Mr Papafakis want's to come to BOYL :)

Mr Papafakis

Mr Papafakis

Baron
Hi guys,

I'm having another look at ticket prices to come to BOYL this year, but I have a few queries that I was hoping you guys could help me with?

I've never been to the UK before either, so these questions may seem stupid......probably are :lol:

1. Whats the best airport to land at for BOYL? Do I have a choice? Does it matter?
2. Could you guys recommend accomodation for me to stay at while I'm there? I'm a 1st grade cheapskate so I'm not fussed really :grin:
3. I'm planning on coming for a maximum of about a week, so which week should I er on? The week leading up to BOYL and leave early the week after? Or arrive a day or so before BOYL and leave a week after?
4. Could I bumb a lift from the Airport? :?

Any other info would be a great help :grin:

Cheers.
 
Captain crooks came from your side of the planet in 2015 so he might be able to give you some details if wanders over this way. Your best bet for cheap hotels is to look fro Travel Inn or Travelodge or Premier Inn. If you come the week before BOYL i'm sure you'll get games and stuff at warhammer world as there are usually folk around before hand, just be aware that Newark is far enough away from nottingham to make it a pain to travel back and forward. As far as Airports go, It depends what your choices are. I'd imagine international flights will be to either Gatwick, Heathrow or Manchester all of which are some distance from Nottingham or Newark but Manchester would be closest (Birmingham would be closer but I'm unsure about whether thats a destination. Hope that helps
 
BOYL tends to be busiest on Saturday, but there's likely to be plenty of folks around from mid-afternoon on the Friday. People tend to tail off at lunchtime / early afternoon on Sunday.

In 2015 I ran a game at Warhammer World on Friday which was attended by some Nottingham based folks who weren't going to BOYL.

I would look at planning your trip with a few days sightseeing in or around London before and after, perhaps travelling to Nottingham on the Thursday?
 
I have a spare room and I live in Nottingham. You are welcome to stay here while not attending BOYL. I will probably be sleeping in Newarkin a hotel on the friday night, then going back to Nottingham on the sataurday night, to return the next day to clear up and have a laugh. Im happy to invite you along, but Im not sure about transport. I dont have a car. I will be setting up a large table with loads of stuff and am hoping to do this with help so cant guarantee travel space!

Foundry is about 45 mins from my house by car and about and hour and a half by bus and there will probably be lifts. As I say, I will probably be getting the bus home on the sataurday evening, so its not too much of a chore.
 
We always love having people from the other side of the planet, you're no exception!

From what I can see, almost every car that comes into BOYL is some sort of lift arrangement of some sort. I've never driven to BOYL alone. If you can give us an idea of which airport you'll be landing at and then just out out a call, I'm pretty sure you'll get a reply. Whilst I highly doubt flights from your neck of the woods would land nearby, if you do happen to engineer a route to Southampton/Bournemouth/ Salisbury, then I should be able to help.
 
whiskey priest":3hl96ofc said:
Captain crooks came from your side of the planet in 2015 so he might be able to give you some details if wanders over this way. Your best bet for cheap hotels is to look fro Travel Inn or Travelodge or Premier Inn. If you come the week before BOYL i'm sure you'll get games and stuff at warhammer world as there are usually folk around before hand, just be aware that Newark is far enough away from nottingham to make it a pain to travel back and forward. As far as Airports go, It depends what your choices are. I'd imagine international flights will be to either Gatwick, Heathrow or Manchester all of which are some distance from Nottingham or Newark but Manchester would be closest (Birmingham would be closer but I'm unsure about whether thats a destination. Hope that helps
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Thanks Whiskey :grin:

I've contacted the good Captain and he's been spewing information at me non-stop. A great help indeed.

ATM I'm erring on coming the week preceding BOYL. As you mentioned there'll be stuff going on leading up to the event rather than after.

After having a look at flights it looks like everything from my end first lands at Heathrow. So I suppose I'll just have to figure it out from there.

Thanks for the info Whiskey :grin:


Asslessman":3hl96ofc said:
YUSSSSSS !

Now I know BOYL has got to happen in my agenda !
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I bloody hope so too mate :)


axiom":3hl96ofc said:
BOYL tends to be busiest on Saturday, but there's likely to be plenty of folks around from mid-afternoon on the Friday. People tend to tail off at lunchtime / early afternoon on Sunday.

In 2015 I ran a game at Warhammer World on Friday which was attended by some Nottingham based folks who weren't going to BOYL.

I would look at planning your trip with a few days sightseeing in or around London before and after, perhaps travelling to Nottingham on the Thursday?
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That's what I'm thinking now too Jon. I might try and get to the UK on Wednesday and depart the following Wednesday/Thursday?


ramshackle_curtis":3hl96ofc said:
I have a spare room and I live in Nottingham. You are welcome to stay here while not attending BOYL. I will probably be sleeping in Newarkin a hotel on the friday night, then going back to Nottingham on the sataurday night, to return the next day to clear up and have a laugh. Im happy to invite you along, but Im not sure about transport. I dont have a car. I will be setting up a large table with loads of stuff and am hoping to do this with help so cant guarantee travel space!

Foundry is about 45 mins from my house by car and about and hour and a half by bus and there will probably be lifts. As I say, I will probably be getting the bus home on the sataurday evening, so its not too much of a chore.
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That's mighty generous of you Curtis :o If you or your family can stomach my frightening visage or questionable hygiene then I'll be more than happy to take you up on your offer :lol: I'll let you know my travel plans as soon as I book the flights.


weazil":3hl96ofc said:
We always love having people from the other side of the planet, you're no exception!

From what I can see, almost every car that comes into BOYL is some sort of lift arrangement of some sort. I've never driven to BOYL alone. If you can give us an idea of which airport you'll be landing at and then just out out a call, I'm pretty sure you'll get a reply. Whilst I highly doubt flights from your neck of the woods would land nearby, if you do happen to engineer a route to Southampton/Bournemouth/ Salisbury, then I should be able to help.
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Thanks Gaj :grin:

I'll figure out my travel plans and get back to you guys with more concrete information.



Thanks for all of your help fellas, it's much appreciated. I'm so looking forward to playing pretend battles with you all. It'll be a strange & awesome experience to meet all of my blog buddies in one place :)

Cheers,
Shane.
 
Well, I just booked my tickets :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

I'll be arriving on the Thursday preceding BOYL........obviously :roll: then I'll be leaving the following week on the Thursday. So, after BOYL I'll have a few days spare and I was thinking of going to the Warhammer World & GW HQ in Nottingham and the Imperial War museum & the Museum of Natural History in London. I know it's still a looooong way away, and I shouldn't bother trying to plan my trip for everyday I'm there, but I can't help it, I'm just too excited :grin: Could you guys recommend something else that might interest an old wargamer like myself? Any good secondhand bookshops or some kind of esoteric place/thing?

Lay it on me bro's, I'm all ears, pour on the advice :grin:

BOYL 2017, here I come :grin:
 
Nice one

You might find it's cheapest to hire a car at Heathrow. Train from London to Nottingham can be v. expensive unless you book in advance and travel off peak. Foundry is in the middle of nowhere.

Sightseeing wise, there's the Civil War Museum (English obviously) in Newark and Newark also has an Air Museum.

I live in the area (about 5 miles from Foundry) but I'm not 100% sure yet whether I will have a family holiday clash with the dates. Fingers crossed that there won't be. If I'm around I'm sure we could have a game.
 
If you want to hit the London museums, I like the British Museum, Petrie Museum of Egyptology, and the Wellcome Collection (medical history and sexual health / practices).
 
@Scalene & Curtis

I'm just thinking out loud here.......or is that just called "typing"? There is no thinking online, just typing. Anyway, I've digressed even before I've begun :roll:

I've had a look at online prices and it seems I can get a bus from Heathrow to Nottingham for £12 one way. I'm not sure if I have to book that in advance or not, but that looks ok to me. I had a look at the trains too, but they were crazy expensive :o I'd been prewarned by the good Captain that they were too.

The car option looks to be in the ballpark of £180 incl fuel (rough estimation) for the week. I've heard that London traffic is horrendous, but I doubt it'd come close to Bangkok 8-) And the parking fees are pretty high too? So seeing that I'll be spending a few days in the london area at the tail end of my trip I'm not sure that the car option would end up being worth it? What do you think guys?

This is just a bit of "back of the palm" calculation ;)

I'm all ears fellas, if I've missed something here or you think I'm talking out of my arse, just tell me so. I'll only cry a little if you offend me :lol:
 
@Axiom,

Wow! I'm really pleasntly surprised that all of the museums sites that I've visited so far seem to be free! Is that normal there? If so, that's bloody awesome!!! Wish we did the same in Australia, nothings free there the thieving bastards :cry: Must come from our colonial heritage :?

I'll be sure to try and visit as many as I can while I'm in the UK. Cheers :grin:

@Whiskey,

That looks great too! There's far too many noteworthy attractions in London for me to see in a few days isn't there :grin: Oh well, at least I'm spoiled for choice :)


Thanks for all the help so far guys, muchas gracias.
 
optimus":191wrkfy said:
Wow! I'm really pleasntly surprised that all of the museums sites that I've visited so far seem to be free! Is that normal there? If so, that's bloody awesome!!!
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Yes, that's quite normal here. Entry to all museums used to be completely free until the 1980s when the government decided entry fees could be charged. After that about 50% of museums took up the offer and charged an admission fee, but with the introduction of lottery funding many have now gone back to free admission again. One of the great things we have is access to heritage...including the heritage of quite a few other countries from which the empire removed artefacts... but that's another issue. :)
 
optimus":1ku2w86r said:
@Scalene & Curtis

I'm just thinking out loud here.......or is that just called "typing"? There is no thinking online, just typing. Anyway, I've digressed even before I've begun :roll:

I've had a look at online prices and it seems I can get a bus from Heathrow to Nottingham for £12 one way. I'm not sure if I have to book that in advance or not, but that looks ok to me. I had a look at the trains too, but they were crazy expensive :o I'd been prewarned by the good Captain that they were too.

The car option looks to be in the ballpark of £180 incl fuel (rough estimation) for the week. I've heard that London traffic is horrendous, but I doubt it'd come close to Bangkok 8-) And the parking fees are pretty high too? So seeing that I'll be spending a few days in the london area at the tail end of my trip I'm not sure that the car option would end up being worth it? What do you think guys?

This is just a bit of "back of the palm" calculation ;)

I'm all ears fellas, if I've missed something here or you think I'm talking out of my arse, just tell me so. I'll only cry a little if you offend me
Click to expand...
Something I learned from my experience in Dublin (never been to London) is if you want to rent a car, find a rental place in the outskirts of town or right next to the major highway you need access to and don't pick up the car until you're ready to leave. Future are big enough that you can rely on public transportation while there so you don't need to breve the city traffic and parking worth your rental.
 
You will find a car in London as hassle. Public transport will be quicker, parking is expensive and traffic is a nightmare. I'd only consider a car rented from somewhere near the M25/M1 motorway junctions (like Wembley). You could then hop straight north to Nottingham.

Coaches are the best budget option for travel, as you've already spied.

Nottingham is significantly smaller than London to navigate, and there are pretty decent bus routes plus a tram around the city. The centre has the most attractions. There's a (not medieval) castle (fee to enter), small contemporary art museum (free) and the National Videogame Arcade (fee) among other attractions.

Warhammer World is a 20-25 minute walk out of the centre (or the tram passes by - get off at the Lenton Lane stop).
 
Thanks Axiom :grin:

Yeah, I think I'll stick with public transport then.

Are you going to be running any games at WHW on the Friday again? Or is it far too early to know?

I'm thinking of coming on the Friday before BOYL.

Cheers mate :grin:
 
optimus":2uh7z4tf said:
Are you going to be running any games at WHW on the Friday again? Or is it far too early to know?

I'm thinking of coming on the Friday before BOYL.Cheers mate :grin:
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I will do my very best to do that again, assuming we can rustle up some interested parties :)
 
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