Harters

I'd not heard of the North Coast 500 before tonight. More research needed into practicalities but I'm hoping that finds its way on to our "to do" list. Years back, I had an idea of buying a motorhome and driving the whole coastline of Britain, maybe taking a year. Never got round to it but the NC500 might be a partial thing.

Interesting. There was a fair amount of mention last year of folk no longer getting them. And we didnt get them for our cruise last June (and havent for our forthcoming one). Maybe the change of policy was sometime between your April cruise and my June one.

It doesnt stop them sending almost weekly marketing brochures. Written in British English and priced in sterling so, presumably, printed here and mailed from here. I assume that's all handled by their office in Southampton.

Lucky you. O's customers in the UK no longer get these. As far as I know, there's never been an explanation why we are treated less well.

The East Coast Mainline route between the two cities is well served with about 25 trains a day. The main operator, LNER (London North Eastern Railway) operates from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh and takes about 4.5hrs. https://www.lner.co.uk/our-destinations/popular-routes/london-kings-cross-to-edinburgh-trains/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk7rXn5L5hAMVy5NQBh2yBwjeEAAYASAAEgJpx_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds There's possibly more info on the British Isles ports forum (it's a well trodden two-centre route for American tourists) and, as ever, Google will be your friend.

VV - I think you have to start from what sort of things or types of places appeal. Things will fall into place once you're clear on that sort of thing. For instance, if you like mountain scenery, don't go to East Anglia which flat as a pancake. If you like castles, maybe North Wales suits. On the flip side, my trips to the States have often had a focus. In real life I'm an amateur military historian and we've done a number of trips following your Civil War (or War Between the States, if you prefer). We've driven the Blue Ridge Highway stopping in small towns and never coming across another foreigner in the three week. And there was the Great Music Road Trip - Nashville, Memphis Tupelo, New Orleans, Lafayette.

And it's also where many (most?) foreign tourists gravitate to.

Add the Lake District to Vallesan's warning of overcrowding in the main summer months. It can make parking in the area's small towns all but impossible. Go slightly out of peak season. Walk. Gaze at mountains. Take boat trips on the lakes. Eat Herdwick lamb and Grasmere gingerbread (although not together). But, if you want all but deserted scenery, a trip to the northeast and the Northumberland coast would be my suggestion. Either might fit as an intermediate stop for someone who wants to spend time in, say, London and Edinburgh.

You have to decide how long you want to stay, you have to regionalise and you have to work into that the things that interest you. Yes, I know that's probably all self-evident but keeping things relatively local means you're not constantly moving base. You don't want to be in Devon one day and Northumberland the next. For example, for our UK break this year, we're going to stay in Hereford for a week. Looking at the various things we plan to do each day, nothing is more than an hour's drive and most are much less. The only time we've done a UK driving tour was one trip to Scotland when we went north up the west coast, past Loch Lomond to Fort William and then Inverness. Return visit was along an eastern route through the Highlands, stopping at Pitlochry. Took us about a week.

I live in the northwest (about a 2 hour train journey from the capital). I wouldnt say I avoid it (although I think I'd hate to live there) but I now only visit the central area for specific reasons - to see a show, go to a particular restaurant, etc. Usually staying overnight but, last trip in 2021, we went for the day, just for lunch at my favourite London restaurant (Rules). https://www.hungryonion.org/t/london-covent-garden-area-rules/26418 That said, most of my trips in the last couple of decades have been to undertake research at the National Archives, so I've stayed out in the sticks at Brentford.

Our TA has booked a transfer for us from port to airport with Samarcanda. Cost is about €125. https://065551.it/en/

Yeah, been to Portmeirion years back. It was featured on TV a couple of weeks back on a food programme (Hairy Bikers). That's actually what prompted us to think about another visit.

Thanks for the reminder, Techno. Or should I say "diolch". Granny Harters came from Hawarden before moving to Manchester as a young woman. And my late father-in-law was a Griffiths from somewhere near Denbigh. So both of us have a connection. North Wales is a day trip or long weekend destination for us and I'd say we're still exploring the area. We like to have a week's UK holiday each year and, by co-incidence, it was only the other day we were saying we were due a return to North Wales (our last long trip was in 2010 when we stayed in Abersoch). Thinking maybe Caernarfon or Porthmadog as a base next year.

But, also, bear in mind that we are a small country. None of us live more than around 75 miles from the coast, so getting around is easy. As suggested upthread, I'd agree that, for a first time visitor, you'd want to include London. But, please try and get away from the capital and see something of the country where most of us live. Otherwise, it'd be like me saying I've visited New York City so I've seen America.

If you want to have a quick look at several parts of my country, then a cruise would be fine. But, if you want to actually feel you've visited my country, then it has to be a land tour.

It's worth a mention that when we did this, the hotel entrance was about 75 metres from where the taxi dropped us (and picked us up a couple of days later - we'd gone for a long weekend). Getting your luggage off/on the taxi is not the easiest - my recollection is the boat didnt tie up so the guy was using the engine to maintain position, which means he didnt help with the luggage.

I don't have a definitive answer, I'm afraid. But what you've been told seems most odd to me. There are a number of water taxi companies servicing the airport and I don't see how anyone would know (or care) that you had not arrived there by plane. Maybe have a look at the websites of a couple of the companies on this link just to see. https://www.veneziaairport.it/en/transport/private-boat.html By the by, it really is the most magnificent way to arrive at your hotel and I'd thoroughly recommend it.

Thanks for your insight. Appreciated. I understand better from your explanation how you can't easily compare the cost of one Oceania cruise with another. I should have just left it vague in saying it seemed the TA is cheaper than the other.

FWIW, our forthcoming TA on Vista has an Oceania "per person per day" cost of £344 (A1 cabin), including flights London/Miami and Rome/London. Next years cruise is £429 pppd - with no flights as this is a UK round trip cruise.

With the men always wearing a jacket for dinner. 😀

I'm really not the slightest bit interested in the general - only my own specific holiday. You know, the one I'm actually going to spend my pension on. I've tried to indicate that more than once. You seem unwilling to accept what I am saying so I guess we're done trying to have a conversation. Have a great day.

You may have accidentally posted to the wrong forum. Isn't Infinity a Celebrity ship?

Yep, also been to Kourion, although it was many years back. I was more interested to be driving through what is still British sovereign territory. It's a weird anomaly from the times of empire. My partner lived in Famagusta in the north. She remembers one day the school bus was threatened by Greek Cypriot terrorists and had to drive off the road and through farmland to avoid what was presumed to be going to be an attack.

Lots to do. I know you'd enjoy the very well preserved Roman site at Paphos ( about a 30 minute walk from where we will be staying). https://www.visitpafos.org.cy/a-proud-heritage/archaeological-sites/ Another couple of kilometres further on is the "Tomb of the Kings", dating to the 4th century BCE. We've visited Cyprus several times over the years, usually renting an apartment and car to get out and about round the island (although never been to the occupied north - although my partner lived there as a child). We've picked the all-inclusive resort this time to see how it compares with the hotel side of things on an Oceania cruise - looks to us very comparable (good sized room with balcony, speciality restaurants, booze included all day, shows in the evening, etc).

As ever, Google is your friend in the Great Tablecloth Debate 2024. A quick look at online photos of Ember show that those originating from Oceania show tablecloths, while photos posted by actual individual cruisers for websites or their own travel blogs do not show tablecloths. The former are staged publicity photos and the latter "real" ones. Which, I'd suggest, means there are no tablecloths. It's a slow news day here at Harters Hall. Otherwise I wouldnt have bothered taking the five minutes out of my day to look for evidence. As IDL succinctly puts it, "who cares". 😀