To the Queen's Land (UK) once again.

It was not meant to happen; but just as last year - the situation forced me to look at Old Blighty as a holiday destination. I had to visit Manchester on work and decided to frame my holiday around the British Midlands - Lake District, Blackpool, Manchester. Yes; it does sound a bit industrial and boring. With two teenage kids - I rather cross over to the continent and visit some fun places in Europe - specially with the currency beaten up for now. But; by the time I woke up to the idea of including South of France (Prove
nce and the Coast) to my itinerary - it was a bit too late to get my visas.

Fate had made sure that I explore England and research increasingly told me that I was prejudiced. It need not be boring as I had imagined.There were lot of things one could do from enjoying nature peacefully to seeking an adrenaline rush to burning cash on shopping to exploring true English culture (not the bastardized one visible in London). I had no clue how this holiday would end up; but there was no choice now.

Visas - The VFS online visa process has been vastly improved over the years and despite the holiday season; the visas were ordinarily delivered within 2 weeks of submission. By the way the visa (at Rs 8300 for 6 months) was marginally cheaper this year.

Travel - Air tickets were marginally cheaper this year too. JetAirways was what I chose to fly - not out of choice; but because it offered the best deal.

For internal travel; there were many friends who suggested that I rent a car. I decided against it for a couple of reasons. Rules and Luggage. Traffic violations can be quite punishing and one may end up with a huge fine bill on the credit card by the end of the trip. With more than 4 to 5 bags; a small car was definitely out of question. Parking fees and finding places to park was another deterrent. But the truth is that I hate driving on a holiday. Much rather be driven around and take in as much of the scenery while keeping awake. The option then was low cost air carriers or bus or train. I was in no mood to book and prepay non refundable fares the low cost carriers that flew from far flung airfields - to reach them was often more expensive than the flight itself. Trains and buses much nicer. Unlike India; train and bus travel is relaxed, comfortable, clean with seats generally being always available. The time from origin to destination often the same as air travel - when time to reach airport is added on.

Did I say train travel was cheap? No it's not - normally. So the first thing one does is by a British Railpass. Actually NO; you don't. For travel within the UK; simply sign up for a "family and friends" railcard. It costs GBP 30 and can be purchased online or at a train station prior to the days of actual travel. RailCard can get discounts from 40% to 60% depending on the time and number of travelers. My trip for 2 adults and 2 children cost GBP 190 (Second Class) in total for my route London-Windermere-Blackpool-Manchester-London. I booked a day in advance and picked up the tickets at the station from the prepaid ticket machines. The second trick is to book on www.thetrainline.com - better fares than www.nationalrail.co.uk. Just download the app and book the trains at will. On the weekends; the seats can be upgraded to first class for a flat fee of GBP 15 per adult and GBP 5 per child. I did that and the kids were thrilled to travel in better style.

National Express runs clean and comfortable busses and one may want to consider this mode of transport too - specially if the travel time is an hour or so.

Local travel - I was quite tempted to hire a car for my stay at the Lake District. But; my research told me otherwise. The entire region is well served by buses and a car can be given a miss. Blackpool; well is quite compact and a car is unnecessary there too. By the way; if you do use bus no 12 in Blackpool - it offers a GBP 6 discount on the Pleasure Beach ticket. Too bad I did not read it till after my visit. Manchester is a walking city - but plenty of inexpensive motorized options for the lazy or tired ones.  London with a family can be quite expensive when it comes to local travel; specially with the cost of the day travelcard being upped to GBP 10+ for zone 1 & 2. Oystercards (no difference between local and visitor cards) are good but when 4 persons travel by bus or underground; the cost ends up as much as a cab. Well; no secret then that I used the Uber app as much as the soles of my shoes. Good drivers - good cars - no regrets.

Now about where we went.

The Lake District is actually a very large area and one can spend from a couple of days to a couple of weeks exploring this area. I regret having booked here for only 3 nights. May to August is generally high season and hotels do charge a lot more than the value they offer. No big brands here but some fine owner run B&Bs; Boutique Spa Hotels and Inns. Most have a prepay policy with stiff cancellation terms. Those that do not are generally priced higher too. The other issue is that of number of occupants per room. I found a decent B&B called "Lonsdale House" at a decent price that allowed free cancellation up to a week before stay on www.booking.com . Problem. A family room would allow 2 adults and 2 children under 5. I checked with the B&B directly and I was told my kids (13 & 15) were welcome. Moral of the story - check when in  doubt - rules quite flexible.


Our journey on Virgin train from London Euston to Oxenholme and Transpinnine Express from there to Windermere train station took about 4 hours.  We got a cab to Lonsdale house (GBP5) in the town of Bowness on Windermere (BOW). Windermere station is well connected to Kendal, Ambleside, Grasmere, and Keswick by a frequent bus service.So really no real need to worry about getting from here to anywhere in the Lake District region. The family explorer and boat bus passes for GBP 25 and GBP 32 are real value; and as I said earlier - did not need a car. The first day; or what was left of it was spent exploring BOW. Leisurely walk to the lake; exploring quaint shops; having a coffee and dessert at a hotel that offered fabulous views of the lake; and taking in the beauty of the town. Next day; took a lake cruise from BOW to Ambleside and from there took a bus to the beautiful little village of Grasmere - the home of poet Wordsworth. Just looking around; I could tell that the place would bring out the artist in me. Day 3; and the exploration moved further North to Keswick and lake Buttermere. The air is fresh and the body becomes is energized to embrace activity. I wish we could have stayed in this region for a few days more to enjoy it more completely. Eating out - plenty of options - including Indian, Chinese and Thai.


Next on our list came Blackpool. had heard so much about it as a mini Vegas. Nowhere close - but not bad either. But, the teens had their adrenaline fix planned in the City and so we were here. The sea did not look very pretty nor was there anyone on the beach. Maybe it had to do with the weather. Fortunately; the day we arrived it was nice and sunny and with the forecast predicting gloomy and rain the next day; we had no choice but to dump our bags at the Hilton and make our way to Pleasure Beach. It can now call itself a theme park having added the Nickelodeon section. Otherwise it is an all and out ride park for any age group. From tame to nerve testing - it has it all. A family pass costs about GBP 100 if booked online and GBP 120 at the gate (with the Bus No. 12 discount). It was money well spent. Must have covered 10 + rides in under 4 hours and by the end of the day were exhausted. There is a Blackpool day travel pass and is quite economical. All that a tourist wants is on the 2 mile strip and there is again no real need for a car or taxi. The next day; as predicted by the weather app was a write off. My son went into sulk mode as his trial flight (in a single engine plane where he could man the controls for a while) was cancelled. My wife was delighted as there was nothing else to do but shop.

Blackpool is also known for penny arcades, casinos, cabarets, faux celebrity shows and plays. One can do as much or as little and same goes with the spend. What I liked about the City was that it relies a lot on green power. I could see massive wind farms out in the sea and I kind of wished that some of the coastal cities in India could adopt such a model too. We stayed here for 2 nights and I thought one would have been enough. But then, it was the bad weather talking.

Taylor Swift +Manchester Arena 

Manchester came next. I had visited this City some 20 years back and was not impressed. But, I had some work here; my son a Man U fan; my daughter wanted to catch the Taylor Swift concert; and my wife wanted a day out at the outlet mall called "Cheshire Oaks". To justify my own visit; I decided we could take off to the Peak District for a day and enjoy the natural beauty and history of the English Moorlands. I was pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong. The city won my heart with its historic and modern buildings, museums and galleries, superb restaurants and bars, its own Chinatown and theater district, and friendly people - so passionate about the City they live in and the two football teams housed there. Sadly there was too much to do with too little time. I could easily have spent a few more days here. In fact, I may just make this City my base for UK on my next visit in stead of London. Within 2 and a half hours or less; one can reach London, Cardiff , Glasgow, Edinburgh by car or train; and to any part of Europe by plane.

Back in London after a glorious 10 days up North; I wanted the spirit of experiences to continue and the next few days were devoted to visiting some nice eateries like Novikov and Chiltern Firehouse; attending a musical at Dury lane - the spectacular "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; getting my son to fulfill his dream of flying a plane.  15 days were gone even before I realized it. Boring? You must be kidding. It was fun. There are so many things to do in the UK and yet for most the trip starts and ends in London.

Well; it was time to return. my final tip on VAT Refunds. First; finish all your shopping and do the VAT refund tax invoices on the last day. Second; I suspect that the refund process being run by Travelex (post customs declaration) is a possible mini scam. The counter agents know that the passengers are in a rush and force them to accept cash refunds in dollars and their own home currencies converting the amount in pounds at a very poor rate. I was offered USD 640 for GBP 438 at a rate of 1.46 as against the bank rate of 1.56. I asked them for GBP and i was told that it would take some 30 minutes to arrange it. No choice but to accept the dollars. My reviews on the hotels I stayed at and the places where we dined are listed on tripavisor and zomato.