At the last minute, we have to change our destination from Norway to somewhere within the UK (Norway was supposed to be the last 4 days of our London-Amsterdam-Norway trip, but we just found out today that we couldn't go to Norway due to issues with our Schengen visa).

Anyway, we couldn't make it to Norway (so sad ), so now we're looking for an alternative destination within the UK, for 4 days. What would you recommend? Scotland? More days in London (1st part of our trip is already 6 days in London). Day trips out of London (we're already doing Bath/Stonehenge)?

We are leaving on Sunday, 9/4, so this is truly last-minute (very stressful for an advance planner like me! Please help!!!

We very much enjoyed the Kent area - Canterbury including the wonderful Cathedral; Leeds Castle. We did a day trip from London, and we had a car. It was a lovely drive, too.

What sorts of things do you enjoy? There are a hundred places you could go for 4 days but a lot depends on what kind of things you want to see/do.

aggiemom's suggestion for Kent (and east Sussex) is a great one if you like gardens, castles and stately homes.

or fly into Edinburgh - spend 1/2 your time in the city and 1/2 someplace like Fife (St Andrews, fishing villages, Falkland Palace)

Or the Cotswolds - or Wales - or Yorkshire - or Dorset/Somerset - or ???

Are you flying home from the UK? If so -- which airport? That could also have a bearing since some areas are more convenient to LGW and some to LHR . . . . . .

Hi jm,

Suggested alternatives to Norway:

Denmark
Paris
Normandy
Burgundy
Belgium

I'd be bound for Dorset, lovely coast , many NT properties .
My favorite place in the world for peace and relaxation..Plumber Manor in Sturminster Newton..close enough to BAth, Corfe, the coast!

Wish I had your problem!

I would vote for Yorkshire. I fell in love with the Dales and the Moors last summer, as well as the city of York. As you drive north, you may want to pick one or two places to stop, depending on your interest.

Thank you for all the replies!

We are constrained by visa requirements, so we can only travel within the UK (with our UK visitors visa). So ira, we couldn't go to any of those wonderful places you've recommended ! The Netherlands Consulate only gave us 3 days on our Schengen Visa, that's why.

janis - we love museums and architecture (although we had reserved more "active" stuff for our cancelled Norway trip like kayaking, paragliding)

aggiemom, jody, marsha - I will look into those places you've recommended.

We're going to be flying into Stansted (from Amsterdam), so now we can either fly from Stansted to another UK destination, instead of Oslo (considering Edinburgh), or just stay for the next 4 days in London.

To fly back to the US, we're leaving from Heathrow.

Give a thought to North Wales. Lots of -- not too strenuous -- hiking in Snowdonia, wonderful castles, good food, welcoming peoplem, much of it aceessible by public transportation.

If you wanted to be in Norway to see the fjords and be out hiking, here are some suggestions of places you could go to in England that would have dramatic scenery and nice hiking.

Going north up to Scotland would give you a similar thrill of beautiful mountains and water (spectacular though different from Norway). There is a great route you could do for four days starting and ending in Edinburgh that would take you up along Piltochry and Loch Tay, down through Glen Coe to Oban, then taking a day-trip to go to Treshnish Isles (and see some old Viking outposts and puffins) and/or the Iona trip then back to Edinburgh. You could easily fit some hikes in between the scenic drives from place to place.

Another suggestion would be to go to the Lake District - an area which is very pretty and has a wonderful combination of "olde Englande" (Beatrix Potter country) and dramatic mountain scenery that's as rugged as parts of Scotland. Also, it's not too far by train from London and would be good for a 4 day break... 1/2 a day to get up there, 2 days for hiking/wandering, and 1/2 a day to get back to London. There is a lovely stone circle near Keswick which is in such gorgeous site... and Keswick could be a nice place to base yourself (Windermere itself doesn't do much for me, but you'll likely have to pass through here one way or other and you could do some watersports there if you would like). Hikes along the Langdales, Ullswater, Coniston, Grasmere, Ambleside (and there is a strong Nordic influence here as well)... ahhhh lovely, just writing about it makes me want to be there right now...

Also, Wales is a wonderful place for hiking, and I really like Wales, but personally, I think the scenery is more dramatic up north.

Both of these trips would work best if you rent a car at the train station when you arrive. And the time of year you are going is a shoulder season, so you probably wouldn't need to book places in advance, but could just show up in town and find a B&B quite easily.

Good luck and let us know where you decide to go...

PS - here is a good site for hikes in the lake district... http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/

I vote for Edinburgh, it has it all - history, architecture, amazing castle AND palace, friendly people, shopping, pubs, nightlife, haunted places, great scenery - something to attract visitors no matter what their particular interest.

As a one time resident of Edinburgh, I would recommend staying in York. You can catch a train easily from London and 4 days in York will fly by. You have the Minster, the old town, the Yorvick Centre, Castle Howard and many other wonderful sights close by. A day in Oxford or Cambridge is another alternative if York does not appeal.

Thank you, everyone, for all the input!

It looks like it's going to be Edinburgh for us. As Daisy54 pointed out, there's the history and architecture, plus the Highlands scenery, that we can see on a Day Trip.

trvlgrl - thanks for the suggestion on driving around. We're undecided yet if we're going to rent a car (the hubby's choice) or just do day trips using tour companies in Edinburg. It's a bit stressful for me to think of planning a driving itinerary at the last minute, but maybe the hubby can do it !

I'm writing down all the other suggestions for future UK visits, so truly appreciate everyone's time!

York would also fit your situation: great architecture and history in the city, day trips to day trips to other equally spectacular sites (Whitby, Durham, Ripon/Fountains, Rievaulx, Yorkshire Dales, N. York Moors, etc.). There are some fine museums in York as well (Yorkshire, York Castle, Railway, etc.).

Happy trails!