Fellow GRMers, if you don't mind, learn me some things to do (Motorsports related or otherwise) in England, IOM, and northern Spain 6/16-7/1/2017.
Me and Mrs Crankwalk are going for a friend's wedding in the Asturias area in Northern Spain on 6/24 but before and after that I want some ideas of what to see. We are checking out Gilling Castle in Northern England(It's our last name so we have to see it)and then probably popping over to Isle of Man. We miss the TT by just a few weeks (WHY COULDN'T SHE MOVE HER WEDDING FOR US?) We leave Spain just before the running of the bulls in Pamplona. I don't see any F1 races during that time either. So far I'm finding a lot of stuff we are JUST missing timewise, do any of you have any ideas of things we can do besides wear fanny packs and take pictures of Big Ben? 
I don't know yet if we are taking a ferry from Portsmouth to Santander or if we are hopping to France and taking a train across but there may be tweaking of the route to work in fun sites.
I've never done this part of Europe before and I'm not super big on touristy stuff but I wouldn't mind getting some actual must-see things to do while I'm over there.
Thanks
Not a lot to say but just be careful about renting a car in the UK and driving it over to the mainland, or viceversa.
I was just there this past September and had a hell of a time bring a car over to the UK. Avis would not insure the car in the UK, and they requested insurance over at the Ferry terminal (access to the Eurotunnel was blocked and I had to hop on the ferry).
Driving a LHD car in London was not fun.
Slippery wrote:
Not a lot to say but just be careful about renting a car in the UK and driving it over to the mainland, or viceversa.
I was just there this past September and had a hell of a time bring a car over to the UK. Avis would not insure the car in the UK, and they requested insurance over at the Ferry terminal (access to the Eurotunnel was blocked and I had to hop on the ferry).
Driving a LHD car in London was not fun.
I can imagine in those tight streets. I had fun driving my RHD cars in Atlanta though!
We aren't going to drive between countries. Probably take small flights instead. I'm kicking around the idea of flying to Tangier after the wedding in Spain and doing a few days there then flying back to London. Europe and the UK especially right now is as cheap as I can ever remember.
I highly recommend the ferry option. I haven't done that particular route, but I've done others as well as the Chunnel. The train is boring (and I like trains generally), while the ferry is relaxing and scenic. If you opt for a ferry to France, however, make sure there's an easy train connection or that you get in late enough in the morning that the rental car office is open.
I've driven LHD cars in/through London, it's not a big deal if you're used to it like I was, but highly not recommended if you aren't. Same goes with taking a UK rental onto the Continent. Also, don't forget that rental cars in Europe are much more expensive than we're used to over here.
The Portsmouth - Santander ferry takes quite a while and there isn't much to do other than sleeping, getting drunk and/or seasick.
Without consideration to your budget, I'd take the Eurostar from London to Paris, maybe hop out West to LeMans, than take the TGV in the general of Spain and rent a car once you get to Spain. Make sure you factor in the rental car insurance into the price (or just book something that already includes insurance) as your US insurance will most likely not cover you for rental car use abroad.
If you want to do some track driving, I'd have a look around if there are any track car rentals available. I'll can check with some friends in the UK if they know of anything. Track days in the UK generally are a little more relaxed than they are in the US from a regulations perspective (not! from a driving perspective).
Isle of Man - typical way of getting over there would be by boat (Steam Packet company, aka the "Steam Racket" thanks to their prices) out of Liverpool. Depends on the available time if it's worth it.
Not that I'm trying to give you bad ideas or anything, but if you pick the right trains you might be able to squeeze in a trip to the 'ring 
.
Thanks for the info Tim. That ferry does seem kind of long and if it's just shuffling us like cargo it may feel like a waste of our time. A short flight or trains may be the best way.
I also kicked around the idea of going down to Tangier and spending a couple of days in Morocco instead of more time in Spain. The flight from Anchorage to London was cheap enough that it left more room in the budget than we thought.
A fair number of my friends in the UK tend to take that ferry if they take their motorcycles to tour Spain as it'll take you longer to ride through France. But IME that's pretty much the only reason they use it for touristy purposes.
I've never had an issue driving LHD cars in the UK or RHD cars on the continent, I don't understand why people find it difficult. It seems a no brainer to me.
Will you be spending much time in the UK? I highly highly recommend catching a Hillclimb if you can while you are there. Forget autocross, British Hillclimbs are a level of Grassroots insanity beyond imagination. If you can find one of the major events you can probably see super light carbon tubbed single seaters with insane power.
This is not speeded up. If you've never seen them run it's amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/d9Lopg7YbUY
Also bring money, lots and lots and lots of money. People over here in America have no idea how incredibly cheap EVERYTHING is here. Luckily with BREXIT the British pound is cheap and so is the Euro, but even with these super favorable to us exchange rates you will find every thing is expensive.
If you have a credit card that covers rental car insurance take a printed copy of proof of that with you. A few years ago I got to the airport and rented the car, I declined the insurance as I had it through the card. That said OK at the time. 10 days later turning it in I was charged insurance as I hadn't provided proof. That took months of arguing with the rental company with no effect. In the end my credit card just said berkeley it to the rental company and took the money back for me.
Things we're used to like free papers at hotels aren't. Customer service is still an oxymoron in England. the continent is better, but still expensive.
