Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Rides, Rallies, & Events Touring the UK?

I'm thinking of touring England, Scotland and Wales with my son, the first 3 weeks of October. Unfortunately not by bike, most likely rented cage. Can any one pass on some info as to the weather we'd experience that time of the year? Any suggestions on how to cut costs? And what Triumph locations should we check out? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Weather here
If you get your skates on, contact Triumph directly and you might be lucky and land a couple of places on a factory tour.
Lay it on a bit that you're visiting the UK and see what happens.

I can give you directions or meet up and get you to the site of the original factory in Meridian if you're going to be in the centre of the country, where there is a commemorative sculptured stone.
Don't get too excited, it's just a lump of rock that's probably just that little bit too big to steal but their heart was in the right place I guess.
Come to think of it, with 3 or 4 of us, a Kango for the concrete base and a pick-up or 4x4 ...

As for cutting costs, a B&B isn't usually like the ones you get on your side of the pond.
They are often cheap and cheerful places. If you can bag ones on a farm, you'll find friendly down to earth types running it and you can get them for around £15-£25 per night.
October isn't what many would consider to be a 'normal' holiday time of the year so you might get some deals.
If you log onto google.co.uk and enter "b&b in ...." followed by whichever county you want, you should get that region's tourist board pop up along with loads of b&bs listed.

Post on here a bit nearer the time when and where you'll be.

this is a dream of mine..I keep saying some day..me and the wife both still have relatives over their...

Ed

www.bedandbreakfast-uk.co.uk
That will give you a good guide to some reasonably priced accommodation that are generally well run and homely. If you want a reasonably priced motel try Travel Lodge or Travel Inn (they are souless but easy to find and clean) and normally have a pub next door.

Do you want to catch a football (sorry soccer) or rugby game? I live near York so if you are planning to visit the historic city let me know.

As for the weather - who knows - weather men have no idea!

Have a fantastic trip.

You're asking someone to predict the British weather 2 months in advance?? Why don't you ask for the winning lottery numbers for that time, too?!!!!

It shouldn't be too cold but you'll still need a decent coat, either waterproof or carry a cagoule.

Motels are generally cheaper at weekends when the business-types who use them are all at home.

Depending on where I'm living, I may have a couch/airbed/bed you can crash on. It'll be in Manchester but as I've not yet found a place, I don't know the setup. I need to be in by the beginning of September so I will have somewhere.

The weather is easy to predict...... Rain, Rain and more Rain...........

Also checkout the Lake District for some nice scenary and also Scotland is beautiful as well....

Well if you and your son are petrol heads

Here is some info, I meet up with a relative from Canada in September and we tend to visit a different sort of auto museum, His main reason for visit is for the Beaulieu Autojumble.

Beaulieu is worth a visit for the Motor Museum Abbey and House, all on the one site.


http://www.atwellwilson.org.uk/index.htm
Small museum, plan to visit this year ( been to all the others)




Tank museum at Bovington, South coast.

Haynes Motor Museum ( the book guy )
Stayed at Sparkford Inn, Pub with rooms .

Morgan factory, this was very enjoyable and worth a visit, its about a 3-4 hour run from Heathrow, well worth a visit.


http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/sales/visits/opening_times.html


You need to book the tour and it’s a few quid.


We stayed here and I would recommend it.


http://www.malvern-hills.co.uk/linklodge/index.html



Its just up the road from the factory and the owner raced MG,s . There is a pub up the hill that does evening meals.


A few years ago we headed north from Heathrow and visited.

Coventry, here the Coventry transport Museum is excellent, ( as good as the Beaulieu museum)

You can also take a look around the Cathedral if you fancy a bit of culture.

Also in this area is The Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon, it about a ½ hour from Coventry and of course the Triumph factory is near.

We stayed here .

http://www.badgersmount.co.uk/


Around the Heathrow area is the Brooklands Museum, this is worth a visit and there is a nice Mercedes Benz dealer that has a few exhibits’ on show as well next door.

Also be aware that what looks like an 2 hour drive on the map will actualy take half a day.

Links are copied from my email so may not work, but Im sure you will find them.

If an when you decide on dates for coming to Gods own country let me know. If you want depending on ho long you are spending I will put together a few places and arrange a guide of sorts for you. PM your addy and I will send some tourist leaflets and stuff to you.

Try not to miss..............
http://www.nationalmotorcyclemuseum.co.uk/museum/

I have kept up with the website for tours and to this point they are saying all tours are booked, but the email I got said that they were refurbishing their tour equipment and didn't know when they would restart the tours. I just sent another email:

tours@triumph.co.uk


http://www.triumph.co.uk/uk/9323.aspx

The first response I received in less than an hour of sending it. Three days so far on second email and no response.

Well have been to UK and am back but Triumph never responded to my other emails about touring the factory.

That was quick!
You should've got in touch.
How did you get on while over here? Where did you go?

Toured the UK by car for a couple of weeks. Quite a bit of time in Scotland (wife is of Scottish heritage) and in the Lake District (several of my ancestors from that area). Cities we stayed in were: Oxford, Llandudno Wales, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Edinburgh, Inverness, Oban, Glasgow, Bowness on Windermere,London.
Not necessarily in that order. Made it fine. First day or two was a bit of work adjusting to driving on the other side of the road from the other side of the car. Had a bit of trouble with the really large roundabouts, trying to get into the correct land while listening to the GPS, etc. But do note that overall UK drivers are somewhat more polite than US drivers. Narrow roads (those sheep paths in the Lake District and streets in medieval cities!) and horrible parking situations were the worst part of driving. The UK is a wonderful place to visit, nice people and wonderful sights. Hope to get back before too long and hopefully can time it right with Triumph to visit the factory.

london motorcyle museum worth a visit as well 5 minute down road from the Ace Cafe

Now that you mention it, I did pass through there. Never did see the cows though I did see a large number of roundabouts.

I really am not much of a city person so didn't stay in London long on either end of the trip. Did make it to Ace Cafe for a few minutes but that was the first day there and was getting a bit punch drunk from having been awake for so long. Just wanted to get someplace a bit slower and take a long nap.