August 2013 ESW Trip

We are looking forward to the August 16, 2013 trip, our first with Tauck. What makes Tauck excursions so special? If you have gone on this trip before. what was the absolute don't miss part of the trip? Can't wait!

Comments

  • You will thoroughly enjoy this trip. Tauck knows how to do it. You will be treated well and you will do many things that are not available with other tours. We will be taking our 11th trip with Tauck next week.

    Everything that you will do on this trip is worthwhile and enjoyable. That said, you are very lucky to be going on your date, as you will see the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This is certainly a "don't miss". I made a slide program of our trip. It can be viewed, if you wish at http://www.photodex.com/share/yelblvd You will be asked to download a short "Presenter Program". This is safe because the website is run by my software program, "Photodex".

    Enjoyy your trip.

    Bev
  • edited May 2013
    I hope you enjoy your tour and report back when you return. We are taking this tour Sept. 15 and can't wait. This will be our 4th Tauck tour and we've just booked our 5th Tauck tour for 2014.

    Bev, besides the Military Tatoo, which we will not see, any highlights, must-do/must-see to suggest? Thanks!
  • We came to Edinburgh 2 nights early and took the city bus to the Rosslyn Chapel (mentioned in the book, The Da Vinci Code). Forgetting about the book, it is quite an interesting sight. You won't believe the hand carved stone carvings throughout the whole chapel. You can read about it at http://www.ancientquest.com/embark/rosslyn.html BTW, the cellar that is talked about holding the Holy Grail (in the book) does not exist.

    You will stay at the Hotel Portmeirion in Wales, which is quite an experience. The TV series "The Prisoner" was filmed there and it is like a miniature Disney World.

    There are so many wonderful things to see and do on this trip, that it is impossible to list them all. You can see some of them on the website listed in my last post. Watch it on full screen with your audio on.

    You will thoroughly enjoy this trip.

    Bev

  • My travel buddy, Jean, and I are on the June 22nd-July 5th tour. We have an extra day in London. Plan to squeeze in a visit to Eye and boat ride after lunch and before dinner on the last tour day. Next day, it is off to the British Museum and National Gallery and maybe the Tate Modern. Thanks to byelen above for your slide show. I am working my way through it.
    Nancy
  • Thanks for your reply, Bev. I did view your excellent slide show. Thanks for sharing. You did a wonderful job of documenting your tour. This looks to be a marvelous tour that we are greatly looking forward to.
  • byelen wrote:
    We came to Edinburgh 2 nights early and took the city bus to the Rosslyn Chapel (mentioned in the book, The Da Vinci Code). Forgetting about the book, it is quite an interesting sight. You won't believe the hand carved stone carvings throughout the whole chapel. You can read about it at http://www.ancientquest.com/embark/rosslyn.html BTW, the cellar that is talked about holding the Holy Grail (in the book) does not exist.

    You will stay at the Hotel Portmeirion in Wales, which is quite an experience. The TV series "The Prisoner" was filmed there and it is like a miniature Disney World.

    There are so many wonderful things to see and do on this trip, that it is impossible to list them all. You can see some of them on the website listed in my last post. Watch it on full screen with your audio on.

    You will thoroughly enjoy this trip.

    Bev

    We are on the 7 July tour, arriving late morning the day before. We are also looking at things to do for the day and a half prior to the joining dinner, that are not on the itinerary.

    Our list includes Rosslyn Chapel - please tell me more about the bus?

    Also on our list are the Royal Yacht Britannia and Craigmillar Castle. The castle was on a recent episode of "The Amazing Race," and though a partial ruin, looked interesting and is only 3 mi. from the hotel on a local bus route. I am also, looking at two places to the west in Lothian- Linlithgow Palace (reachable via train) and Hopetoun Estate but not sure how to get there.

    Did you get help from the concierge or did you figure out the the bus schedule to Rosslyn Chapel? I thought about visiting one of the the nearby sites in the afternoon after we arrive and save the more distant stuff for joining day. I am also trying to research renting a car and driver so we could do both Linlithgow and Hopetoun, but I suspect the cost might be more than I'm willing to pay.

    Any comments about any of this? Anyone else is free to weigh in.

    Thanks.
  • byelen wrote:
    We came to Edinburgh 2 nights early and took the city bus to the Rosslyn Chapel (mentioned in the book, The Da Vinci Code). Forgetting about the book, it is quite an interesting sight. You won't believe the hand carved stone carvings throughout the whole chapel. You can read about it at http://www.ancientquest.com/embark/rosslyn.html BTW, the cellar that is talked about holding the Holy Grail (in the book) does not exist.

    You will stay at the Hotel Portmeirion in Wales, which is quite an experience. The TV series "The Prisoner" was filmed there and it is like a miniature Disney World.

    There are so many wonderful things to see and do on this trip, that it is impossible to list them all. You can see some of them on the website listed in my last post. Watch it on full screen with your audio on.

    You will thoroughly enjoy this trip.

    Bev

    Great video!! A few questions-

    When did you take the ESW trip? The reason I ask is that the Rosslyn Chapel website says no photography is allowed inside the chapel and it appears you went to places (on your own?) that do not appear on the current Tauck ESW itinerary.

    Could you list places shown in your slide show that you visited on your own?

    We are trying to maximize our time during the extra days before and after the tour to see as much as we can. I'm looking at various options and don't want make plans to visit a site included in the tour. For example we plan to visit the Eye, British Museum, Tower Bridge if we can.

    Thanks!

    Alan
  • edited May 2013
    This is a great trip. The Military Tattoo is certainly a site to see and remember. We went last year (our 3rd Tauck tour) and they do a great job.

    We arrived a day early in Edinburgh and hired a car and driver to go to St. A-n-d-r-e-w-s. It is not as pricey as you might think and the driver, although not a "tour guide," was a former police officer in Edinburgh and knew the region very well. We walked around the golf course (unfortunately, I didn't play St. Andrews) and then took a long ride south through the fishing villages. The driver will stop where ever you want him to and will give advice on some places to stop for lunch or a snack or just to see something worthwhile. The personal service is worth the price and the ride was comfortable after a long flight from the states. I even caught a little snooze in the back of the Mercedes.

    Your bus trips are mostly on small back roads where you will visit, or at least drive through, small villages and once in the mountains you will see some spectacular views. We had Corey as our guide and she did a great job.

    We also spent two extra days in London. My best advice is to go online and get the "London Pass" which will allow you to forego entry fees to most places you want to visit and in some cases gets you directly to the head of the line. It can also include a variety of days of passes to the transportation system in London. The Tube is an easy way to get around.

    If they are still staying in the London Horseguards hotel you will love it. We had a couple of extra nights added to our trip on Tauck's dime, so I have no idea what the charge would be without that service.

    By the way, we piggybacked the Best of Ireland tour to this one and it was great as well. There I got to play some golf (rented the clubs).
  • Nial Davis wrote:
    This is a great trip. The Military Tattoo is certainly a site to see and remember. We went last year (our 3rd Tauck tour) and they do a great job.

    We arrived a day early in Edinburgh and hired a car and driver to go to St. [Employee Name]. It is not as pricey as you might think and the driver, although not a "tour guide," was a former police officer in Edinburgh and knew the region very well. We walked around the golf course (unfortunately, I didn't play St. [Employee Name]) and then took a long ride south through the fishing villages. The driver will stop where ever you want him to and will give advice on some places to stop for lunch or a snack or just to see something worthwhile. The personal service is worth the price and the ride was comfortable after a long flight from the states. I even caught a little snooze in the back of the Mercedes.

    Thanks!! I assume you went to St. An dre ws? :)

    Could you give me an idea what the car and driver cost for the day? Are there time or mileage factors. There will be two couples, to spread out the cost, but does the number of people make a difference? Thanks again.

    Alan
  • edited May 2013
    May I also suggest that a great way to get a good overview of a city is taking hop on/hop off buses. You can see the major sights with ease at fairly minimal costs. We have taken these busses, when not hiring a private guide/driver and thought it a very good way to get around a city for the first time visit. Both Edinburgh and London have these busses. I'd like to also suggest going onto Viator - www.viator.com. They offer tours all over the world and their tours are not terribly expensive.

    Have a great trip. I hope you report back on your tour. We are taking this tour Sept. 15 and we can't wait to go.
  • The trip to St. A ndre ws was £380 for an eight hour day. I don't think it would have been different for more people as long as the car wasn't different. We enjoy the individual attention. We had a Jaguar (not a Mercedes) and it would have held four people pretty comfortably. You can view the company at www.edinburghchauffeur.co.uk. Frank Butler was our contact person at info@edinburghchauffeur.co.uk. He returned our emails quickly and gave us all the information we needed. You may tell him we gave you the information...probably won't help, but at least he knows you talked to a satisfied customer.

    Doing this is actually a great way to see something specific. We did the same thing in Rome and went to see the Amalfi Coast, including a stop at Pompeii, in northern France to see the D-Day Beaches, and in Berlin to visit Potsdam.

    I like the suggestion above also. Often when we arrive in a major city (Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul, Athens, etc.) we take the on-off bus to get a "lay-of-the-land." We usually just take the bus all the way around the city the first time and see which sites we'd like to spend additional time at and catch them the second time around.

    We often tag a public transportation pass and a museum pass also if we are going to spend extra days in a city. The London Pass and transportation pass will pay for themselves rather quickly, especially if you are going to visit Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Parliament, Churchill's War Rooms (a must) etc., which are not included on the tour. You do a drive-by for most of them.

    Hope this helps.

    Nial
  • edited May 2013
    We are booked on the August 9, 2013 tour and are arriving at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on August 7th. The concierge has arranged tours for us, and they include pickup directly from the hotel. Our August 8th tour is to Rosslyn Chapel, Melrose Abbey, and the Glenkinchie Distillery at a cost of £62 total for two people. Our August 9th tour is to St. And rews and the fishing village of Fife at a cost of £66 total for two people. According to the concierge, the pickup at the hotel is only available with bookings through the concierge. There is no extra charge to book through the concierge.

    These are group tours, and the prices are very reasonable. The pickup and drop-off at the hotel, as opposed to the tour company's headquarters, is very convenient. Hotel pickups do not appear to be common for Edinburgh group tours.

    The concierge has been most helpful and all responses were prompt. I suggest that anyone interested in similar tours email the hotel concierge.

    We are also planning on visiting the Britannia on our free afternoon August 10th. We will either take a bus or taxi.

    Rhonda
  • edited May 2013
    Thanks Rhonda!

    I am also looking at possibly renting a small car.

    Yikes, driving on the left side of the road! It also looks like parts of downtown and out by the airport are being torn up for for a light rail/metro.

    Anyway, the cost of a car would only be around $65 USD per couple (there are four of us), not counting admission and we could stay as long or as short as we want. Most of the driving will be on Sunday, so hopefully the traffic will be light. A few car rental agencies are located w/in 3/4 mi. of the Sheraton which has underground parking. I would pick it up on our arrival day and turn it in just before the welcome dinner.

    Just more options to consider.

    UPDATE: After reading about the traffic, one-way roads, and tram construction in Edinburgh I may rethink this. It doesn't look too bad outside of Edinburgh, but getting out of and back into the city looks like it could be a major challenge.
  • It appears to be pretty easy to get from the Sheraton Grand Edinburgh to the Royal Britannia by bus. Lothian Bus 11 picks up near the hotel on Lothian Road. Buses run every 10 minutes and travel time is 34 minutes to Ocean Terminal where the Britannia is docked. Alternately Lothian Bus 22 has a stop near the hotel on Approach Road which is perpendicular to Lothian Road. Buses to Ocean Terminal run every 7 minutes. I checked the schedules on Saturday which is the day we plan to visit. Schedules for other days are available online. Tickets are £1.50 per person each way.

    We purchased Britannia tickets online. It is usually possible to buy them onsite the day one is visiting, but we decided to buy them in advance since we are visiting in August which is prime time with the Tattoo taking place. We also plan to have lunch at the Tea House on the yacht. It should be a nice way to spend our free afternoon!

    Rhonda
  • Renting a car isn't bad, as long as you are staying out of the city. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road takes some getting used to and making sure you stay to the LEFT on roundabouts is important. We rented a car in London a few years ago and took a 10 day driving tour up to Wales, driving almost exclusively on back roads and through small towns (even hit some "off-road" type of areas). I made sure I got an automatic. I just felt that left side driving took up enough of my attention, let alone shifting with the "wrong" hand. Every time I got behind the wheel I told myself, "Left side, dummy, left side." I only messed it up once and sure gave a scare to a little old lady--us too.

    Back roads are VERY narrow and usually bordered by stone walls...no space to move off the road when another car is coming. Some are only one, or one and half, lanes. It can get interesting if a big truck is coming your way. They have the right of way and YOU have to back up until you can find a place to pull over and let them pass. The exception to this is on a steep grade....then the car/truck going UP the hill has to back down.

    The A roads (like our freeways) are ok to drive on but you just don't see the interesting little places the back roads have. We do the same type of driving on US driving trips...sure is a lot nicer scenery. Be sure to remember that the "slow" lane is the left lane and the passing lane is the right lane. By the way, UK, and other European, drivers are much better than US drivers when it comes to staying in the "slow" lane unless they are passing. If you are cruising in the passing lane they will flash their lights at you to move over. They are not being rude, they are just telling you to get out of the way.

    Also, speeds and distances are given in MILES in UK.

    Oh yea, parking in the cities is more expensive than the car..and harder to find.

    Hope this helps.
  • Nial and RLMSLL,

    Thanks.

    It will be a bus to the Britannia for sure on Saturday, 6 Jul. Now I just need to get everyone in our group of four to agree on the other locations and method of travel I proposed for the following day. I really want to make the most of the free time we have before the tour starts on Sunday evening. I don't want to sit around and do nothing nor do I want to do too much in the city since it appears there is free time in the afternoon of Day 2 to see more of the city if we want.

    I'm still up in the air about renting a car. The Sheraton has parking for 9£ per day if I decide to pick up the car on Saturday after visiting the Britannia. Good comment about auto vs manual.

    RMSLL,

    How did you contact the Sheraton concierge? Email or phone? If email do you have the address. A few days ago I sent an email to the main Sheraton Edinburgh address, but don't know if it was received since I haven't received a response from either the hotel or concierge.

  • I got a response from an Edinburgh Sheraton Grand concierge (Joel Guillaud. Concierge.00474@Sheraton.com ) who has been most helpful.

    I did some research on local tours and tour companies. Many use small 16 passenger vanpool-type buses so you won't have a big crowd. Note, however, what the tours do not include- it appears most do not include attraction admission charges or meals.
  • AlanS wrote:
    I got a response from an Edinburgh Sheraton Grand concierge (Joel Guillaud. Concierge.00474@Sheraton.com ) who has been most helpful.

    I did some research on local tours and tour companies. Many use small 16 passenger vanpool-type buses so you won't have a big crowd. Note, however, what the tours do not include- it appears most do not include attraction admission charges or meals.

    Hi, Alan,

    Sorry for my delay on responding. I was on travel.

    I emailed the hotel directly and put "Attn. Concierge" in the subject line. My email was forwarded to Joel and he then responded promptly. It appears you did similarly. Joel, the concierge, has been most helpful.

    It is true that the cost of admission and meals is not included in the tour prices, but the tour cost is small so it is still reasonable to add on those additional expenses. After looking at other tour company options, I decided that the convenience of the hotel pickup made it well worth booking the company through the concierge.

    Rhonda
  • edited June 2013
    nyfeds wrote:

    At today's exchange rate, that is about the same two people for the exact same tour than if tickets were purchased directly from the HMY Britannia website (including the £1 booking fee.)
  • AlanS - True, however, Viator also includes hotel pick-up/transport.
  • nyfeds wrote:
    AlanS - True, however, Viator also includes hotel pick-up/transport.

    The description on the Viator site lists hotel pickup and dropoff as an exclusion.

    Rhonda
  • Thanks, Rhonda. Good catch. Sorry for my error.
  • edited June 2013
    I used both Google Maps directions and the Lothian bus schedules to figure out a good plan. In some cases I traded a slightly shorter route for one that has a stop closer to the Sheraton or my destination.

    FYI, the Lothian online bus schedule can at first be confusing, but (the March 2013) times, routes and stops are more current than those on Google Maps Directions. I combined the Google Maps walking times and distances from the bus stops to the attraction, however, for what I hope will be very accurate info. Time will tell. (Using Google Earth, I verified the location of the stops by looking at the actual signs or noting where "Bus Stop" was painted on the road surface!

    A little OCD? Maybe, but our trip is still 3 weeks away and I gotta fill the time till then somehow! Now, depending on the weather, I still need to decide which way I will walk from the stop to Craigmillar Castle- the more dramatic and photogenic approach, up the hill and through the park or take the walking/bike path past the Royal Infirmary.
  • Morses wrote:
    We are looking forward to the August 16, 2013 trip, our first with Tauck. What makes Tauck excursions so special? If you have gone on this trip before. what was the absolute don't miss part of the trip? Can't wait!


    We are also going on the 8/16. We live in NM and are looking forward to our trip. We will be in Edinburgh on the 13th.
  • Morses wrote:
    We are looking forward to the August 16, 2013 trip, our first with Tauck. What makes Tauck excursions so special? If you have gone on this trip before. what was the absolute don't miss part of the trip? Can't wait!


    We are also going on the 8/16. We live in NM and are looking forward to our trip. We will be in Edinburgh on the 13th.
  • My husband and I are going on the August 16th England Scotland and Wales. We will be in Edinburgh on the 13th of August. Any one else joining? Thinking of doing a side trip to St. Andrews. We live in NM.
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