Jackie

Hello All!<BR>I hope someone can help me...<BR>Does anyone know which castles are within a decent travel time from London? I'm not familiar with these towns, so I have no clue how far they are from the city, and also - does anyone know if it's possible to do a "day trip" thing to the Loch Ness in Scotland? I wouldn't know where to even begin with that one...<BR>Thanks!!!

jpm

There are two castles that you can do from London (actually there are lots of castles but two I would recommend).<BR><BR>If you are in London after May and before October I would suggest Warwick. The rest of year I think it is fairly boring. But during the summer there are tons of things to do there.<BR><BR>Another Castle I would recommend is Dover Castle. It is huge, picteresque, great views of the cliffs, etc. Be sure to tour the WWII tunnels dug beneath the castle.<BR><BR>john

Thyra

Hi Jackie, I second Warwick, you can also visit the Tower of London, and Windsor Castle, which makes for an interesting day.<BR>Maybe I misunderstood your question, but do you want to know if it's possible to do a "day trip" to Loch Ness from London? <BR>If so then the answer is definately NO.<BR>Loch Ness is miles and miles away, you could possibly do it if you flew to Inverness ( I am not sure you can fly to Inverness so don't quote me on that one) and then took a car, but it would be an all day thing. <BR>My husband and I are pretty serious drivers and it took us 3 days of driving to get up to Loch Ness. You might want to grab a good map and familiarize yourself with the distances between cities. <BR>

Jackie

Thanks for the responses guys! I will definitely add those castles to my list of places to go, and I guess I was being kind of unrealistic about the trip from london to loch ness in one day lol<BR>But thanks for the info!!!<BR

Delores

Additionally, Leeds Castle, south of London, should be doable as a day trip. It's a beauty and I think, sometimes there are activities there too.

Bill I

Also, there is a castle in Cardiff, & my favorite castle in Caerphilly, both in Wales. Cardiff is about 2 hrs from London by fast train. After visiting the castle there, Caerphilly is about 15 minutes from Cardiff, by train. Caerphilly is the second largest castle in Britain(Windsor is the largest). Caerphilly castle is uninhabited, but it is magnificiant to walk thru.

Maira

My husband & I drove from London to Inverness (Loch Ness area) thru the Western Scottish Highlands and it was a beautiful, amazing ride. The natural beauty left us breathless, only surpassed by the genuinely friendliness of the Scottish people. <BR><BR>We had about six days and, on purpose, made no lodging reservations. It was early May, so the lodging prices were good and availability was not a problem. We stopped at Lancaster and got a tour of the Lancaster Castle, which I thought was excellent. We also stopped at Inveraray and Fort Williams. The Western Highlands took my breath away. Just spectacular. We stopped at Loch Lommomd also. So beautiful. For this ride we bought an Atlas in London called 'Geographer's A-Z Maps- Britain Edition' about $5. It was sooo detailed it showed every castle, park, village, town on the route and roads. <BR><BR>Once we got to Inverness, we got a room at the Beaufort Hotel, across from the Inverness Castle. The food was outstanding, although the hotel is not much to brag about, it was clean and comfortable and the service and staff were absolutely wonderful. My husband first visited Inverness many years ago and was amazed on how much the town had expanded. There is definitely plenty of lodging available. <BR><BR>The "Official" Loch Ness Monster exhibition is kind of a waste of money, but hey, you are there, might as well.... As far as castles to tour within easy ride (not even an hour from Inverness): Urquhart Castle at the shores of Loch Ness is eerily beautiful. It's definitely better appreciated without the crowds, we had to pay to get in (my husband remembers when it was free), but at least there wasn't a lot of people around. We also toured the Cawdor Castle, which had the most romantic gardens I had ever seen. The Stuart Castle was a fun tour. A 17th Century Tower House castle, they are a hotel with nice accommodations, about 8 beautiful rooms, the Murray Room is supposedly hunted. The Brodie Castle was special, very imposing as you approach, can't help feeling transported to the 17th Century. The porcelain collection was unbelievable. On our way back we also toured LochLeven Castle. Now this is a totally different castle. This was actually a prison and you can only get to it by taking a short boat ride. Mary, Queen of Scots was held prisoner in this place and she lost stillbirths two twins, which are supposedly buried in the grounds. It was very windy when we were there and you can certainly see how this wasn't a place for a pregnant woman. <BR><BR>I am sort of rambling here, if you want specifics, e-mail me and I could definitely provide you with more details.

jahoulih

In theory, you could take an overnight train from London to Inverness, spend the day there, and then take an overnight train back, but I think you could find better things to do nearer to London (see the suggestions above).

Frank

Jackie,<BR>Warwick Castle is absolutely great and easy to get to, wheteher on your own by train or through one of many tours offered. It is a relatively short distance from London and easily a day trip only. I highly recommend it.<BR>Frank

xxx

I agree with everyones' suggestions regardng Warwick. In addition to that, just a few miles away is Kennilworth Castle. Kennilworth is only ruins with an optional audio tour. We found it to be a great contrast to Warwick. Both can easily be done in the same day.