There are still travel agents, aren't there? Do you belong to AAA? We have travel agencies around here.

@murraysmom Zone 6a OH . thats a good idea. If they still exist, they undoubtably work from home now.

lol We still have a few locations you can go into.

Also I have the Michelin guides for Paris and France. They were very helpful and a nice keepsake.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=michelin+guide+scotland&crid=PZRYLW5YT8FS&sprefix=Michelin+guide+sco%2Caps%2C153&ref=nb_sb_ss_p13n-expert-pd-ops-ranker_1_18 

I have checked out Rick Steves travel books for Scotland and Great Britain. Has anyone used Costco travel for individual itinerarys?

In 1987, the Dark Ages, we visited friends in England, rented a car, then drove counter-clockwise around England, up to Edinburgh. 3 weeks. Glorious. We found the best small country hotels, all had good restaurants, thru AA, the UK version of AAA. And also, way back then, in a Best Western guide, using a 3 star rating as our standard. We were never disappointed. I see they still are in existence, look there.

Jim's family traces back to Askrigg, which is where All Creatures was filmed (at that time), a lovely village with hardly any services.

One of our favorite hotels was in Appleby-in-Westmorland. I can't find the name now, probably changed a dozen times since then.

https://www.bestwestern.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appleby-in-Westmorland

My ex and I spent five weeks in Scotland years ago. It was wonderful. We rented a car and did mostly farm B&B's. We went everywhere. Loved Skye. We had Scottish national trust passes. My emphasis was gardens so we went to the teaching gardens (glorious) and every kind of castle and house. But we were there in summer. I would skip Edinburgh castle but that is just me. We didn't stay in hotels though so have no info there. We met wonderful people and ate great food. We stayed in everything from a Fisherman's cottage on the coast to a former Presbyterian Manse with the most amazing bathrooms ever put in back in the 20's with beaten copper walls and the fanciest bathtub arrangement I have ever seen. I am part Scots and felt strangely at home there.

Ask ChatGPT to make you an itinerary!

Tell it: how long you'll be there, where your plane lands, your activity level, what you like to eat, the things you absolutely want to see/do, whether you'll rent a car or take trains/buses/planes, your budget per day, what sort of hotel/b-n-b you prefer, and where you fly back home from.

DH and I are going in October, mainly to Yorkshire Dales. His cousin lives there (maybe he’s a little outside the Dales? I’m not sure…), we will visit DH’s mom’s hometown, the church where she married DFIL, and the bell tower to observe a practice session. Thanks to the tower captain I’ve been emailing with! and Skipton is also known for their canal boat trips of various types. They aren’t long, only an hour or more. And Settle and the village of Austwick, staying in the hotel I stayed in back in 1991 on my walking tour. Austwick is a great starting-off point for Yorkshire Dales walks! I just hope the weather cooperates. Castles wherever we find them. We will take the Settle-Carlisle train to the border so DH can set foot in Scotland, and coming back we will visit Hadrian’s Wall.

Then we are heading west, into Wales to take a ferry to Ireland so we can fly home from Dublin. No departure tax, and you go through US Customs and Immigration there, just like flying home from Toronto. In Dublin, we don’t have much time but I will visit a supermarket whee they found a Viking settlement while excavating for an addition! They needed the addition, so they put a glass floor over it, and built the addition anyway! Apparently you can see the site!

DH is a great planner, I tell him he could have a second career now in his retirement. He does it even for people who didn’t ask, and whom he doesn’t even know lol. Don’t worry, he doesn’t always butt in, he just likes to start looking things up and planning routes and transportation methods and times.

Check out what Tauck does on their Scotland tours for ideas for places to stay, things not to miss, and how long it takes to travel from one place to another:

https://www.tauck.com/search?filters=q:scotland;single:0;double:1;triple:0;quad:0

In terms of travel apps, TripIt and Wanderlog are both good for organization. My sister especially likes TripIt, but I think Wanderlog might be better in terms of itinerary planning.

If you're splitting expenses with your travel partner, the app Splitwise can be useful for tracking who bought what.

I love travel planning, as much as I love travel. Have fun!

@bpath I envy you your DH. I wish I could borrow him.

@Feathers11 . I envy you that you like to travel plan. I hate it. I think it requires a confidence that I simply dont have.

Am I wrong in thinking that the All Creatures tour is in or near the Yorkshire Dales?

I think you will/would have had fun on either trip! Both are once in a lifetime. Safe travels

This all sounds great ( and I recently- finally- read All Creatures).

I have used ChatGPT to help with sugestions and itineraries and found it very helpful BUT you really have to double-check because it does make mistakes ( with travel time or distance for example). It also will sometimes have outdated info for hours..

The ol' Trust But Verify.

Overall a very good help.

The current series is filmed in Grassington. A friend of mine went last year during filming in the summer, she looooved going. I think there is a museum in Thirsk, where the vets actually were? Do I have that right?

Hobbitmom, I love looking at place names in Yorkshire. They sound so Tolkien hobbit-y!

Hobbitmom, I highly recommend a travel agent if you want help.

DH and I just booked a trip through a local travel agent. We usually don't use one, but our upcoming trip is complex, and I'm in the middle of a busy work period, so decided to ask for help. Best idea ever. Google helped me find a highly rated agent very close to my house - not that it mattered, we never met in person. I sent an email Sunday night with our thoughts. By Wednesday, we had four flights, four hotels, a couple of transfers, and trip insurance fully booked. I still have a few attraction tickets and a couple of visas to purchase, but she sent me links for those, so I don't even have to search for them. She was very transparent about her fees, which I found to be very reasonable. Good luck with the planning.

How lucky are you?! I would love to go to Scotland and Ireland. My grandfather was Irish and grandmother Scottish. My mom got her wish to visit Ireland just a year before she died. She was soooooo happy. ❤️

I just finished up planning my solo trip to Munich, thanks to Chat GPT. It is amazing what the capabilities are for finding information. For example, I wasn't sure the exact area that I wanted to stay. Somewhere close to the center of the city, and I listed a few things I knew that I wanted to see. Once I narrowed it down, I then searched for hotels in that area. Then went to sites like Trip Advisor to read reviews.

I use a few different resources to plan a trip, like when I want to go on a tour, whether it be around the city or a day trip somewhere else.

This is a great one - Get Your Guide - when I went to Poland last year, I hired a driver to pick me up at the airport. Super nice man in a shiny black Mercedes. I remember he had really polished shiny black shoes 😆 I also used this resource in Paris for a few tours and day trips.

I also use this one that many people are probably familiar with - Viator - they are affiliated with TripAdvisor.

You can also use Chat GPT to find other local tours in the area you're traveling to.

Another source is Rick Steves guidebooks. I used his guidebook all around Paris and Belgium and everything is completely reliable. He lives in Europe approximately 6 months out of a year updating his guidebooks. I actually found a recommended driver in his Norway book that I booked for a ride from the airport. These are sources that Rick himself personally has used. When I mentioned Rick's name to the driver, he gave me a discount.

Closer to the date that I'll be traveling, I'll book a few tours of things I want to see.

Once I had a flight to Hamburg get canceled for weather. We were rerouted to spend a night in Paris. About midnight the hired driver dropped us off at the door of the airline paid for hotel. He got his tip then took off. Upon stepping up to the desk, we were told that there is no reservation for us. He dropped us off at the wrong hotel!! By this time, we were exhausted and sat down and sobbed. (It turned out OK in the end). Sheesh!

I always follow along with my phone's GPS to make sure I'm being taken to the correct location. As soon as I get in, I plug the address in my phone of where I'm going and bring up the map so I can follow along. So far I haven't had to question a driver about which way they were going. In big cities there could be hotels with similar names. I like to ensure I'm being taken to the correct location.

That's a smart thing to do for sure. It certainly never occured to us to do that. Boo. I think it was a chain like Doubletree, and it was the wrong one.

A lone voice ... I'd go to Vietnam before Costa Rica and either before Scotland or Yorkshire. The latter two are just not different or interesting enough imo. I like a contrast when I travel. And, personally, I often find the quality of accomodation, food, service, cleanliness and transport in the UK unimpressive. Also it's very expensive, as are many attractions. I don't really understand why people come to the UK at all to be honest. If you want to go to Europe I'd go elsewhere. Good points I suppose are that national museums are free, there's no tipping culture and we speak a form of English.

Ps when I travel I don't use guide books for food or accommodation recommendations. They're quickly out of date and you can end up going where everyone else is going. Nor do I set much store by TripAdvisor which has a lot of fake reviews, negative reviews from people who don't understand the culture and criticise based on things not being like home and positive reviews praising things I myself would not like.

A tip: additional trips arranged by your tour guide are often doable independently at a fraction of the price. Check before buying. eg We visited a museum in Egypt for a tiny sum which the guide wanted a lot to arrange. We just walked there and went in.

LOL - People visit the UK because it's different from what they're used to, because it's new, because they studied history, because it holds some special meaning for them, because they've seen places in tv shows and films, because their ancestors are from there - pick a reason, any reason!

The Scottish Highlands are breathtakingly beautiful. North Wales is stunning with its palm trees and mountains. Parts of England are also supremely gorgeous (looking at you, Lake District!), or exciting (London!), or whatever. I've also found that even with exchange rates, most things are on a par with, or slightly less expensive than, US prices. Groceries, for example, are incredibly cheap. The only thing that's remarkably more expensive is gasoline/petrol - but UK cars also get super-impressive mileage (we typically get 40-60mpg on our hire cars). The hotels we stay at are superb - and the few pubs where we've had an occasional room/board have been more than adequate.

*two pics from one visit to the Highlands:

When people want to visit my area (for whatever reason) - I give them lists of places to go and things to do, if they ask. Our museums are also free, which is nice. I would never discourage them from coming here!

@Offie Myffy thanks. All your reasons listed are my doubly emphatic reasons. We have left the "throw it out there" phase, and the "must narrow this down" phase, and this weekend will "plot, plan, and map it out" .

@hobbitmom - I hope you enjoy your holiday there! Our retirement home is in Wales, which is one of my husband's childhood/school towns (he went to boarding school there). I cannot WAIT to get back there permanently!

Oh yes! Folks visit the UK for a variety of reasons!

One of my visits was simply to see where my mother spent time as a young girl. I travelled by train and cab to Wednesbury and was dropped off in the neighbourhood in which she grew up. I saw the town cenotaph where she remembered partying with her parents at the end of WW II. I wanted to trace the steps she made on the way to school every day. Just in that little out of the way place it was so interesting.

I passed a wall that was called Lovers Walk, a huge gothic style Church St. Bartholomew ’s graveyard, and then onto St. Mary’s Church with its copper spires, where both she and my grandfather had gone to school.

Another visit I spent time with my cousin in Wimbledon. That was a blast.

Another time, we took a tour down the Thames to Greenwich, saw the Cutty Sark and of course the observatory.

Another visit with my grandparents in Budleigh Salterton was lovely. The Cotswolds, another beautiful spot.

And on and on and on.

My husband who has no connections with UK, loved it all as he is a history buff.

floral, those are some of the reasons I visited the UK. It’s a lovely place. 🤠

“When people want to visit my area (for whatever reason) - I give them lists of places to go and things to do, if they ask. Our museums are also free, which is nice. I would never discourage them from coming here!“

Definitely! I wouldn’t want to live in a place that I wouldn’t want to visit.

Well, I'm quite relieved you all haven't been put off. I just compare it to places I visit and to me it doesn't look too good. I'm currently in Italy where the food is better, the history even more incredible, the weather good, the streets clean and the public toilets excellent everywhere. I live in a tourist town in England. We get hordes of visitors and I often feel ashamed at the dirt and poor facilities. I acknowledge that the countryside is beautiful though. The Cotswolds are on my doorstep. I can walk to this view.

floral, comparing is not a good thing. Look for the uniqueness in things.

And remember that if something seems mundane to you, the visitor is seeing it for the first time and may be thrilled to see those same sights.

murraysmom, your name reminded me of this.

Many years ago, we were on a roadtrip in the USA. Going through Idaho, my husband thought he spotted a shortcut on the map. So off we turned and headed down a small road that got smaller and smaller, and higher into the treeline.

After quite a bit of time we ended up in Murray, Idaho. A fellow that we met there couldn’t understand why we were there.

The scenery was beautiful and the history of the town was interesting.

LOL, as it turned out, we had to go back on the same road we had travelled to get there.

🤷‍♀️

It was an enjoyable trip.

roxsolid, that is hilarious!! I haven't heard of Murray, Idaho but I'm happy it was a fun diversion for you. I have been to Couer d'Alene. Lots of good breweries. :)

I mean - all of us can compare every place to another place...

Is my home area better than some places? Yes. Is it worse than other places? Also yes. Do I let either situation bother me? No.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Don't get me wrong. I like living where I do. It suits me. I just don't really understand why anyone from abroad would choose to come here for a holiday given all the drawbacks and the much more interesting and pleasant places to visit.

Lol - you sound like my mother-in-law, who couldn't understand why I wanted to visit Ely and Stonehenge on my first trip to visit her.

Ely and Stonehenge are great. But atypical. It's the general mass of 'ordinary' UK which is the problem.

floral. maybe it is the very 'ordinary-ness' that attracts overseas visitors to this country? I have US friends who watch British TV shows, especially period classics and crime-type dramas and they want to visit the locations where the filming took place. I grew up in the tourist hot-spot of Stratford-on-Avon which was always busy during the Summer. Today I understand it is heaving throughout the year. Some people who saw the movie Hamnet were surprised it wasn't shot on location!

Are you based in/near Bath? If so you must get your fare share of visitors plus many film companies using it as a back-drop for all those Jane Austen works.

I do understand that a back street in Rotherham or the railway sidings of Birmingham might not hold the same appeal.

LOL - you REALLLLLLY sound like my mother-in-law now!

Oh my gosh Birmingham! LOL. On the same trip that I retraced my mother’s steps to school in Wednesbury, I also visited the childhood home of my father in Hall Green. My grandfather was a doctor and his surgery was part of the house. It has since been turned into a nursing home. Loved it all. And my husband who is a railroad nut, loved it as well.

Peaky Blinder fans could find Birmingham interesting.

eta correction🤓 Hall Geen Road in West Bromwich. Birmingham was visited on the same trip.

I would never trust ChatGPT to plan any trip for me. I am on the Australia forum of TripAdvisor and when people ask for assistance with AI planned itineraries, invariably they are flawed and unrealistic.

I ve self planned several overseas trips in Asia, New Zealand and Europe. It’s not difficult and you don’t need to be a computer whiz to do it.

My first move is to Google the State/Foreign Affairs Department of the country/countries I plan to visit to see what the visa/passport requirements are for entry to that country. Some countries require an actual visa issued by their local embassy; others allow visitors from particular countries to enter with what is called an Electronic Travel Authority/ETA. Some are free and others must be paid for. NOTE: Be sure the URL of the website ends with the extension ”.gov”. This indicates it is an official government website. There are a lot of fakes out there.

Next, I Google “[Name of country] Tourism website”. Pretty well every country has some kind of tourism website with info about entry requirements, what you can bring into the country, what weather you can expect at any given time of the year, cultural information, things to see, thing to do, you name it. NOTE: As above, be sure the URL of this website ends in ”.gov”.

Then I make a list of all of the things that interest me. Many tourism websites have direct links to things of interest, but if not, Mr Google can help there. I can find out opening hours, entry fees and all kinds of things I might need or want to know before deciding to keep this place on my list.

Then I look at how much time I have for my trip, how much time I expect to spend at any given tourist site on the list, travel time between them, time for meals etc. Then I know what is feasible to achieve in my time frame and budget.

Google Maps helps with choice of hotels or other accommodation. I go to an area I hope to stay in, put ”hotels” in the search box and then click on every one to see what they offer and tariffs. I look at the GoogleMaps reviews for each property, looking for consistency. If it has a less than stellar total score but recent reviews are consistently good, it’s probably been renovated or had new management brought in. I look particularly at the poor reviews to see if they are consistent. If the poor reviews are all along the lines of ”It was dirty/noisy/infested by insects/staffed by sullen or unhelpful people”, then it gets crossed off the list. But if one person didn’t like the colour of the carpet and another found a single hair in the shower, and another thought the receptionist looked at them funny, while a fourth didn’t like the soap in the bathroom, then I wonder if these people would be happy anywhere they stayed.

I have the same approach if we’re planning to stay at an AirBnb/VRBO type property.

I also look to see what places are close to public transport as we generally use public transport, or if we are renting a car, what parking is available and where the depot is located. Looking around using StreetView is also helpful to see what the neighbourhood looks like.

Then I go onto the appropriate TripAdvisor forum and ask the locals for their opinion of my itinerary and proposed accommodation. Sometimes there will be information that isn’t commonly available on any website, such as it isn’t a good idea to drive between dusk and dawn on Australian rural roads, as they are generally unlit and there are a lot of nocturnal animals such as kangaroos out and about on the roads at night and they can be difficult to dodge if you don’t know what to do. Sometimes they will recommend a place I wasn’t aware of, or recommend great places to eat. I can ask questions to clear up anything I don’t understand.

Then it’s just a case of finalising my itinerary, booking the accommodation I have chosen and car/s if we are hiring a car, booking the flights and heading off.

I also keep the list of things to see or do that didn’t make it onto the list, in case we get there and find that for some reason or another something that did make it onto the list is closed or turns out not to be so interesting or whatever, so we have suggestions for other things to do instead.

Vee, you've guessed correctly.

I agree with not relying on Chat GPT to plan an itinerary. But - it can be immensely useful for gathering ideas. It answered a few questions I had about an upcoming trip to Munich. I further researched the answers it gave me for confirmation. Like I wasn't sure which part of Munich that I wanted to stay. I asked Chat GPT to tell me the "neighborhoods," so I could read about and research them. Based on my interests and what I want to see and do, I was able to narrow down where to stay.

So one can get ideas and suggestions from Chat GPT, but you must still do your own research and confirm what Chat GPT tells you.

thank you all. interesting how some folks like doing this stuff. (analytical- meticulous- thorough- most likely, got good grades in math). My weak and lazy mind gets cluttered with what shoes to bring, and should I bring a poncho, or a small umbrella. But things are moving along. We still have a couple of stray nights to book somewhere, but we are working on it everyday. You have been extremely helpful. Thanks again.

Bring a raincoat AND an umbrella. The former will be needed for when the umbrella blows inside out. A poncho would also be annoying in wind. Pack shoes you can walk in. I wouldn't bother with sandals if you're going in October. Also pack warm clothes. Sweaters etc.

And remember you are not expected to tip as a matter of course. It's your choice and is not expected. Also the price on goods is the final price. No hidden taxes to surprise you when you come to pay.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK Yes, I will probably bring both. My travel buddy and I are in the habit of just bringing a carry on. (stuffed until the zipper curses.) We learned about not tipping on our European trip. Took a while to get used to. (Around 20 minutes.)

I only travel with a carry-on also. Save space and buy a cheap umbrella when you get there. Granted an umbrella doesn't take up much space but it's easier to just pick up one when you get there. I didn't bring one on a trip to Norway, and when it began raining I popped into a store and spent ten bucks on one. I ended up bringing it home and now have an umbrella that says "I ❤️ Norway."

It's just easier to buy the little stuff once you arrive. And be sure to check the luggage size allowed on the airline you're flying. I'm flying Lufthansa in Oct, and their carry-on size limit is smaller than what I can use flying domestically. If your luggage is "stuffed unti the zipper curses," you may need to gate check it.

This was Edinburgh on one of the better days weatherwise. ☂️There was a bracing dampness in the air.🤠 Some days it was more bracing than others.

I’ve found that a light

rain jacket with a hood is more practical than an umbrella in almost all situations in the UK.

Another carry-on only traveler - I take two pairs of shoes (flats for dressy-ish wear and flipflops for the hotel room) and wear chelsea boots on the plane.

And here’s Edinburgh on one visit.

We’ve been lucky with the weather on most holidays - even Iceland in the winter. The weather is the only thing completely out of your control!

I have to say I carry an umbrella every day all year round. It's permanently in my bag. It depends on how much time you're going to spend outdoors but a light rain jacket may not suffice if you're outside for a while. Remember, the rain might be coming sideways and can soak your legs. I have a long fully waterproof raincoat with hood. And it's roomy enough to wear sweaters underneath. But I walk everywhere so I need to stay dry. October might be nice but the thing about our weather is that you just don't know.

Today it's 15° (59f) and raining in Edinburgh. Where I am it's 30°(86f) and hasn't rained for nearly three weeks.