My wife and I are taking a trip to England in late May and have 7 full days to spend. We figured the first three days would be needed to see London (using the Fodor's three day guide). We would then like to do a day trip to Paris on the Eurostar (found on Rick Steve's website), and that leaves three days to see the rest. We have thought of driving up to Edinburgh, through the Cotswalds etc, see Edinburgh, see part of Hadrian's wall, go back through York and back to London. It's starting to sound like we are trying to see to much. Do any experienced travelers have any advice here? What to see and what to pass on? Thank you in advance.

Don't forget to spend a day in Ireland and a half-day touring the castles of Wales. Oh, and a couple of hours on the Isle of Man and at least one morning on Guernsey for sunrise.

Tom, I definitely think you are trying to cram way too much into 7 days. Do London and Paris only or do London and a few day trips like Bath, York, etc. You could even do London and Edinburgh but not all of the above on one trip.

Hello Tom, I also think that may be a bit much. By comparison, my husband and I are going for 11 days and plan to do London Paris and York, (maybe a bit of countryside in between) We have been to London and Paris numerous times in the past so we just basically go to soak up atmosphere. One thing to keep in mind is that.. when you get off the beaten path driving in the UK (I am thinking of A roads) it adds considerable time to a journey.. if you get stuck behind a lorry, or if there is some kind of road works (as happened when we drove to Edinburgh.. ) oh boy it can add hours to your trip! for 7 days I would try to stick to 3 places no more.. but that's just me. Have a great trip.

I agree, way too much. I would recommend several days in London, (it will still not be enough, but its a start), and some day trips to Bath or Dover. I trip to Stonehenge, Bath and Avebury stone circle is nice, if you like the Roman/Druidic heritage of the area. <BR><BR>A day trip to York would also be nice, or perhaps to Shakespeare Country. The Lakes District is one of the more beautiful places on this planet.<BR><BR>However, if you decided to do the whole 7 days in London, you still wouldn't run out of things to do!<BR><BR>As was said in the above post, unless there is a direct A road to a place (think of London as a hub of a giant wheel, with spokes of roads radiating out), the drive time is hampered by slow trucks, sheep, and narrow, winding roads. At one point, driving in Scotland (near Oban) it took me 3 hours to go 60 miles... and that was with noone in front of me! (lots of hairpin turns!!!!)<BR><BR>Another nice stop is Nottingham, but I don't know of any established tour day trips to it, so unless you've rented a car or are going by train, I'd skip it.<BR><BR>The drive up to Edinburgh can take the best part of the daylight hours, so its probably not very practical for just a day. Hadrian's Wall is a bit closer, but still a drive.<BR><BR>Look on the map at distances... it took us 3 hours to drive from London to Nottingham, and that was on a highway...<BR><BR><BR>

<BR>Paris day trip on Eurostar is not a particularly good idea. You won't see much of anything in a day. You will get back with barely time to sleep, after getting up real early to get there, before you are off on your next three days.

Thanks for all of the responses. Skipping Paris on a day trip (was doing it for my 20th anniversary) is probably wise. But, if I spend the first three days in London, what do you all recommend for the remaining four?

Tom,<BR><BR>This site is notorious for nay-saying anyone who likes to be on the move. I don't think what you're suggesting is too much. You can easily drive from London to Edin. via the Cotswolds and back to London via York in 4 days. The posters who say you can't -- I guess -- don't like to drive. To me, driving is fun. I am a product of the 1950's and long driving vacations.<BR><BR>I have made the trip from London to the Lake District - overnight -- Lake District to Edin. -- 2 nights -- Edin. to York -- overnight -- York to London and I had a wonderful time. My wife helped drive and she enjoyed herself as well.<BR><BR>I think the consensus on Fodor's site is that once you arrive in Europe you should stand still and look around for 20 minutes, move 3 feet and repeat until your vacation is over. Otherwise you won't really &quot;see&quot; anything.

Tom: I actually believe that if on a first trip you only have 3 days for London it is almost better to skip it entirely. The first day is pretty much eaten up by airport transfers, checking in to your hotel, and jet lag exhaustion. The last gay is taken up by a lot of packing and getting to your transport out of town. London is a huge city, it takes a lot of time to get around, and there are hundreds of things to see. And first-time visitors have a certain &quot;learning curve&quot;. Nothing will be a convenient or as fast as you think it will be just looking at a map. You will not even get a taste in 2+ days. <BR><BR>I would spend the whole time in London -- OR -- spend the whole time touring other areas such as the Cotswolds or Yorkshire or the West country or Wales..

OOPS - That is &quot;last day&quot;

Actually, I do like to drive, and don't care to stay still. My last trip to England we drove 2300 miles in two weeks, and had a grand time. However, since my darling husband did not drive manual, I did all the driving, and didn't get to see much, as the driving took most of the morning hours. And the first day of arrival, we had jet lag to sleep off. I have since learned that you can always add on a little extra if you find you have the time, but shaving off something you had been looking forward to (because you ran out of time) leaves a bad taste in your mouth about it.

Hi Tom,<BR><BR>As others have suggested, the Paris day is a bit over the top.<BR><BR>As another driver in the world; you may want to consider the following.<BR><BR>London to Southern Wales - Stops could include Stonehenge and Bath.<BR><BR>Southern Wales to Central Wales - Stops could include a few of the Wales castles.<BR><BR>Northern Wales to Warwick - Warwick Castle is the best in England.<BR><BR>Warwick to London through the Cotswolds.<BR><BR>This is a circular trip with lots of scenic variety and tons of places to stop and things to see.<BR><BR>Would I trek up to the lake country or Edinburgh on this trip - probably not - too much to see and do a bit closer and not enough time to do justice to these areas. Scotland deserves a week itself.<BR><BR>Have a great trip.

7 days is practically nothing in London there is so much to see and do. What I'd suggest is staying in London for those 7 days (remember the first will be a jet lagged day and many people don't even remember what they did whe they think back on it). Take take trips, maybe 2 out of London, that way you are not unpacking and packing and losing lots of time in transit so to speak. You can get to York in 2 hrs from Kings Cross Sta. - it can be a nice day trip, we've done it and in May it will stay light quite late too. I can also suggest Canterbury (about 90 min from either Victoria or Charing Cross Station) as another day trip, or Warwick (about 90 min from Marylebone Station) as good choices and a chance to see the &quot;countryside&quot; too. We've been to the UK many times and driving distances can be deceiving, particularly on country roads. What looks close can end up taking hours. With only 7 days I'd stay put in London and do day trips. Once you get there you are going to realize there is a mightly lot to see.

oops - I meant to say take Day Trips out of London - having a little trouble typing today I guess

I have visited London three times, each time staying 6-7 days, and haven't seen everything there yet! Of course, there are some things I saw on all three visits, as the three were in a 20 year range and with different people. All three of these trips included side trips to Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick (great castle!), Windsor, Oxford, etc. I strongly suggest you forget Paris for this trip and concentrate on London.<BR><BR>If you decide to spend some nights out of London, you might consider taking the fast train to York (two hours) and then renting a car there. York is very interesting, and you can also drive to Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey , the North Sea coast, or even over to the Lake District. As others have said, this last is slow driving (no freeways).

Like I said, Tom, basically everyone on this site will tell you that 7 weeks, much less 7 days, is not enough time to see London. They presume to know what everyone MUST see when in London. The very fact that you mention getting outside of London indicates to me that you'd like to move around a bit.<BR><BR>While on a business trip, a buddy of mine and I took the train to Paris and back, same day. We had a great time. Would I take my grandmother on a trip like that? No. Would I say &quot;I've seen Paris!&quot; -- whatever that means. No. I saw what I saw.<BR><BR>janis' answer is classic Fodors. She is undoubtedly -- IMHO -- one of the most knowledgeable UK-savvy participants on the forum. But when she writes that the first day is taken up with transfers, unpacking, jet lag . . . I think about my first day in London on my first visit there.<BR><BR>I arrived at LHR at 7:00am, at the SAS Portman Square Hotel by 9:00 and on the streets by 10:00am. Yes, I was tired, but I wasn't driving or flying a passenger jet, I was just walking around having fun.<BR><BR>To be fair, janis and I are at opposite extremes regarding covering ground on a vacation to the UK. To me, if you are standing still, you are dead. Sleep when you get home. Don't drive tired, but don't take an afternoon nap on the day you arrive; you'll never adjust to the time change.

hi tom,<BR><BR>I too am chiming in on the part about paris in a day. for the cost, I just don't think it is worth it. you will be on the eurostar at least 5-6 hours of that day. earliest is 7am so you would get in paris around 9 or 10(time change involved), leaving very little time open to really see much in paris. <BR><BR>paris is such a joy and I have been 3 times now and still have not seen half of it. with just 7 days in london, depending on your stamina, you would get more from the trip if you did day trips from london or picked one or two areas outside london to stay and explore. the stonehenge, bath etc will take all day. <BR><BR>just my opinion, but I would save paris for another trip if possible. we did both cities in 13 days and it was almost a fast paced turn your head and miss it trip at that.<BR><BR>erinb

Tom,<BR>for the last four days I would go to the Cotswolds. Drive(or train) out to Oxford and spend the day and then on to Buckland Manor to stay. Buckland Manor is an elegant place to spend a 20th anniversary. The next day either do Strafford upon Avon or Warwick Castle. The next day do a driving tour of the Cotswold countryside (a driver can be arranged at the hotel).....