Sherry

Hello, my new husband and I will be visiting the UK in a couple of weeks (12/19). This is our first trip to the UK, or to any part of Europe, for that matter. Here is our itinerary for London (we will then be leaving for Scotland on 12/26, which I'll also need help with!). I have listed specific questions related to each day, and would love your insight on any of the questions:<BR><BR>12/20, Fri.-- arrive in London around noon. Get car at LHR, and drive to catch Stonehenge (don't plan to stay too long). Stay the night in Salisbury.<BR><BR>*** Does anyone have recommendations for inexpensive places to stay in Salisbury? Would like to spend around $75 US for the both of us together.<BR><BR>12/21, Sat.-- Tour Bath during the day. Drive to London in the evening. Check into hotel. We've booked the Cranley in South Kensington. We thought about going clubbing in Leicester Square that night. Any thoughts?<BR><BR>12/22, Sun.-- The British Museum and Tower of London (two things actually open on Sunday). **Would like to go to some pubs in the evening... will this be a problem on Sunday? Any suggestions?<BR><BR>12/23, Mon.-- Westminster Abbey, changing of the guard, look around the outside of Buckingham Palace and Parliament (I know they are closed), an hour or 2 at the National Gallery, check out the tree at Trafalgar Sq., then dinner at Rules (**Is this a good idea?), and seeing My Fair Lady at the Royal Theatre Drury Lane.<BR><BR>12/24, Tues.-- Christmas Eve. I know not much is open, so I thought we'd do the Xmas thing. Oxford/Regent Streets, Picadilly Circus, afternoon tea (**Fortnum &amp; Mason or Brown's??), Carols by Candlelight back at Royal Albert Hall, then later midnight mass at westminster abbey.<BR><BR>12/25, Xmas-- We wanted to check out Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, and wondered if Xmas would be a good day for that, or maybe a different day. Also, we are deciding between a cruise on the Thames or dinner at a restaurant or hotel that is open. Any thoughts? Also thinking about doing the Charles Dickens tour, and Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. Thoughts? I know we will have to book cabs in advance. Is this too much roaming around?<BR><BR>12/26-- fly to Scotland

xxx

Sherry: Question re: the rental car, are you returning the car to LHR before you go to your London hotel?

xxx

I'm not sure of the driving distance from Heathrow to Stonehenge but I do know that Stonehenge closes at 4 PM in December. If your plane arrives at Noon you will need to allow time to collect your luggage, clear customs and fill out the paperwork for your rental call. <BR>

Sherry

Yes, we will be returning our car. Either on the night of the 21st or early on the 22nd, and then taking public transport back into London. Will that work?<BR><BR>I was concerned about the Stonehenge timing as well. I guess we figured if we stay in Salisbury and don't make it to Stonehenge that day, we could do it first thing in the morning, then drive to Bath and spend a little time, and then into London at night?

xxx

Sherry,<BR>I know, I know, I am sounding like your nervous auntie, but...will you be confident driving at night on the 'wrong' side of unfamiliar roads,( some of which will be narrow)? And at this time of year, it will be pitch dark at 4 PM.

Sherry

XXX/&quot;nervous auntie&quot; <BR><BR>Heck, no, I wouldn't be okay with driving! No way. That's what my dear husband is for, and he loves driving (we live in California), so he's looking forward to it, and I think it will be okay. I did insist on an automatic, though.

chris

<BR>Sherry,<BR><BR>We were in London last week for 4 days. You may want to double check on the changing of the guard. You indicated that you plan on doing this on 12/23. This takes place every other day in the winter. In November I believe it was on even numbered days. Since Nov 30 is an even number, the next would be Dec 2 and so on. That would mean it would not occur on 12/23. I don't have a website at my fingertips to refer you to...but do some checking. It definately is every other day...just not sure if it is even or odd in Dec.<BR><BR>You will love London. Just don't get discouraged by the sun setting &amp; it being pitch black dark at 4pm. <BR><BR>chris

chris

<BR><BR>Unless someone else on the forum knows (which is highly likely)...here is a website with a phone number that you can call &amp; inquire about the Changing of the Guard Schedule. <BR><BR>http://www.army.mod.uk/ceremonialandheritage/events/index.htm<BR><BR>This is not something that we did while there, so that is why I don't know the dates.<BR><BR>chris<BR><BR>

xxx

Hi..'tis your nervous auntie, again <BR>Actually I am not TOO old and I go to London almost every October, this year being no exception. I think you are going to love London. *S*<BR>A suggestion : get a copy of Time Out ( it's a magazine that lists everything that is going on for a particular week.)<BR>Also consider some of the nightspots in Covent Garden and in Soho. If you like live jazz try Ronnie Scott's on Frith Street or the Pizza Express on Dean Street ( yep, the music downstairs is good, the pizza is marginal)

Jan

Try www.smouthhound.co.uk to search for a B&amp;B in Salisbury. There are plenty to choose from. I have no personal recommendation as living near to Salisbury I have had no need to use any of the listings.I would pick somewhere that has parking facilities as parking in the city centre can be problem at times.

Karen

Hi Sherry,<BR><BR>I am going in January to London/England, so I don't experience yet, but I can tell you some websites that have helped me research.<BR><BR>The www.smoothhound.co.uk suggestion is good. Also try www.westcountrynow.com. I found Byways House in Salisbury on there, and I am thinking about staying there. <BR><BR>Also, the Changing of the Guard is happening on the 23rd. Go to http://www.londontouristboard.com/ht...59&amp;rcd=400 for details. The London Tourist Board site in general has lots of great info! <BR><BR>Sounds like a great trip and I hope this helps. Please write a trip report when you get back, so I can further whet my appetite for my 1/16/03 trip!<BR><BR>Karen

xxx

This isn't your &quot;nervous auntie,&quot; but another &quot;xxx.&quot; For the little time that you will have your car, is it worth the price? You can easily do Bath as an independent day trip via the train or do an escorted coach tour from London that combines Stonehenge and Bath?

Dan

A couple of thoughts.<BR><BR>I would strongly encourage pickup/drop off car at heathrow. we did this and it worked very well. <BR> An hour or two of highway driving will help you to adjust to the car/laws before entering a city. Bath is driveable. I did it at midmorning. Hectic but doable.<BR> We also did London in Janauary last year. Very enjoyable. Warmer than home (michigan) and not overly busy.<BR> I strongly recommend London Walks for an enjoyable couple of hours.<BR> We never drove Bath to London, but i would guess it is 2.5 to 3 hours to Heathrow, then the trip in. So you won't get much time in Bath. (we felt 4-5 hours in Bath was plenty).<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip. We are jealous.<BR>

please

Please Karen, it's not London/England or Paris/France.<BR>They were there first so they are London and Paris. You say London/Ontario etc. because they are namesakes of the real thing.<BR>Think of it like the Internet. American URLs don't have US after them because they came first.

golly

Please, Please,<BR>Don't you think it feasible that Karen used a backslash to indicate that her trip would include London as well as other sections of England?

anotherxxx

Sherry, Since I don't know your or your husband's age range I may be off base when I say that you may not enjoy Leicester Square for your Saturday night clubbing. That area tends to draw a lot of 21 and under crowd.<BR>Another poster mentioned Soho, that might be more what you are looking for. There is also nightlife in Shepherd's Market.

Karen

Golly - thanks for sticking up for me. That is EXACTLY what I meant, of course, and I'm sure everyone but &quot;please, please&quot; understood that. <BR><BR>To: Please, please: My trip will be London, plus Salisbury, Bath, and a few other places, so that means I wrote London/England to capture that. I could have wrote London/Bath, to mean the same thing, and I doubt you would have thought that I meant that London was in Bath. Or maybe you would have, I don't know.<BR><BR>If you are writing a city and a country, you do it with commas, not slashes, as in: London, England or Paris, France. <BR><BR>I think I provided some good information, and this board gets ruined by people who have nothing better to do than criticize others, WRONGLY, under the cowardice of an anonymous post. Don't you have anything better to do?

Laurie

Sherry,<BR>A few comments. There have been several recent posts about Rules being a bit pricey &amp; disappointing. Friends of mine recently went to &quot;J Sheekey's&quot; before theater &amp; loved the food. I think they have a pre theater menu.<BR><BR>There have been some recent posts here about what's open &amp; who's serving on Xmas eve &amp; Xmas day. Hope you saw them.<BR><BR>It may be a bit late to change plans but I agree with the poster who suggested doing day trips to Bath/Stonehenge from London rather than driving/renting a car. Alternatively, forget driving to Stonehenge when you first arrive, drive straight to Bath (in daylight!)&amp; stay there over night. Do Bath &amp; stop at Stonehenge on your way back to London (or Heathrow to drop off the car). Whatever you do, I strongly urge you to go to www.mapquest.com &amp; get explicit driving instructions to wherever you're going. No one is ever prepared for the confusion of English roundabouts! Have a great trip.

Patti

Hi Sherry,<BR>Are you married to the idea of renting a car? If not, I have some suggestions--<BR>I visted both Bath and Stonehenge without a car on a trip to England this past summer. Bath is an easy trip from London by train, takes about 1 1/2 hours to and from, and the train station is about a five minute walk to the baths and the abbey. I left London around 8:30 am, got to Bath around 10, had plenty of time to visit the baths, the abbey, the costume museum and roam around town before catching a 4:30pm train back to London. You don't have to worry about parking, driving on the left, roundabouts, etc. For Stonehenge I took the special access tour with Astral Travels. They picked us up in London at 2:30, took us to West Kennet Long Barrow, Silbury Hill, Avebury and Stonehenge. At Stonehenge we had special access to walk amongst the stones, a really memorable experience. We were back in London around 10 pm. I noticed on their website (www.astraltravels.co.uk) that they have a sunrise access tour in the winter, where they pick you up at 6 am and you're back in London by early afternoon (if you're morning people <BR>Anyway, I liked them because it was a small group, just 16, and the guide was funny and knowledgeable. <BR><BR>Have fun!<BR><BR>Patti

Countrymouse

I dont know whether this will be an issue with you but it is extremely expensive to park a car in central London,on average &pound;25 a day, thats if you can get in one. London has also got one of the most confusing and hectic traffic systems in Europe and if youre not sitting for hours in a jam youre being swept along at a frightening pace with taxis and motorbikes cutting in on you on all sides. My husband was born and bred in London, but when we go there now (just got back from a 4 day trip) we leave the car parked in an outer London car park and travel everywhere by tube or bus. It saves your nerves and if you travel on the top of a bus at the front you get a good look at the sights too. When you get there get a map from the tourist office or tube station which shows all the bus routes and tube stations and plan your trip accordingly. They show all the main attractions, museums and such. A day 'rover' ticket is about &pound;4.60 and you can use it on all buses and tubes for 24 hrs. Hope this info is useful.<BR>Have a great trip.<BR>CM