Cotswold Eagle

The OP’s other thread has been moved to this board and has responses, so I would suggest using that one 😀

The terminals at Gatwick are connected by an easy and quick shuttle, which is right across the street from the Premier Inn and Sofitel at the North Terminal. I stay at the Premier Inn for an early flight from Gatwick, irrespective of the terminal the flight is leaving from. This topic was discussed last month in this thread, which you will find useful 😀

I know exactly where it is, but no knowledge of it. As you say it gets well reviewed, which may elevate it above the dozens of other similar size hotels in townhouses in the area. Understand that it will not have the facilities of full service hotels, and the rooms are likely to be small - but not so much of a problem for a solo traveler. I don't know, but it almost certainly won't have an elevator, if that matters to you. It's in the City of Westminster, but about 20 minutes walk from what visitors may think of as Westminster (Abbey, Parliament, etc etc). It's in Pimlico, which is a perfectly fine area and there are pubs and restaurants around, but the only pretty close tourist attraction would be the Tate Gallery.

It’s a different poster enquiring about their grandfather viewing King’s Day from (presumably) Rotterdam - it’s not entirely clear, but hopefully they will read up a little and come back with more focused questions!

It’s seasonal, so not running at the moment. You didn’t say when you are travelling. As JB mentioned you can take an “ordinary’ train service along the same route.

The Royal Family visit a different municipality every year for King's Day, and they were in Rotterdam this year, so sadly I doubt you will see them there next year. No doubt some of our local contributors will be along to say more about the festivities!

Don't stay at the airport (unless you are arriving in the late evening) 😀 The tours JB mentions are available from central London as well, and I would prioritise an evening in town rather than out in the cultural wasteland round Heathrow....

Sorry, the steam train is the Jacobite, not the Jacobean. I’m blaming autocorrect 😀 https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/steam-train-trip

I’d go West and I’d go by rail on the sensationally scenic West Highland Line. You could end up in Mallaig (having done the ‘Harry Potter’ steam train, the Jacobean) or Oban or Fort William and on to Skye. https://www.scotrail.co.uk/inspiration-hub/great-scenic-rail-journeys/west-highland-line-glasgow-oban-and-fort-williammallaig

Wow. Thank you for sharing this, which shows what can be done. I’m exhausted just reading it - you packed so much in! What a lot of planning must have gone into this great trip. It might be interesting for folk doing their own planning if you can give an idea of how you did all this - ship’s excursions, other bus tours, private or small group tours, or self-guided? It looks as if Edinburgh and maybe Guernsey were possible without a tour, using public transport? You mentioned Castle Leoch, which is fictional (Outlander - I had to look it up, having never seen the series). I think you were probably at Doune Castle, which is near Stirling and apparently was used for the exterior shots (it has been used in other film and TV productions too).

It's about a 2 hour journey so an early cruise line transfer bus or a pre-booked private transfer should get you there on time, even on a Friday. Searching Dover Heathrow transfer on this board should provide more details - or possibly post a new, appropriately titled thread yourself! This one has rather got lost and the original title didn't really give people a clue what you were looking for.... Just be aware that in much of the rest of the world, including the UK, that would be read as 7th May 2024 - we use DD/MM/YY format (although in this case the context makes it clear that you meant 5th July) I always suggest spelling out dates to avoid confusion on these boards 😀

It's a little frustrating when folk post something like this, because it is impossible to know what website you are looking at. But, of course there is a return service to the cruise port. Timetables for next year are not yet published, but this page is the one with all the information you need, including a joint ticket with a HOHO services. https://www.lothianbuses.com/cruiselink-x99/

You may know this already, but if your cruise is some months away you can get very cheap early bird advance tickets for the Heathrow Express, some as cheap as £5-50 each way, which is an absolute bargain! Others here will suggest the tube or the new Elizabeth Line, but it does of course depend a bit on where you are heading for in London. This thread has rather drifted from the original OP's request for a hotel near St Pancras!

This needs just a little care with the name of the hotel. The HGI London Heathrow Airport is actually at Hatton Cross, one tube stop from the airport. But it sounds as if you have booked HGI London Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3, which is actually attached to Terminal 2 by a covered walkway, so ideal for your flight. As you are sticking to your plan to stay at the airport, in your shoes I would look into the possibility of a transfer straight to Heathrow from Tilbury, rather than in to the centre of town, It is, of course, a longer transfer, but you wouldn't have to worry about hauling your bags around - drop them at the hotel and then jump on to one of those trains into town for your day sightseeing, safe in the knowledge your luggage is where it needs to be. I haven't looked at the relative costs or timings, though, I must admit!

I can see no advantage to staying at Heathrow in this scenario. If you can cancel your reservation, I would suggest finding a hotel in town, drop your bags there, enjoy the day and evening in London, have a leisurely start the next day and only head out to the airport when you need to for the afternoon flight.

Didn’t you answer this question in your own post? There are several operators in London (and other European cities). Big Bus and City Sightseeing are international brands. Different routes. There is a wealth of information about them on this board and online. As m’colleague from Scotland says, they should not be confused with a transport pass to quickly and conveniently get around a city. Two different requirements.

Oh, shops can take whatever they like as payment - glass beads, if they wish. My point is that Manx notes are the equivalent of glass beads as they do not represent British pounds and are not legal currency. They cannot be paid into a British pounds denominated bank account, unlike Scottish or Northern Ireland notes, so a shop might get stuck with them or need special exchange arrangements (some currency exchanges will take them, but it's not a foreign exchange transaction either....) This is why the Manx government states, "the Manx pound, which is equivalent in value to its United Kingdom counterpart, however can not be spent outside of the Isle of Man".

Legal tender has absolutely no relevance to what means of payment shops choose (and it is entirely their choice) to accept. A business can’t be forced to accept anything. Legal tender has an extremely narrow, technical meaning. As it happens, Scottish banknotes aren’t even legal tender in Scotland. The real question is are they legal currency throughout the U.K. and Scottish and Northern Irish notes are because they are recognised by the U.K. Parliament as being denominated in pounds sterling (British pounds). Pounds issued by the Crown Dependencies, Overseas Territories and Gibraltar are entirely different currencies backed by their own governments, who have chosen unilaterally to peg them at par with sterling and to make British pounds legal currencies in their territories.

Unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man is not part of the UK. As mentioned up thread, it is a Crown Dependency.

Some confusion here, I think. Golden Tours ARE one of the four(?) Hop On Hop Off bus operators in London.

Funnily enough, I saw a sign just the other day, "We are unable to take Scottish or Northern Ireland notes at the moment" and it struck me you don't see that as much these days. The 'at the moment' made me wonder if there'd been a spate of forgeries in the (tourist hotspot) area.

The OP has also posted in the Spain board, where this question belongs, so I’d suggest further replies should be in that thread for the benefit of others too.

Do you mean Keukenhof Gardens? On King’s Day or are you staying in Delft? From Delft, I think your best public transport route would be train to Leiden and then the special bus to Keukenhof from the station there. Combination transport and entry tickets will be available from the Keukenhof website next month: https://keukenhof.nl/en/

The UK’s ETA scheme is, of course, nothing to do with ETIAS. As it happens it has just come into effect, but only for Qatari nationals, and will apply to nationals of some other Middle East countries from February. Eventually, it will apply worldwide. https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2023/10/25/electronic-travel-authorisation-eta-scheme-factsheet-june-2023/ The point of any ETA scheme is that they only apply to people who do not need, and do not have, a visa. I am not really sure what you mean by this, I’m afraid! The UK is a third country in EU terms and the UK’ s ETA will eventually apply to EU citizens, as ETIAS will apply to those of the UK.

It’s not a “proposal” - the ETIAS Regulation is a legal act of the EU, so the Commission is required to implement it. Article 18 of the Regulation sets the fee (€7) and exempts under 18s and over 70s from paying it. The fee can be changed (through delegated acts by the Commission) to cover costs, which is a requirement.