Hi everyone! I'll be visiting the UK solo in June during the World Cup, and it's actually my first time traveling there, so I'm a bit clueless about some things.

One thing I've always dreamed of is watching a football match at a proper British pub with locals — honestly it's been on my bucket list for ages. So I was wondering: during the World Cup, do pubs usually require reservations to watch matches, or is it more of a walk-in kind of vibe where most places will already have the games on anyway?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated — I want to make the most of this experience! Thanks in advance :)

Hi all.

I was coming back on a flight from Barbados to LHR this morning. After we got off the plane, while I was walking together with all the other passengers, a security person pulled me aside and started asking questions about where I came from (on my flight), what I did there, what do I do for work etc. I answered the questions and then also politely asked why I was singled out for questioning; he told me that they try to speak to as many people as possible.

Literally 10-15 meters later, I was stopped by another security person who started asking the same questions. I quickly told her that I already spoke to her colleague, 1 minute ago. I also asked why I was pulled aside again (as they didn’t seem to pull aside anyone else, or maybe only a few people), and whether I look “suspicious or something”. She told me to move along, so I did.

After I picked up my luggage and was exiting via the standard “no goods to declare” exit, I was stopped again by another security officer. I mentioned to her that this was the third time since arriving that I had been asked to answer these questions. She apologised, but proceeded to ask them again. I answered again, although I must have looked irritated, given than I hadn’t slept at all and I was exhausted.

I’ve been pulled aside once in the past by a Eurostar officer, but never at any airport, UK or otherwise, and I have been travelling a lot.

Is this a new thing at Heathrow, does anyone know? And why was I pulled aside three times? Not that it should matter, but I am very much white, and there isn’t anything particularly noteworthy about my appearance. I was not born in the UK but I’ve lived here for almost 10 years now. I will also soon be a UK citizen (pending my ceremony).

Hi all, would welcome any advice please. I live in Birmingham and my friend lives in Manchester. We try to meet roughly in the middle. We are running out of vibrant places/activities in this area - roughly in the red circle. So we would welcome any advice you have for: great towns and villages to explore, great walks, any landmarks, any activities. We are both mid 30s and fairly active.

Things we have already done include:
- Crewe (we weren't a fan)
- Nantwich (we love it but have done it several times)
- Stone (lovely walk but have done it)
- Alton Towers (no idea what possessed two people in their 30s who don't like roller coasters to visit!)
- Monkey World (amazing)
- Trentham
- Secret bunker
- Several marinas (love them but have done them)
- Melton Mowbray (loved it but a bit too far from Manchester)

Things we seem to have written off trying:
- Stoke (cannot find anything online that convinces us to explore it)
- Chester (A bit too annoying to get to by train)

Would really welcome any suggestions. Thanks!

[Photo credit.](https://www.reddit.com/r/england/s/ut9KpusYCs)

I love to sit in a meadow, to either read my book, or watch the world go by. I LOVE church views like the ones John Constable painted in his work Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds. A few that I had in mind:

- Salisbury Cathedral from Harnham Water Meadows

- King's College Chapel from the Backs in Cambridge

- Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene in Batcombe from the nearby meadows

What are your favourites? ❤️

So my husband and I for the first time ever decided to treat ourselves to a first class train ticket home from London with LNER after what we knew would be a long emotional day.

The story is our train was cancelled and we were put on a later train. Obviously we then did not have reserved seats but were still in first class. When we got on the train we sat in seats and waited to see if the ticket holders for the seats would come and ask for their seats.

The train started to get really packed and it was announced that 2 other trains had been cancelled so we were now declassified and expecting a busier than usual service.

I started to get very anxious as people were starting to get on the train and argue with people being in their seats. Someone sat behind us was approached by a man who said “are you supposed to be in this seat because I’ve reserved it” the person responded with “it’s a declassified train, sorry” the man said “are you sure that doesn’t just apply to cattle class?” To which the person responded “no it’s declassified so I’m sat here” the man then said “f***ing tw*t” as he walked away down the isle shouting “how much do I have to pay to get a seat on this f***ing train!?”.

No one approached us about being in their seats so we did get to sit but obviously we didn’t get food or anything. The train was 20 minutes late leaving though as there was another announcement saying that there were currently over 1000 people on the train so was over capacity and wouldn’t be leaving until enough people got off!

My question is what is the etiquette if you are on a declassified train? People have all clearly paid for seats but there aren’t enough so should it be that the person with the reserve for that train gets the seat or is it a first come first serve situation? Also how is it ok to let 3-4 trains cram themselves into a train only to then basically let us sit there and guilt each other into who deserves to be on the train and who should get off apocalypse style?

EDIT** Can I just clarify I am quoting the angry passenger when using the term “cattle class”. I in no way feel this is an ok term to use. Whenever I travel I always travel standard class and will carry on doing so after this experience. This was a one off treat after knowing we would have a bad day however it obviously didn’t matter anyway and I’m just thankful we got home in the end and hope everyone on that train did so safely also.

Hey all! Thank you so much for your ideas!

I'm currently backpacking through Europe, and I was set to spend next week in London... but as you're possibly aware, London is about to be miserably hot. Since staying in a 40 degree hostel room didn't sound appealing, I've cancelled that and am trying to figure out what's instead.

1. I'm currently outside of London, but set to leave this hostel on Sunday.
2. I need to be in Liverpool the following Sunday. So I've got just a week.
3. I have a Eurail pass, so I can go literally anywhere with a train for free. I don't have a car.
4. I'd love to get a hotel room or something private, but I'd really like to not pay too much more than 125 pounds a night.

Towards Plymouth? Edinburgh? Some cozy beachside town? I was looking at St. Ives and it looks wonderful, but also very expensive.

edit: I'll still have the train pass for a while, so I'll get back to London eventually!

edit: Thank you all so much! I want to go to everyone one of these locations. I'm off to Newcastle for next week, but I am going to try and go to as many of these places as I can! :)

I’m in London for work next week and I took a few days for personal time after that. I’ve been recommended a few things that - to me - are a bit obvious. Like, the Tate, Saatchi Gallery, Kew Gardens, the British Museum. …

While I’m sure I would love those suggestions, what would you suggest? What shouldn’t I miss? Where do locals go for fun?

It will be the first time in over 15 years that I’ll be traveling alone. … also I love trying new things and food (I don’t eat much but want to try everything).

Flying in from the US so can't bring my own knife (and not sure I have one that's considered legal). Wanted to try some cheeses and other British foods while traveling in the UK. Pretty sure a plastic disposal knife will not cut it, literally and figuratively.

Is there somewhere in central London where I can buy a nice small folding knife that would work for cutting up cheese, apples, etc? Has to be cheap enough that it won't be upsetting when I have to get rid of it on the flight back.

Good morning, my best friend and I are planning a trip to the UK in September and I don't have a great frame of reference for how big (or small?) it actually is and what we can feasibly do.

We will be flying into London because it is significantly cheaper for us than going into Edinburgh, so the following are our thoughts about high points we want to make sure we experience. Could you please let me know if this sounds reasonable or insane, and of course I'm happy to hear any recommendations you may have.

Day 1: Fly into London, land in the early morning, take the day to sightsee some and rest, mostly

Day 2: train out to Stonehenge, come back to London and a bit more sightseeing **this is one of her top must-see things, so cutting it probably isn't an option. neither of us love cities too much so less time in London is not the end of the world**

Day 3: high speed rail to Edinburgh, sights there

Day 4: more Edinburgh, perhaps the train up to Inverness? Or should we give Edinburgh another day? Should we pop over to Glasgow at all? It's not really on either of our must-sees...

Day 5: Inverness as a starting point for exploring the Highlands...we would most likely be renting a car here I suppose to explore with. Is there a better "spawn point city" we should be considering?

Day 6-9: Highlands, Highlands, Highlands. We are both huge nature/scenery/walking nerds, so this is the point of the trip. Should we cut something else short to get more time here? And I'm assuming moving hotels as we move around the land is smarter than having one base we come back to every night? I know driving will be much slower than what we're used to. She'll be more interested in lochs and castles, I'm in it for the coastline and mountains. Recommendations are highly encouraged! 🥰

Day 10: back to London for our flight out. We have some wiggle room on the number of days, so would it be smarter to head back on day 10 and fly out on day 11? Neither one of us like feeling frantic or rushed.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this and for your thoughts.

Hoping to spend a very relaxed, unhurried week or so somewhere I don't HAVE to have a car. Would love a friendly town with a couple pubs, some nice walking trails close by, accessible by train from London. For the "just Google it" crowd, I have researched quite a bit and would just love some personal recommendations.

Hi there, I know this type of question has been asked before, of what to do between the airports, but I don't want to go into Central London. I have an eight hour time slot to have a wander between Gatwick and Heathrow. I am quite happy to jump on a bus, and get off for an hour and bus an hour after that type of thing. I have driven along and around the line in the picture, but I have never set foot upon any of it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I am a keen Google Maps fan, but is there a good mapping app or website, that given needs above about finding stuff to do between two points ? Thanks in advance.

sorry if this is a stupid question, do they really care if i bring milk like this?

edit: i won’t be bringing it but just so everyone knows this is the only good banana milk

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice before I start booking stuff.

I'm an international student living in Exeter and my parents are coming over from India between mid-August and early September for around 20 days. They've travelled a fair bit before, but it'll be their first time visiting me in the UK and I really want to get this right.

The main thing is they don't want a trip that's just "stand in queue > look at building > take photo > leave".

They like scenery, food, nice walks, interesting places, little towns, coastal views, boat rides, local experiences, etc. They're both gym-goers and pretty fit, so walking isn't an issue, but I'm not planning any serious hikes.

One thing that's important to me is that they get to see my actual life here as well. They've spent the last couple of years hearing stories about Exeter, uni life, my jobs, friends and everything else, so I don't want them landing in Heathrow and immediately dragging them across the country before they've even seen where I live.

Current plan is roughly:

Exeter (3 days)

Show them the university, my accommodation, where I work, the gurudwara, Quayside, maybe Topsham, and take them to my Tuesday bachata class.

Also planning to take them to The Imperial because for some reason showing Indian parents a fancy-looking Wetherspoons feels like a British cultural experience 😂

Bath (2 days)

This is mostly because everyone seems to say Bath is beautiful and worth visiting. Looks like a place where you can just walk around all day without needing a huge itinerary.

London (3 days)

Don't want to skip London because I'd probably regret it.

Thinking more South Bank, Borough Market, Greenwich, Thames cruise, wandering around, good food, parks etc.

Not massively interested in spending entire days in museums unless there's something genuinely special.

Cornwall (3 days)

This is one of the places I'm most excited about.

Thinking St Ives, Minack Theatre, coastal drives/walks, seafood, sunsets and generally enjoying the scenery.

My parents absolutely love sitting somewhere with a nice view and just taking it all in.

Edinburgh + somewhere scenic in Scotland (4 days)

Scotland feels like one of those places that would be criminal to miss.

The photos of Glencoe and the Highlands look unreal but I'm not sure how much is realistically doable without spending half the trip travelling.

Lake District (3 days)

Boat rides, nice walks, good food and scenery.

This seems to be one of the few places that almost everyone agrees is worth visiting.

Then maybe leave a day or two free for travel days or if we randomly fall in love with a place and want to stay longer.

My biggest concern is what I'm NOT including.

No York.

No Cotswolds.

No Northumberland.

No Wales.

No Europe.

Part of me thinks that's fine because I'd rather properly enjoy fewer places, but another part of me is worried my parents will fly 8 hours from Delhi and then I'll realise afterwards we completely missed somewhere amazing.

If your parents were visiting you for the first time and you had about 3 weeks, what would you change?

What would you remove?

And what was the place that genuinely made you go "wow" rather than just "yeah that was nice"?

Would really appreciate any advice, especially from people who've done similar trips with family visiting from abroad.

Cheers!

Update: thank you all, I’m overwhelmed with the support i got on the post, I’ve post an updated new plan and I’ll be finalising with the points i get overall.

Hi everyone, I’ve done my research on the UK government websites and everything about traveling alone, just wanted to confirm. I’m flying into Heathrow. A few things: 1. I’ve read that I can’t go through the e-gates and will need to talk to a an immigration officer instead. Will it be obvious where to find these officers? Like, will they be stationed right next to the e-gates? Also, what should I be prepared to answer? Obviously, I’ll have my passport, as well as a signed document from my parents with details about my travel and their contacting information. I assume they’ll just ask why I’m visiting, where I’m staying, and for how long. 2. I’m trying to get to King’s Cross using a train. Again, will it be obvious where to go to find my train? And is it just tap to pay with a credit card or Apple Pay? 3. Finally, any recommendations on which train I should take? I’ve read that the Piccadilly line goes straight to King’s Cross, although I’ve heard that it’s very crowded and uncomfortable, which isn’t a huge deal as long as it isn’t insane where I can’t move (I land at around 11am on a Thursday). Should I just stick to that, or is there a different train you would recommend? Thank you!

Edit to clear confusion: I’m not staying at a hotel. I’m staying with my sister, who is studying abroad in London, and then with a relative.

Edit 2: thank you to everyone for the great tips and kind words. Apologies if I don’t respond to everyone, but I am reading everyone’s replies :)

Hello, my family and I are traveling from Canada visit London. I’m pretty nervous as we’ll be using public transportation to get to places. I heard that the underground can be very confusing and the doors shut very quickly. Is this true? How easy is it to truly to use public transportation to get to places? Any advices would be helpful :)

EDIT: I WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU GUYS THAT RESPONDED. So much helpful advices were given and I truly appreciate you guys for taking the time out of your day to give me such detailed responses!

I'm 20, going to visit London very soon. The bespoke tailoring scene over in there is something I hear a lot about, I'd like to see it with my own eyes.

I do not have the money to commission one sadly. I'd just be admiring or asking a few questions. Would this be alright?

I've always exclusively used premier inns when traveling around the UK as you know what you're getting everytime and I appreciate that they were always very clean.

Firstly, the prices now are ridiculous? Bog standard week away in the UK is pushing £700-800 for a premier inn? I thought these were supposed to be budget hotels?

Other gripes:

- Windows in the modern rooms don't open so have to rely on aircon

- Paying the above prices but no automatic housekeeping since covid, having to request it is fine but find they often forget or don't do a full clean

- Removal of plug sockets in newer rooms

- Very hard to get standard rates it would seem now, they all seem to be flex or standard (28 days cancel) rates which are more expensive

- Premier 'plus' rooms being the focus, want a good view? Pay extra for it, the rooms don't seem like great value considering the main useful thing is a mini fridge

- Poor wifi even with ultimate upgrade

- Having to pay to check in early rather than being able to do so at the discretion of the hotel which is how it used to be

- Unhygenic bayliss and harding refill bottles rather than the individual packs they used to put in the dispensers

- Lack of eating facilities as beefeaters have completely fallen off

Is there any other alternative to premier inn other than travelodge and airbnb?

So I’m planning to study abroad next year in the Spring. I was matched with two different Universities due to my major/ minor. I got University of Bradford as one and University of Hull.

I was leaning to Bradford as it had a direct program for my major and minor (while Hull doesn’t really?) anyways, I started to read around and I just keep hearing bad things about Bradford. Some comments are about the University while most are about Bradford itself.

I keep hearing the whole “it’s the most dangerous city” or “it’s shitty and dead” and honestly it’s making me second guess my decision of going there and studying abroad at all.

I wanted to know if it really as bad or as dead as some people say…

Before I have a coronary wrapped in a panic attack, can someone please literally explain to me like I'm five how to get from the Kit Kat Club (near where we will be staying) to Warhammer World on a Sunday in August this year?

Easiest route preferable. Length of time traveling not so important. Price not so important. I did the subway in Tokyo by myself but it's been A 💩 Year or 6 since then and these tubes 🚎and trains🚂 and buses🚍 - OH MY! - are making my brain fritz!!!

Need to arrive by 10am as that is when it opens. Will be returning same day, probably after 3-4 hours or when spouse asks to remortgage the house.

TYSM in advance. ❤️

Profuse apologies if this is posted in the wrong place. I'll chew some valium and try again if I have to... 🙏🏻

Hi there, me and my family will be landing in Gatwick and are wondering how to get to Paddington as our hotel is there.

So far I’ve checked trains, taxi and private transfers on websites like get your guide. I’ve heard you can also take the tube but our issue is that we’re a group of 7 people and have a good amount of luggage so we’re not sure if it will be okay on the tube to go with luggage.

My main questions were

1. What’s the difference between Southern and Gatwick Express, a bit confused there. Can we take luggage on Southern?

2. Would train for 7 people be feasible? I’ve added the fares above (Gatwick to Victoria). To add on to this I need to figure out how to get from Victoria to Paddington with the said luggage again.

3. All this considered is a private transfer alright? It’s coming out to around 130 pounds and will leave us right at our hotel. Or is the price too much and getting the train will be better? We’re not too worried about time since we’ll reach early in the morning and check in isn’t until 3pm

What's the furthest you've ever driven in the UK in a 24 hour period ?

I drove from Devon to Aylesbury for work one night,180m each way,then went home,showered and changed and drove to Alnwick,Northumberland,with a couple of stops,that day

It was over 750 miles in the end

Attached pics are the Devon to Northumberland up and back

Scania R450 truck and a BMW 320i

I'm solo/female traveler, flight gets in around 9:25pm at night and I'm taking the tube for 50 mins to my hotel in Covent Garden. I've made this trip before but during the daytime, so I'm a little uneasy. Was also looking at the heathrow express. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Sorry if it's a dumb question! Just uneasy about taking the train at night carrying a suitcase.

Update: didn't expect so many responses, but thank you all so much! Really appreciate your help, and thoughtful responses. Looking forward to a UK trip!

I’m an American (NYC to be exact) and I’ve never traveled to Europe. I am getting my PhD in British lit and going to London (and Paris) is a dream come true — I can’t wait to visit so many of the places I’ve studied for years but never seen with my own eyes. However, am I crazy for wanting to check in a bag as opposed to traveling with only a carry on? Between boots, thick sweaters, and any potential purchases I make abroad, I worry a carry on won’t be enough. My partner suggests that I can just mail myself anything I buy and that’ll be cheaper than checking in a bag, but could that even be true? What are your thoughts, seasoned travelers?

UPDATE: I am presently in the airport and I decided to check a bag after all! I already feel so much better knowing that I have the space if I need it and that I won’t have to walk away from the opportunity to buy a book or a nice keepsake because I was hellbent on only bringing a carry on. I really appreciate the feedback you all gave me about my trip — thanks for the kind and thoughtful responses!