LT - fact is Heathrow is the busiest airport in Europe and outside the largest European city (by far = 2x the size of Berlin) west of Russia. So yeah, traffic may suck.

Personally, I wouldn't stay in Kensington but would stay in South Kensington. The first is a bit far from most sites by Tube. Bayswater offers less direct connections to most of the tourist areas than South Kens.

South Kens is better - both the Piccadilly Line that goes through the center of London and the District/Circle Lines that will take you to the Tower, Westminster and (close to) Trafalgar are at the South Kens Tube stop. Plus you can take a nice bus ride on the 9 on Kensington Road. That route still runs the old Routemasters (the classic London bus), straight to Piccadilly Circus.

BigRuss - she is considering Kennington - not Kensington!

On our first trip to the UK, we were 31 and 38 and arrived at London airport, got car, and drove to Bath. We've now made over 30 trips to Europe and UK and my husband still painfully remembers how awful that first drive was, and has never forgiven the travel agent that planned the trip for us.
The poster who suggested doing the road trip at the end of your trip is spot on. If you have an early flight home, you arrive the night before, check into an airport hotel (good deals on internet can be found), and fly out the next morning. If you have a night flight, even easier to turn in the car and be at the airport after a day of touring and driving.
We've been to LHR 3 times in the last year, and I can attest to the traffic on the roads around LHR. On week-ends it becomes a parking lot

Louistraveler5, maybe those 200 B&B reviews are genuine, but Trip Advisor is notorious for fake reviews. There are companies who actually pay ghost writers to post them. Do a google on 'trip advisor fake reviews' and you will get hits such as this: http://tripadvisor-warning.com/pay-for-reviews.

As for the driving issue, I live near an American air base, and over the years have seen many cases of newbies driving on the wrong side of the road (sometimes resulting in serious accidents), shredding their tires on curbs because they aren't used to the steering wheel being on the right, etc. When you first drive in England you need all your wits about you, especially in the busy traffic around Heathrow.

<<BigRuss - she is considering Kennington - not Kensington>>

Jami: You're late to the party. I've been on this thread since she posted. I know - see my post giving her SUGGESTIONS OF OTHER AREAS FOR LODGING in response to her (correct) complaint that no one else had done so despite fussing at her over choosing Kennington.

In the post you're commenting upon, I responded to your suggestions of other places (Bayswater, Kensington, etc.).

Oh BigRuss, you have a way with words :) It didnt read like that to me - but happy to have you correct me and anyone else who misinterpreted.

Louistravel, Annhig's plan for going straight to Bath, then doing Stonehenge and Winchester (and possibly Salisbury) on the way back to London is excellent. It makes more sense to do Windsor as a day trip from London rather than Winchester, imo.

jamikins: So traffic is like this always? On weekends? >>

louistravel - up until a year or so ago we hadn't been anywhere nearLHR for years. then we had a flight out of LHR late on a Sunday night, so we decided to drive, allowing ourselves 6 hours for the drive from Cornwall to LHR [remember Jamikins said it took them 8?]

the first 2 hours were fine but past Exeter the traffic got thicker and by the time we were within 2 hours of London, it was very thick and slow moving. this was a random sunday in September.
we made it, but not with as much time to spare as we would have liked.

you just can't tell what traffic on and around the M25 and M4 will be like.

or anywhere else.

trophywife - thank you. I keep telling my family how clever I am but they don't believe me.

Ann, a prophet is never honored in his/her own country or family, apparently!

Hi! We did a whirlwind tour of England last September. I think you can do everything (or at least most of everything) you want to do if you do some re-ordering. Here’s how I might plan it, based on our own experience:

Saturday May 17: Arrive in London @ 7am; take the tube (or series of tubes) to your hotel. (We stayed near the Waterloo Station.) After settling in, go for a walk! You can see the exteriors of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and if you’re up to it, Hyde Park & Kensington Palace – there is a nice garden there. Then get a good night's sleep :-)

Sunday May 18: Most of the cathedrals (Westminster, St. Paul’s) will be closed for services, so I’d go to the London Museum (pretty interesting), London Monument, Southwark Cathedral (we didn’t go inside) and Winchester Cathedral (ruins). There is a lot to see and do in this area, including lots of nice waterfront restaurants along the Thames.

Monday May 19: Westminster Abbey tour, British Museum. There is NO WAY you can see everything there is to see in the British Museum in one visit. I also think one full day would be overwhelming; my advice is to spend two half-days there.

Tuesday May 20: St. Paul’s Cathedral tour, British Museum, perhaps Tower of London. Even if there’s no time for a tour, there is plenty to see from the outside, including “Traitors Gate” and a cool sundial nearby that depicts London’s historical timeline. Also, check out the hours for the British Museum. I think it might be open later one day of the week (but I could be getting my museums mixed up.)

Wednesday May 21: Rent a car and drive to Winchester Cathedral, Salisbury Plain, Old Sarum, Stonehenge (we got there near sunset and spent about an hour; very cool at that time of day!); and continue to Bath for the evening. This may seem ambitious to some, but we did it, and we did not feel rushed.

Thursday May 22: Visit Bath – yes, one day is plenty! In fact, if you get an early enough start, you might be able to see everything you want to see (mostly the old Roman baths) in the morning, then drive to the beautifully quintessential English village of Castle Combe (in the Cotswolds, of which I knew nothing before planning our trip!) From there, you may wish to spend the evening in Oxford or wherever else is convenient for you for your next day’s flight.

Friday May 23: Fly home.

As an alternative to one of these days, you might take a train to Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace. We took the train to Windsor, saw the castle, then caught the “Staines” train to Hampton Court and spent the rest of the day there before returning to London. We saw as much as we wanted to see of Windsor Castle, but we didn’t linger in the town because we wanted to get to Hampton Court Palace. There is SO much to see at HCP, both inside and out (lovely gardens), so I’m not sorry we didn’t stay longer in Windsor.

Bottom line: You can do it!! You just have to make it work for you!!

DejaDeb:
First, OMG...I googled pictures of Castle Combe...wow!
Thanks so much for your reply!

Here are a few things regarding your reply:
1) Sunday May 18, you stated to do, the London Museum, London Monument, and Winchester Cathedral. You are saying that we can do something in London that morning then take the train out to Winchester to see the cathedral? Do we have time to do a couple of sights in London then train to Winchester? Perhaps, I can talk to my dad and we can nix Winchester.

2) I actually just noticed that on Wed May 21 when you stated we get the rental you also listed Winchester Cathedral. Back on Sunday, I would add something else to the London Museum and London Monument. We also want to see the Imperial War Museum.

3)Other people have mentioned this as well, Windsor as a day trip. I don't see Windsor being a day trip. It can be if paired with HCP. I didn't know about HCP until user posted about it. I would love to do that too! I just thought we would visit Windsor Castle for a couple of hours then we would be done.

4) I'm concerned with being too far from the airport before our flight home. We will be flying United and at first I was thinking of booking the 9:30am flight back home. Now with Bath/etc possibly at the end of the trip we may need a later flight home. Other options are...11:40am and 1:35pm.

5) Where do you suggest we get the rental car? Airport, then head out?

6) What hotel did you stay at?

There are so many things...I need to rework my itinerary!

I believe she meant Winchester palace ruins which are just a walk behind Southwark Cathedral. There really is no way to do Winchester the same day as the other sites on may 18. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/d...hester-palace/

Windsor is considered a day trip because you need to allow time to get to the train station, buy your tickets, wait for the train, take the train, walk to the castle, wait to get into the palace,...spend time at the palace, eat lunch...then reverse the whole thing. You may also want to visit Eton or the town centre.

HCP also takes most if the day and you won't have time to do both in one day realistically.

If you plan to stay in Bath the final night I don't think you can make any of those flight options. I would plan to spend the night before at the airport or perhaps spend your final night in Windsor - you could plan to visit the castle the afternoon before your flight and spend the night there.

Staying in Kennington...Why not go a little further south and stay on Coldharbour Lane, then you'll really know you're alive!!! And before you start - I lived in Brixton for years (and liked it) but I'm not sure I'd ever suggest visitors stay in Kennington. I used to go past the B&B in question on the 118 bus (on the way to Borough Market) and as fellow-londoner jammikins noted it is on a very busy road, so won't be quiet.

louistraveler there are plenty of other areas to stay in as the others have suggested, so don't stay in Kennington just for the sake of the Imperial War Museum (renovations should be finished by next year). Bloomsbury has a lot of B&Bs and is an easy walk to the British Museum and other sights, as well as easy to navigate for Tube and bus travel. Or go with KenSINGton or even Pimlico if you want to be on that side of town. You don't want to be mucking around with too much travel across the city - and the blasted Northern Line let's you down often!

I still like my suggestion, :-) but if the latest flight home you can get leaves at 1:35, you'll definitely want to spend your last night at the airport or at Windsor, as jamikins suggested.

Lee Ann

<<Windsor is considered a day trip because you need to allow time to get to the train station, buy your tickets, wait for the train, take the train, walk to the castle, wait to get into the palace,...spend time at the palace, eat lunch...then reverse the whole thing>>

Jami may know if this option is available, but we cut the line at the castle by purchasing ticket vouchers at the train station with our train tickets. This was at Waterloo station, cut 3 quid each from the entry fee for the Castle and allowed us to go to the "ticketholders" line to get in instead of waiting on a round-the-block line to purchase tickets at the Castle gates.

One last plea for the Kennington B&B...I am exhausting myself by scouring the internet for hours looking for a comparative b&b or hotel. I cannot find one! First, it is hard to find one for 3 people. I can't find one as nice as the Kennington one. It is noted in some reviews of the busy street/noise but reviewers that have stayed on the top floor have no problem with the noise. I am a very heavy sleeper! Each guest has a floor to themselves. The top floor is one price 150 pounds, has a bedroom with a connecting living area that has a queen sofa bed. Also, there is a terrace with this floor.

My last plea w/ only 4 nights in London:
1) Will it really be that hard to manage getting from the Kennington B&B to the sights?
What if we took a taxi each morning to a major sight?

Taking the taxi once per morning would put us in the zone of major sights which then we could walk/take tube to other sights.

2) Is the neighborhood really that bad? Dangerous?

I don't know the area, but I will say this, being 20 minutes away will seem much longer after a few days of commuting. I understand that London prices are riduculously high but with 4 days, you are really doing yourself a disservice by staying in a remote area, and one with no amenities, i.e. pubs, restaurants, etc. We have learned that it is really a vacation when, after a long day of touring, you can return to your rooms, have a rest, a shower, a drink and then re-energize for dinner, or a London play. The high traffic street would be the final red flag for me.

Have you looked at renting an apartment?

I have looked at some apartments but I didn't want it to feel like too much space for only 4 days. It would seem like a waste and I would like to have breakfast at our b&b before venturing out. If we didn't have the breakfast we would have to take time to seek that out as well.

Louise - you may be too early to book for next May which may be why you are having trouble. London isn't a big b&b city so you will have much better luck looking for hotel rooms that have family rooms. Check www.londontown.com

No need to take a taxi just take the tube...we have given our thoughts if you still want to stay there by all means do it. You will make the educated decision and there is nothing wrong with that.