Richard

Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.

Thanks,,

R

Larry Finch

Richard wrote:

    > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
    > Thanks,,

Well, most places interesting are interesting to tourists. If they aren't
they may not be interesting to you, either. You might want to read "Notes
from a Small Island" by Bill Bryson for ideas. Some less inundated (but
not totally tourist-free) places that I have visited that I found worth
the visit include Rye, Portsmouth, Corfe Castle, Shrewsbury, Chester,
York, Bristol, Fishgard, Holyhead. I consider Bath a "must visit" even if
it IS full of tourists. It's been for a couple of thousand years (full of
tourists, that is).

Larry

--
Larry Finch

N 40° 53' 47"
W 74° 03' 56"

Keith Anderson

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 20:10:16 GMT, Richard <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    >Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    >somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
Plenty of opportunities to "get away from it all"

One suggestion would be the borders of the counties of Lincolnshire
and Rutland. The town of Stamford is very attractive - also try taking
the no 12 public service bus from Stamford to Uppingham (doesn't run
on Sundays though) and back - "Cotswold"-type towns and villages but
without the Cotswold tourist inundation.

There are a few buses (and a footpath across the fields - 1 hr hike)
from Stamford to Easton-on-the-Hill, another pretty little village.

To get to Stamford - train from London Kings Cross and change at
Peterborough.

The next question would be what kind of
scenery/architecture/activities you enjoy - further suggestions will
follow!

Keith
Bristol
UK

Mike O'Sullivan

"Richard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
Leeds Castle, Kent --
Wells, Somerset --

Keeger

Richard <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    >Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    >somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.

Dorset

K

Johnt

"Richard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
    > Thanks,,
    > R

Widnes.

JohnT

Richard

Thanks to you all..Keith my first trip so its all new to me,,however I
do like Gothic, and old cemeteries,,thanks again,




On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:26:59 +0100, Keith Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >The next question would be what kind of
    >scenery/architecture/activities you enjoy - further suggestions will
    >follow!
    >Keith
    >Bristol

Harvey Van Sickle

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 20:10:16 GMT, Richard wrote

    > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get
    > lost" somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and
    > "trinket" shops.

Assuming you mean towns rather than countryside, I'd say generally look
at cathedral cities and traditional market centres. For day trips (off
the top of my head) places like Colchester, Guildford and Salisbury;
for longer trips, maybe some place like Lincoln or Norwich.

The major regional cities aren't really touristy. As long as you're
not trying to drive to them -- that is, you're arriving by train to the
centre of the city -- places like Manchester, Bristol, Brighton and
Birmingham are all buzzy places with lots of locals.

(Post again if you meant "really small, rural and/or isolated
places"....)

--
Cheers, Harvey

Ottawa/Toronto/Edmonton for 30 years;
Southern England for the past 21 years.
(for e-mail, change harvey to whhvs)

Owain

"JohnT" wrote
    | "Richard" wrote
    | > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    | > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    | > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
    | Widnes.

Swindon.

Basingstoke.

Milton Keynes.

    :-)

Owain

Derek F

"Larry Finch" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Richard wrote:
    > > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    > > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
    > >
    > > Thanks,,
    > Well, most places interesting are interesting to tourists. If they aren't
    > they may not be interesting to you, either. You might want to read "Notes
    > from a Small Island" by Bill Bryson for ideas. Some less inundated (but
    > not totally tourist-free) places that I have visited that I found worth
    > the visit include Rye, Portsmouth, Corfe Castle, Shrewsbury, Chester,
    > York, Bristol, Fishgard, Holyhead. I consider Bath a "must visit" even if
    > it IS full of tourists. It's been for a couple of thousand years (full of
    > tourists, that is).
    > Larry
After London I always consider York to be the most tourist fouled city in
England, Chester cannot be far behind. Rye is pretty and quaint but still
has a lot of day trippers and would not fill up much time and does not have
much else of interest in the area. Shrewsbury was tourist free when we
visited it one May and if you are interested in architecture it has many
interesting buildings. Nearby Ludlow is also a nice English country town
with a good castle. Exeter is a nice city and may be remote enough not to be
too overcrowded. Volunteers do several free guided walks and there are a lot
of other accessible towns nearby as well as good transport around Dartmoor.
In the North, Hexham is an interesting tourist free town as are Richmond and
Ripon. Big cities like Manchester and Liverpool have a lot to offer and are
not tourist centres.
A book that might give you some ideas for out of the way places is Paul
Theroux's The Kingdom By The Sea where he makes his way round Britains
coastline.
http://www.shrewsbury-guide.co.uk/
http://www.ludlow.org.uk/
http://www.borderreivers.co.uk/Hexham%201.htm

Jim Ley

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 00:35:38 +0100, "Derek F"
<[email protected]> wrote:

    >A book that might give you some ideas for out of the way places is Paul
    >Theroux's The Kingdom By The Sea where he makes his way round Britains
    >coastline.

England is not as depressing a place now as that book makes out!

Jim.

Derek F

"Mike O'Sullivan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "Richard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    > > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
    > >
    > Leeds Castle, Kent --
    > Wells, Somerset --
Leeds Castle is great but it has tourists by the thousand. Two years ago we
queued up for over an hour to get in on Easter Sunday.
Derek.

Derek F

"Owain" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > "JohnT" wrote
    > | "Richard" wrote
    > | > Where in England would I go to find the least amount of tourists?
    > | > Nothing personal but after a few days in London I'd like to "get lost"
    > | > somewhere thats relatively free from tour buses and "trinket" shops.
    > | Widnes.
    > Swindon.
    > Basingstoke.
    > Milton Keynes.
    > :-)
    > Owain
Methinks you doth take the piss:-)
Derek.

Keith Anderson

On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 20:51:55 GMT, Richard <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Thanks to you all..Keith my first trip so its all new to me,,however I
    >do like Gothic, and old cemeteries,,thanks again,
    >On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:26:59 +0100, Keith Anderson
    ><[email protected]> wrote:
    >>The next question would be what kind of
    >>scenery/architecture/activities you enjoy - further suggestions will
    >>follow!

Gothic - the great cathedrals are often in very touristy cities but
not always.

The small city of Lincoln is slightly off the main tourist trail and
has a magnificent cathedral, as does Ely, a small town in the county
of Cambridgeshire, a few miles north of Cambridge itself. Close your
eyes and ignore the tourists and have a look at Cambridge - Kings
College Chapel is great if you like late Gothic (the "Perpendicular"
style). Norwich also has a fine cathedral, and the north Norfolk coast
around Sheringham, Cromer and Wells-next-theSea (delightful little
port town) is less touristy than many other coastal regions.

Exeter has been mentioned - a fine cathedral there too (in the
"Decorated" style) and you could head to the Exmoor National Park -
bit of a wilderness in places, and a lovely stretch of coast between
Minehead, Porlock, Lynton/Lynmouth and Ilfracombe (altho' give
Ilfracombe itself a miss as it's touristy).

Dartmoor is close by - a real granite wilderness.

Dorset has also been mentioned - Sherbourne Abbey has terrific late
Gothic fan vaulting and is a pleasant market town - a castle thereas
well.

Wells (Somerset) -- England's smallest city (10.000 population) also
has a great cathedral - first Gothic cathedral in England begun approx
1180.

Derek F

"Jim Ley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 00:35:38 +0100, "Derek F"
    > <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >A book that might give you some ideas for out of the way places is Paul
    > >Theroux's The Kingdom By The Sea where he makes his way round Britains
    > >coastline.
    > England is not as depressing a place now as that book makes out!
    > Jim.
The 11.33 to Margate still runs late.
Derek.