I will be in London for four full days, I arrive on a Friday night and I have Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues in London, I will be departing Wedneday morning.

I have been to London and seen the major sites.

I would like to spend two days there, and on the other two days, I'd like to go to Windsor and Cardiff as day trip.

I prefer to visit Cardiff on Monday. Is Cardiff doable in a day if I take an early train from London? i know the train ride is about 2 hours each way.

As for Windsor, i had read that you can buy a ticket for the train ride and entrance to the castle, but I cannot find any recent information. Is ti better to go to Windsor on Saturday or Sunday?

Thanks in advance.

Sat and Sun may be about the same so why not go on Mon or tues?

Yes you can often buy the train + admission at the train station ticket window

For four straight days you should investigate the England Railpass which would cover trains from either airport - the Heathrow or Gatwick Expresses or local trains to anywhere and the train to Cardiff and to Windsor (there would be few lines on a Mon or Tue in off-season so buying a ticket ahead i think is not necessary (when are you going)

Anyway the pass allows travel on any train anytime - no specific train like discounted online tickets often require. (www.nationalrail.co.uk has all the schedules and fares and you can buy on the site - deep discounted tickets are often available if you book well in advance - but never ever just show up at the train station without doing research as you could literally pay a ton more for walk up and fully flexible fares - a good thing about the pass - good anytime on any train. For lots about British rail travel and passes i always recommend two fine sites: www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - two sites with tons of objective info on train travel in Britain and not just the usual pass prices and add to cart option. check out the 4-consecutive day BritEngland Railpass - if traveling between Nov 1 and Feb 28 the passes are an additional about 18% off - Off-Peak Special. If you have 3 to 9 people in your party then the 3rd thru 9th pay just 50% of what the first two adults pay - making passes often a boon for parties - it's called The Party Pass. Kids under 16 get a free pass to match the adults. So passes can be even better deals for some folks. But your cheapest option is probably to book some long in advance and limited in number deep discounted ticket - but to Cardiff then you have to decide when you want to go and when you want to return - an exact time that cannot be changed - how long do you know you will want to spend in Cardiff - again pass presents flexibility. Discounted tickets IME often preclude travel before 9:30am as well in case you want to make an early departure to have more time in Cardiff. But the nationalrail.co.uk site has all the fares and all the conditions applied to them so check it out. Railpasses are not sold at British stations - Britons cannot use them.

PalenQ, I have read many of your posts and I've always wondered if you are British or American. Please don't be offended that I ask.

I don't want to spend two days back to back making day trips, I would like Tuesday in London to do shopping/packing/etc.

I am American but i have been riding British trains every year for a few weeks since 1969 with few exceptions and i edited and wrote a magazine on European train travel for 20 years and just love trains and railpasses. That said i do not know about Sat or Sun at Windsor, etc. But i can tell you how to get there by train. Cheers

Cardiff as a city is certainly doable in a day, providing you stick to places such as Cardiff Castle the lovely arcades and Cardiff bay, you could possibly squeeze in a visit to the National museum of Wales too if thats what you like to do.

Is there something specific you want to do here in Cardiff?

You will need to arrive quite early to make the most of things but the places I have mentioned are fairly close to each other.

The train ride is around 2 hours each way.

Muck

And when in Cardiff, if possible try to visit Caerphilly, a ruin, but great castle just a short train ride.

Two train routes to Windsor

1- Waterloo in central London route to Windsor Riverside station

2- Paddington Station to Windsor Central Station - actually only a short walk from Riverside station so both are right smack in the town center and a few minutes walk from the Castle entrance.

The more scenic route IMO is the one from Waterloo as it goes thru leafy upscale suburbs and at times along the Thames River

The Paddington Route largely goes along the mainline railway lined by tacky industrial stuff most of the way.

With a Pass you could go one way and return another

If buying Cheap Day Return ticket you may have to go and come the same route, i'm not sure.

But if you buy a 4-consecutive day pass you would certainly use it also to go to Windsor - valid on either train route and on any train. If on weekend you may want to leave early before crowds materialize at castle around 11am IME

(But lots of folks know more about that than i - like JanisJ who always knows everything about questions like that - she is Fodor's British expert - even knowing more IMO than any Brit on here. So you may want to post with the heading Windsor Castle Q's or something)

I can tell you that if you buy a cheap day return ticket to Windsor, you HAVE to arrive and depart from the same Windsor station - you cannot mix and match. The 2 lines are operated by 2 separate companies, and hence tickets have to be separate.

Regarding the train + Windsor Castle combo ticket, this is what I found:
http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/SWT...stle.htm?tab=2

There is also the Historical Royal Palaces Pass if going to the Tower of London, kensington palace (princess di dresses on display, hampton court and windsor, hard to do all in 4 days however - But i think you can buy the Windsor ticket itself on the following sites if worried about long lines and planning to use a pass. (And perhaps can buy the Windsor Castle entry from the train station even if you have a pass - just don't but suspect you could


LondonNet - The Royal Pass (Central London) - attraction tickets ...
The Royal Pass (Central London). attraction tickets. Historic Royal Palaces. Book now! Address. Historic Royal Palaces. London United Kingdom. Location Map ...
http://www.ticketswitch.com/tickets/...l-london).html

LondonNet - Four Palace Pass - attraction tickets - Historic Royal ...
Four Palace Pass. attraction tickets. Historic Royal Palaces. Book now! Address. Historic Royal Palaces. London United Kingdom. Location Map ...
http://www.ticketswitch.com/tickets/...lace-pass.html

You might check the schedule as to whether there are any special events that Saturday or Sunday at Windsor that you would want to attend (or avoid). In Windsor, if you have any interest, you might also want to see about Eaton school. There are times it is available for tourists but not all the time. Its a nice walk down the road from the main part of Windsor.

Eaton is an essential component of a visit to Windsor IMO - just across the only bridge over the Thames - right by Riverside station - go over the bridge and you're in Eaton - with the boys wearing their school coats during class days

on weekends you may even get into more of the colleges or schools yards, which can be closed when classes are in session.

That's Eton, guys not Eaton.

I think there are two options for training to Windsor. This summer we took the train from Waterloo to the Windsor Riverside station and it took about an hour but we didn't have to change trains. I believe there is also and express train from Paddington to Slough then you switch trains for a quick hop to Winsdor (arrives at the other station).

Definitely walk across the bridge and check out Eton.

One thing we did this summer (at the suggestion of my sister who lived in Windsor for 4 years) is go to the Windsor Race Track for the Monday night horse races. It was one of the highlights of our trip!

Well hetismij you can tell i did not go to Eton as a pupil

Thanks, everyone!

You have all made good suggestions, I have been to the UK before, and I've seen the majority of the tourists sites.


I've never been to Wales, which is why I'd like to on this trip. I know Cardiff is a city and not representative of the rest of Wales, but I'm determined to step foot on Welsh soil.

I never thought of going to Eton, I've seen Oxford and Cambridge, so if given time constraints I skep Eton, I really don't think I'd be missing too much.

If you want to see a representation of the whole of Wales, you might like to visit the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, there are buses from the center of Cardiff to get there.
Free entry and a wonderful outdoor museum,and beautiful large house/castle.
There are schools, houses, shops from all over Wales dismantled and re assembled in this wonderful museum. Its well worth a visit.

http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/stfagans/

Muck

Eton to me is well worth the relatively short time it takes to take a look at it - all splayed out along the High Street - schoolyards on each side

And it is very close to either Windsor train station - take the only bridge over the Thames and you are right in Eton - peak into some of the school enclosures to see the elegant classical architecture and see the 'lads' in their spiffy uniforms walking around

It something different and very historical - so many famous generals and PMs have gone thru here