jasmo

Hi folks, any suggestions for a day bus/train tour outside of London of interest to two teenage boys? I have considered the Stonehenge/Windsor type trip. Wondering about tour companies, variety of interests, etc. Looking to take the tour on sunday, 12/30/07. Thanks for any input!

jrecm

Have you considered Marlbourgh, Oxford, (Bleinheim Castle ) Cambridge or Hneley if you are there during the regatta. Windsor is suppose to be one of the oldest castles in Western Europe, I think.

jrecm

Make that Henley

Carrybean

Check out the Explorer Days at London Walks.

http://www.walks.com/

nona1

There should still be plenty of Christmasy type stuff going on - I'd check out the National Trust and places like that to see if there are any special events on.

Warwick Castle usually has a big Christmas fair and is a good spot for teenage boys anyway, so look them up too.

laurie_ann

Greenwich, accessible by Docklands Light Railway from central London. Highlights include the quaint town, naval college, naval history museum, the royal observatory museum on the meridian, the new planetarium, and probably more. See this website for general information:
http://www.greenwichwhs.org.uk/index.asp

and this one for special Christmas events and activities including ice skating and a Christmas market which continue until New Years:

http://www.greenwichwhs.org.uk/event...mas_events.asp

We have done a number of day trips since we moved to London earlier this year and this has been one of our favorites for how close it is to central London and the range of things to do.

Steve_James

Hi Jasmo - For tour companies consider Evan Evans or Astral:

http://www.evanevanstours.co.uk/

http://www.welcome2britain.com/uk_day_tours.htm

You can of course save money by going independantly by public transport.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Tobie_T

Astral just went under I believe---unfortunately since they provided tours with smaller numbers.

When our son was 18 Stonehenge was the only thing he wanted to see outside of London. :-<

Viator (which we've used in Europe) has a 9.5 hr tour combination at a great price for your date:

http://www.viator.com/tours/London/B...d737-3858EE065

Many of the other tours are 11 or 12 hours and more involved which probably wouldn't appeal to the boys. Also this tour allows you to choose options within the tour itself.

Warwick Castle would be my second choice for teens. Maybe you could print off info for both and give them the choice?

GreenDragon

I went on a self-made daytrip from London when I was there a couple years ago. We took the train to Salisbury, had arranged with Vic from www.vicstaxi.com to pick us up, and he took us to West Kennet Longbarrow, Avebury Stone Circle, Old Sarum, Salisbury Cathedral, and then Stonehenge. We had applied ahead of time with English Heritage (Vic has contacts) and were able to do a dusk tour at Stonehenge. Then Vic took us back to the station and we trained back.

PWAbbott

GreenDragon: do you remember how much the tour with Vic cost?

Steve_James

Tobie - Thanks for the update re Astral - that's news to me. That explains why I couldn't get their website ...

Steve

twk

I would want to check and make sure that the sights you are interested in are open on that particular Sunday. However, with that caveat, you can do a trip to Blenheim and Oxford on your own very easily from London.

You can either take the train to Oxford or take the "Oxford Tube" bus to Oxford, then you can take a local bus to Woodstock/Bleheim. We did Blenheim in the morning, and Oxford in the afternoon. If you want more details, click on my name and find my trip report (for London, the Highlands & Ediburgh, probably on the second page).

GreenDragon

We were on our own for train tix and the Stonehenge admission, but the cost of him driving us to all the places (and he knew lots about them all!) was $100 total for the two of us.

janisj

Any tour for 4 will be very expensive. Don't know your budget - but Green Dragon's suggestion is very good. Take the train to Salisbury and then get a driver to tour you around. That would be a lot cheaper than 4 tours from London. OR - you could rent a car for the day and do the Salisbury/Stonehenge/Avebury loop yourselves for even less. But you may not want to learn about driving on the "wrong side of the road" on a winter holiday weekend.

The other great suggestion would be Warwick Castle - again train to Warwick on your own is easy and cheaper than an organized tour from London.

BTW - Blenheim is not open at that time of year.

GreenDragon

Oh, and Vic will personalize your tour - want to do Bath instead of Salisbury? No problem

Morgana

Less than 2 hours by train from Kings Cross will get you to York. Beautiful city, compact, easy to see plenty in a short ime. Loads for teenage boys to see and do. The National Railway Museum is 5 minutes walk from the station and is free to get in. Superb place - lots to do in there. Outside there's Yorkshire's very own wheel.
Numerous other things to do in York - ghost walks, walking along the ancient walls, Medieval streets to explore, good restaurants, museums etc.
www.visityork.org
I live close by - give me a yell if you have any questions.

Morgana

Meant to give you these 2 websites - for the Railway Museum and the Yorkshire Wheel.
www.nrm.org.uk
www.york-wheel.metaltype.co.uk

PalenQ

Hampton Court Palace makes a great day trip, an easy day trip anytime

During christmas the palace is especially delightful as special programs go on that spice it up

in any case to me as interesting as anything in London, Windsor included

Been watching the Tudors? It's set a lot at Hampton Ct because it was HenryVIII's trysting and stomping grounds - Ann Boleyne ghost (i believe it's Ann's, still is said to haunt the place

anyway a marvelous day out - have kids do a little history reading on HenryVIII - a snap to do on your own

two trains an hour to Hampton Court station right by palace entrance - in last zone of London transport - on grounds there is also a maze to navigate and Capability Brown's old grape vine - hundreds of years old

a deer park is nearby and as the palace is on the Thames you get the river feeling as well - walk upstream a short bit to the old hand-operated lock on the river and watch boats go thru

I'd do Windsor - also trains right to castle and hampton on your own - set your own schedule and save a ton of money.

letsgo39

DH and I took a Evan Evans day tour that went to Stonehenge,Winchester and Bath.It was fine and we enjoyed it but it wasn't cheap. I would think your boys would be very interested in seeing Stonehenge.