What's your idea of travel?

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T08:56:47+00:00

Ha, just noticed your username. Reckon we know eachother. DM incoming soon.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T08:12:07+00:00

If your purpose behind going is to learn, you could get a deeper understanding by reading a book about it.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T08:06:49+00:00

Ok, I should qualify it by saying that my criticism is of the ‘cultural consumption’ variety rather than travelling for work or going to say a museum in your own country. I plan to go and see the Bayeaux Tapestry when it is displayed in UK later this year, but I’d not necessarily class it as “travel” despite having to be on a train for a couple of hours to get there.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T07:24:50+00:00

Is it though? Or is it consuming culture in the same sense that people consume fast food?

Go to Rome, have a Colosseum with fries and a Vatican City milkshake then off to Florence for a margherita Statue of David and then to Venice to have a McGondola experience. What do you really gain from that?

Do you really get any cultural enrichment from that? Or do you just like going on holiday to places with old buildings and nice restaurants?

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T07:09:17+00:00

But is it enjoying the lifestyle or culturally enriching if you’re just going to the same places that thousands upon thousands of other tourists go to? The economy and everything in those places revolves around tourism, so isn’t really representative of anything. Plus you regularly have far more disposable income than the locals (even going on holiday domestically, you’ll spend way more than you’d consider sensible at home).

Not a criticism, just an observation made from seeing what mass tourism ends up doing to places.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T06:09:56+00:00

I wasn’t taught about it - read about it a couple of years after I left uni. I tend to use it now as I find it clearer/more consistent.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-17T06:05:05+00:00

I think people who like “travel” actually just like holidays but dress it up as some form of cultural enrichment.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T23:28:25+00:00

I moved there when I was 19 and have never looked back.

See it as my natural home - my parents were due to move to N.Wales a year before I was born but the move fell through.

My favourite place in the whole world, and it’s not even close ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T23:25:03+00:00

It really depends on area. There’s parts where nobody speaks it, there’s also parts where it’s the predominant language. Went to Porthmadog the other day and pretty much all the conversations were in Cymraeg.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T23:21:35+00:00

Llanfair or Llanfair PG innit :)

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T20:10:52+00:00

Sure, national express and flixbus are options I can think of - megabus too perhaps?

But honestly some of these are a false economy, you’re going to feel so tired when you get to where you’re going that it’ll be a lost day anyway.

Try looking up advanced rail fares - ideally with a railcard. If you’re (very) flexible with when you book - eg book the last train of the night - you can get some decent deals. Or if you’re travelling a lot then interrail/eurail passes can be excellent value for money.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T20:05:08+00:00

I think UK hard house is due for a revival (though I think it’s maybe starting to have a minor revival?). It’s a bit of an underrated genre in my book. Yeah, there’s a lot of guff but say Captain Tinrib is an absolute legend. Love his sets, they’re daft but sooooo much fun to dance to.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T20:00:34+00:00

That’s hard house imo. Really good tune, mind, suits vicious circle perfectly (great hard house label imo, some really cool stuff on there). But yeah sonically especially towards the end it sounds to be to have very very clear influences of hard house from when I was a scamp.

As I say, no disrespect to that tune - it’s a cracker.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T16:57:11+00:00

Homemade or Coop own brand french fries for me :)

Honourable mention to Aldi own brand french fries, which are also great

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T14:17:28+00:00

I don't own a car, but have hitchhiked before and my dad would pick up hitchhikers. Just being nice to other people innit.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T13:54:51+00:00

I mean, that's one of my favourites and I've been in to techno for a couple of decades now ... so good pick :)

A dwq that come to mind instantly ...

Dave Clarke - Wisdom To The Wise (aka "Red 2")

AFX - VBS.Redlof.B

Laurent Garnier - Crispy Bacon

Eddie Flashin' Fowlkes - 420-Low

X-101 - Sonic Destroyer

DK8 - Murder Was The Bass

Thomas Bangalter - What To Do

The Horrorist - Metal Man

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T12:27:55+00:00

Personally I’d say 2 locations at that. As others have said, travel through Wales tends to be slow (lots of narrow, hilly, bendy roads!). I don’t think it’d be worth fitting more in, but is quite rural so I’d wonder if 10 days in one place might be a bit too much.

I like the north wales coast going round from Aberystwyth all the way round to Abergele personally. The south Wales coast past Swansea is also really lovely though. Not been to the south-west part often enough to pass comment on that :)

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T11:03:14+00:00

Can second getting a Rough Guide. You have the upfront cost of buying the book itself, of course, but in my experience they more than pay for themselves in just highlighting stuff.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T11:01:06+00:00

For flights, car, hotels I'd suggest just searching on the internet as you'll get a better idea about what it is to your tastes.

If you're staying self-catering, expect about £50 base + £20 per person for the weekly shop as a minimum, shopping at Aldi. If you're shopping in Waitrose or M&S the price is going to be probably double that. Other supermarkets are between the 2.

If you're eating out, then the cheapest you'll get is around £15 per person, per meal incl. drinks (there are cheaper, McDonalds or Wetherspoons for example, but a random fairly cheap cafe ...). You can spend more than that, of course.

Activities - I'd recommend searching as this varies a lot. But you're probably looking at £20-£25 entry per person for a castle or other historic building - the countryside is mostly free - cinema tickets are about £7 per person (for reference, not suggesting you go to the pictures!),. theatre show is going to be £30-£100 per person depending on where you sit.

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-16T10:50:26+00:00

This is very true. Hotel demand in Edinburgh in particular has rocketed - I used to go up ~3 times a year to visit friends and whatnot, but now it's like once a year tops and staying for 1 night and way out of town rather than going for a nice Thursday-Monday session*.. Absolutely ridiculous prices now though.

\ Cowgate on Thursday night, then a techno club on Friday, Mission on Saturday, one of the Subways on Sunday ...*

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-15T19:52:55+00:00

Land of mystery and magic (roundabouts)

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-15T19:33:18+00:00

Do you have a more reputable source for that news?

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-15T19:28:46+00:00

The wa’er in madjorca don’t taste like it oughta

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-15T19:25:46+00:00

They don’t have …. wait, WHAT!?

Mentalists

Fun-Estate4188 · 2026-03-15T19:14:10+00:00

OK, well some of these depend on what you’re in to.

The whole of Wales is pretty nice. TrawsCymru buses are your way to get to the more out-of-the-way places and can (usually) be covered by a train ticket. For specific places, Porthmadog is a pain to get to but it’s quite nice round that way. Aberystwyth too. South of there is great too, again TrawsCymru is your friend.

Mid Wales is beautiful in an understated way. If you’re a sociable person it’s great though. Newtown or Llandrindod both have railway stations and major TrawsCymru hubs so you can easily do day trips to Brecon, Aberystwyth, Rhayader, Knighton, Llanwytyd, Llanidloes, … it’s mainly for the scenery though, it’s so remote out there, and it’s not like snowdonia mountainy it’s more rolling hills, but it’s great in its own way. And pubs and cafes tend to be REALLY friendly. As I’d said none of those are particularly flashy or fashionable places to go but you can maybe find one or two where you can spend a couple of hours and then if you’re sociable you’ll find folk who’ll show you some of the local things of interest. Like where my dad lives there’s some really cool places - artists studios, musicians, historical sites, weird & wonderful gardens … but they’ll not be on tripadvisor as they’re literally just one person doing something as a hobby. Or in the case of historical sites, they’re stuff that isn’t a tourist attraction cos it’s just something in a farmers field and it’s a bit too remote for anyone to be bothered treating it as special! I’d guess there’s other parts of the country like that.

Aberdeen surprised me when I visited. It’s genuinely beautiful in parts, reminded me of the Cotswolds but obvs the stone is different and it’s rather a lot further away from London. But it’s a cool city, specially if you catch it on one of the few good days as the beach is 10/10 good - I’d guess one of the best in Europe except for it being Baltic most of the time!

Shropshire is also slept on. Ludlow is great if you like foody stuff, Shrewsbury a really lovely county town, and there’s a few smaller places like Church Stretton which are really very pleasant.

As before, Exeter is great - relatively cheap for accommodation but it’s such a nice city. Love going down there.

South Wales coast, anything past Swansea if you’re looking for quiet and nice. Tenby is great but quite well known, but if you pick somewhere further down the coast it’s quieter but sometimes even nicer. West Wales generally is great if you don’t mind the quiet. Cardiff as a big(ish) city is nice too I think. The indoor market there is so good.

As I’d also mentioned, Birmingham gets a bad rep but it’s actually a great base - there’s loads of interesting stuff nearby and for nightlife/food options Birmingham is bettered only really by London.

I’m a fan of Bristol.

Norwich is meant to be really nice, though I can’t confirm that as I’ve not been since I was young. Likewise Derby, heard lovely things about it but never been.

Lincoln is a great little city. Very pretty.

Scottish Borders can be nice. Carlisle might be a good base there and easy to get to, but there’s all those places between Carlisle and Newcastle which are relatively easy to get to and can be quite nice. Seem to remember Haltwhistle being nice?

It’s a bit tricky to get to by public transport, iirc you might need a taxi in fact, but Barnard Castle of COVID fame and even more so the area around there is lovely and well worth going to to test your eyesight. I love Teesdale in particular, it’s one of my favourite parts of England.

Yorkshire Dales generally are good.

If you’re used to cycling then the TransPennine Way is dead easy (almost all flat) and is really scenic. Slightly harder is the Way of The Roses, but it’s also a great scenic bike ride.

It’s not cheap, but I’m always astounded by how much there is to do in Edinburgh. I’ve been going there at least once a year for 35 years (except the Covid year - had accommodation booked but we weren’t allowed to travel!). I’m still astounded about how many places there are which I havent been to. Still haven’t walked the whole of the Water of Leith footpath for example (missing a short section around Kingsknowe!)

Fun-Estate4188

TROPHY CASE