First Time Visitor in August | Page 2 | Vital Football

First Time Visitor in August

daleks.at.the.monaco said:
This Britrail ticket sounds the way to go for cost effective multi trip train journeys.

Obvs the cost of flights to different airports is a factor

A bonus for the trip is the weakness of the £ Sterling against US$

The car v train depends on what other tourist sites you want to visit.
If you tell us where you want to go, we can advise on the worth and how accessible if you elect to travel by train.

Someone suggested a Blackpool guest house, that could be a grim night, be very careful. With a strong $ a decent hotel would be the best option
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Not grim at all. Over half the houses in Blackpool are guesthouses and whenever I've stayed in the town it's been absolutely fine. Most importantly of course, it's dirt cheap. No doubt he'll want to enjoy the whole day (and night) in Blackpool rather than having to get back in a car post match and drive in the dark.
 
NYC_LATICS said:
What do you consider an average price for London to Wigan rail travel? What do you consider high?

Looks like the rental cars we'd consider would go for anywhere from £ 750-1,000 for the week.

Does that seem high?
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Do buy your rental car insurance in the US. A warning - I witnessed a counter guy trying to sell horrendously expensive insurance to a tourist who was collecting his hired car.
Blackpool Guesthouse - personally I wouldn't stay there. There's a Hampton by Hilton in Blackpool - do request for rooms away from guests with dogs - strange but they cater for such.
Personally I'd hire a car as Avanti trains (Virgin Trains were excellent) are v expensive and as of now one can't book well in advance. Do check penalties for changing tickets.
If its your 1st time in the UK I'd fly into Heathrow - London is a must. You could drive up North via Oxford etc. Check parking fees if staying in city hotels.
Good luck with the planning.
 
jocklatic said:
As others have already gave you some decent advice all I can add is that you'll all be given a warm welcome by the Latics faithful, nothing better than having fans from far flung place....so make sure you make yourself know to fellow Latics fans & you'll not go far wrong for some good advice and friendly chat.....👍🍻
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Thanks!

I've met a few dozen fans already in NYC over the years and I look forward to reconnecting with them and meeting many other Tics in person while over there.

Cheers!
 
king_dezeeuw06 said:
I'm not well up on rental car prices but I would've thought you could get a better deal than 750-1k for a week. But it probably depends on what type of car you want too. I'd look around on that - it was a couple of years ago but wife's family got a rental for a week for less than 500. Also if you've got a number of people coming the collective cost of train tickets can soon stack up.

Depending on when you book train tickets and if you can get deals London to Wigan can be anywhere from £40, to 70 to a few hundred pounds each. It really is crazy how much it can vary. Best to look at websites like Trainline or Take The Train and see the options for booking advance tickets as sometimes booking 3 months out you can get good deals but pay on the day will be premium prices.

Personally if you can get a decent rental car price I'd probably go for that as it gives you the flexibility to potentially go to different tourist stuff further away. Getting to somewhere Wales or the Lakes on public transport would likely be difficult and expensive but easy in a car.
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That's good to know about the prices.

I think we're dead set on renting a car at this point. It's more a matter of whether we're getting one in London or taking rail to the northwest and getting one there.
 
Yon Mon said:
If you're familiar with Will Jones on twitter. You might be better asking his advice as he came over from America recently. So will know the easiest way to travel around the northwest.
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Yeah, I know Will. We've already talked a bit about the trip. I'll definitely rely on him for more information.
 
N"Zogbia's fan club said:
Do buy your rental car insurance in the US. A warning - I witnessed a counter guy trying to sell horrendously expensive insurance to a tourist who was collecting his hired car.
Blackpool Guesthouse - personally I wouldn't stay there. There's a Hampton by Hilton in Blackpool - do request for rooms away from guests with dogs - strange but they cater for such.
Personally I'd hire a car as Avanti trains (Virgin Trains were excellent) are v expensive and as of now one can't book well in advance. Do check penalties for changing tickets.
If its your 1st time in the UK I'd fly into Heathrow - London is a must. You could drive up North via Oxford etc. Check parking fees if staying in city hotels.
Good luck with the planning.
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We'll definitely have rental car insurance before we travel.

Thanks for the other tips. We'll likely try and fit the London sights in either at the very beginning or end of the trip depending on how our flights align with the match day events.
 
Ooooooo to Be a Wiganer said:
If he as a walk around Wigan town centre it will put him of the U.K. for ever
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Or any town centres around the UK....sadly town centres / high streets are fast becoming ghost towns with more shops boarded up than open. Just back from working down south, in supposedly affluent Chichester the high Street wasn't a great sight with plenty of shops boarded up or closing down sale signs up....such a shame
 
NYC are you coming to England for the football or football & culture?

What are your interests, knowing this could allow the wise people on here (and many of us do not live anywhere near to Wigan) to proffer advice, tips and tricks about what is worth visiting
 
I think I have an accommodation solution....just tell the gormless council you've just come over the channel in a rubber dinghy and are fleeing for your life from that hideous shithole that is France. They'll fix you up in a hotel then just fire off when you're ready to go.
 
hindleymonwafc said:
I think I have an accommodation solution....just tell the gormless council you've just come over the channel in a rubber dinghy and are fleeing for your life from that hideous shithole that is France. They'll fix you up in a hotel then just fire off when you're ready to go.
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Depends on the shade of one's skin : if fair - made to feel very welcome - some will even offer accommodation. Apart from that the current government will provide air transport to sunny Rwanda.
 
hindleymonwafc said:
I think I have an accommodation solution....just tell the gormless council you've just come over the channel in a rubber dinghy and are fleeing for your life from that hideous shithole that is France. They'll fix you up in a hotel then just fire off when you're ready to go.
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not if you are from Ukraine.
what a kind and fair and equitable government we have - so long as you are Caucasian

What you write John (and liked by John and Mr Horrocks) is the lie that the Daily Mail wants you to believe. Our kind and fair and equitable government do not provide any safe way to register as a person fleeing persecution unless you are from Ukraine.

Daily Mail owned by a non-dom, claims he is British, but also claims to be French of domicile birth (hence the non-dom status) - that is hideous shithole France, Hindley
 
From New York you could fly into Manchester and then depending on the time you get in stay around the airport or Deansgate area (in manchester). Deansgate has plenty of decent places to eat and have a drink, not a bad base for branching out.

Personally I wouldn't recommend doing more than 2 days in London (drive, stay on out skirts probably Watford Holiday Inn) and get the "tube" there and back for the two days.

Make sure you set off North and take in places like Chester, The Lakes and Hadriens wall (its not much but then you've seen it!). Just over the border in Scotland you'll find stuff like Castle Douglas, Caerlaverock Castle, Raven Stone Castle etc. You'll probably also have loads of fun just driving through little English and Scottish villages, we all take for granted, and stopping for a pint in nice looking pubs.

While in the north Lancaster has some good and short canal barge trips.

For hotels generally Holiday Inn, Travelodge, Premier Inn, Comfort Inn are gonna be decent (as long as they are newer hotels! check the pictures)

Ibis, EasyHotel, HotelF1 are generally clean, but really cheap and basic. You can use them in a pinch, but may or may not have a good experience.

If I was doing this I'd be doing a few nights in Manchester, few in London, night in Chester and then getting hotels inbetween other places you plan on going.

Wigan Premier Inns aren't bad if your not that picky. Inside Wigan trying to get to Riks and Orange House after the game would be an experience for you (not sure if they are open) especially if you can get hold of the karaoke manchine in orange house and put on some songs to sing along to (Joy Division, Gala etc).

I'm not sure what NYC is like currently, but some one here are very much over estimating how bad Wigan is compared to some of the bigger US/Canadian cities like Seattle, San Fran, Vancouver. You'll likely not see people shooting up, doing the old meth walking zombie dance or shitting in the streets, although Wigan can be a bit of a ghost down its still worth going checking out the center, menses park (rub the toe), Haigh Hall. I dont think there are any pubs on Wigan Pier now, but its worth going checking it out, even if its not much. Make sure you goto the Springfield pub in Springfield and have a pint where many people did before the short walk to the old ground (You can even park at the DW, walk over the canal bridge, under train bridge to do that its about 10-15 mins walk). If Haydock races are on while you are there it'd be worth going. Horse racing in UK is much less depressing than in the USA, but less grand.


daleks.at.the.monaco said:
Hardly a go to tourist spot for a visitor from the USA
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I'd disagree on that, Southport is probably the type of place most Americans would love to go. We dont see it as impressive, they might like, especially the Victorian Pier which was built before they even had their civil war!.
 
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daleks.at.the.monaco said:
not if you are from Ukraine.
what a kind and fair and equitable government we have - so long as you are Caucasian

What you write John (and liked by John and Mr Horrocks) is the lie that the Daily Mail wants you to believe. Our kind and fair and equitable government do not provide any safe way to register as a person fleeing persecution unless you are from Ukraine.

Daily Mail owned by a non-dom, claims he is British, but also claims to be French of domicile birth (hence the non-dom status) - that is hideous shithole France, Hindley
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It was satirical, which you didn't pick up on. If they are indeed fleeing persecution it must be happening in France, which would make it hideous surely ?
 
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