# Whats Lincoln like then?



## telbert (Aug 29, 2015)

Talking about my idea of a peaks/lakes trip in the pub last night and someone suggested Lincoln might be nice for a few days either instead of or as well.Actually suggested by someone who's spent almost all their life there so he may well have been a bit biased.Anyone  been recently or got any info?


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 29, 2015)

visit lincoln is probably as good as any when it comes to listing what there is in the city, visit lincolnshire for the county as a whole..  lincolnite is an independent news / what's on sort of thing.

I lived in Lincoln for about 10 years until about 10 years ago, and am there a few times a year (still involved with one or two things there)

Not as big or quite as crowded as York.  A bit more diverse than it was before the university happened.  About an hour from Nottingham on the train, Cleethorpes / Skegness about 45 miles if you want to do a day at the seaside.  Lots of open country - the wolds (to the north / east of Lincoln) are not flat like the south of the county is.

Can recommend a reasonable B&B in Lincoln (just north of the cathedral etc) if you want - that's where mum-tat tends to stay on her visits now.

Depends what you are looking for, really...


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## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Aug 29, 2015)

Mostly what Puddy_Tat said. I'm from Lincoln - it's definitely a lot nicer for a visitor than it used to be when it was a bit of a 'did you call my pint a poof' sort of place tbh. The Uni does seem to have been the catalyst. I'd say the city is probably good for a couple of days touristing, with most of the stuff you'd want to see being up around the castle and cathedral area. Any more than that and you'd definitely want a car to get out into the countryside IMO. Don't even bother trying to use public transport outside the city.


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## telbert (Aug 29, 2015)

Right,at the moment i'm looking for a couple of days  spent walking in the mornings(not too far,even just around the city  would probably do),eating good food,drinking decent beer and wine in the afternoons and evenings, a bit of shopping and some local culture thrown in for good measure. We spent a few days in York a couple of years ago,did the same sort of thing along with the christmas market and really loved the place.


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## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Aug 29, 2015)

telbert said:


> Right,at the moment i'm looking for a couple of days  spent walking in the mornings(not too far,even just around the city  would probably do),eating good food,drinking decent beer and wine in the afternoons and evenings, a bit of shopping and some local culture thrown in for good measure. We spent a few days in York a couple of years ago,did the same sort of thing along with the christmas market and really loved the place.



I'd say that's about right. You'll have a nice couple of days doing that but any longer and it might get a bit boring. I'm a bit out of touch wrt good beer and food but I know it is there these days. Plenty of choice around the top of the hill.


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 29, 2015)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> Don't even bother trying to use public transport outside the city.



or inside the city of an evening - with the exception of a couple of routes, most of it stops about 7pm.

that having been said, there is a reasonable inter-urban bus network - although mostly monday to saturday daytimes.

so if you want to go to grantham and visit the (former) grocers' shop that maggie grew up in then you can.  

if you're off any of those routes, you're talking about a few buses a day if that.

there are a number of newish out-of-town type hotels on the southern fringes of Lincoln, but you'd need a taxi back to them if you go out of an evening to anywhere other than the fairly plastic pub or two nearby.



telbert said:


> drinking decent beer



http://www.victoriapub.net/ - just outside the castle walls



telbert said:


> a couple of days spent walking in the mornings



http://www.walkinginlincs.co.uk/walks.php


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## dessiato (Aug 29, 2015)

Nice place. I like it.


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 29, 2015)

Close to Lincoln, and good for a mooch for perhaps half a day - or longer if you like antique shops etc (better on market days) is Newark.  

Gannetts Cafe (close to the castle) is highly commended for tea and carrot cake.

Trains about every hour from Lincoln.  Some buses, although these are more intended to link the villages in between with Lincoln and Newark so it's not exactly direct.


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## telbert (Aug 29, 2015)

Thanks for all the info.Lincoln is definately looking favourite now(the peaks/lakes thing may now be a blokey walking/boozing thing a bit later in the year) so any recommendations for accomodation,pubs and restaurants will be most gratefully received,including your one please Puddy Tat.


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## spanglechick (Aug 29, 2015)

Puddy_Tat said:


> Close to Lincoln, and good for a mooch for perhaps half a day - or longer if you like antique shops etc (better on market days) is Newark.
> 
> Gannetts Cafe (close to the castle) is highly commended for tea and carrot cake.
> 
> Trains about every hour from Lincoln.  Some buses, although these are more intended to link the villages in between with Lincoln and Newark so it's not exactly direct.


If antiques (and 20th century stuff) are your thing (or vintage clothing and jewellery, as it is mine), and you have a car, Hemswell Cliff antique centre is a simply enormous collection of small antique traders collected in several huge buildings. Prices generally much cheaper than in London. About half an hour's drive outside Lincoln and very much worth the effort for the sheer scale of the place.  I think perhaps it holds some status like "biggest in Europe".


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## marty21 (Aug 29, 2015)

Used to stay in Lincoln a lot when my father in law lived just outside it. Stayed a couple of times at the Hilton (it was usually between £80-£100 a night but the last time was about 3 years ago) it is central so we walked every where. There were some decent restaurants up by the cathedral/castle and a few ok pubs up there. The younger folk seemed to prefer a strip of bars and clubs at the bottom of the hill.


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## Puddy_Tat (Aug 29, 2015)

telbert said:


> so any recommendations for accomodation,pubs and restaurants will be most gratefully received,including your one please Puddy Tat.



http://www.newportguesthouse.com/index.html has the mum-tat seal of approval


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## dessiato (Aug 30, 2015)

Nice place. I like it.


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## QOTH (Aug 30, 2015)

Hello from Lincoln! I'm here right now, visiting my dad. There's a steampunk festival on at the moment so some sights to be seen!  

The cathedral's genuinely impressive, the castle has recently been refurbished / visitor facilities improved and steep hill is pretty and  has lots of nice little shops  / cafes.  Plenty of real ale pubs if that's your thing.  It's got roman ruins, a decent museum and a working windmill (which I can never catch open).   The Lawns has a small hothouse with tropical plants, carp etc.  that sells nice garden tat 

The university's definitely made it more lively.  

I like hills, so the flatness of the surrounding countryside is a bit of downside IMO but you could have a pleasant couple of days I reckon. 

My stepmum complains that there aren't enough decent places to eat and that if you want to eat out, you have to book, but there seem to be plenty of places (all the obvious chain places + some independents / gastropubs)


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## Pickman's model (Aug 30, 2015)

hilly.


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## bi0boy (Aug 30, 2015)

Dead


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## Pickman's model (Aug 30, 2015)

you're right bi0boy, it's dead hilly


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## Elpenor (May 18, 2021)

Spending a night there in September as part of my little tour around various aviation museums. Never been, so hoping to have a look at the cathedral as a minimum, perhaps find somewhere to eat and have a few beers too. I've already learnt that I'm staying "downhill" and the cathedral is "uphill"


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## dessiato (May 18, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Spending a night there in September as part of my little tour around various aviation museums. Never been, so hoping to have a look at the cathedral as a minimum, perhaps find somewhere to eat and have a few beers too. I've already learnt that I'm staying "downhill" and the cathedral is "uphill"


It's a Steep Hill too.


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## DaveCinzano (May 18, 2021)

telbert said:


> Whats Lincoln like then?


The forgotten biscuit

😥


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## platinumsage (May 18, 2021)

You’ll just miss the steampunk festival at the end of August. I went to it once by mistake and it seemed like fun, lots of costumes and standing around outside pubs. That’s the only time I’ve been to Lincoln so I’m not sure what it’s like when it’s normal.


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## Puddy_Tat (May 18, 2021)

Elpenor said:


> Spending a night there in September as part of my little tour around various aviation museums. Never been, so hoping to have a look at the cathedral as a minimum, perhaps find somewhere to eat and have a few beers too. I've already learnt that I'm staying "downhill" and the cathedral is "uphill"



the cathedral, castle, museum of lincolnshire life and the victoria pub (think it only does food lunch times not evenings) are all quite close together in what's marketed as 'the cathedral quarter'

if you don't fancy a walk up + down steep hill, then stagecoach bus 7 or 8 is every 10 minutes from the bus station weekday daytimes, the lincoln hotel bus stop is just past the cathedral, or a couple of stops on is the lincs life museum.

there is a small independent transport museum in the south of the city (again accessible by bus - although slightly less frequent)

the golden eagle pub is in the downhill end of high street 

all subject to covid related disclaimers about being open or not.


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## dessiato (May 18, 2021)

Have a wander along the riverside opposite the uni. There’s a couple of reasonable watering holes there.


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