{"id":5209,"date":"2020-02-09T09:34:49","date_gmt":"2020-02-09T09:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=5209"},"modified":"2020-02-09T09:34:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T09:34:49","slug":"getting-out-of-london-3-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2020\/02\/09\/getting-out-of-london-3-trips\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting out of London: 3 Trips"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an international student,<\/span>\u00a0I feel the need to\u00a0<\/span>see as much as I can while I\u2019m here<\/span>\u00a0in the UK<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0And although I love living in London, I will readily admit that sometimes it\u2019s nice to get out of the city.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Fortunately,\u00a0<\/span>th<\/span>is island<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is well-connected by rail<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>which I\u2019ve found allows for a variety of inexpensive day or weekend trips.\u00a0<\/span>And, p<\/span>erhaps less fortunately, I get to indulge my amateur travel-blogger side here on this site. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dover<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

My first daytrip upon arriving to the UK was\u00a0<\/span>to Dover<\/span>, a<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0hour\u00a0<\/span>or so to\u00a0<\/span>the southeast.\u00a0<\/span>I didn\u2019t know much about\u00a0<\/span>Dover beyond some vague notion of white cliffs, but that was enough for me.\u00a0<\/span>My housemate and\u00a0<\/span>eternal<\/span>\u00a0travel companion Joyce<\/span>\u00a0and I<\/span>\u00a0got to Dover Priory station\u00a0<\/span>early afternoon on a Friday and spent the\u00a0<\/span>rest of the day\u00a0<\/span>walking along the\u00a0<\/span>aforementioned White<\/span>\u00a0Cliffs<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Along the way we<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>saw\u00a0<\/span>blackberry bushes,\u00a0<\/span>wild horses, a<\/span>nd even a glimpse of France<\/span>\u00a0across the sea<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cost: ~\u00a317<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trip rating: 5\/5 for\u00a0<\/span>a beautiful stroll,\u00a0<\/span>the ocean,\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>horses<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dover\"<\/p>\n

Tips for a perfect walk: just add horses<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Avebury<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Our next trip t<\/span>o<\/span>o<\/span>k us west to\u00a0<\/span>visit<\/span>\u00a0the Avebury\u00a0<\/span>henge<\/span>\u00a0and stone circles.\u00a0<\/span>Avebury is sort of like Stonehenge\u2019s lesser-known cousin<\/span>\u00a0but with just as much historical significance. Getting to the site was a little more involved than Dover, requiring<\/span>\u00a0catching a bus from Swindon.\u00a0<\/span>The stones were indeed\u00a0<\/span>impressive,<\/span>\u00a0but the outing was somewhat tarnished by the\u00a0<\/span>rain which picked up as we walked through the fields.\u00a0<\/span>Even worse was the wind, which was at umbrella-destroying levels. We still stubbornly completed a full walk around the area<\/span>, before retreating to a local pub.\u00a0<\/span>Most of the evening was spent thrift-shopping back in Swindon before being able to catch the train home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cost: ~\u00a3<\/span><\/span>21<\/p>\n

Trip rating: 3\/5 for prehistory,<\/span>\u00a0sheep, and\u00a0<\/span>a lifetime\u2019s worth of mud<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Avebury\"<\/p>\n

Ancient stone appreciation<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Edinburgh<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Finally, we\u00a0<\/span>headed<\/span>\u00a0up north to Scotland this past weekend<\/span>\u00a0for a full weekend getaway<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The plan was simple: take a sleeper train Friday night to arrive Saturday morning, spend Saturday and Sunday in Edinburgh, and then catch another sleeper train Sunday night to arrive back in time for class on Monday.\u00a0<\/span>Travel was a nightmare in both directions: our train up got rerouted to Glasgow while the returning one was crippl<\/span>ed by engine failure. However,\u00a0<\/span>Edinburgh itself more than made up for the trouble.\u00a0<\/span>The city was the ideal combination of\u00a0<\/span>scenic\u00a0<\/span>nature, interesting museums, and<\/span>\u00a0student-friendly<\/span>\u00a0restaurants<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Out of all the places I\u2019ve<\/span>\u00a0been to so far in the UK, it\u2019s the one I would most like to return to.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cost: \u00a37<\/span><\/span>7 (though most of this was refunded and I only ended up paying for the hostel stay)<\/span><\/p>\n

Trip rating: 4\/5 for views and art,\u00a0<\/span>-1 for spending 12 hours on a train and missing my Monday class<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Edinburgh\"<\/span><\/p>\n

View from Arthur’s Seat<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T<\/span>rip T<\/span>ips<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • G<\/span>et a\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span>ailcard<\/span>: If you\u2019re eligible, a 16-25\u00a0<\/span>Railcard<\/span>\u00a0gives discounts for\u00a0<\/span>N<\/span>ational\u00a0<\/span>R<\/span>ail<\/span>\u00a0travel as well as on pay-as-you-go trips within London if you link it to an O<\/span>y<\/span>ster.\u00a0<\/span>It pays for itself within one or two trips!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Research evening activities: If you\u2019re<\/span>\u00a0bound to a return train time, make sure you know what\u2019s around<\/span>\u00a0for entertainment before you find yourself stuck killing time at the station for hours because the shops have closed. Or else, bring a good book and a cushion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Prepare for delays<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span>Most of my rail experiences have come with some form of delay<\/span>, from the minor to the multi-hour<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Fortunately,\u00a0<\/span>the various rail networks have\u00a0<\/span>Delay Repay systems to compensate\u00a0<\/span>travelers<\/span>\u00a0for<\/span>\u00a0delays (Amtrak, take note). Our whole tr<\/span>ain journey<\/span>\u00a0to Edinburgh ended up being refunded.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As an international student,\u00a0I feel the need to\u00a0see as much as I can while I\u2019m here\u00a0in the UK.\u00a0And although I love living in London, I will readily admit that sometimes it\u2019s nice to get out of the city.\u00a0Fortunately,\u00a0this island\u00a0is well-connected by rail,\u00a0which I\u2019ve found allows for a variety of inexpensive day or weekend trips.\u00a0And, perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179710,299433,114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-in-london","category-masters-2","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5209"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5219,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5209\/revisions\/5219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}