UK 2018: Pre Travel Guide

All hail Google! In this day and age, Internet is really a good buddy and is a mine of information. Since this trip is mostly a free and easy trip, I had to scour the web in search for what to do, where to eat, and how to go. 

I've listed down some helpful tips when booking your own tour.  Planning is really a cumbersome task and not everyone is up for it. Hopefully this guide can help!

Tips:

1. Search TripAdvisor on review of tours and hotel. At least you have an idea what you're getting yourself into.
Also,  ask  in Tripadvisor! It is a community, so you can post your owes away and have some people who have spare time to come to your rescue.

2. Use Google. With the perfect keywords, you will be able to scout information you need for your trip. 

3. Use Google Map. So that you'll have a rough estimate on the location of the tourist attraction.

4. Download Apps. There are some articles which describes what apps are useful for your travel.
One app that I can vouch for is CityMapper. It's one helluva map, and a good source of information on which bus/train to take. 

5. Run through travel blogs. They're a good source of information on how their day went.

6. Ask friends! Ask friends for their opinion on some of the places that you researched.

7. Go through shops like ChangiRecommend, Klook for deals. You'll never know you may actually be saving a lot (Only because of exchange rate + their website discount )

Two things to note while on the website, they will ask for the date will either refer to (Collection) Date if you are collecting a pass, card, OR  (Date of Tour) if you are taking a tour.

8. Visit sites like TimeOutLondon and VisitLondon.

Booking a Hotel:

1. the nearest mode of transportation.

2. how to go from hotel to airport and back ( especially if you are not taking a cab).

3. does the nearest station have a step-free/fuss free access?  You have to remember that you will be dragging the luggage from the station to the street.

4. do they allow to store luggage for a period of time? Does it come with a fee?

Normally, if this is Japan, you will not have any problem. But if it's London, then it will be. Most of the tours/trains in London does not offer to keep the luggage, so where will you keep the luggage?

5. location. Is it in city centre?

6. review on tripadvisor. Is the hotel that I am staying got bad reviews? If so, am I willing to compromise?

7. Lift! Do they have lift inside the hotel?

If this was Asia, you will not fret. most hotel in Asia are inside a building. What I noticed from London is that the hotels were actually homes converted to a hotel. So the lift will be a problem. If you have 2 heavy big luggage, you will have difficulty lugging them around.

8. Free cancellation.

When I booked at booking.com, I already got charged for the hotels where the bookings are non-refundable.

Booking a Tour: 

1. How early is the pickup time? 

2. Where is the pickup point? Is it accessible?

3. Where is the drop off point? Will they send me back at the same place where I was picked up? 

4. Do they have hotel pick-up and drop off?

5. What does the tour entail?

6. Do we need to give tip? 

7. Does the tour agency have a lot of bad review? 

8. How big is the bus? can it accommodate my luggage?
9. What is the review like in tripadvisor?

Booking through Changi Recommends
There were some things in the fields in the form before booking that I was unsure of, like in the case of the oyster card. Transport cards are usually open-dated cards (it's not going to expire any time soon) yet the site had asked for a date (as this was most probably just a replicated field).

The date can mean a lot of things:

• Date where they'll prescribed the use of the card (like JR Pass) 
• Date where you'll pick up the card (but will i pick up in London or locally)  

One good thing about changi recommends is that they have a chatbot so you can just ask the question:
The answer, the date field represents the date when you can claim the card (and not the use of the card) from Changi Airport.


So far these are some of the things that I look for when choosing a tour. 

I've also booked some deals from Klook:
I was still unsure about the pickup point at Changi Recommends for their Warner Bros Studio Tour that I've hopped on to Klook and browse their site.
I've also booked my London Pass with them because they were tad cheaper than what the embassy was asking for.

Next on my list are the luggage, we will be bringing 2 big luggage and 2 cabin size luggage. We plan to hop off places and will be travelling by plane or by train.  And this leads me to .... 

My Other Concerns

How are we going to store the luggage while we go to other places like Scotland or N.Ireland?

After hours of scouring the web, I finally found a place (Mowbray Court Hotel) where they can keep my luggage for a couple of days, but of course, this was but for a fee. ( We ain't in Japan!)

If you don't feel comfortable leaving your luggage at the hotel , there are other outlets where you can store your luggage - the left luggage at the train station ( King's Cross) and major station, the left luggage at the airport, and a service called  Stasher. Do take note of the charges that applies. Some facility charges by the hour and by day. The rate that I saw for our trip was 5GBP per bag per day. 

So our DIY trip will take us from London - Scotland - N.Ireland - London. I have finally finalized the whole itinerary ( and I hope it will not be jam packed and be a memorable trip!)