Is it better to travel by car or cruise in the UK and Ireland?

Xiaoqi went to the UK and Ireland in early August last year and drove around for 16 days. The most direct feeling was that it was cool. It was both a trip and a summer vacation. You must know that at that time The high temperature in Beijing is 36 degrees. The highest temperature in the UK is usually over 20 degrees Celsius. It’s so comfortable that I really want to come to the UK every summer. There are also so many Chinese tourists and the depreciation of the pound after the Brexit referendum. Now is a great time to visit the UK.

A friend said, Xiao Qi, isn’t your family a cruise ship company? Why don’t you take a cruise and drive yourself when you go to the UK? Isn’t it because cruise ships are not as good as self-driving cruises? Haha, you are overthinking this. This time I went to the UK with a mission. I also wanted to compare cruise travel with self-driving travel. Let Xiao Qi talk to you.

In addition to his favorite cruise tour, Xiaoqi also likes self-driving tours. He has driven to many countries that are suitable for self-driving, and it feels good. The main reason is that he does not like the schedule and quick tours of conventional group tours. Hua, self-driving doesn’t require you to drag your luggage to catch trains or flights, so it’s more casual. Compared with cruise travel, the fun of the two is different.

My self-driving trip is from Beijing to London, driving through England to Scotland, flying to Northern Ireland and then starting the second self-driving leg, and finally flying back to Beijing from Dublin, the capital of Ireland. There was no turning back during the whole journey, and it took sixteen days to go back and forth.

Xiaoqi did not drive in London, so she completed the three-day arrangement by buses, subways and walking; London’s public transportation is very convenient, but the roads are narrow, parking fees and traffic in central areas are Congestion charges are expensive and it is not recommended for everyone to drive. On the fourth day, I went to Cambridge and Windsor Castle and stayed in Windsor; on the fifth day, I visited Oxford and Bicester Shopping Village, and visited Churchill Manor and stayed in Gloucester; on the sixth day, Xiaoqi’s beautiful colleague strongly recommended that I join For one day, I understood it to be a rural tour in England: Cheltenham visited Sudeley Castle (an enhanced version of Downton Abbey~), Shakespeare's birthplace - the small town of Stratford, and then Broadway - Burton-on-the-Water-Bibury, and then return to Gloucester. This is a semi-circular tour that includes British rural towns. It is a great route design. It departs from Gloucester early in the morning on the seventh day, passing by Needless to say, we went from Birmingham to Manchester, big cities; on the eighth day, we first went to Lancaster in the northwest corner of England. For personal reasons, Xiaoqi wanted to visit Lancaster University, and then traveled across central England to York, crossing The road in the central part is rugged and narrow, which is really not easy to drive, but the scenery on the way is also very different from other places. On the ninth day, we went from York to Edinburgh, and we decided to stop by Glasgow on the way. On the eleventh day, we returned the car to Edinburgh Airport and flew there. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, I rented a car again at the airport and started my second self-driving journey. I drove to see the Dark Hedges and Giant's Causeway in "A Song of Ice and Fire." On the twelfth day, we visited the Titanic Museum, toured the city of Belfast, and then drove to Dublin. Xiaoqi also stayed in Dublin for three nights. One day he went to the Cliffs of Moher, and the other day he went to Phoenix Park to chase deer and go shopping. On the fifteenth day, we will go shopping, eat and rest before taking a flight back to Beijing in the evening. The entire itinerary was relatively easy to arrange, with two days of driving exceeding 300 kilometers, and the rest of the time the driving was not too long. The two self-driving tours are about 2,600 kilometers, including about 1,600 kilometers from England to Scotland and about 1,000 kilometers from Ireland.

Then let’s talk about the cruise tour of the British islands that Xiao Qi is familiar with. We usually fly directly from China to London and arrange three days of sightseeing in and around London, including Windsor, Cambridge, Oxford, and Stonehenge. Then board the cruise ship in Southampton, South Wales, England. The cruise ship will stop at: Guernsey Island, the southernmost part of the British land; Cork (Irish: Corcaigh), the second largest city in Ireland, is the capital of County Cork in Ireland; The capital is Dublin; Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. It has the Giant's Causeway, which is listed as the fourth natural wonder in the UK. The scenery of the 11-mile coastline near the Giant's Causeway is breathtaking; Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the third largest city in the UK. The three major cities have gradually developed into one of the top ten financial centers in Europe in recent years. Many Scottish companies are headquartered here; Kirkwall is the largest town, fishing port and capital of the British Orkney Islands, in Mainland of the Orkney Islands. East of the island; Inverness/Loch Ness, Inverness is the northernmost city in the UK and the capital of the Scottish Highlands. It is the most famous tourist destination in Scotland and northern England. Loch Ness has always been shrouded in mystery. , the scenery of the Scottish Highlands is concentratedly reflected; Edinburgh is the center of the southern lowlands and the capital of Scotland. It is surrounded by mountains and rivers, has beautiful scenery, a humid and mild climate, and rich cultural heritage. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the UK and is known as the "Athens of the North." "Newcastle is one of the English Core Cities Group. It is one of the most popular cities in England in the 20th century. It is also the largest collection of satellite cities on the Tyne River, with many medieval churches and other buildings. . Finally back to Southampton.

After her own experience, Xiaoqi believes that cruise travel and self-driving travel are the two more recommended ways to visit the UK, but each has its own advantages. Let’s summarize them for your reference.

Self-driving tours require skilled driving skills and experience as well as psychological preparation. Especially in the UK, cars are right-hand drive and drive on the left, which is opposite to that in China. The roads in the UK are generally narrow, so everyone drives The speed of the car was very fast, and no one slowed down even on the continuous winding roads in the mountains. You need to do enough homework before setting off. Route design, attraction arrangement, accommodation location, and hotel reservations all need to be arranged in advance. The most convenient thing about self-driving is that you can stop wherever you like and take your luggage with you. In terms of catering, before I left, someone told me to try British dark cuisine. However, when I arrived in the UK, it seemed that most of the restaurants I saw were not local except for fish and chips. They were more Italian, Indian and Chinese, especially In London, we mainly eat Italian food there, and it will inevitably become a bit monotonous if we eat too much. Although self-driving is fun and casual, it consumes a lot of time. Sometimes I have to abandon some places. Due to time constraints, I did not go to Wales and the Scottish Highlands this time. In addition, the choice of hotels and restaurants depends on how well you have done your homework. Sometimes you will still choose a hotel with unsatisfactory value for money, and the standards cannot be consistent throughout the process. Although self-driving travel is optional, it is inevitable to pack and carry luggage frequently because you have to travel to many places. In addition, the majority of car rentals in the UK and Ireland are small and medium-sized cars, and manual transmission cars are the main ones. If there are three or more people traveling together, you should pay attention when renting a car. Many small cars cannot fit three suitcases. In addition, automatic transmission cars are more expensive to rent. For example, Xiaoqi wanted to rent a medium-to-large car with an automatic transmission that could hold three suitcases this time. Because the route was designed not to go back, she chose to return the car off-site, so the cost was relatively high.

For those who are not interested in self-driving travel, cruise travel is the best choice. The cruise travels around the British Isles, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland. In terms of the cities it arrives, there are No less than a self-driving tour, a cruise ship sails at night and docks during the day without bumps in the road. You have plenty of time to visit the city. You can arrange your own tour or sign up for a tour group on the ship. There are many more choices for meals, and the meals on the cruise ship will change accordingly every time you visit a city. There are many varieties to choose from, and it is easy to choose your favorite dishes. There is no need to pack your luggage every day. On the first day you move into the room, hang all the clothes in the closet and put the small items in the cabinets or drawers. For more than ten days, you will feel as comfortable as at home. The entertainment activities in the evening are also very rich. In the evening of the land tour, you are still on the way to the hotel, and you are already having a drink at the cruise bar or sitting in the theater to enjoy the show. The experience is completely different. I have also heard some friends say that the time a cruise ship spends on land is too short. In fact, this is not the case. Since cruise ships usually travel at night and dock at the dock in the morning, and set sail at night or even late at night, the time spent in a city is sufficient, and you can freely arrange your time and travel time. journey. Compared with Xiaoqi's self-driving tour this time, the only thing missing from the cruise tour was the circular route near Gloucester, which was the British countryside tour that day. Along the way, Xiaoqi met many British locals and European tourists. Everyone exchanged their travel experiences and found that they would all recommend that you spend a week living in the British countryside and experience it slowly. Friends who are interested can consider it.

The last thing I want to tell you is that Xiaoqi’s trip was a spur-of-the-moment trip. It turned out that the air tickets and hotels were very expensive. The two months of July and August in the UK were When the weather is at its best (of course the weather in May and June is also good), it is also the peak season for travel. I suggest you learn from Xiao Qi’s lesson and book air tickets, boat tickets, and hotels in advance, and book everything you can. It can save a lot of money.