17 days UK travel - should I end in London for NYE or Edinburgh for Hogmanay?
Posted by Some-Yak-7331@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 37 comments
Hello :)
I’m a 23 year old and I’m planning a first-time solo trip to the UK and Ireland, flying from Jacksonville, FL.
Current itinerary:
Dec 16–19: Dublin (3 nights)
Dec 19–21: Galway (2 nights)
Dec 21–24: London (3 nights)
Dec 24–26: York (2 nights)
Dec 26–Jan 2: Edinburgh (7 nights)
My dilemma: The geography is messy, I go south to London, then back up north to York and Edinburgh. A linear route would be Galway → Dublin → Edinburgh → York → London, ending in London for NYE fireworks on the Thames.
Question: Is Edinburgh Hogmanay worth the backtracking? Or would you do the linear route and end in London for NYE?
Any other suggestions are welcome. Thank you!!
mhoulden@reddit
You won't be doing much in York over Christmas. Everything shuts on Christmas Day apart from a few convenience stores. A few more places are open on Boxing Day but it's still a public holiday. Public transport shuts down from about 8 pm on Christmas Eve and doesn't really get going again until 27 December. 28 December will be an extra public holiday "in lieu" because Boxing Day is on a Saturday. Last year's train services: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/christmas/. Christmas is also when most rail engineering work happens.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Stupid question but I expect it’ll be the same in London?
rising_then_falling@reddit
London will have slightly more going on than York on Christmas day, but will still be very quiet.
ButteredReality@reddit
I'd personally recommend Hogmanay in Edinburgh; it's just a different atmosphere to anywhere else I've ever spent it.
As far as the practicality of your travel route goes, how do you plan to get from Dublin to Britain? If you're planning to fly, then the time difference between Dublin to London and Dublin to Edinburgh is negligible; you're talking minutes either way.
If you're planning to get a boat, then there's probably not going to be an enormous difference in travel times whichever direction you go. A quick search on Google maps indicates that it's about an hour more to get to London than it is to get to Edinburgh, but I think the extra hour of travel to London is worth it to get to spend Hogmanay in Edinburgh.
LexyNoise@reddit
New year is a bigger deal than Christmas in Scotland. It is a two day public holiday.
Nothing will be open on the 1st of January. No shops. No buses. No trains. No tourist sites. Almost everything will be closed on the 2nd of January.
Nandor1262@reddit
Your question over what is ‘linear’ or not makes no sense to me. Flying Dublin to Edinburgh or Dublin to London are pretty much the same. So I’d not pay an attention to that.
Edinburgh is gorgeous but London has more going on. I’d be spending an extra night in York and more time in London. If you stay in York for Xmas Even to Boxing Day only not much will be open.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Gotcha. So when should I do York? Should I stay in London for 5-6 days?
Nandor1262@reddit
So London is massive you could spend 7 days there and still be finding things to look at. York is small but has loads of history packed in and great museums, you could to it in two days but Christmas and Boxing Day a lot of the best bits will be shut. Edinburgh has more going on than York but I’m not sure if it has 7 days worth of stuff.
As you’re planning on taking the East Coast mainline I would consider other places you could visit for a day and look around fairly easily. If you get off at Newark you can catch a 30 minute train to Lincoln which has a cathedral which was once the tallest building in the world & sits opposite a castle. It’s less touristy than York in terms of museums but it’s very pretty to look at. Newark is also close to Nottingham which is where Robin Hood is from, it’s got a castle with a cave system under it. You can book tours of the cave and it leads down to a pub which is carved into the side of a cliff under the castle.
You could also visit Newcastle on your way up to Edinburgh which is lovely and has loads going on.
I think I would do:
21-23 Edinburgh
24-26 Newcastle
26-28 York
29 Lincoln
30 Nottingham
31-2
Or if you didn’t fancy the extra stops:
21-27 London
28-29 York
30-2 Edinburgh
Another tip is if you are wanting to eat a traditional Christmas Dinner either eat at your hotel if it does good food or if you want to go somewhere else book a table three months in advance.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
This is super helpful. Thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time!!
Nandor1262@reddit
No problem! Another couple of things to experience.
On Boxing Day in the U.K. it’s tradition for almost every football team to play a match. Fixtures will be released in August but depending on where you are try and get tickets to watch a team, doesn’t have to be in the Premier League teams in the divisions below are well supported and have a great atmosphere too. You’ll likely need to book a ticket well before the day and Premier League tickets might be harder to come by but it’ll be a fun experience if you like sport.
On Christmas Eve we have ‘midnight mass’ at a lot of churches and Cathedrals. If you’re somwhere with a cathedral look up the times and go a long (if you’re religious what so ever). It’ll feel very Christmasy and you’ll get an amazing look at a Cathedral filled with people.
minisaxophone@reddit
7 days is a really long time to spend in Edinburgh compared to London, unless there’s a specific reason to be there
London is a huge city with loads to offer over Xmas, if you’ve never been consider staying for longer
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’m definitely going to tweak it and do more days in London so I can actually enjoy the city.
Skydance1975@reddit
I just saw your comment that you're going on trips into the highlands too. That will be well worth it. Scotland is, stunningly beautiful. Enjoy!
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Thank you! I’m so excited. It’s all I’ve been looking forward to
I want to see if I can sneak it the island of skye somewhere in that too
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Thank you! I’m so excited. It’s all I’ve been looking forward to
dospc@reddit
Hogmanay is much, much better, it's a whole festival. But you need to buy tickets.
NYE in London is just 10 minutes of fireworks.
However, you have other issues:
Why are you spending so long in Edinburgh compared to the other places? Is that intentional? London is MASSIVE and if you've never been...
Everything will be closed on Dec 25 (and many things also on Dec 24 and 26). Your York trip won't work.
I suggest staying in London until Dec 26, then up to York around 27/28, then to Edinburgh.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
I’m doing a one day guided tour to Glenfinnan viaduct, glencoe & fort William. And then I was planning on doing just two days of sightseeing, and then the 3 day Hogmanay. You do bring up a good point, though. I will tweak it.
EyeSpy1359@reddit
Double check about 28th Dec too - it'll be a bank holiday as Boxing Day (26th Dec) is on a Saturday so the bank holiday rolls over to the start of the following week.
0rbus@reddit
Whilst Hogmanay in Edinburgh will be infinitely better just make sure you pack the correct clothes as it can be cold and wet.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
I’m from Pennsylvania so I’m used to cold weather. Hopefully it won’t be too bad :)
Dramatic-Purple7398@reddit
Question: what's your plan for crossing from Ireland to England/Scotland? That probably helps inform the advice.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Plane!
berkleysquare@reddit
plane, what is it?
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Ryanair
Dramatic-Purple7398@reddit
The geography isn't that crazy then, it's only about a 20-30 minute longer flight to London than to Edinburgh. I'd pick Hogmanay over London personally!
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Thank you!!
INEKROMANTIKI@reddit
Personally, I'd go for Hogmanay.. I think the Scottish people are a lot more fun than Londoners, especially when it comes to large quantities of alcohol being consumed.. but I will admit that I've not been up there in a long time, and the pub trade has died everywhere in England in recent years, so I can't say if the same applies there or not..
DameKumquat@reddit
London for NYE isn't anything special unless you're up high somewhere and can see lots of fireworks for half an hour. A hotel room, for example. So I'd go for Hogmanay but be prepared for scary prices for accommodation.
Also bear in mind there is no public transport in the whole UK on Christmas Day, and precious little on Boxing Day, with lots of other disruption over the Christmas/NY fortnight. NYDay is a bank holiday, as is 2 Jan in Scotland.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Any recommendations for Christmas dinner in York?
minisaxophone@reddit
Book asap as the slots fill up quick
DameKumquat@reddit
Try a local subreddit. Some central pub near where you're staying, most likely.
lizzie_knits@reddit
Will you be using public transport? Because if so, travelling on Christmas Eve is going to be a nightmare. Also there’s no guarantee that the NYE party in Edinburgh will go ahead due to weather conditions.
Some-Yak-7331@reddit (OP)
Yes, I was planning on it. I don’t feel confident driving on the left side of the road :( but that’s a good thing to keep in mind!
lizzie_knits@reddit
Christmas Eve travelling will be really hard, trains will be booked solid and overcrowded and extremely unpleasant. Buses will have to be booked well in advance. Weather is very unpredictable in the winter, and that would impact on your travel. As long as you understand how chaotic it can be, and plan now, you should be ok. (But please remember the chaos)
Glittering_Echo_7963@reddit
Edinburgh beats London any day and for any event (from someone who's lived in both)
Sensitive_Fly_7036@reddit
Edinburgh
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.