3 months in London - give it your best shot

[Rome Addict]

Last week emailed friend in London (actually Horley) warning him that we were considering descending on him for a couple of days this summer. He promptly fired back can you house sit for June, July and August?

Humm let me check my retirement calendar. June to August in Thailand - monsoon. June to August in England? Duuuhhh of course we can house sit!!

It has been 4 years since my last trip when we puppy sat in Cambridge for 3 weeks. We did a quick trip to Lincoln (visited John Males who old timers may remember from aol travel boards) and a stop in Brighton and Stonehenge but other than that have done almost nothing in merry olde.

Reading trip reports of course but will take input from anybody. So give me your "Bests". Best small towns, best restaurants, best castles, best festivals, and very important best gardens, farmers markets and days they operate.

And since we actually will be living there some survival tips. Yes the pound/dollar ratio is at the best it has been since the end of WW2 but it ain't cheap. Which supermarkets are good value? How do I find a doctor who isn't on the NHS? Veterinary care? Medicine refills for reasonable cost. How many months prescriptions can I bring? Do places like Costco exist?

And we camp. Is there camping Chain's like KOA? How prevalent are campgrounds? Tent not RV camp. Do you need reservations? Is there camping in national parks? With only 15 I imagine we can probably hit all of them this Summer! Are they swamped?

We aren't tied to Horley just need to cut grass, mail, make the place look lived in so 2 and 3 day excursions are on the agenda. Maybe even a quick overnight to Paris?

OMG my first time in Europe except Rome for any length of time!

 

[Kathy]

This sounds like a great opportunity for you! I'll respond on just a few of your points.

I think there are lots of options for camping. We have friends who have a farm outside the village of Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds, and they have a field for campers in tents and small caravans. They also have a "glamping" tent available. They have many people who return every year. They belong to a camping network, this one: http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/ukcampsites It looks like a very reasonable cost to join if you were going to camp several times.

For pharmacies, Boots the Chemist is a chain across the UK, I think affiliated now with Walgreens. They sell all kinds of health and beauty products as well.

According to this article, the best prices on groceries are available at Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Morrisons:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/cheapest-supermarket-of-2016-revealed-9612135 Aldi and Lidl also offers low prices, mostly on private-label items. I think you'd also find good prices at outdoor markets (eg in Moreton-in-Marsh on Tuesdays) or from farm shops actually at the farm. Our friends also sell their meat at their farm shop.

I'm sure you'll get lots of other great info!

(I don't think there's any restriction on how many months of your prescriptions you can bring, if you can get your insurance company to approve a vacation supply.)

 

[PatrickLondon]

As a Londoner, I would regard Horley as Somewhere Out There, but it is on the main Brighton to London (via Gatwick) line, so there's a quick-ish journey in: but not a cheap one (£9.10 one-way, offpeak), so look at railcards. Also, you can get Plusbus tickets to a number of places (not sure if this is only in Sussex) which includes onward travel by bus from your destination station: and your train tickets get you 2for1 access to a range of paid-for attractions.

There's a direct train service from Horley to St Pancras, so it would be no more difficult to go to Paris than to go anywhere a couple of hours' train-ride away within the UK.........

As for doctors, local GPs are free to take on private patients if they want, so you could ask your friends which local doctor(s) they recommend that you could ask: or you could start with the NHS website. Two of the major national private medical services are BUPA and Nuffield.

 

[Ian Sutton]

There was thread on London on a budget last week IIRC, so worth a look at that - I think it might even have been Horley.

Lidl and Aldi are the discount supermarkets, but all excepting Waitrose and M&S like to portray themselves as 'great value'. However it's important to recognise they compete hard on price for some things, yet are way overpriced (e.g. vs. markets, greengrocers, butchers etc.) for others, plus quality is often compromised as they squeeze the producers. Farmers markets will find you much better quality (most of the time) and these are fairly easy to find on a web-search.

Camping definitely still going, indeed the revival of the outdoor music festival seems to have breathed new life into camping. 'Free camping' (just pitching a tent anywhere) isn't practical, but there are plenty of camp sites ranging from a modest fee to pitch in a field, with a basic toilet/shower block, to more ambitious places offering entertainment, shop etc
The new forest is certainly well set up for camping and would be my first choice for relaxation. However there are camp sites all over, including lots near the coast. Tent technology has moved on immensely, with some that are effectively pop-up / blow-up frames rather than having to put the frame together yourself. It still takes a while to put tent pegs in, but it's definitely got simpler / less stressful. Plenty of good independent outdoor shops, plus chains such as Go outdoors and Decathlon. Definitely worth a browse online as well. Music festivals aren't all massive events like Glastonbury, and there are some quite low-key ones around (a friend is likely to play one this year again). Plus Cambridge has its thriving folk festival. Then there are beer festivals, with some run in large marquee tents - much my favourite style, so you can grab a drink and enjoy it in the fresh air and occasionally the sun!

Paris is certainly an option and you could even fly out and take the Eurotunnel train back (or vice-versa). Not so far to get to Newhaven if you fancied a ferry trip to (IIRC) Dieppe. Brighton and Horsham well worth a visit as they'll be easy to get to. Arundel as well should be an easy train journey away.

If missing Italian food, then pop up to 'I camisa' on Old Compton Street, London. A long established Italian alimentari, with the staff all native Italian speakers (who also speak English) and very fine fresh pasta, stunning sauces (just ask as they're not on display, but I'd recommend the tomato and basil and their ragu), cheeses, cured meats, dried goods, herbs, olives & other fresh antipasti options, bread etc. etc. and all very reasonably priced.

Costco are I think in the UK, but not near us. We use Makro (requires proof of running a business and I get the impression it's a bit more humdrum than Costco). Not always cheaper, but can be much cheaper for proper bulk and when they have 2for1 offers.

The WW2 mention reminds me of the excellent Martello tower museum at Seaford near Brighton/Lewes. A quite quirky more modern museum, where you may find the odd exhibit where a giggle reveals you used to have one of that exact model!

Best gardens probably means a full day trip to Kew gardens... and then possibly a repeat visit. The Chelsea flower show might also have big appeal, particularly if you're relaxed about gardening crossing over with art.

regards
Ian

 

[artnbarb]

there are 2 Costco's near London - one near Heathrow, and one on the way into London from Gatwick.

 

[Rome Addict]

Thanks Ian. I owe you a drink. Hmmmm wonder if my Thailand Makro card will work in the UK?

I am in actual tears of joy about visiting a Costco again. It is virtually one of the extremely few things I have missed from the US. That and Target.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Thanks Ian. I owe you a drink. Hmmmm wonder if my Thailand Makro card will work in the UK?

I am in actual tears of joy about visiting a Costco again. It is virtually one of the extremely few things I have missed from the US. That and Target.

A pleasure to help

Looking at my Makro card, it's fairly simple - two-tone blue with bold yellow makro in a yellow box, with trading name and customer number printed in the sky blue lower section. Signature & barcode on the back. If yours looks the same, then it might well work, depending on whether they have an international database. On the way in we just show the card, but on paying, the card is scanned.

p.s. a quick look at Horley on Google maps show both a Lidl and an Iceland supermarket, so the value end covered nicely, whilst there is a Waitrose next to the station for fancier supermarket shopping. Also a Tesco extra, which I think is the larger of their stores (I tend not to shop there, jokingly referring to them as TEE - The Evil Empire).

regards
Ian