Another tourism question, as if you don’t get enough of these!
My buddy and I are coming to England for the first time this summer for Rebellion Fest in Blackpool. His English co-worker has said Blackpool is “like a shittier Coney Island” so we definitely want to see other places while we are there before the fest starts. We fly into London, and are hoping to take the train north to make some stops along the way, and we would appreciate any tips! Especially things like this:
– Film and music related landmarks (we love punk, despite being told it is more or less considered dad rock in the UK, and we love horror/sci-fi movies)
– Friendly rural towns that aren’t tourist heavy but don’t mind tourists as long as we aren’t acting like the cliché ugly Americans
– Ways to avoid coming off as ugly Americans, I’m sure most is common sense but every country seems to have certain nuanced etiquette
– Good places to grab a drink
– Places known for unique or outstanding food (preferably on the cheap)
– Anything unusual, odd, haunted, or hilarious
– Tips to save money on lodging or travel along the way
– Maybe tattoo shops if there are any of historical significance?
I’ve looked into it and have read that Manchester is a cool place to see, and I’ve heard Liverpool is also a good stop. Saddened to see the Winchester from Shaun of the Dead was converted into flats, and the Slaughtered Lamb filming location from An American Werewolf in London is a little out of the way. We will be staying in or around Camden for a couple days and of course having a beer at the World’s End (which I believe is the former location of Malcom McLaren/Vivienne Westwood’s shop but correct me if I’m wrong).
That more or less should give you an idea of what we are into. Even if there is a particular thread, that would be a help.
Thanks for reading!
11 comments
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Blackpool, eh? You’ll have had your shots then, aye?
The worlds end in Camden has nothing to do with mclaren and Westwood! It’s a really crap pub above a rather poor concert venue. Their shop was in Chelsea. On kings rd. next to the Worlds End housing estate.
Stay off the moors! Stick to the road.
Enjoy the fucking Cro mags if your there on the Sunday “ if aids won’t get you then the warheads will”
Manchester and Liverpool are both great cities, with a lot of cultural stuff, music, football and more, and both are between london and Blackpool so would be a great place to stop off.
Being from Manchester and seeing you mention music, I have to recommend you come for a quick visit to Manchester since its the home of The Smiths, Oasis & Joy Division just to name a few. Very much worth having a look at the link below if you’re interested.
[https://www.truestudent.com/blog/manchester-music-landmarks](https://www.truestudent.com/blog/manchester-music-landmarks)
Coming on your way up north from London by train, it would shock me if your train didn’t stop at Manchester Picadilly before you get to Blackpool, so it’s very much along your way to Rebellion Fest.
Good places for food & drink would be almost anywhere in the Northern Quarter. It’s what used to be the old warehouse district back in the 19th century so a lot of those old warehouses have been converted into bars, restaurants & cafes.
If you find yourself on Market Street (busiest pedestrianised street in the city, think mall type shops) and someone comes up to you trying to sell you their mix tape, just ignore them and keep walking. Likewise for anyone else who approaches you on that street. It’s completely safe, but if they see/hear some Americans coming towards them they will harass and try to sell you guys some utter shite.
Tips for saving money, there isn’t really a tipping culture here, especially when compared to America. So, when buying a round of drinks in a bar it would come across as weird you giving the person serving you a few quid tip every time you ordered a drink. We only really tip in restaurants after an evening meal, but nothing more than 10% and most places since covid now add a 10% service charge to you bill anyway so you won’t need to tip in that case. DO NOT FEEL BAD not leaving a tip, as it is not expected at all to leave one.
Getting around manchester City centre and if you want to travel a bit further out from the centre you can use the Metrolink Tram lines, you can just tap your credit/debit cards onto the card readers getting on/off and the most you can get charged in a day is £4.60 (unlimited use of the tram all day).
Cool place to see and especially for Americans would be John Rylands Library. Literally looks like it’s straight out of Hogwarts. and it’s on Deansgate which is also full of more bars & restaurants.
[https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187069-d188923-Reviews-The_John_Rylands_Library-Manchester_Greater_Manchester_England.html](https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187069-d188923-Reviews-The_John_Rylands_Library-Manchester_Greater_Manchester_England.html)
Rural towns/village not far from Manchester, I’d recommend a group of Villages called Saddleworth. You can get the train from Manchester Victoria to Greenfield which is just up the road from the main village called Uppermill. As you can probably guess by its name used to have a lot of old cotton weaving mills in the area and has a functioning canal which is nice to walk up and down. Lots of natural pituresque places to see around Saddleworth as well.
As some have said Manchester is decent. Liverpool has the docks and a few galleries too.
Some family came over from Jacksonville and we took them to York. It’s a bit out of the way, not huge though. if your train is London to Leeds, then Leeds over to Blackpool. Its really easy as it’s only an hour to York from Leeds Central.
York they were saying was one of the biggest highlights from thier time in the uk. It has lots to see and do, will be VERY different from what you’re used to. It’s centuries old (like 100AD: the romans, old). It’s seen basically every major invasion of Britain. Vikings, Norman’s, Scottish rebellion etc. As it was the biggest city in the north of England. Aswell as stuff like the roman wall, Guy fawkes was born in York (bonfire night), the shambles, York Minster, the national railway museum and so on.
England
Bewdley in the west Midlands. Interesting river, town and steam railway.