United Kingdom of Great Britain — страница 3

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Scottish Youth Hostel Association (SYHA) and Hostelling International Northern Ireland (HINI). You do not have to be a 'youth' to stay because there is no upper age limit (in Scotland the lower age limit is 5). But you do have to be a member of the YHA or SYHA, which involves paying a small annual membership fee. There are also a variety of independent hostels offering accommodation. Staying in hostels is traditionally popular with people pursuing backpacking, walking, cycling or generally exploring outdoor pursuits. But there are also hostels in many towns and cities, which enable members to enjoy good basic accommodation on a low budget. Caravanning and Camping Many visitors, often families, choose caravanning or camping (C&C) over other accommodation - for good reason. A

camping park does not tie you down; it can be a stopover, a base for exploration, or a place of leisure. C&C parks in the UK are cheap but offer many advantages. All provide good washing facilities, basic amenities and utilities to enable comfortable living. There's often a shop on site and recreation facilities for children and adults. Many are open all year and are good for short breaks in spring, autumn or even the winter months. Most parks admit tents, touring and motor caravans and offer a range of central facilities. The larger parks will have caravan holiday homes for hire. These are usually spacious and well equipped with two or three good sized bedrooms, a sitting room with comfortable furnishings and a separate dining area. They will often have modern conveniences

such as colour televisions, fridges, hot showers, en-suite bathrooms and microwaves. There's a great choice all over the UK. To help you choose, the national tourist boards inspect C&C sites in their regions and grade them according to the British Graded Holiday Parks Scheme. Ratings of between one and five stars are awarded, based on cleanliness, environment and the quality of facilities and services provided. Bed and Breakfast Bed and breakfast accommodation, advertised by the famous 'B&B vacancies' sign, is mostly in private homes and the emphasis is on bedrooms rather than on facilities such as a bar or restaurant. They are often the least expensive form of guest accommodation although prices vary between those in the most popular holiday locations and those offering

stopovers 'en route'. Thousands of bed and breakfasts have been visited anonymously by tourist officers to be inspected for a diamond rating of between one and five stars. This is intended as a guide to the quality of accommodation and food on offer. As private homes, including farmhouses and working farms, B&Bs tend to offer a very personal welcome, and an insight into British ways of life in different parts of the country. Breakfast is intended to fill you and will often include bacon, eggs, fried bread, tomatoes, even fried potatoes and local additions such as black pudding. Or you can enjoy a 'continental' breakfast: cereal, bread, toast, tea, coffee and juice. Transportation Coach information Travelling by coach is a great way to travel across most parts of the country

at much cheaper prices than travelling by train. Coach services can be used to take you on business and leisure, and more people are finding coach travel, espically when commuting to work, a useful mode of transport. National Express and it's associated companies provide the most comprehensive coach service across the UK, and times and fares for their services can be seen on the National Express web site. There are far more coach services than National Express, here is a short list of useful ones. Buy Coach Tickets Online: National Express - National coach operator Regular Coach services: AirLinks - Provides connections to, from and between airports. Armchair - Provides commuter coach services from Reading and Maidenhead to London. Berry's Coaches - Services between London and

the West Country. EasyBus - A potential coach service to keep your eye on, which is intending to offer London to Birmingham for £1. Green Line - Provides connections across South East England. MegaBus - Amazingly cheap intercity bus travel across the UK National Express - Travel around Britain with National Express. Oxford Bus - Services between London and Oxford. Scottish Citylink - Travel around Scotland with ease. Bus information Unlike other forms of transport within the UK, bus travel is not nationally coordinated and there is no national online bus journey planner, although Traveline is a good attempt. In addition two unofficial services are worth checking out. CarlBerry is an excellent attempt at helping people plan bus journeys across the UK. Xephos Internet has tried to