daytrips from london
Oct 8th, 2002 | 02:03 PM
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
If you don't mind a train ride, Edinburgh is a great day trip. I think it took close to 2-1/2 to 3 hours on the express. We left at about 6:30am and it seems like we got into Ed. Waverly Station at 9 something. We spent all day walking . . . It was in early December. We left around 6pm to return to London.<BR><BR>There are certainly lots of interesting closer day trips from London: Bath, Oxford, somewhere in the Cotswolds. . . My experience with this forum is that most people will say that it's insane to go all the way to Ed. in a day. I'm guessing that they mean that being "insane" is a bad thing.<BR>
Oct 8th, 2002 | 03:18 PM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Snoopy, that must have been a migty fast train! London to Edinburgh is over 400 miles and takes around 4.5 hours even with the fastest train. The earliest train leaves Kings Cross at 726 and arrives at 1126. Latest return is either 1725 arriving 2219 and 1855 arriving 0005. So you are on the train for 9 hours and have only 6-7 hours in Ediburgh. Doable but very tiring and you can't do it justice. Flying isn't much better because you have to add nearly 4 hours for journey to and from airport, check-in and security.<BR>Much more semsible day trips would be Oxford, Cambridge, Windsor/Eton, Salsbury/Stonehenge, Canterbury/Leeds Castle, Cotswolds, Warwick and even Bath. There are tours, or you can diy with train and buses.
Oct 8th, 2002 | 06:27 PM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
I'd like to know what Snoopy was smoking on THAT trip ! His times are simply impossible.<BR><BR>A day trip to Edinburgh is doable - but not recommended, especially in Winter time when it is dark in Scotland by 4PM. You would spend more time sitting in an uncomfortable train seat than walking around Edinburgh.<BR><BR>Stay closer to London -- Windsor, Bath or Oxford are probably the best day trips. Oxford is less than an hour from London and Bath is about 90+ minutes and Windsor is about 30 minutes.
Oct 9th, 2002 | 08:39 AM
#7
Guest
Posts: n/a
Joan, I did two day trips when I was in London. One was a guided tour with Stonehenge Tours (stonehengetours.com) that included Stonhenge, Avebury, Salibury (lunch plus 2 hours), and Old Sarum Castle. I generally don't like tours, but I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to see other parts of the country since I didn't have a car. <BR><BR>I also took the train to York. It was nice but it took about 2 hours one way and I think that there are probably nicer towns to visit that are closer (e.g., Oxford, Canterbury). Highlights of that day were the cathedral and the fat rascal at Betty's.
Trending Topics
Oct 10th, 2002 | 08:02 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
My wife, who was not smoking anything, says we left Kings Cross at 6:15a and got into Ed. shortly after 11:00a. She says we left at 7:00p and got back to London just after midnight. She is correct and Alec can't possibly have known when we travelled . . . unless of course he's been stalking us.<BR><BR>As to whether it's doable or whether justice can be done, other posters' comments notwithstanding, is purely subjective. My wife and I enjoyed the train ride. It was part of the lark. However, I can't speak to the current train schedule - my escapade was in 1998, my poor memory of the chronolgy, current. Part of the allure was that my wife had always wanted to go to Ed. and we did it on the spur of the moment. I was in London on business and took the day off so that we could go.<BR><BR>Joan, I don't presume to know whether or not you will find a train seat uncomfortable - we rode first class and the seats were very comfortable - or whether or not a train ride will be boring. My wife and I both found the entire experience to be fun. As I said in my first post, this forum isn't noted for proponents of whirlwind travel. From most of the posters reactions to that type of day trip you'd think it was made up of a bunch of stodgy teachers and historians on some sort of paid sabbatical.<BR><BR>Tiring? Probably. What, like the trip across the pond wasn't?
