UK Itinerary 2018: A 12 Day Itinerary ( Central London, Belfast, Edinburgh)

"One's destination is never a place, but always a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller.

Travelling free and easy is not as easy as it seems. Although it maybe a daunting task (to execute) but the rewards and experiences you gain outweigh the negative. There will be a few bumps on the road ahead but those are not deterrent from spoiling the travel plans.

So where did we go to this year?

This year, we went to the shores of N.Ireland, Scotland and London (UK). It was a trip that was free and easy coupled with a few tours.

How did we manage it?

You may find some tips here.

How did our trip went?

It went like this ...

Day 1 :

We boarded British Airways , BA012 Airbus A380-800 (388 seater) at Changi Airport Terminal 1. After 13 hours 35 mins of flight time, we reached Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 and took the Picadilly line to our hotel.

Day 2 : King's Cross Station, St Pancras International, Edinburgh Waverley Station

We left our hotel at quarter past 8am. It was peak rush hour that we had to skip a few trains (Rush hour was at 8 - 9am). When we reached King's Cross Station, it was still early that we didn't know which platform was our train. Our train leaves at 10, we were at the station by 9.20. They only announced the gate some 30mins before. While we were waiting, we were on a lookout for platform 9-3/4. ( We really thought it was between platform 9 and 10). It was near platform 10 or the farthest left corner of the station -- if you're coming from the Underground train. There was already a long queue formed to take at the iconic platform (it was more of like an abberration on the wall). As we were pressed for time, we quickly visit the store and head to the platform. An insider tip: There's not much crowd at 8AM.

During this time, there was a Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom promotion happening at King's Cross Station.

We went to the turnstile and rushed to the platform. (Note:There's no need for you to scan the tickets at the turnstile as tickets are checked inside the train. ) It was 20mins before train departure and our coach was at berth C, which was way up front.

Best to face on the right side of the train (when going to Edinburgh). There are more spots to see on that side.

First come first serve basis. Seats are too narrow to put the bags unless you don't have anyone sitting beside you.

After the long train ride, we managed to reach Edinburgh!

Around Princes Street

Day 3:

We took the tour from Rabbie's Cafe. The car is quite small, we were just a party of 15. We managed to see some sights around Scotland.

Loch Ness, Glencoe, Scottish Highlands

Lunch was just around 1.5hr (and it's side by side with the cruise- so you have to take the lunch with you at the cruise). You need to quickly go purchase a meal from the nearby Moorings cafe, and make your way to the dock if you are to go to the Lochness tour. It costs 13.50GBP to take the cruise. Be quick on your feet as people who take the cruise are tour group people from China. There's a toilet at the cruise ship. There's also toilet at Moorings cafe. At an average, toilet breaks are of 20-30mins

Day 4: Edinburgh Castle, St Giles Cathedral, Royal Mile, Greyfriar Kirk, Greyfriar Bobby, National Museum of Scotland, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Holyroodhouse Park, Scottish Parliament, HoHo in Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a place of cobbled roads and uphill walks. We opted to do a city tour via HoHo Bus.
The Hoho 24hr Bus ticket is only valid on the day you bought the ticket, so you have to get it once the shop opens at 9AM. The shop is just opposite the Waverley Mall.

To begin the tour, walk back to the bus stop opposite Waverley Mall. That's the drop off point of the first HoHo Bus. We boarded the Green Bus to go to Edinburgh Castle, and this was how our day went.

Some things to note:

From Edinburgh Castle, it's a slight walk (roughly 2 blocks) to St Giles Cathedral.
Further down is Victoria Street , stop at this point, you can get a decent meal.
Walk further down is the Elephant House, the famous cafe where JK Rowling wrote first few drafts of Harry Potter.
From Elephant House, head south till you hit the corner. Cross the street is the National Museum of Scotland.
You can also reach Greyfriar Kirk from Elephant House. It's a couple walk down the block. We went back to Greyfriar Bobby and hitched a ride to the National Museum of Scotland.
Invest 2-3 hours inside National Museum. It was too big that even after 3 hours, we couldn't cover everything. The place is very interesting.
Palace of Holyroodhouse, Holyroodhouse Park and Scottish Parliament are near each other.

Some observations:

There are a lot of allusion to Sir Walter Scott. He's everywhere.
There are a lot of statues across Princes Street and some other street in Edinburgh.
They are very proud of their heritage. They've produced some of the brightest minds - Alexander Graham Bell, James Watt, Alexander Fleming, Robert Louis Stevenson, JM Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle.
People are friendly and do give some solicited advice.

Day 5: King's Cross Station , Covent Garden, Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus
We had our breakfast bright and early at 8ish, and left the hotel at 9ish. Since we had plenty of time to spare, we toured around Waverely Station. Promptly at 10:10am, the train departed for London. Do allot 15mins to walk from the platform to your coach. Coach C is always upfront, so from the platform, walk to the furthest end. Also, do note of the changes of platform ( or if you are at the correct platform) by taking a look at the timetable, which will usually be announced some 40minutes before departure.
It was a smooth ride with no train delay. We reached King's Cross Station around 3ish.

At 4ish, we left King's Cross Station and headed back to our hotel. After resting, we went to explore other parts of Central London (but still around the area of Leicester Square).

And we ended our day on a high note, feeling accomplished that we managed to go to a lot of places in a short span of time (6hrs including dinner and shopping!).

Day 6: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Bath, Lacock
We took Premium Tour (with Lunch) for this tour. The tour was quite alright albeit tiring. The one thing that took a toll was because there was no break in between and we had to just eat at dinner/lunch late in the day.

Day 7: Around Belfast
We were up and early. After breakfast, we headed down to Victoria Station. We were met with the morning rush ( 08:00 - 09:00) but all was well as we did not carry that many bags. We reached Victoria Station and boarded Gatwick Express, we were on our way to Gatwick Airport.
Do note that with every airport, comes a security check where you'd segregate the liquids on your carry on bag. Since we didn't have any check-in bags, we had to separate the 100ml liquids (jam included) and put in clear plastic bags. Allot time so that you'd need not to rush for time.
It was already early afternoon when we reached Belfast, we checked in our hotel, ate lunch and went to go around the city proper. We went from City Hall to Victoria Square to Arthur's Clock. Shops close early at 6.30PM, so we decided to call it a day and rest for the next day ahead.

Day 8: Mccomb Travel's Game of Thrones Tour
[09:00] Depart for Giant's Causeway at Belfast Intl Youth Hostel
[10:45 -11:00] Carnlough
[12:00 - 12:25] Dark Hedges
[13:00 - 13:10] Dunluce Castle
[13:45 - 14:30] Giant's causeway
[15:45 - 16:30] Ballantory HarbourBallantory Harbour
[17:00 - 18:30] Carrick a Rede
[18:30 - 20:00] Reach Belfast City Centre ( Europa Bus Centre)

Day 9: Half day Belfast City Tour and back to Central London
RMS Titanic Experience, SS Nomadic, Queen's Arcade
One of the regrets that we had was to not check-in 1 cabin bag ( or 24 inch travel bag) from Belfast. There was quite a number of jam that we would have bought but couldn't because of the baggage restriction. If you are not travelling by train, best is to check-in 1 bag when going home.

[09:00 - 09:30] Check out hotel and go to Visit Belfast Information to board bus.
[09:30 - 12:00] Titanic Belfast.
[12:00 - 13:00] Shopping at Castle Street, Queen Street
[13:20 - 14:00] On the way to Belfast Intl Airport
[14:00 - 14:20] Lunch at airport (Find the limited seats to rest and eat before going through security)
It was already late when we got back to Central London. As we were billeted at a different hotel, we had to check-in and grab our bags from the other hotel.
[1800 - 1900] Reach and check-in at Best Western Hammersmith
[1900 - 2000] Grab our bags at Mowbray Court Hotel
[2000 - 2100] Grab dinner and roam around Hammersmith, most places closed by 2100. Food places close early at 2000.

Day 10: National Gallery, Warner Bros Studio Tour London

[09:00] Left for National Gallery (Leicester Square station exit 1). The gallery is just opposite Trafalgar Square.
[10:00 - 11:30] National Gallery exhibition
[11:30 - 12:40] Waiting at Tourist Centre
[12:40 - 14:00] Travel time from Tourist Centre to Harry Potter + Pickup at Victoria Station.
The tour will give you 4 hours to go around the exhibition.
*14:30- 15:00* Entry time at Harry Potter
[1450 - 17:20] Inside Warner Bros Studio Tour London
[17:20 - 18:15] Harry Potter Shop
[18:30 - 19:30] Left Harry Potter for Victoria Station

Day 11: Tower Bridge, Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, House of Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye, The View from the Shard

We got the One Day London Pass because we wanted to go to a lot of attractions in 1 day ( at the same time have the avenue of resting as we can go for 1 day Hop-On Hop-Off bus and City Cruises).

Insider tip: Take bus 11 to get some best sightseeing route Central London has to offer without breaking the bank.

[08:30 - 09:00 ] Left hotel for Tower of London
[09:20 - 11:30] Tower of London ( we didn't manage to go through the whole of the palace as we were pressed for time .)
[11:50 - 12:30] Tower Bridge
[13:00 - 13:15] Queue for tickets at City Cruises. ( Present London Pass to get some tickets)
[13:15 - 13:50] City Cruises from Tower Millennium Pier to Westminster Pier
[14:00 - 15:00] Our lone break so we quickly grab a quick bite while we went around Westminster Pier.

London Eye

How to Go: Westminster Station Exit 1 or 2 will take you to London Eye. Follow the signs to London Eye from MRT.
Houses of Parliament

The houses of Parliament is on the opposite side of London Eye.
Westminster Abbey

You can go straight to Westminster Abbey from Parliament, the cathedral (Westminster Abbey) is very visible.

[15:00 - 16:30 ] St Paul Cathedral ( No pictures permitted on the church premises).

[16:30 - 18:00 ] Hop on Hop Off bus, and alighted after Westminster Abbey
[18:00 - 19:30] Dinner and Walk around Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye.
[19:30 - 20:00] Take tube to go to the Shard
[20:00 - 21:00] View from the Shard

Day 12: Abbey Road Studios, Sherlock Holmes Museum, Buckingham Palace, Borough Market

[09:00 - 10:30] Shopping around Hammersmith ( Poundland, Savers, Ice, Primark)
[10:30 - 11:30] Abbey Road Studios
[11:30 - 12:30] Sherlock Holmes Museum
[13:00 - 14:00] Buckingham Palace
[14:00 - 16:30] Borough Market
[16:30 - 17:30] To Heathrow Airport Terminal 5

Things to note: You have to group the things together. Like to go 1 day on the jubilee line hopping, next day go to District Line. In that way, you can go to more places in 1 day and not shift in lines ( as they are nearer together).

Tips:

There's a water fountain inside Borough Market where you can refill your water.
There are portable toilets , but better use the restroom in one of the restaurants near the area.
Abbey Road Studios is just 400m walk from St John Wood Station.
The Sherlock Holmes statue in Marylebone street is also the parking spot of Original Tour London ( in case you are going for a Hop - On Hop Off tour)

.. and yes, the days went by quickly ... ( and we are back to reality)

Some of the things learned from the trip ...

Have a daily budget of 30GBP per person for food.

Food costs like an average of 10GBP per meal per person. The meals servings in restaurant are good for 2 people (provided that they are not voracious eaters). When sitting in to dine, there is a 12% service charge included (although most of the restaurants we dined have the charge as optional). Price of food are in the range of 15GBP- 20 GBP. Fast food servings are good enough for 1 person. Most of the meals cost roughly 5GBP - 10GBP.

Some 3-star hotels have free breakfast. By free, it's usually Continental, which consists of bread, butter and jam. Coffee, tea and tap water are a staple. In some hotels (if you get lucky), they served ham or salami, and juices.

Continental Breakfast at Best Western

Mind your belongings

It was a lesson I've never forget. I went to blame a lot of things but at the end of the day, it was still my fault. If I had been mindful, I will still be using the sun glasses until now. The attraction will not be responsible for the lost thing. More often than not, if you lose something, you can already kiss it goodbye. Tourists ( whose nationality I will not name -- but they're usually news makers who are notoriously known for bad behavior) will definitely pick it up and take it as their own. ( One good thing is that the sunglasses was already 3 years old and it has a lot of scratches so if she plans to sell it, it won't be worth anything anymore) .

Wear proper attire

Always bring in waterproof shoes and bags, a change of clothes, extra socks. Bring caps, sunglasses, and umbrella. Weather in London can be very unpredictable. If it helps, do check the weather condition on that day.

Avail of discounts

There is a senior discount for all regardless of your nationality in some of the attractions (so if you're with your elderly parents or relatives, they can avail of it). Most museum are free of charge.

BYOB ( Bring Your Own Bag and Save the environment)

Shops charge .05GBP for bags. Better bring your own bag and help save the environment!

Ask away

People from London are generally amiable. So when you are unsure of your location or mode of transport, ask the locals or the people at the station or the concierge at the hotel. (But of course, you have to be wary of the people you are asking. Stay vigilant)

But ...

If you lose something, they (the people working inside) may give you the cold shoulder. Most missing items tend to be lost forever. Don't expect it to be returned. Apparently, they claimed that people (of a certain country) don't seem to have a habit of returning lost items.

Hotel room in London is generally cramped (even for triple room)

Think Japanese business hotel. Space in London really is expensive. However, it's a different case in Edinburgh and Belfast. Rooms were very spacious, but what they made up for lack in space, they made up for free breakfast (continental breakfast ONLY).
When your hotel provides continental breakfast, it will only be preserves, bread/croissant, fruits, cereals, youghurt, and coffee/tea - the most basic breakfast set. ( Do not expect a lot!)

Research

I cannot stress the fact of the importance of research and combing through all the comments in tripadvisor.

We noticed that not all hotels have lift and if they have, lifts will be tiny. 3 person + 6 pcs of luggage are enough to fill up a lift at the hotels (esp in city centre/London).

We noticed that not all train station have lift ( esp in Jubilee/Victoria line).
Do watch out for the step-free access ( from train to street level/ platform to street level) station. This will help you plan for the location of your hotel. We stayed around Earl's Court and Hammersmith Area (which have lifts inside the station).

Do Check if the timings of your travel fall into any school holiday or public holiday, because it gets crowded on certain attractions.

Don't forget to also have Plan B .. have a backup itinerary in case it rains!

Refunds

Get those refunds (if applicable). We heard that you can get refund if there are train delays in Virgin East Coast Trains. They'll verify the date and time and then give the appropriate refund. (If only this was the case here..)

Toilets

Toilets at the station cost .50GBP to use. Some costs 1GBP. Not all station have toilets.

In Leicester Square, you can just go to the countless fast food stores abound. There are toilets esp. in Burger King, Mcdonald's.
In High St Kensington , we went to M&S store for the toilet (Level 2 )
Some Pret-A-Manger stores have toilet, but they come with a code, which you can ask the friendly server.
Do also avail of the toilets inside the museum/palaces that you go to. They are free.
Toilets in Victoria station are also free. So pee before you leave for the train journey. The trains are equipped with toilets but they're not spotless so...

Transport

Always look at the signages or bulletin boards, it indicates where the train would go and which line the train belongs to. Always know where the train is headed, so you will have a clue where to alight.
Shuttle buses cost 1GBP for Giant's Causeway. Other shuttle buses are free.
You need to tap in and tap out when taking the tube. There are signs leading you to go to other lines, so you need not go out of the station just to go to other lines.
You only need to tap in when riding the bus.
There is a cap of 7GBP when you travel the train/bus as long as you are in the same zone. If you reached the max capped and plan to go to other zones, there will just be a 1.80GBP charge on your oyster card ( depends on where you are going).

Capping of Transport Costs.

It cost 2.80GBP to go from Terminal 5 to Earl's Court. On our last day, while we were not charged for our further travels in Zone 1 as we maxed out the cap for the day, but we were still charged 1.50GBP to go to Zone 6 (which was to the airport).

How the transport looks like :
Piccadilly Line

The Piccadilly line which serves Heathrow are quite cramped. There's no placement of luggage. The other alternative will be the more expensive,faster but more comfortable, Heathrow Express. Do take note of the trains you ride in Piccadilly line. You must be sure of where the train terminates. T4 train does not go to T5, thus if you took the train thinking that there's another way to go from T4 to T5, you're gravely mistaken.
Most of the tourist destination would cut across the Piccadilly Line, so you just have to bear with it.

The District Line
The trains in District Line are wider than Piccadilly line. Spacious too.

Gatwick Express
The faster way to go to Gatwick Airport. There are ample luggage area, seats are comfortable enough. There's USB ports to charge your device.

Southern Railway

The other way to go back to London (Victoria Station) other than the more expensive and comfortable Gatwick Express. There are racks for luggage but must always have a watchful eye on your belongings.

Timing of activity

Do not go to tours where you'll be visiting a chapel or church on a Sunday. There will be some services held.
Do go to theme parks on weekend especially if the week is still a school holiday. There's not much difference in terms of crowd if you go on a weekend or weekday. It's still crowded.
Do check a few days before flight of the opening hours of attractions (e.g. the Exchange of Guards, opening times of Westminster Abbey, the ascension of Tower Bridge)
At the beginning of the planning, do get the list of activities you can do on the month that you plan to go. and check for activities that require advance booking of tickets.

Learn the Lingo & Do what the locals do.

The Lingo

To Sit-in, is our version of "Eat here/Dine-in". The loo is, of course, the toilet.

Till is another word for the cashier.

The Way

Stay on the right side of the escalator.

Tipping

Usually the restaurant charges 12.5%, if it's optional, we would leave a staple of 10%.
From what I've gathered , it's usually just about minimum of 2GBP for the tour guide/driver/housekeeping.
For our tours, we kept it as 5ers. Since we are group of 3, we give at least 10GBP to the driver/guide. Or 10GBP to the guide, 5GBP to the driver for the convenience ( though this is typically optional, but it's much appreciated. Of course, you can give more.. )

Speaking of Tours, the tours that we took were..

Premium Tour (with lunch): Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath.
How to go to Coach Station from Victoria Station: Turn left on the first corner, then turn left on the next corner, and walk straight till you hit the Coach Station. ( Use Google Maps or Citymapper app)

Shuttle bus at Stonehenge (but not the actual bus from Premium Tours)

Pickup Point: It's a chaotic world at Victoria Coach Station. Be there early. We at least allotted 1 hour for our travel to Victoria Coach Station.
The drop off points was good. It was nice that they drop us off at one of the station near to our hotel. ( I think they already knew that people are staying near the area)
The timing for Windsor Castle was evenly paced and there were breaks in between ( but it's not that long enough to have a sit down lunch or snack-- maybe in Bath). Lunch was definitely late ( but they did warned us about it. )
The timings inside Windsor Castle was just roughly 2 hours, Stonehenge (2hours), and Bath (50mins)
Tipping in this trip is optional.

Mccomb's Coach Travel: Game of Thrones Tour

Pickup Point: Int'l Youth Hostel was quite a distance from Europa. Walking distance but far. Better opt for the pick-up point at Europa Bus Center esp if your hotel is at Maldron City hotel. But of course, you won't get dibs on the bus seats, as you'll get what is left.
Drop-Off Point: opposite Europa Bus Center (near the Queen's Bar)
Timing of lunch was good.
The coach driver was highly entertaining.
The pacing was good although I wished that lunch should be first before heading to Giant's Causeway ( at least you'll have enough energy to do the hike - though the hike to Carrick-A-Rede is much worse than Giant's Causeway)
The timings for the tour: Dark Hedges (25mins) , Giants Causeway (45mins), Photo-stops (10-15mins), Ballantory Harbour (45mins or less), Carrick-A-Read (1 hour)

Rabbie's Cafe: Iverness, Scottish Highlands, Glencoe

Pickup Point:Rabbie's Cafe
Drop-Off Point: Near Balmoral Hotel ( still within the premises of Rabbie's Cafe)
The whole tour: 12 hours
We were left to our defenses during our stopovers (photo shoot points, lunch,etc).
The driver was just there to handle tickets to the river cruise.
Timings: Lochness (2h), Driver Break (30mins), Glencoe (20mins) , Photo-stops (10mins).

Things to take note in a tour:

You only have 15-20mins toilet break.
You only have 45mins to eat. ( Mostly, they will not give a deadline to eat your dinner, and the guide would just roughly estimate the timing of when you want to eat. However, if people in the tour group are fast eaters, better gobble up)
You will get hungry. There are times when the tour will not have stops for lunch. Better eat a full meal or bring small snacks to the bus (and sneakily eat).
You will only be given 1-2hours to roam around the chosen destination. Drive is usually far.

Reverie of Thoughts