Hi - I have an opportunity to attend a 2-day conference in Leeds this September and am thinking about taking a week and bringing my daughters, ages 7 and 10, for a bit of a holiday. This would be our first trip to England...

Air fares into Heathrow are the best, so I'm thinking about travelling from Heathrow to York, staying in York for 2 nights, moving to Leeds for 2 nights for the conference and then ending up back in London for 2 or 3 nights. Any suggestions for family-friendly, budget-conscious hotels in York and London. Can I fit a day-trip to Warwick in this itinerary? I know we can take a train from London to York, but will I need to rent a car to move between York and Leeds? Any other suggestions would be most appreciated...

thanks very much

I can't help with the hotel end of the trip because we always stay with family, but I will say that you will enjoy York and London (don't know Leeds). The cathedral in York is very impressive, and your daughters will enjoy walking the medeival wall surrounding the old city. York has such an ancient feel to it. London of course needs no introduction! Tons of things to do and see.

You can fit Warwick in, but it's a bit of a hike, albeit a beautiful one. However, if you can manage it, GO!! We took our children when they were your daughters' ages, and it was one of the places they liked best. It is absolutely fascinating to go visit this castle. We wouldn't have missed it for anything. The town of Warwick has a very pretty little church, too.

I would do it slightly differently --

Start out in Leeds - let the kids chill for a couple of days and get over the jet lag and potential crabbiness before you set out on the sightseeing adventures.

Fly to London and take the train up to Leeds for your conference. Then over to York for an overnight - York is very small and everything is walkable so one night would be OK.

Then to Warwick for 1 or 2 nights. 1 if all you want to see is the Castle - 2 if you also want to visit Stratford-upon-Avon.

Then down to London for 3 nights. This would maximize your time in London w/o skipping anything else.

Or - you could fly into Manchester, do Leeds, York, Warwick and so on, and then fly out of London. Airfares into Manchester are generally about the same as into London.

Janis's itinerary makes sense to me. Warwick Castle was one of the highlights of the trip for my kids, too.

We stayed at the Victoria Spa Lodge, which is a short walk outside of Stratford-upon-Avon and thus just a few miles (6?) from Warwick. This charming pile is named for Princess Victoria, who stayed there before she became Queen. They offer free parking, a very charming setting, a huge English breakfast (with healthy foods on the sideboard) and a third-floor family room with 3 beds for a very reasonable rate.

Why not fly into Manchester? Depending on when you get in, you can get the train to York from thh airport, a journey taking about 2.5 hours or so altogether. Then, you could get the train to Leeds from York, and from Leeds back to Manchester Airport. York is worth 2 nights, and you might like to take a side trip to Harrogate. (If you do this, ask the sales clerk at the desk for the cheapest options for such a journey.)

If you do want to come to London, then I would suggest staying in London for a night or two, prebooking an Apex round trip from London Kings Cross to Leeds at wwww.thetrainline.com, do your conference, and then celebrate your freedom by getting the train to York (about 50 mins) from Leeds. Ask for a return, stipulating when you want to come back to Leeds. Then, take the train back from York to Leeds in time for your return Apex train to London.
For long distances, it is always best to book ahead. You can get a PIN from the website as confirmation, and collect the ticket from Kings Cross, which is where Leeds and York tickets leave from.

I would highly recommend The Four Seasons Hotel in York. My family of 4 stayed in a comfortable family room two years ago and positively loved it. Wonderful owners, quiet location, flat walk to inside the city walls, and great breakfast.

Do a search you'll find my other comments along with other people's positive responses. We would stay at this B&B again in a heart beat.

We loved York especially the Minster, the Railyway Museum, the Castle Museum, walking the walls, and rambling the streets.

We've stayed in several placed in London but none that were affordable or very exciting. The only place we stayed that was nice was the Thistle Marble Arch but we were given two really nice adjoining rooms instead of the family room we had reserved. Therefore, don't know how the family rooms are.

Have a great time. My kids have loved the trips they've taken to Great Britain.

P.S. They loved Warwick Castle too.

lizcdn, as enjoyable as Warwick Castle is, I would skip it on such a short trip. London has so many things to experience 2 or even 3 days hardly does it justice.

The Tower of London is an excellent substitute for Warwick Castle, the Horseguards parade is full of pomp and ceremony, a boat trip on the Thames is something your 7 & 10 year olds would enjoy, the London Eye is great, the double decker hopon-hopoff is a great way to see much of London, take a picture of them on the lions at Trafalgar Square, eat in the crypt at St Martin in the Field, take them to the food halls in Harrods, see the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, see the tomb of Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey.

Have fun.

Just returned from London - my husband and I saw the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and thought it was fantastic. The kids in the audience were enthralled. You might consider getting tickets for your time in London.

Hi again - thanks so much for all of your helpful suggestions. We are further along in our trip planning process now, thanks to many of your recommendations, and I'd like a bit more advice. Here's our itinerary so far:

Tues., Sept. 23 - We'll be flying into Heathrow at 10:00 a.m., renting a car there (price available through the Internet was better than train fares for four of us for all the travelling we plan) and driving directly to Stratford-on-Avon. We are staying at the Victoria Spa Lodge for that night and will use that as a base to explore the area on the 23rd. I'd love to see a Shakespeare production but I suspect my 7 year old may be too young...

Wed., Sept. 24 - We plan to spend most of the day at Warwick Castle and then drive to York later in the afternoon. We are staying at the Four Seasons Hotel in York the nights of the 24th and 25th.

Thurs., Sept. 25 and Fri., Sept. 26th - I will commute with the car from York to my conference in Leeds while my children explore York with my friend.

Now my questions relate to how to spend the rest of our time. We depart from Heathrow on Monday, the 29th at about 3:15 p.m. and would like to spend at least one full day (Sunday the 28th)in London to take a city tour and then do a bit more sightseeing on Monday morning before we leave for the airport. So the question is: what to do Friday night and Saturday?
My conference ends on Friday at about 4.
option 1 - We could stay in York for that night and return to London Saturday morning, although my sense is that maybe we will have spent enough time in York and could move on somewhere else Friday afternoon.

option 2 - We could return to London Friday afternoon (how long a drive is it, realistically? - I've heard different opinions...)and have another full day, Saturday, in London. This might give us an opportunity to see a show, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, since I understand that most shows don't run on Sunday night...

option 3 - One thread on this site got me interested in splurging and trying to stay in a castle on Friday night, but the only one that I found that seems within driving distance from Leeds is Langley Castle but it seems to be in the wrong direction - it's about 96 miles north of Leeds, which they tell me is a 2 1/2 hour drive - possible, but not relaxed and we'd have little time to explore the castle that day in the light. I also suspect that the drive from Langley Castle back to London on the Saturday would be pretty rushed...
option 4 - I'm thinking it might be better to move somewhere south of Leeds and York on Friday night and spend a more leisurely day on Saturday exploring an area and driving to London...any suggestions?

sorry for the stream of consciousness and thanks again for your time...any suggestions you have would be most appreciated!

On a Friday afternoon, I'd normally allow 3-4 hours for the Leeds-London drive, though there is a chance it might take a deal more.

The nicest thing sort-of on the way south is to turn off the M1 at Sheffield or Chesterfield and stay in the Peak District. Head ultimately for Bakewell, and look at Chatsworth House, home of the Duke of Devonshire (and more relevantly the Duchess, who started life as Debbo Mitford, if you're into Hons and Rebels and the rest of the Mitford stuff). Bakewell, and the Peak District are a gazillion times prettier than anywhere else you'll be staying.

Problem: it's a good hour and a half from Leeds, so it'll be geting dark when you get there. If you aim to leave the area after lunch on Sat, a drive back down the M1 will get you into London 2-3 hours later.

I'm struggling to think of much else on the way down.

One alternative is just to keep this bit free. You'll discover things before you get to Leeds and talking to people you might kick yourself for being unable to see because you've over-organised.

For your stay in Stratford: check on the web for what's on both at the big theatre and at The Other Place. It's just possible there'll be something for the kids.

But, to be honest, after an overnight flight and a hundred miles of the M40, you'll all want an early night.