London is a good place to spend a day or two, I suggest getting out of London...Go to Oxford, the Cotswolds, Strafford upon Avon, Banbury has an excellent street market on the weekends and most of these places are accessable of of the M40, there is also a great flea market just ouside of Bichester

I have to agree that if you are visiting Great Britain for a vacation, you have to go outside of London for a few day or over-night trips.

London is a wonderful city, full of great historic and cultural experinences; if you've never been there, you should plan on at least 4 full days to take in the sites (and even that won't let you cover everything).

I've made 5 trips to England, and I had a great time taking days trips from London or staying in other areas/towns.

For day trips from London, don't miss Canterbury and all the attractions in Kent. Canterbury is about an hour train trip from London. There are also many guided, day-long bus tours from London - one my family enjoyed took us to Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath.

For the naval history buff, a trip to Portsmouth is worthwhile.

If you want some overnight trips, I'd suggest a stay in Bath, or better yet, to Wells, which is south of Bath. Wells is a great cathedral town with a moated bishop's palace and some great small-town charm. There's a cathedral school for music, specializing is choral music. It's sometimes tough to get a place to stay when school is in session, so try and go during one of the many school breaks (there's still in-residence choirs that perform nightly at the cathedral). Best of all is a short bus ride from Wells to Glastonbury, site of the famous abbey (now in ruins), the purported location of the Holy Grail (you can drink from the "Chalice Well"), the burial site (supposedly) of King Arthur, a fantastic summer festival and loads of New Age weirdness.

I'd also recommend York - for at least a 3-night stay. You can take a train from London, or you can fly into Manchester for a shorter (and cheaper) train ride. York was founded by the Romans, but it's been in the hands of Britons, Danes (Vikings) Saxons, Normans.... It has the largest Gothic cathedral north of the Alps, a fantastic city museum, nightly ghost tours, the National Railway Museum (free), a 14th century market area, abbey ruins, a nearly complete circular city wall and real friendly citizens.

If outdoors adventure is your "cup of tea", there are several great walking/hiking areas, such as the Cotswolds, Devon & Cornwall, a hiking trail that runs along he English Channel coast, and national parks in Wales, Yorkshire and Lancastershire. One place I really enjoyed for hiking was the Lake District - but go beyond Lake Windermere (it's crowded and "touristy"); I stayed the little town of Keswick (pronounced "KESS-ick") which is in the center of the Lake District. Great hiking trails, a hop-on-hop-off lake steamer that will take you to different trailheads, nice B&Bs and the Pencil Museum (yes, it really exists).

As a note, unless you're a huge Beatles fan, I'd avoid Liverpool. Also, Blackpool and Brighton are places to go only if you want to experience the kitschy, carnival atmosphere of a bygone English era.

When travelling to England, check to see if you can purchase a rail pass before going there; sometimes you can get a bargain that you wouldn't get if you waited to buy a pass in England. There are several web sites, but check in with a travel agent as well.

One other travel tip - I found that getting travelers cheques in British pounds or Euros (for the rest of Europe) here in America makes it much easier to use them. Many places in Europe charge more to exchange travelers cheques in US dollars; and more places will except ones in local currancy. Ask you bank (usually their main office) or go to one of the US traveler checques companies (American Express, Cook's, etc.) - they have web sites where you can order, but there's extra costs.


Well, I hops I wasn't too long-winded here....

Just wanted to share the joys of traveling with everyone.

Great info! This will be very helpful in planning a spring 2009 visit to England.

That is some great infomation..Thank you. I have always wanted to see london and see some fantastic places and the accents mesmerize me. . I would love to also see Italy, Scotland and some other great places. Hopefully I will.

Thanks for the infomation.

If you're in London and are getting tired of the mess the noise and the hullabaloo I recommend a day out in Cambridge.... it's like a fairytale!

Guys another idea to get out of London, but this time metaphorically. I've been to the Emirates Stadium last Monday to an exhibition about the Canary Islands. It was great! One of the best ideas for a relaxing day off... dreaming of the real escape.
Free smoothies, massages, and minigolf! What more could you ask?
Check it out on www.stadiumsofhappiness.com and let me know if it does it for you ;-)

When is the weather the nicest in London?

Staying in London for 4 days.
Any advice on how to conquer the
most sites for this limited stay?
Thinking about staying at the Browns
Hotel in Mayfair. It's my first trip
to London. Is this the best vantage
point to travel from?
Is it possible to see the major highlights of
the city as well as including some of
the countryside?

Could someone tell me the about Cambridge?
A member called it "fairytale" like.
What are the best places to visit here?
Is it far from the city?
What is the best way to get there?

Sharon,

The weather is always going to be hit or miss with London. The summer is obviously the nicest, but the spring and fall are also enjoyable.

Mayfair is a very nice, posh part of London. London is very accessible from anywhere in zones 1-3 pretty much, as you can transfer lines very easily. Avoid using the tube during rush hours though as some lines are a nightmare. My best advice is get familiar with the bus system. The tube is fast but you can see the whole city by bus. I've been here for a year now and prefer taking the bus sometimes just to sit in the front row of a double decker to take in the city views.

If you only have four days, I would recommend spending most of your time in London, unless you are dying to see the countryside. Four days is not much time. I would spend a day seeing the major attractions like the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St. Pauls Cathedral etc. Take another day going to the museums. Almost all of them are free as well!

For your other two days, I would recommend doing something outside central London. Hampstead Heath is London's largest park and is actually more of a giant nature center. Check out Parliament Hill where you can see the whole city. My friends and I love the pubs in Hampstead and Belsize Park. Go down to Wimbledon and see the stadium and take a tour. The Kew Gardens near Richmond are amazing. Take the DLR or boat to Greenwich and check out the maritime museum and university.

Go to some of the markets: Portabello Rd, Borough Market for food, Camden Market, the Spitalfields Market, Covent Garden Market.

...and you can always go see a show in the West End or football match. Buy tickets directly from the theatres in the mornings. They often give you deals or sell front row tickets for cheap (I know Wicked does this). Don't buy from discount ticket stands!

Other things I believe are a ripoff: Madame Taussads, London Eye, and London Aquarium. If you are going to spend money to see something, see something that has a little bit of history to it.

And as for Cambridge being like a fairytale, I wouldn't go that far. There is much more to do in Oxford I'd say. But if you want somewhere closer to London than going all the way to Bath or the Cotswalds, check out Winchester, England.

Hope this helps! Enjoy your trip!

Sharon,

Due to the business I was in, I could only travel internationally in the "off-season" of October through March. While it does get colder those months, I was very surprised at teh mild weather during late October in London. A sweater and a light jacket was all I needed. While there were some days of rain during my 5 trips to the British Isles, I had just as many days of full sunshine, even in December or February.
(Maybe it's that I'm from Chicago, but any late-Fall or winter where the temps are in the low 50s or high 40s is a plus.)

As for what to see on a 4-day in London, Camden Erik has some great advice of hitting the major attractions. However, unless you're there when they are offering interior tours, I'd pass on Buckingham Palace.

While Westminster Abbey is wonderful, as is St. Paul's, don't miss out on visiting Westminster Cathedral, the main Roman Catholic church in London; it's located close to Victoria Station; it's built in a Byzantine style with lavish side chapels and a tall bell-tower observation deck.

The British Museum is a wonderful place, but you may need two days to take in every aspect of the place.

If history is your bag, also go to the Imperial War Museum. The tower of London is great, but get there early for the first guided tour.

One thing you should do on your first day is to take the "Hop-On, Hop-Off" tour bus. This is a guided tour of the major sites of London; you pay one fee and get a ticket that lets you get off at any of the sites and thenn come out and get on the next tour bus; the ticket is usually good all day.

London restaurants are a bit expensive, especially for the dinner menu. Take advantageof any B&B or hotel that offers breakfast. My favorite theing to do for lunch was to stop in a local bakery for their savory baked goods, or to go to a local supermarket, manyof which have very nice and affordable deli-style foods. The Chelsea Kitchen in the King's End area was a gem I discovered on one of my trips; great food at about half the price of other London dinner places. Many of the museums have nice lunch places, and most pubs offer good deals on lunch and sinner (but they are clsed in the mid-afternoon).

For beer, London is crowded with great pubs. Try and find a place that serves "real ale" (cask ale) like The Sun (located a few blocks from the British Museum. Many pubs serve only one brewery line; a "Free House" pub is one that serves beers from several breweries.

As for a day trip out of London, I really loved Canterbury, which is only a 45-minute to 1 hour train ride from London. Great cathedral; wonderful archeological site of St. Augustine's abbey; and the first Christian church in England, St. Martin's, located on a hill overlooking the cathedral. You can also get to Dover in about an hour and a half by train. Leeds Castle is located southeast of London, in Kent (not far from Canterbury and Dover) and is one of the most picturesque castles in England; however, it's closed during the winter.

Also, there are several tour companies that offer day trips; on my first trip to London, we took a guided bus tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury (great cathedral) and Bath. we were picked up at about 9 a.m. and were back in London about 6 p.m.

You should buy a transit pass for London's Underground and busses; you can usually purchase a one-day, 3-day or 6-day pass when you get there, but you can sometimes get a discounted pass through travel agents or web sites before you travel.

Hope all of this helps. Enjoy your trip.

cambridge is maybe an hour on the train from london. the college is cool and very historic. The chapel was built with many interruptions, one being the war of the roses i think, from 1450 or so to 1530 ish? google it. the story is great. The place is beautiful.

there is a market on multiple days of the week. Take the bus or taxi from the train station if you dont want eh 20 minute walk. well worth the trip. and a very bruitish lunch can be had at the cornish pasty shop ust off the market. enjoy!

While I find London very exciting and historically interesting, I definitely agree that leaving the big city is a must.

I loved Cambridge, Kings College chapel is just breathtaking. Having lunch at the pub frequented by US soldiers during WWII was fun, especially seeing the decals plastered all over, from the various squadrons and military units. Make time to visit the American cemetery; it's very emotional.

Windsor and Warwick Castle are worth visiting.

Please don't forget a trip to misterious Stonehenge.

The market in Oxford was an eye opener, unlike anything in the US.

There's a Black and White building in Chester dating back to 1571 still with it's original timbers. Then there's Chester cathedral, in 1992 celebrating it's 900th anniversary, with magnificant stained glass windows, and woodwork in the Quire which dates from about 1380 and in the Chapter House, an oak cupboard dating from 1290. Really worth the trip.

Enough said! Happy Travels.

Everyone should see London at least one time in their life. Right now is the perfect time to go because there are so many London Discount Hotels that offer a variety of London Hotel Discounts. Ask if you you don't see any. The hotels are always willing to help.
Cheers!

London is my favorite vacation spot!
The food is fabulous, the people are hospitable, and the public transportation is incredible!
Michael,
Vacations Orlando