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I'm sort of planning to go - probably not this year, but very likely next. Any recommendations on getting from Stanstead airport to Telford without a car? Or should I just hire a car? Problem is, you are driving on the wrong side of the road... I would like to do this on a budget, to have more funds for shopping...

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Hi Henrik

Its is a shame that you are not coming this year!

Anyway why not try to see if there is someone from that area(Stansrtead) who is going who could give a lift? Alternatively there are plenty of car hire firms it might be worth contacting them now to get a price and see if they will hold that for you. Don't worry about driving on the right side of the road its easy! No , seriously I was worried about the same thing when Iwas a meer 21 and got posted to Germany where they drive on the wrong side. I must say as long as you are thinking about what you are doing then you should take to it like a duck to water. When my wife and Iwent on holiday this year she wanted to drive(in Crete) and she found it a little daunting but as soon as she started to drive she found it a doddle.

Cheers for now

John :cheers:

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If you can come another way, I would advise against coming by car - Telford is a nightmare of one-way systems and confusing directions. I've driven there the past 5 years, and never once gone in and come out the same way. If you're driving on the "wrong" side of the road that would be even worse.

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Been thinking about this as I live near Stansted and...

Getting the train from Stansted to Telford means going to London Liverpool Street, then cab or Tube across town to London Euston station. From there it's about 2 hrs with a change at Wolverhampton. The whole lot should take about 4 hours and be quite expensive unless you book way in advance for cheap fares.

The Trainline is my preference, try breaking the journeys down for more choice and better routes.

National Express coaches take about 6+ hours, you need to change at Birmingham (£40 return) or London (£32).

Car hire for Friday thru to Sunday evening looks to cost £60 from Budget Cars at Stansted. It's about 150 miles (250km) each way so you're looking at about £35 in petrol costs.

I would consider giving you a lift there depending on when you arrive in the UK. I usually break my journey by somewhere like the Midland Air Museum Coventry or RAF Museum Cosford.

Nick :cheers:

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15-10-06

If you can, fly into Birmingham and train down to telford and then taxi to the center. That's what I am doing from Ireland. It's the only way I can get there and won't be on site until around 3pm, but I will be there!!

Liam

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Been thinking about this as I live near Stansted and...

Getting the train from Stansted to Telford means going to London Liverpool Street, then cab or Tube across town to London Euston station. From there it's about 2 hrs with a change at Wolverhampton. The whole lot should take about 4 hours and be quite expensive unless you book way in advance for cheap fares.

The Trainline is my preference, try breaking the journeys down for more choice and better routes.

Nick :bandhead2:

Bishops Stortford to Cambridge, Cambridge to Birmingham New Street, BNS to Telford. Enough time for a pint at Cambridge and BNS. Out Friday afternoon, back Sunday lunchtime. Journey time 4h30m - 5h, £46 Saver return, which is, in effect, an open return on Sundays on this route. Problem sorted.

Cheers,

Chris.

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For those considering the car hire option, if you have an Enterprise rent a car near you they do a weekend deal and you can get a decent car for approx £12 a day for 4 days. They even come and pick you up and drop you back home if it is not too far. This is my prefered option as I can't get all my kits on the motorbike!

Julien

Edited by Julien (UK)
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I've been to Telford twice as a yank and both times I drove. It really isn't all that bad. Of course in both cases, I did have a couple days in country to get used to the traffic. But Telford I sailed through compared to the perpetual congestion known as London (in that case, I went into town with a friend and he drove!). The International Centre was right off of exit 5 as I recall and when you turn off, you have the Holiday Inn on one side, the International Hotel in the middle (wedged between) and the Centre right next to it where I could park in the back (much more pleasant then parking in front).

Anyway, concerning airports, Stanstead is north of London, making it a little more ideal then Heathrow and Gatwick. You do have to dogleg over a bit though on some A roads to get on the path the Telford. In terms of distance traveled, Heathrow is probably the most ideal for driving from London to Telford given its location near the M25/M40 merge (traffic can be a nightmare during rush hour in that spot though as a result). Stanstead would is optimally located if you are spending several days in England as it is the closest airport to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. The advantage of Birmingham is the RAF Museum at RAF Cosford (both are worth visiting for first time England visitors and SMW attendees).

I think that Birmingham would be your best airport choice if you want to fly in then drive. In my own case, international flights cost the best when going to the London locations and I wanted to drive anyway (plus in one case I was staying with a mate in Oxfordshire). But given your location, Birmingham is potentially better (isn't it one of BA's eurohubs?) from a flight standpoint and the closer location means you spend less time on the road if you are just planning to go to Telford.

On my first year, I stayed at Nonely Hall B&B up near Wem (just north of Shrewsbury). I don't think it is there anymore though. The second year I stayed at what I think was called the Moab Inn (the hotel was arranged by a buddy of mine). It was a quick drive and easy to get to from the International Centre site (just up to exit 6, or is it junction 6?).

I wish I could go this year, but it isn't in the cards. SMW in '08 is potentially in the cards though if I can get things squared away in time. Point being is that if a Yank used to driving on BIG roads on the left side of a car can get to Telford and do it twice without cracking up the rental car then anyone can do it. It really isn't that big a concern. Besides, Telford is a Moose free zone. :wasntme:

Edited by Jay Chladek
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Hello all, that's a lot of useful advice in this thread! Work really is stopping me from going this year, but I'm VERY eager to go next year.

The reason my starting point was Stansted was because from Sweden the only low-fare options in Britain is Stansted or Glasgow, and of those two I figured Stansted was much preferable! Also, the starting point in Sweden is much closer.

Nick, much appreciate the offer. If I were going this year I would seriously consider it!

You probably think I'm nuts asking about travel when I can't go this year but I like to plan ahead...Also to get a feel for the cost, so I know how much I have to cut down on kit purchases this year!

Yeah, driving on the left... About seven years ago a few mates and I took the car on the ferry to Newcastle and drove around in Scotland for eight days. Lovely trip, but it took my mate to drive, me to read the map and the back seat driver to check that we made the right decisions in the front! Roundabouts were particulary nasty with a left-sided car. Overtaking was a exercise in trust - the driver had NO idea if the road was clear and had to go on my judgement...

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I can understand that. Being on the opposite side of the car does make you plan your actions more. What is normally my map hand in a left drive car is now the steering hand and it is downright dangerous to look at a map when driving over there as a result. In my case, adjusting to a stick wasn't tough as I drive a stick in the states. But one sure sign of fatigue was when I started missing my shift patterns due to the pattern being the same no matter what side of the car I was on and having to think that first gear was the furthest from me rather then being the closest.

About the only thing I can recommend if you are going solo is to look at not only the route, but also several routes and towns that are parallel to your path because you are going to end up off your route at one point or another. Rather then backtracking, if you know what the towns are that are near to your destination, you can at least go in the right direction and link up further down the line. In my case, those drives could be lots of fun as one could then see new sights that they wouldn't normally see otherwise.

No problems with planning so far in advance. In my case, the first trip I did to England in '03 was my first international trip done solo and I made darn sure that I wanted to plan ahead as much as I could. By planning, I don't mean figuring out what to do every minute of every day as I don't do that (its much more fun to keep your schedule open I think). But I did begin to make contacts, educate myself on the lay of the land and gather together the resources I needed to make the trip as fun as it could be. I was able to save on trip expenses by staying with a good mate at his flat in Oxfordshire during the majority of my trip. It made for great company on both our parts and I got an experience I would not have gotten otherwise. I did the same thing with another friend in '04 at his residence in Yorkshire.

In your case, flights wise the further advanced planning you do will open it up to more options. The low cost carriers (at least in the USA) are best used for relatively last minute trip planning. The so-called legacy carriers provide the best cost options for booking advanced travel. Plus, other circumstances can also pop up. The fall months in the UK are the end of the tourist season, so travel prices can drop compared to the summertime. In my case as well (which I didn't know at the time) was I managed to get a very good international rate on British Airways and it popped up out of the blue during my searches. Part of the reason I suspect had to do with it being the same day that the ticket counter and ground crew workers at Heathrow scheduling a one day "sick day" (i.e. strike) which turned the whole airline topsy turvy that week. It was not so good a week for BA, but great for me. :angry:

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:cheers:-->

QUOTE(Henrik B @ Oct 18 2006, 11:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hello all, that's a lot of useful advice in this thread! Work really is stopping me from going this year, but I'm VERY eager to go next year.

The reason my starting point was Stansted was because from Sweden the only low-fare options in Britain is Stansted or Glasgow, and of those two I figured Stansted was much preferable! Also, the starting point in Sweden is much closer.

Nick, much appreciate the offer. If I were going this year I would seriously consider it!

You probably think I'm nuts asking about travel when I can't go this year but I like to plan ahead...Also to get a feel for the cost, so I know how much I have to cut down on kit purchases this year!

Yeah, driving on the left... About seven years ago a few mates and I took the car on the ferry to Newcastle and drove around in Scotland for eight days. Lovely trip, but it took my mate to drive, me to read the map and the back seat driver to check that we made the right decisions in the front! Roundabouts were particulary nasty with a left-sided car. Overtaking was a exercise in trust - the driver had NO idea if the road was clear and had to go on my judgement...

Henrik, if you land at Stanstead which is on the M11 it is a long but simple route to telford by car, I go past there from London.

The route is as follows

M11 which becomes the A14 right up to the M6 along that road to M54 and along that road to Junction 4 for

Telford, 90 % of the journey is on dual carriage way so no problem about driving on the wrong side.

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Glasgow's not a problem either.

A good motorway from Glasgow links to the M6 then it's point the car south until you get on the M54.

Dual carriageway and certainly less traffic until you get to Blackpool, Manchester, but even then, not bad at all. :D

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