place called Slaughter.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_03: Lower Slaughter.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um beautiful as it is, no offence to anybody who lives around there, but the name slaughter.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't mean what you think it means.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, doesn't it?
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh it's an old English word, so um lower slaughter, upper slaughter.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's some beautiful stow, it's gorgeous.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_03: I think probably the Cotswolds.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_03: I'd uh that's where I'd take somebody for a week and do a tour around the Cotswolds and do that.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I think you know, again, I'm gonna so I'm gonna say second and third choice.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: Second choice, probably somewhere down in Cornwall because Cornwall is beautiful.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_03: Third choice would be, and these are actually in no no order, really.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_03: I kind of think all of these uh Northumberland, Peak District, put loads of the yeah.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: Some of those villages in the Highlands where I've got family up towards Killing and you know that area, yeah.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's just stunning.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: West Highlands of Scotland is just such a stunning area.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think you know what, what what my conclusion from this question is we're trying to pick out one place to take a first-time visitor, and I think it's just about impossible.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: So we understand if you are planning your trip to the UK, you are kind of going, Oh my goodness, I want to go to Cotwells, I want to go to Far North Scotland, I want to go to Edinburgh, I want to go to Cornwall, I want to go to Wales.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's just about well, it is impossible to do all of that in one trip.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_03: Eve we've we've lived here for multiple years and years and years and haven't managed to see every single place.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_01: I've been where the trains go, but yeah, not some of the areas not accessible.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so that that's you know, and that's with with decades of experience.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_03: So when it comes to you when you're sitting, it's easy to get overwhelmed.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_03: And a lot of people have said when they sit and use AI and they start trying to put stuff together, it's they get overwhelmed because it gives you too much information.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: Totally overwhelmed.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: Overwhelmed.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_03: And again, I know this sounds like I'm kind of you know saying this a lot, but honestly, if you are sitting trying to put together your itinerary and you've you've gone in, you've done something on AI and you're sitting going, Oh my goodness, I don't does this make any sense?
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_03: Is this actually what I want to do?
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_03: Your best but honestly is to talk to myself and Doug.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: Really genuine between us, between us, we're not to be you know, it's places we've been individually, you know.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_03: Places together, we've seen it a lot, but also its ability to actually listen to what you want from your trip.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_03: What you know, what are you interested in?
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, how do you want to do it?
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_03: So and also gives you just too much information, too much contradictory information.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_03: You kind of go down a rabbit hole.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're having that discussion, that time to spend, so we can help you put together an itinerary that's going to work for you and and is not going to be exhausting, you're not going to be rushing around like uh, you know, mad things trying to fit everything in.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_01: We'll tell you if it's achievable.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: We really will.
• 47:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so anyway, that's kind of a bit of a plug for us, but there's a reason you know I say that because we you know we hear this all the time, and because you know, just us answering these questions, how hard it is to epic one thing.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: It is, but you gather, listen that you know, we've experienced a lot.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_03: So hopefully this is giving you a little bit of taste of things that we really enjoy.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_03: We do get asked that all the time, you know, what what should I not miss?
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_03: What city should I go to, what castle, what what is it that you love, what are those things to do?
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_03: And as I say, it's been a very, very interesting and very difficult time to come up with those.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: Apologies for the ums and the uhs because we didn't know what the questions were to start with.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so you had to think about them on the hop, and it's they're not easy.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_03: So, anyway, and actually, to be honest, if you asked us these questions six months' time, we may come up with a different thing.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, indeed, sir.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's right, yeah.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_03: But anyway, that's it for this week's episode of the podcast, episode 206.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_03: Next week, um, is part two of my Scottish Islands adventure.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_03: So it'll be talking about my trip to Mole and Iona, which I did solo, how I got around, what I did, um, and some tips if you're planning to visit um those beautiful islands, uh, Scottish Islands.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but for this week's episode, if you'd like to get in touch, say leave us a message on Speakpipe.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_03: Share this with anybody that you know that might be possible to visit in the UK.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, share your answers to these same questions.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, that's really interesting.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, really want to know what would be your turn or what what do you think?
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, if you haven't been in the UK, what do you think are those things that you want to do and say that um you know that you're you're anticipating?
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_03: Because obviously you're going to pick out the things that really appeal to you.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I guess that just leaves us to say though, until next week.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_03: Happy UK travel planning! Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_03: As always, show notes can be found at uktravelplanning.com.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_03: If you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favourite podcast app?
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_03: We love to hear from you, and you never know, you may receive a shout out in a future episode.
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_03: But as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, happy UK travel planning.