LuvTravelingInEurope

We are traveling with our 16 year old this August to the UK. This is his trip, and he wants to see castles and military history. Anybody seen a must-see castle that you can recommend, or a must-see historical spot? Any idea how many hours to drive from London to Inverness, or how long the ferry takes from Wales/England to Dublin? Any tips are greatly appreciated!

janisj

See my post on the other thread where you asked this.

I posted lots of info there -- before I saw this.

Long story short, you'll have to cut your wish list back considerably since you only have 10-12 days.

janisj

continued from that other thread

Are you spending any time in London? If so --in or w/i an easy day trip of London are the Tower of London (the ultimate castle really), Windsor Castle, Dover Castle -- he'd love Dover for sure, Warwick Castle and LOTS more.

Or you could fly or take the train to Edinburgh for a few days and see Edinburgh and Stirling Castles.

Or you could take the train to Liverpool, pick upp a rental car and visit the amazing castles of North Wales for 2-4 days.

texasbookworm

I second much of what janisj says (I seem to do that a lot). MUST SEE the Tower (you say you've been to London before, but take time at least for this). We're returning to Dover this summer as our 3 hours weren't enough last time. DD and I (she was 15 at the time) LOVED Warwick--completely different from the Tower and Dover, with its wax figures and costumed characters (we passed the Ghost in a tower) but well-done. This year we plan to include Conwy and Bodiam in our 10-driving-day loop from and back to London.

http://great-castles.com/index.pl?gallery.html is a good castle site.

This website is interesting too http://www.britainexpress.com/index.htm

LuvTravelingInEurope

We were planning on 2-3 days in London - he wants to go to the military museum, see changing of guard at Buckingham Palace, Westmister Abbey, and Tower of London (I've only been outside). We are part Welsh, English and Scottish, so hoping to see some part of each country. Any info on great castles in Wales or Scotland is appreciated. I like your idea of Warwick and Dover castles. He wants to see the William Wallace monument, I think it's near Edinburgh. So the trains are alot faster than by car? I will check into Stirling Castle. We had Edinburgh on the list. Thanks again for your suggestions. Any more are greatly appreciated.

LuvTravelingInEurope

Lots of good info on those links texasbookworm - thanks. I have my reading cut out for me tonight!

hausfrau

From one castle lover to another, here's my 2 cents.

Edward I's castles of northern Wales are an absolute must...Caernarfon, Conwy, and Beaumaris make a good trilogy that can be visited in a single (long) day. If I had to pick one of these, it would be Caernarfon, as it is the best-preserved and has the most to see in terms of exhibits.

In Scotland, Stirling and Edinburgh both have excellent, informative audio tours and are worthy of several hours of exploration.

At the other end and closer to London, Dover Castle is fascinating and rich with history all the way up to WWII.

janisj

OK - does you 10-12 days include the 2 or 3 days in London? If so you have a couple of problems:

Day 1 is pretty much a jet lagged fog and any major or indoor sites are definitely not recommended. If you only have 3 days total then you have about 2 days to see the Tower (about 4+ hours worth), Imperial War Museum (at least 2 hours), Changing of the Guard (this eats up an entire morning), and Westminster Abbey (about 2 hours). This is all w/o counting transport/meals/general sightseeing. That is a LOT for 2 days. Because of the size of the city and the time it takes to get acclimated/move around - one really needs a minimum of 4 days in London (remembering that you won't see/do much on day 1)

Then you want to see North Wales and Scotland in about 5 or 6 days -- you can't count your last day at all since it is just packing and flying home.

You could very easily spend 4 days in North Wales and not see all the castles/sites. And Scotland -- my goodness 6 days or 6 weeks wouldn't cover a fraction of the castles in Scotland..

First step --get a map of the UK. Have you already bought your tickets? If not, definitely get open jaw into London and out of Glasgow or Edinburgh - this will save you a lot of time/hassle.

If you do have your tickets R-T to London then you have to subtract another day since you'll have to return to London to fly out.

So one option: London, Train to Edinburgh for a couple of days, Rent a car for about 4 days to tour around, Fly home. Driving TO Edinburgh will eat up an entire day. the train takes 4.5 hours.

If Wales is important you could squeeze it in -- but you'd be on the run for sure.

• 4 days London

• Train to Manchester or Liverpool. Pick up a car and spend 2.5 days in N Wales

• Drive up into central Scotland (more castles than you can imagine. Stirling, Doune (Monty Python and the Holy Grail), Wallace monument outside of Stirling, Castle Campbell, and many more. About 3 days.

• Drop car and spend 2 days in Edinburgh

• Fly home. (if you have to go back to London, fly from EDI to LHR)

BigRuss

Windsor, Hampton Ct. Palace, Tower are all easy calls for London. If you go to Scotland, Edinburgh, Stirling, Scone Palace (Perth), Holyrood House (Edinburgh), are all in/close to Edinburgh. I don't think Scone Palace is near Perth train station, but one of the Scot savants (janisj, shiela) can correct me. Nonetheless, a trip from Edinburgh to Perth by train would include a ride over the Firth of Forth Rail Bridge -- one of the engineering wonders of the world.

We visited 13 castles and palaces in a 10-night trip through Scotland and especially liked Blair, Dunrobin and Fraser. If you go beyond Edinburgh and Stirling, you need a car.

Dover Castle is now an easy day trip from St. Pancras on the fast train that gets to Dover Priory in like 85 minutes (compared to about 2hr 20min just last year -- the fast service started late '09). Deal Castle is near Dover and both were part of Henry VIII's Channel-defense building spree.

sheila

It's a half hour drive from Perth station to Scone Palace. It's not really a castle anyway.

It will take you the guts of 10 hours to drive from London to Inverness.

Scotland is carpetted with castles. YOu'd have to narrow it down a bit.

Edinburgh and Stirling are the big tourist traps, but there are dozens (literally0 of others. Doune, where they filmed Monty Python and the Holy Grail; Blair, where the Duke of Atholl gets to keep Britain's only private army; Glamis, which is spooky; Huntingtower, where they locked up one of he early Jameses- I'd have to check which one; all the castle of Mar on the Castle Trail- Braemar, Craigievar, Corgarff- which is more a barracks than a castle-Crathes, Drum, Fraser, Fyvie; plus the big north east ruins- Tolqhuon, Kildrummy, Huntly.

Military History in Scotland means the wars of independence and the Jacobites for the most part. So Bannockburn and Culloden, and fantastic places like Ruthven Barracks, and Fort George.

The Wallace Monument is near Bannockburn, but it's a modern (1860s) creation.

LuvTravelingInEurope

We have not bought tickets yet, that's for this week. Great idea to fly out of Scotland. I've been reading the Fodor's Guide and Rick Steves books, but nothing replaces others experiences. You have given me alot to think about, alot of great info. Thanks to each of you! Any more must sees or good advise, I will be eyeing this page until we leave in August.

charlesg

I am sure you have seen recommendations for the Heritage Pass in Rick Steves, Fodors, etc. It gets u in over 500 sites. It has a good map with the heritage sites on it which helps with the planning. You have to buy it here. the link is below. It pays for itself in about 3 stops and gets you in places in whole UK.

http://www.britishheritagepass.com/?ref=cj

We really enjoyed the WW II underground war rooms. Been awhile so only remember Churchill's bed, think it had the theater map room which u always see in movies. Imperial War museum is also good. Both are in London.

If you go to Warwick which is a great castle, Blenheim Palace is good stop. It's churchill's birthplace and is a wonderful place. The family has been allowing tours in the private apartments some time during the summer or were last time we were there, but of course we were a week late and couldn't go in. You can do both easily in one day.

Congrats on having a 16 year who is interested in history. Throwing a great house or two will help keep mom happy too.

Cholmondley_Warner

If you want military history in London try Woolwich (army) and Greenwich (navy).

Woolwich has a museum called firepower which is the Royal Artillery's museum. It's in the old Woolwich Arsenal buildings. Also there is the Woolwich Barracks (with the longest Georgian frontage in the world):

http://www.stanleybriggs.com/finishe...h_barracks.gif

Greenwich is the historical home of the Royal Navy and has a very good maritime museum.

willit

I would add Portsmouth to the list - militarily it is hard to beat. You have the Royal Navy Museum (including HMS Victory and the Mary Rose), The Royal Marine Museum and the D-Day Museum. There are also the Henry VIII era fortificationas along the seafront including Southsea Castle.

Nearby is Portchester castle - it is a slab sided Norman keep surrounded by Roman walls. It has an excellent audio tour.

Further west there is a tank museum at Bovington which is near enough to the ruins of Corfe Castle.

willit

and a note to CW - google "historic home of the Royal Navy" and see how far down the list Greenwich comes!

Cholmondley_Warner

I suppose it depends when you count from, but Greenwich certainly was the home of the Navy.

ps Did you see that Time team recently about Haslar - fascinating stuff?

poutine

Not too far from London is Duxford, a branch of the Imperial War Museum. I don't know when you are visiting, but they also have a couple of events/airshows. See the site:

http://www.militaryairshows.co.uk/listing.htm

stevelyon

Its good to read that Wales gets a mention, not because I'm Welsh, its just that pound for pound there are alot of castles there.

Cholmondley_Warner

Also wonderful (well I think so) is the RAF Museum at Colindale:

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/p...hat-to-see.cfm

Actually the only military museum in London I'd avoid is the national Army Museum in Chelsea.

It's very old fashioned and not at all youngster friendly (basically it's display cases of muskets and swords and dummies in uniform). It is free, so if you're nearby it may be worth a try, but I wouldn't go out of your way to see it.

http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/

It does have a portrait of my Grandfather in it though. Even I found that dull.

packer4rob

We did a similar trip last summer, though we didnt get to Scotland...we're saving that for another trip. I'd suggest seeing the changing of the guard at Windsor Castle rather than Buckingham Palace, if you line up 20 minutes before the ceremony you can pretty much get an unobstructed front row view. I've heard that its difficult to get good views at Buckingham Palace. Also, i echo what others have said, you must see at least Conwy and Caernarfon castles in Wales. Harlech is also very nice. Have a great time....i wish i could turn the clock back and do it all over again.