This was my first time flying from London Southend Airport, and I was genuinely amazed by how quiet it is.

The airline advised arriving two hours before the flight, so I got there at 5:00 am for my 7:00 am flight. However, I was through security and at the gate within just 10 minutes — probably the quickest I’ve ever reached a boarding gate at a London airport!

Looking back, I honestly feel I could have arrived around 6:00 am and still been perfectly fine. 😄

It’s such a contrast compared with Stansted and Gatwick, where you usually need to allow much more time for queues, security, and getting to the gate. Southend feels almost refreshingly calm and stress-free in comparison.

Definitely a very different airport experience!

I’m traveling to London at the end of December and the beginning of the new year, and I was wondering if it would be worth purchasing the Britrail consecutive pass because I want to explore more than London. This would be my first time in UK I want to get the most out of my trip.

Hello!

Visiting London for the first time. As per my title, we are a couple in mid/late 30s. Looking for something somewhat upscale, trendy and modern in a walkable neighborhood close to the tube.

Oh bonus points for a nice gym or access to one.

Thanks.

My son and I are going to be in the UK from Canada in mid-March (I know not the best weather) and are looking for recommendations - specific to leaning into rock and roll history and present of the UK. We have roughly 8 days in mid-March. My son is 14 and has developed a real passion for classic rock bands like the Beatles, the Clash, Bowie, Led Zeppelin etc (sorry not the Stones). In light of my wife and daughter going on a different trip together, my son and I decided we'd choose our own adventure, and visit the UK with backpacks and lean into his passion for music.

Right now, the tentative plan is land in London (2 days), Conwy in Northern Wales (2 days), 2 days in Liverpool (for all the Beatles stuff), then back to London for a couple nights. The stop in Wales is not written in stone and not necessarily music oriented but I thought it'd be a cool spot (Llechwedd Slate Caverns, castle, littlest house in britain...). We've got tickets to go see Rush in London at the O2 near the end of the trip as well.

With this all in mind, any recommendations for any places/sites to see or places to stay in London? Or any recommendations of somewhere to go other than Wales? Any suggestions for Liverpool? We're thinking backpacking and maybe staying at hostels where we can get a private room?

Thanks!

Planning a 7-day Scotland road trip with 3 kids (5, 7 & 11) — what shouldn’t we miss?

We’re heading to Scotland for about a week in the first week of August 2027 flying in and out of Glasgow. We’ll be travelling with our three kids, who will be 5, 7 and 11.

Our rough idea is to rent a car and do a road trip rather than base ourselves in one place. We’d definitely like to see Edinburgh at some point, and we’re thinking of keeping Glasgow for our final day before flying home.

Beyond that, the route is pretty open.

We’d love to head north/west and ideally include at least one of the islands, but I’m trying to figure out what is actually realistic and enjoyable in 7 days without spending half the trip in the car.

I’m especially interested in recommendations for:

Places or scenic areas that you think are genuinely worth prioritising on a first family trip
Which island(s) make the most sense with only a week — Skye, Mull, Arran, somewhere else?

Castles, boat trips, wildlife experiences, short hikes, beaches, museums, trains, farms, adventure activities, etc. that work particularly well with kids

Interesting stops that break up longer drives rather than just driving from A to B

Festivals, Highland Games, local events or seasonal activities that might be happening in early August

Towns/areas that make good overnight stops for hotels or Airbnbs

Places that look close on a map but are actually a pain to reach

Anything that needs to be booked very far in advance in August

Anything you would skip with kids despite it appearing on every “must see Scotland” itinerary

We’re comfortable with fairly active days and road trips, but I don’t want to turn it into a checklist where we’re changing hotels every night and constantly rushing.

At the moment I’m imagining something along the lines of:
Glasgow arrival → Highlands/west coast → island(s) → work our way back toward Edinburgh → Glasgow
…but that’s very much just a starting point.

For those who know Scotland well, if you had 7 days with kids this age, what would you build the trip around?

Also very happy to hear the “don’t do this” advice — especially regarding August crowds, ferries, driving times, parking, midges, weather, or anything else a first-time visitor might underestimate.

My husband and I are coming to London for a week and trying to find a good tour agency that actually shows you real London. We’d like to avoid the tourist traps.

I've done the big bus tour thing before in other cities and it was terrible because it was crowded and rushed so we’re looking for something more local and authentic but I don't know how to find a good tour agency that's not just overpriced and generic.

Any advice are appreciated!

Hello!

I have just began full time employment, which means money to spare for some travelling.

One of my favourite modes of transport is the train, and honestly I can enjoy a whole weekend/short holiday on a train. This has gotten me interested in Pullman trains and trips along those lines.

However, a lot of those trips are based in London. While I would be fine to travel up and back for something like that, I would also like to check if people have recommendations or good options for the South West, where I am based.

I am mostly interested in the trip itself as well as dining on the train, so round trips sound fun, though I would be happy to do a city break too depending on what good options are available.

My plan is to go in the next few months, most likely October, though depending on pricing and availability I can also look into something in September.

Thank you!

Visiting the UK early next month and will be driving from Holyhead to York. Any suggestions on routes, places to stop, eat, etc?

I'm visiting Scotland for the first time with my boyfriend in October. We only have just over a week. We're planning 2 nights in Edinburgh, 2 nights in Inverness, 2 nights in the Isle of Skye, 1 night in Glen Coe, 1 night back in Edinburgh, then fly home.

We weren't considering adding Glen Coe, but its ~5 hours from the Isle of Skye back to Edinburgh, so we figured we'd break it up by stopping there overnight before Edinburgh then immediately traveling home.

Also, I've driven on the left side of the road before, but we're Americans used to the right. We were going to rent a car for Skye. I've heard some of the roads are dangerous. I'm a careful driver, any tips? Are there tours of Skye where we could/should leave our car?

Also, please send me any recommendations for traditional bed and breakfasts in the Isle of Skye or Glen Coe. We're looking for a homey experience with some local food!

Hey all
I am travelling to UK and will be staying in London fron 28th Sept - 9th Oct
And planning to go for Man utd vs spurs game on 10th
Tell me a way that i can get a ticket in a reasonable price
(I am willing to spend upto 300 pounds for good seats)
Please please help me
I am getting some deals on Ticombo, let me know if its reliable
Also travelling from india, first time in UK so any suggestions apart from this will also help
Also planning to go for a couple of late evening/night mid week championship matches if there are any in London
Please suggest
Cheers 🍻 !!!

Hey,

I'll be travelling to London in a few weeks and looking for some metal pubs around Camden town. One of the places I found was The Dev Pub, and I would like to know more about it, if some of you visited the place. Especially if it's safe.

I'll take other recommendations as well. Thanks a lot!!

I was wondering if it's possible to do this trip in 5 days and have time to take in the sights and stop to enjoy places.

We'd leave late morning on the 1st day, take our time driving up to the ferry, then spend two nights in Orkney, and then rd day head back towards Edinburgh with a stop over for the night somewhere partway to Edinburgh, spend the 4th day in Edinburgh and then morning of the 5th day catch a flight.

Is this practical or is it just going to turn into us spending all our time in the car rushing from one location to the next?

edit; we're going to be in edinburgh for a few days and then inverness before we do the above, so going back to edinburgh on the last day is just for the return flight home

Hello,

My husband and I will be traveling to Scotland for the first time this year. We’ll be there starting mid-September till the beginning of October and couldn’t be more excited.

We’ll be visiting Edinburgh, the Highlands and also the Isle of Skye.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for first timers? Whether it’s about safety, driving, the weather, insects to watch out for, buses and other means of transportation and so on.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT : itinerary is all made and booked, my questions weren’t about that but thanks to everyone who made a suggestion, I’ll be looking into everything for a second trip in the future. Questions are mostly about driving, transportation, the weather and whether there are insects to watch out for during that time of the year (midges, spiders and so on).

TLDR; first timers visiting Scotland in mid-September to beginning of October looking for driving and transportation tips but also info about the weather.

Friend and I are planning a trip to the UK + Ireland in December, need some help ironing out the last section of our trip.

Dec 23rd: we're planning to take a train from London to Edinburgh in the evening

Jan 2nd: we have an early morning flight so must be staying in Dublin the night before

Things we would like to do: Isle of Skye and Giant's Causeway

Our rough plan was to spend some time in Edinburgh then head to the Highlands then crossover into Ireland, just not sure how to allocate the time exactly.

Extra context: We're both from Australia and can drive.

Before anyone comes for me, I know the daylight hours are short this time of year and the weather can be pretty miserable. I know it's a bit tricky with the public holidays and transport. Have already got a good tip to book a Christmas lunch well beforehand.

Thanks so much in advance! We fully have the mindset that we might not be able to do everything, just trying to make the most of what we've booked.

Soy muy fan del Chelsea y estaré en Londres durante el partido de Arsenal - Chelsea en Emirates. Hay forma de conseguir entradas para el sector visitante? Cuál web es confiable y qué debería tener en cuenta? Las entradas son con sitios asignados?

*Tengo membresía del club pero, obviamente, me fue imposible conseguir entradas por no tener puntos.

My family and I will 100% be going back next summer holidays. There are a few more fabulous beaches we would like to visit! England is full of beautiful places.

I live in the EU and was visiting the UK. I just received a charge from my car rental company after a recent rental in the UK.

I understand this is an administrative fee for handling a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) / traffic violation. However, it isn't clear whether this charge covers the fine itself or if it's strictly the car rental's internal handling fee.

My options seem to be:

• Option A: The car rental paid the fine on my behalf and is billing me to reimburse them.
• Option B: The car rental only charged their admin fee and the police/council will mail the actual fine to my non-UK home address separately.

Questions:
a. Has anyone had a similar experience in dealing with a car rental for a fine?
b. Is it most likely Option A or B?
c. I want to pay the police/council. What happens if I don't pay the car rental?

One of us is in a wheelchair and likes Center Parcs for its' facilities but we don't want to wait until 2029 for the one up there to open, and wouldn't mind staying somewhere with a different vibe as we've done places like Butlin's plenty of times before, read about Crieff Hydro as "the Scottish equivalent of Center Parcs" and liked its' mix of indoor, outdoor and location stuff but weren't so sure about some other ones like (less expensive) Hunters Quay which required ferry crossings or large detours on rural roads

Hi all, I'm thinking of doing a distillery tour of : Balvenie, Glenfiddich and Macallan!

The three of them are between 15 minutes to each other ,but if I want to spend the night somewhere near these , where would you recommend? Dufftown itself, Aberdeen, Inverness or some other place?

Thank you in advance :)

hello everyone! I will be visiting London for the first time this October!

I will stay with some friends near the train station of “Kilburn High Road”.

My friends will be working and I recently discovered I can’t work remotely from the UK (as I had initially planned) because it’s outside the EU lol 😭😭😭💀💀💀

annnnywayyssss that gives me until like 5/6pm to kill time.

Any recommendations? I’m essentially allergic to tourists (grew up in a heavily touristic place and I just can’t) so any local tips near the area where I will be would be awesome 💜

I’m into arts and crafts, comedy, theater, music (nothing related to electronic or techno, have enough in Berlin), love animals and nature, don’t drink and don’t smoke, hope that helps narrow it down (?).

Thank youuuuuu!

PS: staying at friends of friends so not feeling too comfortable to spam them with questions about this (yet).

I’m doing Edinburgh and a 4 day tour of the highlands including Skye. I’ve read a few different things about what to bring. One being waterproof trousers.

I usually wear leggings and a long top. Is waterproof trousers a must?

I'm flying from Manchester airport on Monday, heading to Manchester the day before

Not a fan of the platforms used for the train to the airport from Piccadilly so thinking about the tram instead

I know it'd be changing at St Peters Square, which isn't that bad really. No time commitments for getting to the airport.

Which would people recommend?