Coming to U.K. where to stay?

i am coining to the U.K. in October to visit/meet some cousins. I am planning to go from Bangor to Chester and Edinburgh after the visit. Any suggestions on where to stay near the zoos in both places?

 

The good thing about Europe is that public transportation is mostly good. I have visited both Chester and Edinburgh and it was easy to get from a hotel in the town center (walking distance from train station) to the zoo by bus. I believe there is also a hotel right next to Edinburgh Zoo.

 

There is me avoiding public transport in the UK because I think its rubbish.

Edinburgh does indeed have a hotel next to the zoo but there is also a bus that stops right outside (I drove as it was 3/4 changes from where I was staying).

Chester there is bus option from the centre its self but easy enough if you are driving.

 

Well I live in USA which is very car-centric and I find the public transportation in UK very decent. I suppose it depends how far you are going and whether or not you need to visit outlying areas. I have rented a car a couple times for one day only to get to Highlands Wildlife Park (Scotland) and to Howlett's Animal Park (England). Small rental cars in UK and other European countries are manual transmission, which I had not driven in a couple decades. Add this to the shock of sitting on the opposite side of the car and shifting with the opposite hand and trying to remember to drive on the opposite side of the road, all the while trying not to get lost, and it becomes quite the adventure!

 

I think most British marvel at the public transport on the continent but despair at our own. Price and reliability key issues.

Yeah driving in different countries is a massive off put for me...knowing local rules key issue for me.

Manuals tend to be the norm here, not sure with US but here you have to learn in a manual to be able to drive both. Where as an learning in an automatic you can only drive an automatic (or well sure used to be like that).

 

All rental cars in the United States (except for sports cars) are automatic transmission. No one here is expected to know how to drive a manual transmission, though a lot of people do know. The driver's licenses (regardless of which state issues them) make absolutely no notation of this. Interestingly, every car I have rented in Europe was a manual transmission, so it is clearly a cultural difference. (Which begs the question, how do you drive if you have a broken arm or are missing an arm?). I have rented manual cars in the following: England, Scotland, Spain, France.

 

Should you be driving with a broken arm or missing an arm?

You can request an automatic, often at work they ask when getting a hire car if we are ok with automatics, doesn't bother me but prefer to drive a manual.

Weird I would have thought America seems more in love with their cars you would want a manual.

 

When I was younger, I would have agreed. But, modern automatics are much more forgiving and excellent to drive. My last two cars (both Jeeps, so American of course) have been automatic; and all round, and especially in modern heavy traffic and/or over long distances, they are much better than manuals. I personally would not go back to a 'stick-shift', but here in the UK it is still the norm.

 

Maybe there is something in age too, I am one of the younger members of the team, the older members tend to ask for automatics for the hire car but all have manuals for their own cars...

I tend to avoid most of the heavy traffic in my commute. And cruise control is your friend in any car, its really a must for all cars.

 

Thanks for the info. Do you know the name of the hotel outside the
Edinburg Zoo so that I can make a reservation?

 

This is the one next door to the zoo Holiday Inn Edinburgh

Alternatively I can highly recommend another hotel in Haymarket (a mile or so from Edinburgh City Centre) that is likely to be cheaper. If you were to stay in the one in Haymarket then the bus stop to the zoo is less than 5 minutes walk away. The bus drops you on the road opposite the zoo entrance. It picks up from the entrance (zoo side of the road) when returning to the city. Travelodge | Edinburgh Haymarket hotel - Edinburgh Haymarket hotels

 

Thank you for the recommendation. Another question. Do the London, Chester or Edinburgh zoos have reciprocal entry with any AZA zoos. I also belong AAZK, the Bartlett Society and Zoo Grapevine

 

I am booking a train back from Edinburgh to London. Will I have enough time to get to Heathrow from Kings Cross station if my train arrives 4 hours before my flight back to the states?

 

Yeah, shouldn't be anywhere near four hours, probably between one and two.

 

In that case it would be really tight, best I've found online is one hour and three minutes.

 

I think you'll be okay as long as the train is on time. Traditionally long haul flights required passengers to check in three hours before flights but I don't believe that's the case now, you should check with your airline.

 

In most of the US, public transportation is either terrible or nonexistent, so it really doesn't take much to impress an American in this area.

 

If you want to be impressed, just go to any other European city/country and their public transport is amazing.

Just so much easier to drive in the UK than having to hope public transport is running.

Saying that I get the train into Liverpool every other weekend to watch the football and that is generally quite good just if they are not running its a nightmare.