Uk Visit

[Robby nz]

Am contemplating a trip to the UK and thinking of hiring a campervan (owned one in NZ and hired one in OZ).

Particularly interested in Scotland, birth place, but might as well have a look at the other bit to the south while there.

Thinking along the lines of arriving in London and leaving from Edinburgh or vici verca.

I see the prices about double in the so called high season so would have to make the trip at an other time although dont want to do it in the snow, too used to Thai climate now. So the first question is timeing, would it be best before or after winter?

last time I passed through London was the day after the coronation of QE2 so dont remember much, any help with anything at all would be usefull.

[beano2274]

Maybe use Glasgow as the airport in Scotland, more likely to get good connections.

Go around June or July, maybe even August.

[theoldgit]

I did a similar trip many, and I mean many, years ago, one of the best holidays I've ever had.

I would agree that starting the trip in Glasgow would be good, I drove up from London, early summer the best as you have the light evenings, suspect it is pretty expensive now.

[beano2274]

You could try to use www.groupon.co.uk, to find hotel deals and food deals if you know where you want to go to.

[RabC]

I have one small piece of advice about UK in summer. We have stopped going between June and September, as if there is a "warm" spell we just get too hot at nights in bed. Most houses don't have aircon and the buildings are designed to retain heat, so even if the outside temp is comfortable we find the bedrooms too hot especially in a standard sized UK double. Also June-Sep will be the most costly for flights/hotels etc.

Staying in the South and South West during our trips we have found early to mid October to be a nice time as you still have the chance of some good weather and most of the tourists have disappeared.

Edited January 21, 2013 by RabC

[Bpuumike]

You can be plagued with midges in more northern Scotland in the height of Summer. May - June could be a good time to beat the crowds and heavy tourist traffic - caravans (oops, campervans even) can be a pain on the smaller roads.

[craigt3365]

Maybe use Glasgow as the airport in Scotland, more likely to get good connections.

Go around June or July, maybe even August.

July and August would be high season, right? I try to travel in May/early June or September/October. Less crowds and cheaper prices. But you'll miss out on some of the festivals and events that only take place during the summer months.

[UbonOz]

Personally, I would not hire a camper van in the UK. Last year was bad for rain. The weather can be awful at any time of the year. If stuck in van for a week or more would not be very nice.

Hire a car and do last minute bookings in holiday cottages, you have all the facilities in a cottage if the weather is unpleasant. Possibly will be cheaper than hiring a van and paying fees to stay at night.

Avoid school holidays everything is more expensive and more crowded. End of April till mid July and mid September to end of October can be lucky with good weather.

I go every year to the UK to visit my 90 year old mother and we do exactly what I said about cottages, gives my Mum a good holiday every year as she lives alone.

[smokie36]

May and early June are the best months in Scotland. Bring a brolly though just in case!

[NanLaew]

Pretty much agree with the suggestions of May/June if north of the border and September/October for the south side.

[Robby nz]

Thanks for these suggestions, have yet even to decide to go for sure but would like to.

Depends a bit on the counting of the beans among other things.