First trip to Burghley, coming from U.S.... I have questions!

Hedwards I'm so glad you said that because I really debated between Badminton, Blenheim and Burghley. I kept reading that Burghley had a more intimate feel, wasn't quite the zoo that Badminton was, and had a SLIGHTLY better chance of decent weather.

Now that everyone has me terrified about driving into London :D, what about driving from Heathrow to Ryhall, because there's no way 'round that -it must be done. Any routes to avoid? Having grown up in a big city I'm comfortable on the highway but obviously driving on the other side of the road will take some (alot) adjustment. We did get an automatic so I won't get tangled up with the clutch etc.

Also, my poor parents will be stranded in Ryhall for 2.5 days before we arrive. Please tell me there's some kind of taxi service? They'll have to make due until we get there.
 
You will be fine driving from Heathrow as it isn't in London! It is to the west and virtually on the M25 which is the outer ring road and connects all the motorways and major roads from north, south, east and west.

I find some of the exit signs from Heathrow can be a bit confusing, so you need a navigator who has a list of which road numbers you need, unless you have a SatNav of course eg M25, M1. But generally the UK road system is well signposted and easy to understand.

There have been some great suggestions here. Have a lovely time.
 
I would suggest finding out if the rental company can rent you a satnav as well - most do these days. Yes, you can get by fine with a good old fashioned map but trying to drive on the wrong side of the road and navigate can be an unpleasant experience.

The M25 is often hellish. Don't believe your satnav when it tells you how much time it will take you to your destination when you arrive - it will inevitably be lying unless you're coming in the middle of the night.

Do you know about roundabouts? (Sorry, can't remember if you said you've been here before.) If not, rent European Vacation. ;)

In all seriousness they have nice little blue arrows to tell you which side of the traffic islands you're supposed to be on and which way round the roundabouts (go left out of the entrance road then the roundabout goes around to the right). It's actually quite a good system. (Just after I arrived here, I drove a right hand drive car in Belgium, where they obviously drive on the right like in North America, but they also have roundabouts, except they go around to the left . . . I thought my head was going to explode!) But you CANNOT turn left (which would be the equivalent of right in North America) on a red light.
 
Directions from Heathrow as follows:

Take the M4 to the M25 - take the M25 clockwise towards the M40/M1 and only turn off when you see the sign for the A1 North. Stamford/Ryhall is about 70 miles up the A1 - is a nice easy road to drive as is dual carriageway so less traffic and lorries etc When you go past Peterborough you are nearly there :)

As for taxis in Ryhall - there maybe a village taxi but more likely they will have to get a taxi to come from Stamford to get them:o Taxis from Stamford to Ryhall are easy to get - the taxi rank is on Broad Street.:)
 
Did anyone see Burghley's face book page this morning and have a gander at the anniversary cake The George whipped up? Holy smokes.

Orangehorse - I think confusing airport exit signs are a universal truth! Good to know in advance that Heathrow is no exception. ;)

Tarrsteps- Satnav is a great idea. I had totally forgotten about the roundabout! :eek: I actually think they're quite genius and I have a tiny bit of experience so after I get the first one or two under my belt I should be good to go. I'm apologizing right now to the poor sap who is behind me for those first one or two (or three or four). That scene in European vacation was a total riot.

Thanks for the directions Slinkyunicorn. It looks rather straightforward, here's hoping we don't do endless loops around London. ;)

Polarskye- I wish I could bring you all the things you miss. It was funny to see your list. Goldfish eh?
 
These threads always turn into 'foods from home'. There are a few on that list that make me wistful! Although people always assume I miss the same things as Americans do but it's the truly Canadian treats - CHEEZIES!! - I can not even order on line here.
 
I know that cake looks amazing doesn't it! The frame was gold coated white chocolate :D

You will have an amazing meal there! It is gorgeous! My OH took me once as Stamford is right between home and uni and it was devine!

I grew up with alot of american friends and I get really bad cravings for those cinnamon rolls that come in a tube and you cut them up and bake them and then put the frosting on... yummmmmmmm :D

Also, on a horsey note, I love Kerrits breeches which I import from the US. They are ace.
 
a satnav is a fabulous idea, with a bit of luck (or a prior email?) your rental car will have one. roundabouts - you have to wait until it is completely clear to your right, it isn't a 'let one car through then it's my go' system here. once you're on the roundabout, YOU have right of way... but sometimes other drivers get it wrong, so don't assume you'll have a clear passage off the roundabout. HGV drivers can be a bit heavy-handed in this dept too, and aren't worth arguing with...!
hope to see you at Burghley if HHOers do get organised and have a meet-up at some point! i hope the weather's good because everything else is going to be fabulous, i can't wait!

zxp, i'm another Kerrits fan, totally converted, they are SOOO comfy and so sticky, incredible. i'm an ex-pat and the only thing i totally crave is Triscuits, used to get suitcases full sent over!
 
Wassail said:
Hedwards I'm so glad you said that because I really debated between Badminton, Blenheim and Burghley. I kept reading that Burghley had a more intimate feel, wasn't quite the zoo that Badminton was, and had a SLIGHTLY better chance of decent weather.
Click to expand...

Well I do love Blenheim too, not a fan of Badminton, zoo is definitely a good description! Blenheim just doesnt have the same atmosphere and excitement as Burghley, although I'm sure you'd really enjoy any of them!

Have fun!
 
Kerilli - Kerrits are amazing arent they? I call them my "seal suit"! They feel like a wetsuit to put on, but are by a mile the best breeches I have ever bought. I have got some beige ones that are fleece lined and water resistant for hunting this season.

And IMHO you have made the right decision coming to Burghley - it really is my favourite 4 days of the year. Getting very excited now!
 
zxp, which model are those please, i have the Flex Tight and Channel Ribs for summer, Sit Tight Supremes for winter, are they the water resistant ones? Hope so, that'd be nice!

I can't wait for Burghley, getting really excited too, it is going to be the most awesome year!
 
Just a word of warning driving up the A1 when you reach the Sandy / Biggleswade area there are lots of speed cameras that do work. Once you reach the A1(M) section the last time I went up there were no cameras between there and Burghley.

I'm looking forward to Burghley going with my mum on the Sat. But also looking forward to Bleinham the following week as I'm going with my husband and 2 of our friends in the Petplan VIP section.

Another lovely 3 day event is the one at Chatworth in May which is like an old fashioned county show. Love it.
 
If you have a smart phone with GPS built in, you can download a satnav app to run on it. I've got an Android phone and downloaded CoPilot live when I went to the States last month. You download the app, and then the regional map and it cost me about $5USD in total - should have a single one for England.
If you do use your phone in the UK, make sure you turn the data roaming off in the settings or it will cost you dearly, use the Wifi on it when you find a hotspot and avoid making calls or texts unless you really need to. - You can get skype for them now which you can use when in a wifi hotspot and that will save a fortune when calling back home.

Of course you may not have one so ignore this if that is the case ;)
 
Yup - Sit Tight Supreme Full Seats are water and wind resistant :D I have two pairs of those, they have been throughtly used and abused and still look good as new and are super warm and fleecey!
 
Thanks Lynz25 - I got busted by one of them a few months back. :mad:

You know I don't own one pair of Kerrits. :confused: Perhaps because I loathe trying on breeches and when I do find something that fits I buy lots of them in different colors, then I don't have to think about it for another 10 years if I'm lucky. I have one pair (Pikeur) that just celebrated its 20th birthday. Probably shouldn't admit that on a public forum. ;)

Who's the favorite British rider/horse at Burghley this year?

And yes, please have an HH gathering - some Americans would love to crash your party. :cool:
 
Re the phone, depending on what you've got it might not work here as North America is on a different system. All European phones work there but it doesn't necessarily work the other way. A smart phone should work, in which case another option is to get a pay as you go SIM card to put in it. If you have a non-smart phone and want to have one here, a cheap ' burner' phone, as they say on The Wire, is an easy option. And it's a 'mobile' not a 'cell', which makillskes the pun title of the
 
Re the phone, depending on what you've got it might not work here as North America is on a different system. All European phones work there but it doesn't necessarily work the other way. A smart phone should work, in which case another option is to get a pay as you go SIM card to put in it. If you have a non-smart phone and want to have one here, a cheap ' burner' phone, as they say on The Wire, is an easy option. And it's a 'mobile' not a 'cell', which kills the pun title of the Stephen King book here. ;)
 
We rented two phones since we knew ours wouldn't work. Probably way more expensive than buying two burner phones- crappity crap.

Yes, I must learn how to substitute "cell" for "mobile". I've recently learned that "ATMs" are actually "cash machines". :p

By the by I just did a 'google-map street view' of the house we rented and boy oh boy is it cute! Sometimes you just can't trust a website you know?
 
Hedwards said:
as are bacon sandwhiches - or if you're going to get the right dialect a 'bacon buttie' (oh and it has to be heinz tomato sauce everyone - non of that brown sauce muck!)
Click to expand...

You'll obviously have to try one with tomato sauce (do agree has to be heinz) and one with brown sauce (has to be HP) as we're all divided!!!!

Enjoy not long to go.
 
Something else of note, and don't know how it will work coming this way is money out of ATM's and credit and debit cards.

In the UK, all the ATMs and the very vast majority of vendors use the chip and pin system - chip is in the card and the mag strip isn't always read. My daughters card had a damaged mag strip and wouldn't work stateside.

Additionally, we got hammered by charges as Debit cards are treated as credit cards in ATMs and you incurr roughly a $2USD charge on top of the ATM charge to draw cash from the machines. Far better to use something like this pre paid currency card. I wish I had used one it would have saved a load http://www.cashpassport.com/1/en/thomascook/

You can get them from the travel agents in the UK. I'm sure they must in the USA as well.
 
On the speeding front, you also need to take care after the "Buckden" roundabout on the A1. The Police sometimes park a camera van near the houses.

If you need to get groceries, the services at South Mimms, Baldock and Peterborough all have small supermarkets that are well stocked with basics and ready meals.

On a complete tangent, don't know if this will appeal to your family, Duxford Air Museum (edge of Cambridge) attracts enthusiasts from all over the country. They do fly some of the historic planes ie Spitfires everyday.
 
Wassail said:
I kept reading that Burghley had a more intimate feel, wasn't quite the zoo that Badminton was, and had a SLIGHTLY better chance of decent weather.
Click to expand...

You really did pick the best of the three . . . I did Badminton for the first time a couple of years ago having been to Burghley twice and much prefer Burghley. Blenheim is lovely, and I try and go to x-country day every year b/c it's not too far a drive, but it's not on the scale of Burghley.

The well-kept secret of the year, though, is Highclere which is tiny compared to even Blenheim but all the top riders to go to use it as test runs for their young horses or to give their horses a breeze before Burghley - I had a wonderful time last year watching the dressage - standing in the warm up area (which is just anywhere outside the arenas - it's that informal - between Yogi Breisner and Ferdi Eilberg with people like Andrew Nicholson, William F-P, Zara Philips, etc. sailing past close enough to touch. Very intimate and informal. Ditto the warm-up arena for the showjumping - Lucy Wiegersma parked her horse right next to me (standing at the tape) to talk to Duarte Seabra and then chatted to me and let me pat her horse (Woodfalls Inigo Jones).

I'll bet you're really excited now! Enjoy.

P
 
Urmmm it's not just a pop to London I'm afraid from burghley. The uk might be small but it not that small. It's a couple of hours on the train.

Am lolling at the idea f shuttles round burghley that would be a sight.i hope you ave a fantastic time. I'm going on the Sunday as the cross country day is getting too expensive and full of non horsey folk wearing silly tweed outfits as they are in the 'country' driving 4x4's that have never seen mud. (I speak from experience my uncle and his family did this last year)
 
Ps we will be having a small get together picnic on the Sunday at burghley if you want to pop over and say hi! Make rue you have a pimms or two aswell
 
How refreshing to hear someone so interested in our ways even down to the way you eat - makes me smile, often you get so used to how things are you take them wholly for granted :)

Enjoy your time at Burghley, you are going to have a fab time.
 
*Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaail*

Hurricane Irene is on a direct path with my flight out of Newark. Additionally all flights canceled tomorrow and Sunday. We tried to get out tonight but no dice because about 50,000 other people had the same idea. Best guess is that I'll get out Monday if I'm LUCKY and Wednesday if I'm not. I cannot believe this.

My poor parents- at least they've arrived safely and for that I'm very grateful.
 
OMG, you poor thing, what an utter nightmare! Umm... are your parents going to be stuck for a few days without you? pm me if there's anything I can do to help (I'm about an hour from Burghley).
Hope Irene changes her path and leaves you all alone, stay safe and I hope you can get out asap.
 
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