SB_Travlr

Just want to suggest that after visiting Westminster Abbey on Saturday, you consider taking a boat from Westminster Pier to The Globe, especially if it's a nice day. The boat drops you right by the Globe. Tate Modern is next door. When we did the Globe tour, we got a 2-for-1 by showing our rail tickets (not sure if they still have that promo going on).

You've done a great job of tweaking your plans to be more realistic. Just keep in mind that you have a lot of very interesting places on the list, and be prepared that you might want to linger longer at somewhere like the Imperial War Museum. There's so much to see there...

Have a great visit to my home city.

britfan

Thanks for the Westminster-Globe boat suggestion.

Lingering time is what we were trying to build into our itinerary, although I suspect we still don't have as much of it as I did when I travlled in the UK in 2001. But, c'est la vie! Since my degree is in British history, I have no doubt that there will be lots of places I'll want to linger, especially since my husband is a history buff, too. Thanks again!

julia_t

"...you actually see Stonehedge from the motorway London to Bath"

Sorry, but you don't see Stonehenge from the motorway (M4), which is around 30 miles north and there are the Marlborough Downs in the way.

You CAN see Stonehenge from the A303, which is a main dual carriageway road that branches off the M3, again about 30 miles away.

PalQ

Sounds like you've bought your railpasses if you havn't wait to do so until Aug 15 and you'll get a ninth day free - if buying thru RailEurope - special just publicized today. No retro however. If no Eurostar ticket buy the $94 day return as soon as possible as these can be very hard to book! (RailEurope has $94 day return - thru RE or its agents (800-441-2387) or else on the spot you could pay lots lots more!

britfan

Thanks for the heads-up about RailEurope - we did already buy our railpasses and our Eurostar tickets, but we were able to get the $94 Eurostar day-return tickets.

Thanks again!

Bill_I

I have done Edinburgh from London on an overnight train arriving about 7:30am, & then spending the day in Edinburgh & leaving on a train back to London about 4pm or 5pm. In that time you can get to the Castle, Palace, some of the royal mile & bit of shopping done. I have done this a number of times & really like Edinburgh & would not want to miss it, but with 8 days, & going to Paris for 1 of those days, that may be too much. Something that I might substitute for Edinburgh(although it could not take its place) would be a day trip to Cardiff & then continue on to Caerphilly. I have done this a couple times also. Cardiff is about 2 hrs by train, & then Caerphilly is about 15 minutes from Cardiff on a local train. Britrail accepted on both trains. You can see the castle in Cardiff & then go through the excellent castle in Caerphilly. Heritage pass accepted for both castles. Caerphilly is one of my absolute favorite castles to visit. The castle is just a short walk from the train station. There is a pub near the castle (I forget what the name of it is) but they have large windows in the back & just overlooking Caerphilly castle is quite a site. Caerphilly castle is the second largest castle, after Windsor. The people that I have come in contact with in Cardiff & Caerphilly, have also added to the pleasure of going there.

AR

Being a Welshman originally from West Wales but working in Cardiff, I would obviously recommend a long stay in my country but not as a whistle stop visit from London via Bath. I therefore agree with you dropping it. Wales, England and Scotland is not worth cramming into 3 days.
However, I must defend Cardiff castle from the "phoney" accusation. I doubt that any of the detractors actually know very much about the place (after all, some posters are "experts" on Wales one minute, France the next and Italy a couple of threads later - usually from a computer in the USA).
Whilst it's certainly true that William Burges rebuilt the castle lodgings in 1866 for the 3rd Marquess of Bute, the castle itself has a history spanning more than 2000 years. Excavations show Roman walls and the Norman keep was where Robert, Duke of Normandy (son of William the Conqueror) was imprisoned and probably murdered on the instrucions of his brother Henry I.
Lancelot "Capability" Brown landscaped the grounds as well.
The banqueting hall is still in use and has been used for state events such as when Britain last held the presidency of the EU (they currently hold it again). All the EU heads of state were present including Tony Blair and the Queen as well as Kohl, Chirac, Prodi, Aherne and the others (and also Nelson Mandella).
So there!

caroline_edinburgh

In my defence, AR - my husband is from South Wales, we have a weekend in Cardiff at least once a year & I actually visited the castle on my last trip this spring. I enjoyed our visit; but was suggesting that with such limited time, Cardiff castle is not the best example to visit.