Scottland

[!Luck]

I'm going there in 1 week for about week. Besides, castle, hiking, and scotch tour.

Any tips from the locals?

[wufwugy]

Robin Williams-Scottish Golf - YouTube

[Penneywize]

some people just want to see the world burn...

[WillburForce]

Go to the nearest train station. Get on the first train available that goes to England.

[OngBonga]

Tell the locals you meet that you detest the English, and they'll welcome you with open arms.

Local food is wonderful, one can select from battered haggis, battered fish, deep fried pizza, deep fried mars bar, deep fried cat, deep fried heroine... in fact anything dunked in batter. All served with greasy chips.

If you see any skinheads with FUCK tattooed on his knuckles, ask him for a Glasgow Kiss.

Enjoy the weather. Typically, Scottish summer weather, one can expect gale force winds, persistent rain and single figure temperatures, during spells of such pleasant weather expect to see fat local men with their tits out.

In addition, local dialect is difficult to grasp. You may have been informed that the Scottish speak English... this is not true. They speak Northern, which is kind of like English, except impossible to understand. Every fourth word is "shite", which means "shit". That's as close to real English as they get.

Finally, Scotland has one T. Misspelling it might will give the impression you are not intelligent, and thus will save you from a beating.

Scotland is lovely. Have fun.

[rong]

Lol nice Ong

[!Luck]

Lawls

[OngBonga]

Hehe. Truth is, Scotland is a lovely place, and for the most part, the people are wonderful, I prefer the average Scot to the average Englishman.

Places to go... Loch Ness (obviously, but really this is one of the most amazing places in Britain, you'd be crazy to not go here while visiting Scotland), the Highlands (Ben Nevis), the West coast, Edinburgh.

I hope you're not expecting nice weather. We've got storm after storm hitting us from the Atlantic, and Scotland usually gets it worse than England. If the weather is really bad, avoid the Highlands unless you're with someone who knows the area.

[WillburForce]

Scotland is pretty cool.

Try and get to the coast and eat some seafood - the best in the world!

[kiwiMark]

The three things you already mentioned would be top of my list, too!

I'm most likely going to (moving to?) Wales sometime this year for a few months, so in a half-derail if we could expand this to "things to check out in the non-England part of Britain" that'd be cool.

I've spent quite a bit of time in England (like cumulatively 2 years) but all as a kid with my parents. So I guess if there's anything throughout the entire Kingdom other than stately homes that I should catch up on, please do sing out.

[OngBonga]

England has some nice very nice parts too, like all of Cornwall, Peak District, Lake District, New Forest, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Norfolk Broads... our country is like most... get out of the cities and towns and it's actually a stunning place to be.

Where to go in Wales? Everywhere but Cardiff and Swansea! Wales is fantastic in the right places. Snowdonia is amazing, from the right spot you can see a huge portion of the NW coast of Wales. Depends what you're after really. If you want nights out, Cardiff and Swansea are busy but there's lots of drunken idiots. Family days out, there's tons to do in the SW corner around Tenby.

I should work for a travel agent, I'm selling our nation quite well here.

[eugmac]

mmm haggis. do eat it. it's nice. of course drink lots of whisky. find some little village near the coast, it's what i'll be doing in a couple week's time when i'm visiting the father-in-law-to-be. weather might be dreadful but it's somehow ok when you're near the sea and you have a nice single malt to comfort you.

[rong]

Not been to Wales as an adult, by my gf has and she always raves about St Davids.

[rong]

Also, come to Cornwall, it's stunning. Check out the following, they're my favourite places to take people when they come to visit and they're not from the area.

Tintagel - it's where King Arthur & Merlin lived and the scenery is out of this world and entirely fits with the myths and legends of the place.

Here's a google pics search to save you the bother:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1...BKGu0QXpw83mCA



Secondly, the Minack Theatre, check it out on a sunny day and catch a show there in the evening. Make sure you bring a blanket if you catch a show.

Google pics search of Minack Theatre: https://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1...w=1440&bih=732

[Ash256]

I grew up in Wales in the middle of Snowdonia. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, and the people are by and large a decent bunch. The only downside is the complete lack of infrastructure.

Cardiff is great for an unpretentious night out. Kiwi, if you need any specific advice on Wales, shoot me a PM. Likewise if you find yourself at a loose end in Leeds.

[WillburForce]

Other thing to mention if your here for a while - UK is relatively small. You can chose pretty much anywhere and be there by rail or car within a few hours. Get out and about!

Defo visit Cornwall if in Wales. I go every year. Its amazingly beautiful.

[kiwiMark]

Sick, cool cool, thanks guys. Girlfriend is doing an exchange year at the uni in Cardiff, so I'll be based out of there I guess.

Tips for finding a flat? Dunno if there are any well-known websites or it's best to check the papers or what the deal is in the youkay.

[rong]

Pretty much everything is on rightmove or via local paper direct with landlords.

[Keith]

try contacting the student union /university. They may have a housing list but from what i can remember people were arranging their next years housing around this time of year.

[WillburForce]

yep - get in quick. All the good places used to go very quickly when i was at uni.

[eugmac]

It might even be too late, I remember everybody starting looking for next year's housing absurdly early, like before the spring, back when I was studying in Manchester. How ridic is it that the std procedure there is to move to a new place, every frickin' year?

[eugmac]

Basically ensures the market is pwned by the landlords I guess, so they can make rent hikes as they wish every time they get a new tenant in...

[rong]

Student accommodation is usually shite. If you're working then just get normal accommodation, if you're both students / she is and you're a bum I guess you're stuck with it.

[eugmac]

Student accommodation is usually shite. If you're working then just get normal accommodation, if you're both students / she is and you're a bum I guess you're stuck with it.

+1 ya this as well. every house i ever saw that was rented out as a 'student' house was a real shit hole with everything faling apart, damp walls, no insulation, external doors that had gaps so wind can pass freely through your house....

[kiwiMark]

She's a student, I'm working/being a bum, but since I can only visit the UK for up to 6 months I'm gonna be rocking up a couple months after she's arrived and leaving a couple of months before she does, so I think we'll be living separately.

Yeah student accommodation back home is utter bullshit too, and everyone basically has to lock themselves into a 12 month lease for January - December (our school year and calendar year run the same) already in July/August of the previous year, aaaaand most people ofc don't even want to be there for 12 months. And std procedure is also to get a new flat every year.

[rong]

Some student digs over here do a 10 month let with an option for the summer but it varies.

[WillburForce]

Student digs are not what they used to be!!! I visited my cousin in Liverpool and they had a really massive cool house. Plus she had been in "halls" with all mod cons (en-suite, large wardrobes etc).
In my first place in Leics uni (10 years ago sigh) I had a window that was always open 2inchs. It was snowing and I couldn't shut the fucker. Luckily I could see the bar from my window and was generally so bladdered I didn't get cold....