jackrabbit99

We are spending 3 days in London this summer to just see the sites in the London area itself. Our plan is to take a sleeper train to Edinburgh for 2 days/nights. After Edinburgh we would like to work our way down to see Warwick and Stratford upon the Avon (a full day there) and then to Bath / Stonehedge (a full day there) and then back to London.

Need to some help to work on the logistics. So far I have not come across a sleeper train going directly from Edinburgh to Warwick area.

My backup plan is to go back to London from Edinburgh (via the sleeper train) - stay in London and take day trips to Warwick, Bath, and Stonehedge.

Any suggestions / comments would be appreciated.

sap

Definitely fly into Edinburgh and out of London. Are you renting a car in between? How many total days do you have on the ground?

jackrabbit99

we are coming into London via Paris -- (staying 4 days in Paris) then a evening train to London.

Total days in UK -- 8 days

janisj

(It's Stonehe<u>n</u>ge)

"<i>So far I have not come across a sleeper train going directly from Edinburgh to Warwick area</i>"

There isn't one.

How many days total do you have from arrival in London til flying home? And have you already booked your flights?If not, flying open jaw makes much more sense. Into London and home from Edinburgh or Glasgow. You could see London/Warwick/Bath/Stonehenge all at the beginning of your trip and then spend 2 days in Edinburgh before flying home.

But if you have your flights already -- then I'd flip things around a bit. Fly into London and immediately fly up to EDI. Stay two days and then take the sleeper to London. Visit Warwick and Bath from your base in London. Then fly home from there. This would save you $$/££ and time.

Just to be clear - Three days is not long enough to see more than a small fraction of the major sites in London

janisj

OH - we were posting at the same time.

Since you are coming from Paris --I'd fly from Paris to Edinburgh. Stay the 2 days, sleeper down to London and so on . . .

sap

This seems like a lot of to-ing and fro-ing in a short time period. Personally, I'd just split the time equally between Paris and London; skip Edinburgh this trip; and do daytrips as Janis suggested (but not too many as you have less time than you think). You cannot count your flight days and you cannot really count the day you're traveling between Paris and London. So, how many total days does that give you to split for the whole trip (11, 12)?

sap

As always, Janis' plan makes loads of sense - but can one "see" Edinburgh in two days?

janisj

"<i>but can one "see" Edinburgh in two days?</i>"

They can see a LOT more of Edinburgh in two days then they can of London in three

Actually -- two <u>full</u> days in Edinburgh is a good first taste. The historic center of the city is quite compact and one can see a lot of it in two days. Not everything, and not in depth, but certainly OK. Basically 1.5 days for the castle and Old town and about 1/2 a day for north of Princes Street/New town

Mary24

Agree, you should base yourself in London and do day trips to those places you want to visit. Saves moving all your stuff around.

I have recently done a day trip from London to Stratford on Avon and Warwick. Its a long day! Train from Marylebone Station - but NB I think there is only one train an hour that goes there. Best to do Stratford on Avon first then get back on train down to Warwick. You can walk from the station to the main sites in Stratford and also can walk from the station to Warwick Castle.

alanRow

I'd fly Paris to Edinburgh, stay a couple of nights then fly to Birmingham or possibly Bristol from Edinburgh, pick up a car and do the rest of your itinerary

alanRow

You could also fly to East Midlands from Edinburgh

janisj

that's a good idea - especially flying in to B'ham. But the OP only mentioned trains and day trips so I was guessing driving wasn't in the picture.