Celtic v Glasgow Rangers

[Olsen]

A friend of mine and I plan to see Celtic v Glasgow Rangers the 19.th of February next year. 'The' major soccer match of the Scottish Premier League. We have been Celtic fans since childhood. We plan to travel from Oslo to Glasgow on the ground. Preferably by ferry and train. Preferably by sleeper/night train. Then we save both time and money. - We both travel a lot by air around Europe in our jobs and want to do the trip on the ground and less stressful. Now we want to decide ourselves how we do it and the time we spend. We have about a week to do it. - Which means we have to take a flight on the return. - That's how it is when the job is calling...

The route we plan to take is:

Oslo - Kiel by Color Line, a trip we have both taken many times before. The ships are like 'a floating Las Vegas'es: http://www.colorline.com/ships_and_sailings/kiel_-_oslo Of this part of the trip we know what to expect, - and look forward to it. We will roll ashore in Kiel, hopefully in good enough shape to hit the regional train from Kiel to Hamburg....

From Hamburg we plan to take the night train to Paris. Neither of us have ever taken it or know what to expect except for the route plan. Links here:
http://www.eurorailways.com/products/night_trains/hamburg_to_paris.htm

Anyone here who have taken this train?

We disagree on whether we should stay a hotel night in Paris - or London. We have both studied in London, so he wants to stay over in London, but I don't. I would rather stay a night in Paris, and then take the Eurostar to London the next morning. My friend wants to take the Eurostar from Paris for London 'right away'. We have to sort this out. - Anyone here who have taken the Paris - London Eurostar? Share with us your experiences.

Then we plan to take the Caledonian Sleeper train from London to Glasgow. Link here: http://www.seat61.com/CaledonianSleepers.htm

Anyone who have taken this train? What should we know?

Then Glasgow. We want to stay at a hotel not too far from the center of Glasgow, but also not too far from the Celtic home ground, Celtic Park, Parkhead. We will stay Saturday night in Glasgow and return to Oslo by plane on Sunday the 20th of February. Any advice on hotel and a local pub close by?

Anyone here who have experiences with parts of this route or other comments?

I thought of bringing my M8 with the WATE - to make it simple - and relevant here.

 

[lxmike]

There are tonnes fo hotels in the centre of Glasgow, I've been to Celtic V Rangers a few times, youre in for a real treat! If your not after total luxury there are a few hotels in the centre that are reasonable and close to all the city centre pubs, they are very much as the standard of novotel/premier inn.

 

[Olsen]

There are tonnes fo hotels in the centre of Glasgow, I've been to Celtic V Rangers a few times, youre in for a real treat! If your not after total luxury there are a few hotels in the centre that are reasonable and close to all the city centre pubs, they are very much as the standard of novotel/premier inn.

No, we will make it cheap & simple - but comfortable. We are paying ourselves, mind you. Any recommendations on a Hotel in Glasgow? And pub?

 

[Olsen]

Are there really no train travelling photographers here that can give us some advice on our tour?

 

[peter_n]

other comments?

The football will be poor but the fighting will be great. Take your knuckle duster and bovver boots.

 

[mgd711]

The football will be poor but the fighting will be great. Take your knuckle duster and bovver boots.

Aye... that’s for sure!!

I'm originally from the Fort William area but I know Glasgow reasonably well as my first wife was from there. I was last in the city around 2002 and I think it would be fair to say its quite a boisterous city. I’ve never gotten into any trouble there but things can get lively.

The city centre is well covered with CCTV cameras now and there is rarely any trouble but Parkhead is quite a bit out off the city centre and the last time I was there on a match day it wasn’t so pleasant.

I can’t really give any advice on hotels etc... as its been so long since I was there but your travel route seems rather long. I’m sure there used to be a ferry from Norway to Aberdeen or even from Hull to Denmark.

Trains in the UK are rubbish, I’ve taken the train from London to Glasgow a few times, its really nothing special. You maybe cheaper to just book a cheap flight direct from Norway into Aberdeen, Glasgow or Edinburgh.

I used to love Glasgow but on my last few visits back to the UK I’ve seen it more as a small regional city rather than the huge metropolis I used to imagine it was.

I always preferred the West End, Byers Road area off the city as it was more cosmopolitan (if that’s even possible in Weegee land (Weegee, short for Glaswegian and mildly offensive to the locals))

If you get the typical “west coast drunk” with “What do you think your looking at...” line just act the tourist park and speak a lot in Norwegian. Generally us Jock’s love the Scandahooligans (Scandanavians) but you just canny drink as much as us.... 😀😀😀

 

[Olsen]

Thanks Mike,

I am 185 cm and over 90 kg, and my friend is over 100 kg, so we seldom get into trouble. Nor will we be looking for trouble. Generally, we Norwegians get along well with the Scots. This is my experience from my military service during which I did several maneuvers with British/Scottish troops. I even held skiing courses for 42. Commando at Mjølfjell (= Powder Mountain) here in Norway. For which they paid me with smuggled Scotch Whisky, an item heavily taxed here in Norway.

There is no passenger ferries going between Scandinavia and the UK anymore. There were several previously. Sure we could fly. And we do that all the time to and fro business meetings around Europe. Never to Glasgow, though. We want to do it differently, this time. You meet more people and have a greater experience when taking 'overland' transport. Like ferries and trains. We think....

My impression from back in the 70' and 80' is that the British train system was quite good. - Compared to the Norwegian, that is. Rather something different than the inside of a Boeing 737, this time. We plan to fly back, though.

 

[peter_n]

My impression from back in the 70' and 80' is that the British train system was quite good.

That's a quarter of a century ago! Margaret Thatcher ruined the rail system years before she left office! Traveling by train in the UK absolutely sucks...

Why do you have to see football in Glasgow? It must be because you want the experience; can't be for the football. Players in the UK have no idea how to play the game. It seems they have no real interest in the game either; all they're interested in is money, drinking and crumpet, in that order. If you want to see decent football go to a south European country; it's warmer there too.

 

[Olsen]

Peter,

I generally agree with you that Margaret Thacher had a bad impact on British society. She sold off government property to her friends for a song, indebted the nation, gave the money to the rich and sent the bill to the poor and called it growth. Up in all this she talked of 'other people's money'.

When visiting an exhibition in Birmingham some 10 years ago, I daily took the train up from London where I stayed. Intercity, something. That was quite nice.

I agree with you on the climate. 'The weather' could indeed be a factor this time of the year. If it turns really cold we could risk getting stuck somewhere in Germany.

But I don't agree with you on your assessment of British football. While both Italians and the Spanish turns off the 'play' button as soon as they have scored, the Brits fight on. In mud and cold. British football is generally the most entertaining football in Europe with both the teams on the offensive. Why they generally don't beat the Italians in world championships is a mystery.

I must admit I hardly follow the Scottish Premier League at all, one of the smallest in Europe. The Scottish Premier League play each other four times a year. That Celtic beat Inverness recently with 9 - 0 talks of large quality differences. But Rangers v Celtic is possibly the fiercest local football match in Europe. A 'must see'.

We have decided to travel light, with only one small bag. That means I have to make the camera gear I bring with me as compact as possible. I first thought of bringing my M8 with the WATE, but now I am thinking more of bringing my 35 mm 2,0 Cron instead. That makes the camera more compact. A 28 mm would be ideal due to the crop factor, but I don't have one. So far.

 

[Rogrund]

There is no passenger ferries going between Scandinavia and the UK anymore.

I'm sure there still is a DFDS ferry from Esbjerg to Harwich, isn't there?

Maybe not an alternative for you, though...

 

[Olsen]

I'm sure there still is a DFDS ferry from Esbjerg to Harwich, isn't there?

Maybe not an alternative for you, though...

Indeed. This is possibly the only ferry from Scandinavia that takes passengers for UK. DFDS also have a ferry from Amsterdam to Newcastle. Both these alternatives are ferries mainly for cars w/drivers and a low frequency and passenger capacity. The Esbjerg - Harwich goes only two/three times a week. None of the departures matched our needs. And then we wanted to try the Eurostar etc.

 

[Michael Markey]

Never been to Glasgow and I don`t know anything about football but I caught the 16.30 Glasgow train out of Euston on a regular basis at one time.
I changed at Preston for my local service.
I found that it to be one of the best services and the food was good too.
As to the rest all I would say is don`t carry anything that could be used against you 🙂
Have a good trip.

 

[punkromance]

We disagree on whether we should stay a hotel night in Paris - or London. We have both studied in London, so he wants to stay over in London, but I don't. I would rather stay a night in Paris, and then take the Eurostar to London the next morning. My friend wants to take the Eurostar from Paris for London 'right away'. We have to sort this out. - Anyone here who have taken the Paris - London Eurostar? Share with us your experiences.

Whether or not you should spend the night in Paris or London I don't know, but Eurostar is an incredibly quick and easy way of getting between the two cities and if you book far enough in advance can be bought for peanuts.

Then we plan to take the Caledonian Sleeper train from London to Glasgow. Link here: http://www.seat61.com/CaledonianSleepers.htm

Anyone who have taken this train? What should we know?

I actually took the Caledonian Sleeper from Glasgow to Fort William yesterday (we wanted to leave early and it was the first train of the day). Personally I wouldn't bother with it. The train was nice but not amazing, although I was only in the normal seated area, not the place with beds and stuff. Use http://eastcoast.co.uk and check it pretty often. About two months before you leave the company release cheap tickets. I'm at uni in Glasgow but my family are down near London so I have to make the trip quite frequently and if you play it right you shouldn't pay more than about £10. These are nice trains too (free wifi, comfy seats, plug sockets etc). Furthermore, the train is so fast it often only takes about 4 1/2 hours.

Then Glasgow. We want to stay at a hotel not too far from the center of Glasgow, but also not too far from the Celtic home ground, Celtic Park, Parkhead. We will stay Saturday night in Glasgow and return to Oslo by plane on Sunday the 20th of February. Any advice on hotel and a local pub close by?

Anyone here who have experiences with parts of this route or other comments?

I thought of bringing my M8 with the WATE - to make it simple - and relevant here.

http://www.citizenm.com/glasgow-hotels-lodging.php
Citizen M has just opened right in the centre of Glasgow and that's a really nice hotel. It's supposed to be quite cheap too, but I only ever couchsurf so I can't help you in that respect.
I don't know where the Celtic grounds are but public transportation here isn't that bad. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a quick and cheap direct train from the city centre straight there.
Hope that helps.

 

[Ade-oh]

Some oddly anachronistic - and indeed alarmist - views about Glasgow and the British railway system here. Glasgow is no more unsafe than any other European city of equivalent size - and indeed considerably safer than some. There are areas which aren't terribly salubrious but any half decent guide book will tell you where to avoid: otherwise, it's a great place for a night out and the Celtic-Rangers 'Old Firm' derby match will be undeniably passionate.

As for the railway system: the main complaint is that it's very expensive. Apart from Sundays - when maintenance work and engineering seems to paralyse the system - trains generally run to timetable and are clean. The sleeper services, in my experience, are very good.

My preference would be to stay in Paris, but then I live in London and would go for the novelty value. The Eurostar service is generally excellent. I haven't done London-Paris yet, but have done London-Brussels several times and it is amazing to be able to travel city-centre to city-centre in a couple of hours, without all the fooling around with airport transfers etc.

Have fun!

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

why don't you take the ferry from stavanger to newcastle?

 

[Olsen]

why don't you take the ferry from stavanger to newcastle?

It does not run anymore. We had a lot of ferries going from Norway to several British harbours. But not anymore. Except for that we want to try the Eurostar.

 

[Olsen]

Thanks for the wealth of information here!

London - Glasgow in 4,5 hours for 10 £..! Amazing! Yes, why bother with a sleaper then? It is Billy Cobham playing at Ronny Scott Club this week in late February. So, it is definately going to be a night in London.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

It does not run anymore. We had a lot of ferries going from Norway to several British harbours. But not anymore. Except for that we want to try the Eurostar.

really? what a pity! I did the cruise from Bergen via Stavanger to Newcastle once; very so convenient and a cool experience (except for the standard tourist amusement on these ships... but you don't have to bother with these if you don't want to.). it was also very cheap in combination with an interrail ticket (I think something about 60€, way cheaper than making aaaaall the detour through the south).

 

[chris00nj]

Hail, Hail!

Never stayed overnight in Glasgow because I would just stay in Edinburgh, which is a far better city. Besides hotels, Scotland has a lot of bed and breakfasts that you can stay at as well. That way you can get a nice breakfast of haggis and black pudding.

I never took the overnight sleeper, but the general Scottish rail is okay. Sometimes, trains get canceled with no explanation. The voice at the station will say, "The 5:30 train has been canceled. Thank you." No apologies for the inconvenience or explanation why.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

oh, I'm curious now. what makes edinburgh a far better city than glasgow? 🙂