US tourists traveling in the UK

[welshdragon]

Wales - Scotland by rail is no fun...

[JamieLei]

If 11th century Britain, it's well worth visiting the huge array of castles. Warwick Castle would be highly recommended (could do in a day trip from London) and Lindisfarne in Northumberland, near Berwick-upon-Tweed (although possibly a little difficult to do by public transport - coach trips from Berwick may be available).

Stonehenge, an iconic stone monument dating back from 2500BC is also worth visiting, which is also day-trippable from London, and give-or-take on the way to Bath/Bristol/South Wales.

[orudge]

Wales - Scotland by rail is no fun...

Eh, I never found it too bad. To be fair, the "Wales" bit in my journey was minimal though. The wait at the soul-destroying Warrington Bank Quay was never especially fun though.

One can always fly to Edinburgh from Manchester, and Manchester is very accessible from North Wales.

[JamieLei]

One can always fly to Edinburgh from Manchester, and Manchester is very accessible from North Wales.

Although if using rail passes, it may be best use to maximise the use out of them

and Jamie: it's far easier to catch the early morning Dublin Swift (90 minute crossing) and then the 8pm Ulysses sailing (takes 3 hours, you can get some sleep on the ferry). I'm pretty certain there are connecting trains at that time of night from Holyhead too...

I'd still advise flying to Ireland though, unless specifically intending to visit Wales along the way. The trains to the connecting ferries are rather slow in comparison with other intercity trains. It takes 4 hours on the _fast_ train from London to Holyhead (for ferry to Dublin). An 8 hour journey from Dublin to London might want to suck the life out of you, and more importantly, your family who I assume are not rail affectionately to the extent that many of us are!

Welshie remember, you live in North Wales anyway, so it's A LOT faster for you to nip to Dublin than the rest of us!

[Dave]

The wait at the soul-destroying Warrington Bank Quay was never especially fun though.

Surprised you didn't leave smelling of unilever.

[61653]

I'd recommend visiting Bradford- That'll cure your daughter's Anglophilia

Also, if you're wanting to visit Scotland or Cornwall from London, you could always use the Sleepers from Euston/Paddington respectively... that'll give you a full day in the destination city.

[audigex]

It would be a crime to visit the UK and not spend at least a day in the lakes. Stay overnight in Penrith (3 and a half hours from euston) and head to coniston or one of the more obscure "lakes" (actually, there's only one lake in the lake district... technically).

You could spend a month in London and still only see a fraction of what it has to offer, but London isn't Britain.

[ostlandr]

Thanks again for all the great advice.

Not sure if I should visit Lindisfarne again or not. It's been over 1,200 years- I'm sure they're not still mad about that little raid, but you never know.

The Lake District sounds like fun. There's a Lady who lives there who might be able to point me in the direction of Macsen Wledig's sword. {My daughter just piped in with "Strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government!"}

Sounds like we have plenty of travel options. The only problem I see is, if I take my Lady Wife to either Scotland or Ireland, getting her to leave again. It's bad enough getting her down out of the Adirondack Mountains.

[Dave]

Screw the outlying nations that we pay to keep *ducks orudge's fist*; England is where it's at!

[orudge]

Tsk, we contribute our fair share, etc etc. Jettison the likes of Norfolk, what have they ever done for us?

[Dave]

They certainly don't offer a reason to visit! Not even Gavin Dough Land.

[Bad Hair Day]

Thanks again, gang! We'll check out St. Andrews University and University College of London.

Bath and York sound interesting. My interest in England tends more towards the 11th century than the 18th.

The original "Battle Plan" for the trip was to fly to London, get rail passes, and take off every day to see the country. New plan- fly to London, spend a couple of days, then on to Edinburgh and the Lowlands, then Wales, then across to Dublin and fly home from there. I know, I could spend a year in London and not soak up all the history. . .

You should definatly try to visit the Lake District if possible as well. It's well worth the stay.

[Ameecher]

They certainly don't offer a reason to visit! Not even Gavin Dough Land.

The OW sounds is more like the sound you'll make when I punch you in the face rather than the stuff in bread.

As for Norfolk, it's nice enough but I'd generally recommend elsewhere in the country first. When you're 60+ and retired come to Norfolk, or you're a bird watcher. Plenty of tits around. Norwich is nice enough, it even proclaims on the signs as you enter that it is 'A fine City'.

But yeah, go to the Peak District, the Lake District, the Antrim Coast etc before Norfolk. Although don't leave Norfolk too long, it's disappearing into the sea at an alarming rate!

[Seeker]

This may sound off the wall for a day trip but you could go to Paris. If you leave london St Pancres at 9am you'll be in Paris by Lunch.

Other than that heres a good website that lists where you can go for a day from London. It lists whats there, how long it takes and what station to leave from.

http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/lo ... trips.html

Some of the kent journeys are now quicker using the Highspeed link
Hope thats of some help

[JamieLei]

Paris is really best done in 2 days - 1 day you'll be trying to fit everything in and won't really enjoy it!

[JGR]

Frankly you've no chance of doing it in 1 or 2 days.
If you go you might as just enjoy yourself and not stress about seeing everything...

[welshdragon]

Yeah, Paris isn't the best city to try to explore in a day, you only see titbits of what is essentially a magnificent city...

[teccuk]

Hmm. Despite the spambot 'bump'...

Did ostlandr come to the UK for the Olympics in the end?

[gobbybobby]

This may sound off the wall for a day trip but you could go to Paris. If you leave london St Pancres at 9am you'll be in Paris by Lunch.

Other than that heres a good website that lists where you can go for a day from London. It lists whats there, how long it takes and what station to leave from.

http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk/lo ... trips.html

Some of the kent journeys are now quicker using the Highspeed link
Hope thats of some help

I took a day trip to paris once. Flew from Heathrow T5 with BA at 7.30Am, stayed in a Heathrow T5 hotel for the 5am start, When we got to Paris airport (charle de dauge, spelt like that or something) got the train into Paris arrived 11am, had to get train back to airport by 2pm to make flight 4pm back. It was hot 37C. walked around for about an hour Ate in a McDonalds in an cool underground shopping center, then it was time to go. Worse day trip ever


flew to Paris to eat a McDonalds. Brilliant!

[Chris]

Well 3 hours is quite a time constraint.