Good value - great
heritage
By Mike Kemmis
So you want to visit Britain but are worried that it might break the bank?
In fact, it is possible to make your pound sterling go a long way with a
little pre-planning. In the fields of transport, accommodation and
theatre, for example, there are bargains aplenty. Some attractions are
free to enter and visitors keen on stately and historic sites can make use
of a good value pass. Here are a few tips to help you on your way.
There is a huge range of comfortable but inexpensive accommodation - from
bed-and-breakfast establishments, pubs and self-catering cottages and
apartments, to university halls of residence, farms and youth hostels.
Then there are museums and art galleries offering free entry to their
permanent collections, either all week or at certain times – even London’s
major new riverside art gallery, Tate Modern (opens May) has free
admission.
It is wise to make contact with the British Tourist Authority (BTA), at
the start of your planning: they have a wide selection of free booklets
and guides and a detailed Web site, www.visitbritain.com. On arrival in
London, call at the Britain Visitor Centre, 1 Regent Street (just south of
Piccadilly Circus): it has a comprehensive travel information and booking
service, not only for the capital, but for the rest of the country too.
There are Travelcards offering big savings on London’s Underground and
buses. If, however, you only intend to make a few trips on the ‘tube’ in
the central zone, buy a carnet of 10 single tickets for £11 - a saving of
£4 - from any station. Some tickets must be bought before you arrive –
notably the BritRail pass – giving unlimited travel on the country’s
extensive railway network. The BTA can help you track one down.
In Leicester Square, the heart of Theatreland a few hundred yards from the
Britain Travel Centre, the Half-Price Ticket Booth (look for the
clocktower) always has seats for a wide selection of shows available on
the day of performance, at half the theatre box office price.
Among several well-established companies specialising in providing bed and
breakfast in private houses is Bed & Breakfast (GB). Prices start at
£15.50 per person per night. With nearly 500 establishments in England
(including London), Scotland and Wales – they may fit your plans.
Telephone + 44 (0)1491 578803; or look on the Web at
www.bedbreak.com.
Wolsey Lodges, a consortium of more than 200 privately-owned country homes
- from castles and manors to more modest establishments - offer bed and
breakfast at generally higher rates, but when you can stay in such elegant
surroundings, who is complaining? Details, tel. (0)1473 822058; Web site:
www.wolsey–lodges.co.uk
Youth hostels, once somewhat spartan places for walkers and cyclists, now
also provide excellent accommodation for budget-conscious motorists, among
others. They are to be found not only in scenic areas, but in London and
many other historic cities such as Cambridge, Chester, York and Bristol.
Details from the Youth Hostels Association in your country, or tel.
(0)1727 845047; Web site: www.yha.org.uk.
When their students are on vacation, Britain's universities are another
source of inexpensive accommodation for individuals, families or groups -
usually with the use of first-class leisure facilities on campus. Contact
British Universities Accommodation Consortium, tel. (0)115 9504571; Web
site www.buac.co.uk.
Britain's stately homes remain among the very top attractions, and if you
plan to visit several of them buy a Great British Heritage Pass, which
gives admission to nearly 600 historic castles, houses and gardens.
Thousands of overseas visitors have benefited from the scheme. The passes,
not available to UK residents, cover seven days (£32), 15 days (£45) or a
month (£60). Visit just five properties, and you could recoup the cost of
your seven-day pass. It is validated at the first place you visit, and can
then be used as often as you like in the specified period.
A gazetteer that comes with the pass lists all the places you can visit.
They range from Hampton Court Palace, Shakespeare's Birthplace and
Edinburgh Castle, to Wordsworth's Lake District homes, Caernarfon Castle
in Wales and Roman forts on Hadrian's Wall. Even if you confine your stay
to London, there are still 20 places to visit, plus many more within 25
miles.
Every year, ‘new’ places appear in the gazetteer: for 2000, they range
from a 13th-16th century Scottish castle to a 1930s Art Deco home in
London. Thirlestane Castle near Lauder, in the Border hills 28 miles south
of Edinburgh, was a 13th century fort rebuilt in the 16th century, and has
been the home of the Maitland family ever since. One of the former owners,
a Duke of Lauderdale, is said to haunt the castle, which in places has
walls 13 feet thick.
In contrast, the glamour of the Art Deco rooms at Eltham Palace, South
London, are the epitome of 1930s chic. Beside the remains of the medieval
palace, once a royal residence, the Courtauld family - industrialists and
art collectors - created a superb state-of-the-art home, separated from
the original Great Hall only by a Chinese sliding screen.
Down House in Kent, another property open to pass-holders for the first
time, was the family home of the naturalist Charles Darwin for over 40
years. His study is much as it was in his lifetime, complete with the
chair on which he sat to write "On the Origin of Species". In Scotland,
there is the Glasgow birthplace of another great 19th century figure:
explorer and missionary Dr. David Livingstone. Today, it is the David
Livingstone Centre, a museum devoted to his life and work – but
pass-holders and others will have to wait until May 26 to see it, as
renovations are taking place.
Another newcomer to the Great British Heritage Pass is one of England's
grandest stately homes, Holkham Hall in Norfolk, 192 km (120 miles)
north-east of London. This Palladian-style mansion, based on a design by
the great architect William Kent, was built for the first Earl of
Leicester, between 1734 and 1764, and more than 230 years later is still
owned by the same family.
Details of the pass and where to obtain it are available from BTA offices
overseas. It can also be bought in Britain at certain tourist information
centres, including the Britain Visitor Centre. Web site:
www.visitbritain.com
