What to do in England?

[Tribal]

Well on my study break i'm heading to england for 11 days. The first day is for my sisters wedding reception, then I have 10 days free.
I'll be staying in Birmingham, and i've not been to england in 11 years. I'm strapped on cash, so anything affordable is prefect. I'm thinking I going to see Stonehenge, and maybe some haunted castle. Thats all I can think of
any ideas?

[Pete_Coach]

England with no money...well....you can see Stonhenge from outside the fence.
If you want closer you gotta pay. Salisbury is not far from there and the Salisbury Cathedaral has "the" Magna Carta on display. Cosidering this document is the parent document to all the worlds laws, it is worth a visit.
London, well you can walk around there for a few days being impressed with everything that is there and.... the museums are free. This is a huge deal because you can spend 2 days in the British Museum alon. There are others too. You can always go to the Tate Museum of mModern Art and be pissed off that someone actually paid a lot of money to have someone make that crap (personal opinion, please do not respond with statement about me being a classless lout, you may be right ha ha).
Head to Portsmouth and see British Maritime history right before your eyes, mostly free. Go down to County Brighton and to the village of Hastings and see the site of the Battle of Hastings. Reconstruction of the 1066 battle is fantastic, clearly historical and mostly free.
All that to say, England loves it's history and heritage and makes it available to everyone. For you, you gotta get there and that may cost a few shillings. Have fun.

[Anessa]

Ride a double decker before they phase em out...

[PC-stuff]

Lots of FREE world class musems in London.
Too bad everything else in that city is 2X the prices here.

[cauliflower18]

I've had some experience travelling around England with Birmingham as my "home".

For day trips, I'd suggest Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle. You can take the train from Moor Street in downtown Brum for a pretty decent price as long as you stay off-peak. Usually that just means after 10 am weekdays or anytime weekends (I think). It might be a bit confusing at first since they have different rail lines that go different routes.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/index.html is good for helping you plan your trips, but be aware their trains can be off schedule often.

In Stratford you can visit Shakespeare's home and Anne Hathaway's Cottage. http://www.stratford.co.uk/properties.asp You can buy multiple house passes or just pay for the individual houses you'd like to visit. I got a pass and saw 4/5 of the properties in one day. You can walk from the train station to the downtown area and to all the properties (just plan it a bit). There is also a Crabtree/Evelyn in the downtown area that serves afternoon tea and it's quite nice. You can do most of the interesting stuff in one day.

Warwick castle is also a great day trip. You can get 2 for 1 passes online (somewhere, can't remember, do a search) and this is also about one day. I went during their Winter festival and I'm not sure if it was better or worse with the tons of children running around. Again, go with the cheap off-peak train fares.

There is a promotion going on for trains from Birm. to London for 15 pounds round trip (about 30ish CDN?) Very cheap and very good. Also off-peak. I've spent lots of time in London, yet haven't seen many things. Go to some shows for half price. They sell tickets for the afternoon/evening shows in Leicester square. There is only one official place... so make sure you go to that one and not a fake hawker places. You can get good tickets for cheap, so take advantage of it! Hotels are expensive in London. If you're going to book, try priceline or something similar to that. On the weekends, some areas have discounted rates (ex. Financial District). Try to stay in zone 1 or 2 of the tube zone because you can get cheap tube passes and save lots of money! (I think it's about 8 CDN a day for a pass) Someone else mentioned free museums.. Tate Modern is the only one I know is free.

http://www.2for1entry.co.uk/ is a great. Every single attraction I've been to in London, I've used the 2 for 1 coupons. I'd suggest going to the Tower of London. They also have this ceremony at night which is free. You have to apply for a ticket though, but it's VERY interesting. I also really enjoyed Hampton Court, but it's a bit outside of central London. Just go look at the shops and Big Ben etc (cause looking is free!)

For food, you can try this website http://www.toptable.co.uk/ They have promotions and reviews of good places to eat.

Oh, in Birmingham, try a BALTI. It's a kind of curry that originated in Birm. There is the balti triangle that has a whole bunch of indian places which are good. There isn't a whole lot to see in Birm. itself, but I'd spend a day just getting over jetlag by going to the Bullring (the downtown shopping centre.. visit the dept store Selfridges, the food floor is really nice) and Cadbury World in Bournville (my friend lives there!). You can take a tour of the Cadbury factory and get lots of free samples. It's pretty fun :)

I hope this helps :) Have lots of fun...

[Princess Buttercup]

:D the revitalized city center in Birmingham is great. much better than the old bullring

Warwick castle is wonderful but expensive

Alton Towers is good but also expensive

You can get a barge (look for groups needing lock handlers and such) and go down the grand union canal its not too expensive.

York is fantastic they have a wonderful railway museum

have fun and say hello to blighty for me

[gleberental]

see my erlier post:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2813441&postcount=8

also, unless it has changed in last 2 years (which is entirely possible) entry to most of the major london museums is free -- i.e. tate modern, tate britain, national portrait gallery, museum of london (RECOMMENDED), imperial war museum, british museum, museum of natural history, can't remember if the victoria & albert is free.

a cool freebie is the city of london's new city hall on the southbank of the thames. the building is open to the public and in the lower lobby there's a cool photo-mosaic map of the entire london basin, printed onto those foam-rubber mats you have for kids playrooms. really helps to let you get oriented to the region.
also, on sundays they had what was called "london's living room" where you could ascend for free to the observation lounge atop the city hall, allowing for good views of tower bridge, the tower of london and the thames... IMHO a better way to get a birdseye view of some of the london skyline than the vaunted london eye, since: A) it's free vs. 11 pounds, b) you can stay as long as you want vs. the 20-min revolution of the eye, C) there's less lineup... but you don't go as high, or see as much, but i found on the eye you only got a really good view for a few minutes at the top of the rotation.

cheers,
michael

p.s. st. christopher's hostel on Bourough High Street, just south of the thames is alleged to be ok, if perhaps a bit noisy from adjoining bar... but just across the street from the cool southwark farmer's market, and around the corner from the tower bridge tube & rail stations:
http://www.st-christophers.co.uk/hostels/london_hostels/the_village

[rb]

Try english chocolates ...(adburys and such like ) oh and try the Mars Ice Cream Bars - good stuff

Marks and Spencers sandwiches and food are also very good and inexpensive (relatively)

I did a double decker tour of London which was good value and showed all ths sights

[Raggie]

I'm heading to England in less than two weeks. I'm going for Sunday Roast the first Sunday I'm there.

[Pete_Coach]

I'm heading to England in less than two weeks. I'm going for Sunday Roast the first Sunday I'm there.
Why? Grey beef with gravy and chewy dough has been out in England since, well, I don't want to get any cows.... mad... at me. This has been replaced by almost everything else. Even a good fish and chips is geting hard to find.
All kidding aside, you may have to hunt (LOL) for roast beef dinners nowadays. Look for a good ploughmans lunch and a pint of bitters or a chicken tikka masala.

[Raggie]

Really? Sunday Roast isn't common there anymore? I wanted to try the yorkshire pudding. And whats a ploughman's lunch?

[Pete_Coach]

I'm in England several times a year and although there are still Roast Beef Carvery's kickin about, you will generally have to fight off the blue hair crowd. They are just not the thing anymore. Jokingly (or not) the Brits say the Indian cusine has taken over the traditional fish and chips and roast beef as the food most eaten. Even in pubs there is as much (if not more) Indian fare than anything else. It is very good and the selections at pubs is as greaty as in an actual resturaunt.
A ploughmans lunch is basically bread, meat, cheese, fruit and a roll or bread. You put it together yourself while downing a pint or three. A great way to drink a beer!!

[Irb]

Head to the Winchester!

[Wulf]

Try the castle and zoo at Dudley. There's supposed to be a ghost there of a woman that walks the battlements looking for her lost children. It's a spooky story and adds an interesting touch to the old place.
The Black Country Museum is also good... look it up on the 'net.

[Princess Buttercup]

Really? Sunday Roast isn't common there anymore? I wanted to try the Yorkshire pudding. And whats a plowman's lunch?

If you want roast beef you have to find a family and get invited to dinner on Sunday, you don't have to go to Britain for it I have it most Sundays,

If you want a good Yorkshire pudding, you can make it here yourself, go to the store and buy Mrs. Greens Yorkshire Pudding Mix, follow the instructions and you have great Yorkshires.

You cant make good Yorkshire pudding from scratch in Canada unless you can get hold of hard flour, or go to a Brit shop and buy it there, in the long run Mrs. Greens is the best.

a Plowman's is a big hunk of cheese, branston pickle (brown chutney) a slab of French stick with lashings of butter,and a pint or a cider. the drink is optional but that is the point really.

[Princess Buttercup]

People are not as scared of Mad Cow as you may think

[Pete_Coach]

People are not as scared of Mad Cow as you may think
It was a joke....mad cow is long gone and mostly forgotten :cheesygri