Trips for All

Trips to places in the UK

The trips for all team arrange trips to places within the UK, advance notice of trips is given in the journal.

A big thank-you to everyone who joined us on the Rochester Christmas Market trip and took the time to email—it's lovely to hear how much you enjoyed the day! (And yes, you may already have spotted the flyer for our March 2026 outing to the London Postal Museum.)

Looking a little further ahead, here are the other trips we’ve lined up for 2026:

• April: Vineyard wine tasting, with a visit to a National Trust property for lunch

• June: Bletchley Park

• July: Lunch at a riverside pub in Hertfordshire followed by a 2.5-hour river cruise

• October: Sheffield Park & the Bluebell Railway

• December: Christmas at Windsor

Just like we did with the Rochester trip, we’ll put a Save the Date reminder in the journal two months before each outing, and the following month you’ll see the application form along with the exact date bookings will open.

All bookings will be on a first-come, first-served basis and will close automatically once the coach is full, though we’ll start a waiting list after that. Your seat will be confirmed once payment reaches the u3a bank. If the process might be tricky for any reason, just let us know beforehand—we’re very happy to help and can submit the application for you if needed.

Trips for All Team

IMPORTANT Information:

New, stress-free booking system!

To make booking for trips easier and fairer for all, we're moving to a new, first-come, first-served system, starting with the trip to Rochester Christmas Market on 6 December 2025.

•  Details will be made available one month before booking opens. We'll share them in the journal and via email to all members for whom we have an email address.

• In the following month’s journal, when bookings open, you'll find an online application link and the cut-off date.

• All requests for places on a trip will be dated and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

•  If you don’t use email, you can still apply.  Once bookings open, you can hand in your application at the Wednesday meeting or either of the 2 coffee mornings and a team member will process your application for you.  But you will need to phone the organiser beforehand so that your application is dated from your phone call and not from when it is processed.

•  IMPORTANT   Applications will only be considered accepted once we can see your BACS payment online.  If you wish to pay by cheque or contactless, then phone the organiser in case of postal delays. The booking form will close once the trips team are confident that the coach will be full, which may be before the cut-off date, so don’t leave it to the last minute as the online booking form may close before the cut-off date.

•  If you have applied via the booking form after the coach becomes full you will be placed on a waiting list.  If the booking form has been closed and you would like to go on the waiting list, please contact the organiser.

•  As soon as the coach is deemed to be full, everyone who has been successful will be notified via email. An email will also be sent to those placed on the waiting list.

•  This means that there will be no need for a ballot, and no unnecessary waiting to know whether you have a place.

Updated Booking and Payment Information

To ensure a fair and efficient booking process, we ask that online applications be submitted and paid for at the same time via BACS.  Your booking date will be recorded as the date your payment, with your unique reference, is shown on our bank statement.

However, if you're not comfortable with the BACS system, we will of course still accept cheques or contactless payments, if absolutely necessary.

We hope these changes make it easier for everyone to join us for many more fun adventures. We can't wait to hear your ideas for 2026!

Sue Terry trips@tonbridgeu3a.uk