Things to do around Lancaster?

Miró

Hi supergran2007

Grrrrr....wish I'd seen your thread last week as we have just returned home after spending a long week-end at the Lancaster City Centre Travelodge (£10 deal!). Thought I would post a few thoughts in the hope you might find them useful for your visit.

We parked in the car park directly opposite the Travelodge entrance which was very convenient. We arrived at 4pm Sunday and paid £4.40 to stay there til 9am the following morning. It's very handy for the town and everything would be in walking distance from there for most people. (We nipped over the following morning and paid for a few more hours too!) The Travelodge is a new one and is very clean and tidy with pleasant helpful staff, (ask them for a map and info). However, being a new stylee T/L we found the rooms to be small in comparison to the older style ones...the main problem was there being nowhere to sit...we have always had a sofa/bed thingy in the room before. This time...just one hard chair, a desky type thing and a hanging arrangement for clothes - nowhere but the floor for your case and just a shower and no bath. OK for a couple of nights tho I guess. There is a Tesco Metro right next door for a 'room picnic' or for breakfast supplies. Our rooms were overlooking the street (Nos 218 & 219) and it was a little noisy at night (traffic and nearby crossing beeping).

Not much open Sunday evening for dinner...the 2 places we earmarked, Bistro 26 in Sun Street and NICE, Meeting House Lane were both closed. We passed a Chinese and also a Greek restaurant that was open but settled on a Spanish Tapas place called Bar 1725, a nice place with good food but iffy service, (we left without a pud and coffee after being ignored for nearly an hour). We also had a drink sitting outside at The Waterwitch by the canal, (fab location and pub-type food).

Today, (Monday), we went round the Museum, (free), which was fascinating. Then on to the Castle where we did the tour (£5 or £4 for concessions). Tours go every half an hour and last about an hour...very interesting...you see the 2 courtrooms (if not in use), various cells, (you get locked in one with the light out...eeek!), the 'hanging room', jurors rooms etc. It's no longer a prison but the courts are still used. (2 stone spiral staircases to climb). Good tearoom nearby in the Priory...quite cheap too. You are allowed to park in the castle grounds, ('unofficially' we were told). Also worth taking the path down from the Priory to the Quay. We had lunch outside in the nearby NICE arts complex, friend had Morecambe Bay Shrimp Platter (£7.95) and declared it 'scrummy'.

On our way up to Lancaster we stopped off at Crosby Beach to see the Anthony Gormley 'drowning men' sculptures (100 statues on the beach over 3km...proper name 'Another Place')...well worth seeing! Also went to Poulton-le Fylde, (1950's re-visited!) and Morecambe...lovely walk along the promenade.

Oooops...sorry for waffling on a bit....we had a lovely time and I'm sure you will.....

rev_henry

PompeyPete wrote: »

I was born in Lancaster. Lived on Sun Street, No.13, now an hairdresser. I left the city when I joined the RN in 1971.
But we regularly return, though not as often as I'd like.
I can remember the town before the University arrived. It was just a lovely old market town then.
Traffic congestion was never a problem in those days.
And because of the the way the Lune runs the problems with traffic will never end. I don't think the M6 link road will make much difference either.
Making public transport more affordable might help a bit.
I hope you found a bit more sand at Morecambe the other day than on these photos...

http://morecambe-bayweb.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photos&action=display&thread=1322

...:rotfl: We know this is some decent yellow stuff, all imported at great expense though!

You (and Supergran) might enjoy this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b012fr2p/Country_Tracks_Lancashire_Coast/

M6 link road will, however, fix the death trap that is J34, going northbound especially. As you probably know there's a kind of semi artificial beach at morecambe now, which is pretty good!

Oh and there's also a Wetherspoons round the corner from the Travelodge if you fancy a proper breakfast that doesn't break the bank.

PompeyPete

Mir! wrote: »

We parked in the car park directly opposite the Travelodge entrance which was very convenient. We arrived at 4pm Sunday and paid £4.40 to stay there til 9am the following morning.

You were lucky. Arriving on a Sunday afternoon is probably your best fighting chance of getting into that small car park.
Car parking charges in Lancaster soon clock up too, which don't half add to an otherwise good hotel deal.
There's a Park Safe too...

http://www.parksafesystems.com/prices.htm

...never used it, but it must be good to survive.

Personally, if we were staying Lancaster we'd stay at the Royal Kings Arms, which has a car park. You can usually get a good deal on https://www.booking.com. Some of the rooms are a bit dated and you can get some street noise, but it's got loads of history attached to the place, and is well situated.

PompeyPete

rev_henry wrote: »

As you probably know there's a kind of semi artificial beach at morecambe now, which is pretty good!

We'll be taking our buckets and spades at the end of September, as well as anything gore-tex.;)

PompeyPete

Mir! wrote: »

We had lunch outside in the nearby NICE arts complex, friend had Morecambe Bay Shrimp Platter (£7.95) and declared it 'scrummy'.

Here's a link....

http://www.nicebarandrestaurant.co.uk/

...the Tourist Information is also in the same building. Two minutes walk from Lancaster Castle, and even less to the city centre. Five minutes walk from the Travelodge. Walk to the main road (on your doorstep!), turn right, cross the road, walk as far as Waterstones, turn left and the Royal Kings Arms Hotel is immediately on your left, opposite and just to the left. If you want to take the train to Morecambe (12 minutes) the train station is a short walk up from the Royal Kings Arms on the right.

Here's The Water Witch...

http://www.thewaterwitch.co.uk/

....5 minutes walk from the Travelodge. Walk to the main road, turn left, cross the road, and you'll soon arrive at the canal bridge. The pub is on the right (the building behind the pub is Lancaster Royal Infirmary).

PompeyPete

Another excellent link...

http://www.bing.com/search?q=virtual+lancaster&src=IE-SearchBox&Form=IE8SRC&adlt=strict

...all the local villages, and what's on are listed down the left-hand side.

minskerella

Lived in Lancaster for years - it's great. Lots of free street parking near the station although you may struggle a bit between 9-5. Should be fine at a weekend though and only a five min walk into town.

Loads of cheap eats deals at local restaurants. Spaghetti House does happy hour 5.30-6.30 on a sat and all night sunday. Lovely food and happy hour only £4.75. The Borough is good too and does lots of meal deals and afternoon tea. Simply French on the Quay is a beautiful resturant and does two courses and a bottle of wine per person on a sunday night for £19.95 a head - you can see the menu online - it's fab. Moghuls Indian restaurant is amazing and just about five doors down from travelodge. They do a happy hour I think but not sure of the time, but reasonable anyway and gorgeous - especially the lamb chops! Gatehouse is very popular too - good med restaurant with a set menu - v popular with the locals. For pubs the Sun and the Borough are popular. As are DAlton Rooms and Waterwitch. They're all real ale pubs but if you fancy something cheaper there's the usual yates, wetherspoons etc. Wetherspoons is next door to your travelodge and does cheap breakfast.

Sure you'll have great time. Williamson Park is lovely as is Glasson Dock which is only fifteen mins drive - nice harbour, few shops, cafe, play park etc. Kirkby Lonsdale beautiful but about half hour drive - well worth it - free parking on devils bridge and a lovely walk up to Ruskins view.

Lancaster is great you'll love it!

PompeyPete

Good posting minskerella.

minskerella wrote: »

Lived in Lancaster for years - it's great. Lots of free street parking near the station although you may struggle a bit between 9-5. Should be fine at a weekend though and only a five min walk into town.

It's free, but on residential streets.
There's no chance at all during the day. And at the end of the working day the residents return from work in their cars and soon fill up any slots vacated by the daytimers.
If you drop down to the Marsh then you should be alright during the day, but it then turns into a bit of a slog walking back into town.

somethingsgottogive

Am I the only one who was so disappointed by Morecambe's 'beach' that I practically broke down in tears? After a week of planning, and 1h20mins of driving, stepped out of the car and saw..... a sandpit.

I need a proper coast line, with cliffs and rocks and breaking waves! So far the coastal offerings of the North West just aren't floating my boat - quite literally. because there's no bl--dy water!

thegirlintheattic

Parking is not that much of a problem if you know where to look, even during the day. Dumbarton Road and associated streets (near Cathedral) are two mins walk from town are are free. Same goes for the roads near B&Q down by the canal.

Best places to eat are Golden Dragon, Verdes, The Borough and the Waterwitch. Waterwitch, Borough and Dalton rooms are also good for drinks and are central. Avoid Marios and Spaghetti House, bad food and overpriced.

Williamson Park and the Aston Memorial are nice to visit, as is the castle tour. There is a market on Saturdays. Clougha Pike is a nice country walk up a small hill (Park at Jubilee Tower Car Park).