Wife and I are going to London from October 1st - 10th. At the moment, aside from some West End theatre excursions we have no plans. I'm looking for recommendations on motorsports activities. The wife is very accomodating provided whatever we do doesn't cost a fortune. We're also looking for ideas for daytrips - whehter to England or elsewhere that we can take a train/rent a car. I'm looking for suggestions or experiences from other people who've been there. Stuff I'm already considering:
1) Go see Silverstone/Goodwood/Le Mans/the Isle of Man. Nothing interesting happening on those days as far as I can tell, but it'd be neat to say I'd been.
2) Go the Nurburgring. Rent something fun. Try not to stuff it into a hedge. This is appealing, also because we're thinking about a side excursion to Brussels, which is on the way. If there's a similar rent-n-ride kind of setup that someone would suggest that's closer to London, I'm open to suggestions.
3) Museums? I'm also an aviation nerd, so RAF stuff would be neat.
4) Factory tours? Apparently Catherham doesn't do it. I hadn't thought about anyone else yet, but if anyone has ideas, I'm open.
Also open to suggestions for non-car-related activities. I understand the British Museum could take an entire trip by itself, but I think I can only swing a day or maybe two before we get museum fatigue.
The York train museum is cool but a bit far for a day trip.
Beaulieu national motor museum is OK if you are down that way by Southampton in the New Forest
Ace Cafe
I loved the British Museum , no cars but all the cool stuff Great Britian grabbed around the world ,
Natural history Museum ,
There is a massive motorbike museum up in the Midlands ,
I went to Morgan one time and had the tour.......
mtn
MegaDork
9/17/19 10:21 p.m.
I’ve always wanted to catch a football game in Europe. I think there is a big game at Tottenham Stadium on the 6th-maybe try to get tickets to that. It’s be a cool cultural experience for sure.
Former resident of that part of the world here.
1) Brands Hatch - which is actually the closest track to London - has motorcycle racing going on Oct 5 & 6s: https://brandshatch.msv.com/BH-19-BMCRC3
Lydden Hill - used by Top Gear a bunch of times and also used to be my local track, not sure which made it more "famous" - has a motorcycle event on as well that weekend, and a car event on the 12th, but that's obviously too late for you. Definitely requires a rental car to get there, that place is in the sticks.
2) isn't really a daytrip. The Nürburgring is at the arse end of nowhere or at least as close as you can get to it in a place that's as populated as Germany. It's more like a 2-3 day trip if you want to spend a day at the 'ring, and it doesn't matter that much if you fly or drive from a time perspective. From my old place in Ashford, Kent (about 1-1.5h Southeast of London on the way to Dover) it was about a 6.5h drive each way via the Chunnel. Flying would require London - Frankfurt + rental car, plus immigration checks both ways as the UK isn't a Schengen country.
3) Aviation nerd? Like, military stuff? Sir wants this: https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford
Also 3) - fancy looking at some mobile oil leaks, sorry, the finest of British manufacturing? https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/
3 again) if you like two wheeled contraptions: http://london-motorcycle-museum.org/
Also, regarding other kinds of museums, if you like modern art, the Tate Modern is definitely worth a visit even if it's just for the architecture as it's in a converted power station in central London.
Brooklands museum
Duxford (part of the Imperial War Museum)
If Duxford is too far, the RAF museum in London is pretty good and you can reach it with the tube and a bus. The London Transport Museum was cool as well as the London Museum of Water and Steam (they run multiple steam engines everyday including the very large original Cornish engines). Lots of other great museums and things to see, you wont have trouble filling your 10 days.
Adam
