Burghley First-Time Spectator

[AskMyAccountant.17]

Ok, I have waited patiently to start my thread until Kentucky and Badminton were over so the people of COTH would have a chance to remember Burghley.

So right now, my mother and I are flying into London on Tuesday before Burghley. We have one night booked in London Tuesday night, then we plan to drive to Peterborough Wednesday evening where we are staying at Orton Hall (about 15 miles form Burghley) until Sunday before driving back to London Sunday night to fly back Monday. (I’d like to spend Wednesday in London doing touristy things)

We purchased the Membership tickets that give us parking access and some extra perks. And I think* I got good grandstand seats for both Dressage and SJ. (After the fact maybe the dressage tickets weren’t necessary for Membership tickets? But, we have them anyways)

Car Wise - I have been told not to drive, but 1. I received a free rental car when I booked flights and 2. It seems necessary to not only get to Peterborough from London but to get back and forth from our stay to the event.

I am very type-A and normally I book travel complete with itinerary and reservations made from morning to night. So, in this case I’ve never traveled to London, and my one European trip to Ireland was a 3-day horse shopping trip where I was essentially picked up and dropped off at airport.

• if you had 12-hours in London what’s a must see for 2 ladies who love good food, walking, and some window shopping (We’ll go in Harrods and buy a scarf just to say we bought something)
  -I’m thinking of booking breakfast at the Ritz, then maybe a a tour? But our hotel is right on the river in Mayfair/Soho so its TBD since it seems so many things are walkable from our hotel.

• As we’ll be in Peterborough Thursday-Sunday, are there any evening/afternoon recomendations. We will likely shop til we drop and walk the course, but I’d love some local dinner recs. (I can perhaps plan to make reservations if available before we fly over) Or, if there are short afternoon sites nearby to see.
  -Driving - Luckily our hotel has parking in London so I think we can pick up the car when we land, go to London. But logistically this is my largest concern.

Does anyone have any local-guide tips, traveling/driving in Europe tips, how does one understand the train, or at Burghley what do you have to take part in

Thanks for any and every suggestion!

[FitToBeTied]

The trains are great for BUrghley. You can go from London’s King Cross station to Petersborough. Then a train from Petersborough to stamford. They run very regularly. It’s a short walk from stamford station to the event.

[Janet]

@AskMyAccountant.17

Car Wise - I have been told not to drive, but 1. I received a free rental car when I booked flights and 2. It seems necessary to not only get to Peterborough from London but to get back and forth from our stay to the event.

There are multiple fast and convenient trains from London to Peterbourough. I took the train to Peterbourough and picked up a rental car in Peterborough. As stated above, there are also trains from Peterborough to Stamford, which is (English) walking dstance to Burghley, but, given the changeability of English weather I found it convenient to have extra clothes (rain coat, rubber boots, sweater, dry socks, etc) sitting in the parked car, rather than carting them around all day. Having a car in the car park is also very useful if you “buy stuff” (yes, there is usually a “checked luggage” type place where you can leave your bags, but I find it much more convenient to have a car). (Another reason I wanted a car is that I have relatives in the area I wanted to visit.)

[Janet]

@AskMyAccountant.17

As we’ll be in Peterborough Thursday-Sunday, are there any evening/afternoon recomendations. We will likely shop til we drop and walk the course, but I’d love some local dinner recs. (I can perhaps plan to make reservations if available before we fly over) Or, if there are short afternoon sites nearby to see.

The most interesting (to me) thing in Peterborough is the Cathedral. It was originally built pre-conquest, but most of it is 12th - 16th century. The interior is only open 10AM - 4PM, so not an evening option, but the exterior and the surroundings are also interesting.

Locally, the town of Stamford is attractive and interesting, both Stamford “proper” on the north side of the river (16th and 17th century buildings, some half-timbered, medieval parish churches, the remains of Stamford Castle, etc. ) and Stamford Baron on the south side of the river. (St Martin’s Church, “The George” , which was once a major coaching inn on the Great North Road, and is still a hotel and restaurant, etc.).

There many relatively unspoilt local villages. I am most familar with the ones in Rutland, because that is where my mother’s family comes from, but there are others in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire/Soke of Peterborough.

If you drive from Peterborough via the Barnack Road (instead of the A1) you drive through several attractive villages. I particularly remember (don’t know if it is still there) a cottage with a thatched roof that incorporated two cats on the ridgeline. Apart from being more scenic, there was less traffic on the Barnack Road route than on the A1 route, especially as you got close to Burghley.

Being on my own, I mostly ate Asian (Indian/Pakistani) food from “takeaways” (Peterborough, at least in 2012 when I was there, has a large Asian population). But one evening I met up with several other COTHers for dinner at “The Bull”, quite close to the Cathedral, and it was good.

[Janet]

@AskMyAccountant.17

if you had 12-hours in London what’s a must see for 2 ladies who love good food, walking, and some window shopping (We’ll go in Harrods and buy a scarf just to say we bought something)

If your mother is also “horsey”, I would try to catch the changing of the Horse Guards, at Horse Guards parade. There is also a Household Cavalry Museum.

If you go to Harrods, you will be within a couple of blocks of 3 Hans Crescent, the site of the Ecuadorian Embassy, where Julian Assange lived in asylum for many years.

For shopping, I would reccomend Fortnum and Mason. It is also a good place for afternoon tea.

[Janet]

@AskMyAccountant.17

Driving - Luckily our hotel has parking in London so I think we can pick up the car when we land, go to London. But logistically this is my largest concern.

Just keep reminding yourself “keep LEFT, look RIGHT” . It is not too bad if you are on a road with traffic, but you need to be more aware on a road with little or no traffic, and when pulling out from a one way street to a two way street.

[Willesdon]

Hire your car in Peterborough. Avoid driving in London - think of your absolute worst driving nightmare then double it. I used to live in London and I hate driving in London. If you don’t know precisely where you are going and have intimate local knowledge of all the streets you will be dead meat. And the road signage is all local, not for places outside London. There is no mercy to be found in the hearts of London drivers/motorcyclists/drivers/buses/drivers/cyclists/drivers/electric scooters/local pedestrians/tourists/electric scooters/ cyclists/ drivers on city roads designed for horse drawn vehicles.

London has excellent public transport with both underground and buses but also much is in walking distance. Just walking around London is pretty amazing because everywhere you look there is history, architecture, style. There are guided walking tours that are interesting and fun, run by various companies or the Tourist Board. Don’t forget that London consists of The City of London, the ancient original settlement and The City of Westminster, which was the seat of political power, and endless villages that have all joined up to make “London”, but they still retain unique character. The City is worth a guided tour on its own. As a whole, the tourist places are almost peak tourist now: crowds, long lines, selfies, scruffy with the weight of people. That is why a walking tour is good: it will takes you to less visited places.

A river tour is good fun. Either taking a boat down to Greenwich, another London village with plenty to see and do such as a walk through the Park to see where the equestrian Olympics were held in 2012, the Old Naval College, The Queens House, National Maritime Museum, the Covered Market, lots of restaurants etc. Or, alternatively, up river to Hampton Court.

Avoid Harrods like the plague. The days of glory are long past, unless you think Trump has good taste, and the tourists are like locusts in fresh pasture. Harvey Nichols department store, also in Knightsbridge, is a better bet as it where people who used to shop in Harrods now go.

The Ritz is on my bad list because they were rude to me decades ago!

The big museums are really good, any of them, because we Brits are good at museums. The National Portrait Museum has recently been given a wash and brush up. Last time I was in, we saw only about five rooms because it was so engrossing: heaven knows how many floors there are! The Museum of London, if it is open, has an extraordinary collection. The Royal Mews is worth a visit and is conveniently close to the Kings Gallery that usually has some exhibition around art works from the Royal Collection. The Courtauld Gallery is home to an exceptional collection of art, including notable French Impressionists, with very few people there.

Take a cream tea at The Wallace Collection, an quirky museum and fine art gallery in a purpose-built 19th century house just north of Oxford Street which contains an extraordinary collection of French furniture from Versailles as well as great pictures and loads of knick knacks that caught the eye of three generations of avid collectors. Nothing can leave or be lent to be shown anywhere else.

The Royal Opera House has a cafe with a great view. Their performances are fantastic and often they reserve tickets for sale on the day.

Marylebone High Street has interesting shops and good restaurants.

Clerkenwell is a fascinating mixture of old and new and full of restaurants and trendy shops.

Burghley, plenty of food available on site, not just hamburgers. Stamford, the nearest town will be busy but various pubs and restaurants to try before going back to your hotel.

Peterborough has a fine cathedral but is an odd city, stuck in a flat, deeply rural area and only a tiny market town until 60 years ago when it was designated a “new town” and vast amounts of housing was put up. It is the kind of place where very big companies put their back-office functions such as IT and Accounts. Not much to do or see.

[chocolate_chip_in]

I can’t think of a worse way to start a vacation than driving in London if you’ve never driven in the UK before. Definitely take the train to Peterborough and pick up your car there. The trains are easy to figure out, just use the trip planner on the National Rail website and you’ll be fine.

I’m fond of Fortnum & Mason, whether you do tea there or pick up snacks at the grocery downstairs (or both!), and Liberty for shopping–check out their in-house prints if you enjoy textiles. The Victoria and Albert Museum is one of my favorite museums in the world; the National Portrait Museum is also lovely and has a nice cafe. The Churchill War Rooms are fascinating if you’re at all interested in WWII history. I’ll second the recommendation for a river tour, my family did one the first time I visited London and I still remember how lovely it was to be out on the water with the views of the city.

My can’t-miss restaurants when I’m in London are Ffiona’s in Kensington (you’ll need a reservation) and any of the Dishoom locations. If you like food, it might be worth a trip over to the Borough Market too, although it’s a bit of a schlep from where you’ll be so it might not fit with your timeline.

Have fun! I’d love to make it to Burghley or Badminton some day.

[Baybear]

When I went to Burghley, we got our car in Peterborough - the Enterprise guy dropped it off at the hotel for us. We were staying in Peterborough at the Bull Hotel, which had parking, That trip I had all these Aer Lingus points which i used to book a car to take us from Heathrow to Peterborough. It was a littel Real Housewivey but it’s a lot less stressful than having to deal with shuttle from terminal to rental car. waiting in line to pick up car and then instantly figuring out driving on the left. I think the OP said they were staying in London the first night? Maybe take a taxi or train to London Hotel then back to airport to get rental car and then head up to Peterborough.

Parking at Burghley - yes, good job with the parking pass. When I went we were blessed with spaces right in front of Burghley House - that was a treat to be able to be so close to the house! Also the weather can change, we were close enough with the members parking that we left some gear in the car and could easily grab it if the weather changed. The members area is great and cheery. The one drawback is that it’s not along the arena like Badminton, but the grandstand is right there and they have jumbotrons all over the place.

The shopping is unbelievable! They do have shop and drop where you can leave your packages.

You’ll have a fantastic time!!

[AskMyAccountant.17]

Thanks everyone that is hugely helpful! Looking online it appears there are multiple trains through the day so that we could take a late afternoon train on the Wednesday evening and get our car there. I think I booked with Hertz so I’ll look into this.

Will also look into the London recs! I think the changing of the horse guards would be fascinating for both of us.

[Willesdon]

There is a small museum in Horse Guards and I believe there is a glass wall to allow one to see into the stables. However, the horses on duty in their sentry boxes have become a social media “thing” and the entire area swarms with idiots taking selfies, standing nine deep, grabbing the reins, getting bitten by a pissed off horse or being removed by (armed) police when they harass and mock the soldiers to get a reaction… Avoid. Or go really early.

The Royal Mews are a much better visit

[quietann]

I’m glad you’ve chosen not to drive in London! DH has extensive experience with right hand drive cars, because he’s into British sports cars. He has driven in the UK numerous times, so he does all the driving when we go there. And will not! drive in London unless absolutely necessary.

I don’t know if this is still true, but most cars were stick shift… So be prepared.

We have found the guided London tours and the museums really wonderful.

It’s a great place to visit.

(We are headed there for the first time since 2018 in August. It will be my 7th or 8th trip to the UK, but probably his 30th at least…)