Marija

Sixteen year old niece who loves to travel (been to Japan, Iceland, Rome and Paris) was visiting last night. She's been enthusiastically lobbying for a trip to London this summer. I explained that although we have loads of frequent flier miles, arrangements have to be made well in advance, especially for four travelers (18 year old sister jumped on board too). To demonstrate my point, I gave her our login info to Virgin Atlantic. I was astounded when she found lots of availability and, under enthusiastic duress, we booked four business class tickets to London, leaving on 9 July, returning 22 July. Now what??? I know it's going to be hot and crowded. Obviously we want to spend time in London, maybe a return to Paris by train. I'm also thinking Venice, which will be extraordinarily crowded and hot, but we'd really like to introduce them to this magical city. I'm looking for suggestions for places to add (maybe Lake Como?) and suggestions for accommodations for four. I must learn to resist the charms of teens who love to travel.

thursdaysd

Eagerly await the TR, Marija, lol. Good luck.

London will be crowded, may or may not be hot. Venice will be very crowded and almost certainly hot.

With four you may want to look at apartments in London.

Lake Como is lovely, but it's late to book accommodation. I had trouble last year and I was booking well ahead of time for late September. The Dolomites are near Venice too, and might be cooler.

sparkchaser

Tickets are still available for the Star Wars Celebration Europe in London for July 15 and 17. So there's something to do.

traveller1959

You have zillions of options.

Why not starting with the nearest things?

England has many lovely destinations and you find scenery, coastline, historic villages, cities, Roman archeology, medieval castles, cathedrals and more in easy reach from London.

Why not exploring Stonehenge, Cornwall, North Devon, Bath, Warwick Castle, Cotswolds? Or you may even go to Scotland - certainly never hot and crowded.

Of course, you can fly to Venice which IS magical indeed (but so are many places in England). You can combine Venice with Lake Garda (nearer than Lake Como and more beautiful IMO), Verona, Padova.

But do not waste too much time for travelling within Europe. Especially in a hot month like July it is not the worst idea to spend most of your time in cool countries like England and Scotland.

janisj

I think just London and Paris would fill your time perfectly. LOTS to do in both cities goes without saying -- but cutting down on extra travel w/ 4 of you will make your lives much easier.

You could do a weekend out of town from either city -

annhig

Marija,

fodorite conventions require that you go to your furthest destination first, and work your way back to your end point; that would put your London stay at the end of the trip, but still leaves you scratching your head for where to go before that.

Having dragged you kicking and screaming on board with this trip, where do your fellow travellers want to go?will they be happy to leave London to last? Do they want to see Paris [again]? are they keener on Venice or Edinburgh?

good luck sorting it out!

29FEB

Goodness, I thought your young niece was about to visit a crazy relative and you wondered what to do about it!

Sassafrass

Definitely Bath. Have they read any Jane Austen? If not, introduce them to her work before the trip. Watch a movie or two of her work. Stay at least overnight. Two would be better. Tour Bath (including Roman Baths) one day. The city has excellent free waking tours in the mornings. Take a Mad Max tour of Cotswold villages the second day. Departs from Bath, and does two or three different tours (one includes Stonehenge, if you have an interest), to several beautiful villages with time for lunch in one and walks in others.

Day trip from London to Oxford (take a short tour offered by the city tourist office), and go to Blenheim Palace. Walk into village of Woodstock. Have lunch or dinner there.

In London, take a canal boat from Little Italy to Camden market. Lots of other great markets in London, but it is fun arriving by boat.

Hampton Court Palace

suze

Sounds exciting! Good for those teens!! With just under 3 weeks I think London, Paris, and Venice alone would make a perfect itinerary.

nytraveler

Agree I would do London and Paris with a couple of day trips - unless everyone has already spent a lot of time there.

Or you could do a road trip in the UK - and probably get more decent weather than heading further south.

kawh

look into the strike/protest situation in paris... both in the news and on these boards. you may want to skip on this. travel is always full of surprises, but you would really need to be flexible in paris... or throughout france.

why not spend time in england... or maybe go up to scotland? Edinburgh is a fantastic city-- thinking it would be great for teens... lots of music, shopping,and history.

summertime-- spend some time at the beachside towns?
i would keep it simple... especially since you mention that she's already been to paris.

Seamus

Can't imagine a worse time to introduce Venice - that time of year it is essentially an overcrowded swamp with overpriced glass baubles. Save it for a trip in more temperate weather.

London + Paris is always a nice plan, though I would also consider London + Bavaria.

janisj

If it was me and having to young women w/ me (and assuming they had both been to Paris before) I would do London, Glasgow and Edinburgh, or London, Liverpool and Edinburgh, or London and Amsterdam.

traveller1959

You have just 11 days in Europe.

Seems that everyone recommends not to waste time for intra-European travelling and rather spend your time in England - which has enough to offer to keeep you occupied.

For some ideas, you may read my old trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...of-england.cfm

I understand that your niece screams "IF I will have crossed the Atlantic I want to see more than one country!". In this case, the only thing that makes sense is a quick, business-trip like dip into ONE, maximum TWO other destinations which are frequently served by flights, so that you can book morning or evening flights in order not to lose whole days for travelling between cities.

E.g., after a few days in London, you can take a morning flight to Berlin, spend 1 night there, then an evening flight to Paris, spend 1 night there and an evening train back to London before spending the remainder of your time in England. This would require 4 days out of 11, but you will scratch only the surfaces of Berlin and Paris. Maybe you can add a day or two for this side trip.

Or, for God's sake, you may fly to Venice, stay for 2 nights in Venice, then to Paris etc. This would require 5 or 6 days out of 11.

bvlenci

We took my granddaughter to Venice last July, when there was a heat wave here in Italy. We grandparents were a bit hot and sagging, but my granddaughter was dancing in the streets. She wants to live there when she grows up. This summer so far is quite chilly, but I don't know if that will last through July. It will indeed be very crowded, but given school schedules, a trip with grandchildren in the off season isn't often feasible. Paris and London will also be very crowded in July.

I suggest you try these possibilities out on your granddaughters and see what makes their eyes light up.

thursdaysd

Will you drive? Can you count Scotland as a second country?

I like the idea of staying in England - I'm spending a month there in August (well, with a little foray into Wales). If you go to Edinburgh maybe you could take the night train up, which would be a nice experience for the kids:
http://seat61.com/CaledonianSleepers.htm

People here speak well of Rabbies tours out of Edinburgh. Then you could head back south stopping in Durham or York or Cambridge.

Or if you want to stay south you could spent nights in Oxford and Bath. I'm sleeping in Christ Church college, Oxford, so I get to eat breakfast in the dining hall used for the Harry Potter movies. You would need two twins, see:
http://www.universityrooms.com

You sound like a very nice aunt, not at all deranged...

sparkchaser

<i> Can you count Scotland as a second country?</i>

http://i.imgur.com/7eELY.gif

Marija

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Scotland is a great idea, as well as exploring more of England. Complicating factors are that the girls want to practice their French (they are both quite advanced) so that's why we've included Paris.

janisj

Then Paris, London and Edinburgh makes a terrific threesome. Easy travel, some French practice and new places.

I would fly directly up to Edinburgh the same day you arrive at LHR and stay 2 or 3 days. Fly to Paris. Eurostar train to London to stay the last week or so. fly home.

Belinda

Can I just say you are an amazing aunt? And Business Class no less! Brava you!

I think Paris and London sound fantastic. Adding other parts of the UK would be nice too. Have the girls pick a few London Walks. What about a cooking class in Paris? I can recommend both La Cuisine Paris and Cook'n With Class, Paris. The Market Classes are really fun.