Daytrip Question
 

I’m planning three daytrips for an 8 day visit to London in Mar 03. Would need to use public transportation (bus or train). Would going to Leeds Castle, Windsor, and Hampton Court be “overkill” on castles? Are they very similar experiences? Would it be better to substitute one or more of them for other locations like Bath, Canterbury or Winchester? <BR>

Rick,<BR><BR>&quot;Overkill?&quot; Guess it is a matter of opinion. Each castle (palace) is distinctly different. But Windsor and Hampton Court are much easier to reach via from London than Leeds. Windsor and Hampton are about 30-40 minutes by rail. Leeds can be reached by bus from London, or rail/bus connection, but it takes longer.<BR><BR>Is your 8 day trip to London a full 8 days, or does it include arrival and departure travel days? If it is a full 8 days, then taking 2-3 day trips seems like a good idea. For my money, Bath is a great small city to visit (just over an hour from London via train). <BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!<BR><BR>David White<BR>http://www.KidsToLondon.com

RE: David<BR><BR>Thanks for the input. It will be actually be 7.5 days as the first day is a 9AM arrival. I've been to london twice before, but my wife and two college kids (19 &amp; 21) have not. If we went to Bath, which palace/castle would you drop? I know its all subjective. thanks

I'd do Windsor, Hampton Court and Bath - all easy trips from London

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My husband and I just returned from two weeks in England and Scotland. We spent two nights in Bath and are still trying to figure out what we missed. Everyone told us you must go to Bath so we spent two nights there. Don't know what all the praise about Bath is unless we missed something. I would definately drop it from my list of places to visit while in England. We went to Windsor by train from London and had a very enjoyable day visiting the castle. Wish we had had more time to check out the lovely little shops in the town. I don't get what it's all about with Bath. I'm only glad that we went once so that we know there is no reason for us to ever return.

Brenda, I must say that I have to agree with you. When we lived in England, we traveled to Bath and while the baths themselves are interesting, I can't imagine spending 2 days there. I found the walled city of York much more interesting and wished I had more time to explore it.

RE: Bettyk &amp; Brenda<BR><BR>I was getting the same feeling about Bath, but had never seen anyone say it was overrated before.

Don't miss bath. There are wonderful book stores as a bonus.

Since your family has never been to London and there is so much to see ther, I would skip Bath on an 8 day trip. It would take about 4 hours ( roundtrip) travel time via train. The Roman baths are interesting but save them for another trip to England. Windsor and Hampton Court are great for day trips.<BR>Leeds Castle is not as easily reached and the castle itself is not as interesting inside as are Windsor &amp; Hampton Court ( but in the Spring the grounds are very pretty.)

Cantebury would be a much better choice than Leeds. Although Leeds was nice, it lacked the breathtaking appeal and spirituality of Cantebury Cathedral.<BR><BR>One drawback to Canterbury - couldn't find the right place for a plate of fish and chips.

There is SO much to do and see in London that I recommend doing only two day trips and spending more time in the city. You'll want to see several plays while you're there, and there are so many museums and art galleries that I haven't seen them all yet despite having gone to London three times for about six days each time. On the other hand, there are some places I visited all three times.<BR><BR>On our last trip we trained out to Windsor Castle and saw it and still had time to continue on the train to Oxford and wander among its colleges for a couple of hours before taking the train back to London.<BR><BR>Another suggestion I read on this forum is to go straight to Windsor from Heathrow (you're already close) and visit the castle BEFORE returning to London to check in to your hotel. This works well if your arrival time is so early that you won't be able to check in to your hotel yet. The downside is that you'll be pretty tired from your plane ride.<BR><BR>Have a great time!!

I forgot to say--you can take a bus from Heathrow to Windsor. I think it takes about half an hour. While we were waiting in line outside the castle, we noticed we could hear the planes flying nearby as they took off. When we entered the castle, I asked one of the guards about the planes and their noise. He said, dryly, &quot;Yes, the Queen complains about that.&quot;

I'm from Bath and baffled by the critical comments. Perhaps the writers didn't do much research and picked somewhere that didn't match their tastes.<BR><BR>Bath is a beautiful city; architecturally harmonious, warm and friendly. I'm obviously prejudiced but I don't think there is any other city in the UK to match it for beauty. There are several interesting museums in addition to the Roman Baths, including the famous Museum of Costume. The shops and boutiques are excellent, the pubs, restaurants and nightclubs are much better than most comparable towns. The town's history and literary connections are fascinating, and the surrounding countryside is full of interesting villages and castles, and good walks.<BR><BR>If none of the above interest you, then obviously Bath isn't a good destination. If they do, then consider spending a day (less than 2 hours by train from London) or more there.

Sorry, did not mean to offend anyone about their home. It's just that we were really excited about going to Bath and heard all about the great shopping, etc. I guess it's as you say our tastes just didn't match the city. My apologies to anyone that I offended.

My goodness, we spent two nights in Bath and were glad we did!

My two cents. Warwick castle would be at the very top of my list followed by an all day tour of York! Bath is also a nice place to visit, however, it is not at the to of my list. Closer in I would opt for Hampton court.

If you could only do one in Mar 03: Hampton Court or Windsor Castle?

I'd do Hampton Court.

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