stever

Hello folks. I did the search. I also searched on the Starwood flyer talk forum but I still have some basic questions if you'd humor me.

My wife really wants to see London, so we're now going to London on May 31st, 2008 (unless you think it's really rainy then, really cool then, or extremely, overly crowded at that time!). It's either that time period, or the middle of September 2008, though I'd rather not wait that long to travel.

We picked the Park Lane Sheraton

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...propertyID=105

Studio Suite room for 14500 Starwood Pts a night for 7 nights right now. We buy four nts on points and get 1 free. If we stayed 8 nts we'd get 2 nts free instead of one. My wife thought that maybe 10 nts is too long in one place, in London, and that it would be better to check out the Lake District instead for 2-3 nights before Edinburgh. "The Cottswalds maybe?", she asked me...

I have no idea. I love the big cities and so does she, but the country is nice too. I thought we could just do day trips from London to see Stratford on Avon, Greenwich, Oxford, Cambridge, etc if we wanted to stretch out of the city... Hmmmm, I wonder if we'd get bored at one hotel for more than 7 nights. Anyone?

We wanted to go to another country on this trip and thought Edinburgh looked pretty great. We should have enough Starwood pts to be able to do 3 nights there at the Edinburgh Grand Hotel and Spa.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...h_474_overview

Our friend from north of London said that Easy Jet is very cheap from London to Edinburgh, as little as $15 each way sometimes. Boy, that's cheap! I always thought that trains are alot cheaper than airplane rides, but if this is true, then maybe we should fly to Edinburgh for that 3 nts, then back to London and home to the USA at the end of our trip. Thoughts on that? Would you change this itinerary in any way? We're pretty much set on at least London and Edinburgh.

Thx in advance,
Steve and Julia R
Silver Spring MD

VirginiaC

As someone who tries to make a four-week visit to London at least every 18 months, no -- 10 days is not too much, especially if you love cities. It's just about enough time to scratch the surface. You won't get bored at one hotel -- there's so much to do you won't be in the room that long. A couple of day trips are also a good idea. In addition to those you've mentioned, I'd recommend the wonderful old seaside resort, Brighton, just about an hour out of London by train. And if you have time for only one college town, Cambridge beats Oxford every time for me. Take the hop on/hop off bus there and visit the American cemetery at Madingley. While cheap flights do exist, the train offers a number of advantages: no luggage restrictions, no waits for baggage, no long security lines, no need to show up hours before departure, and center city to center city journeys. The train to Edinburgh can be particularly pleasant and give you a look at some of the countryside you missed by spending 10 days in London.

janisj

OK - my advice to you is a bit different than it would be for others not using points. For that long a stay a flat would be better than a hotel - no matter how nice because there would be a lot more space. Those 4 walls can close in aftre a while.

But w/ points - definitely that is a nice property so fine.

Now how long is too long for London? You could saty a month and barely scratch the surface. Normally it would be good a week in London and then go out and stay in the country. But 7 days London and 3 days in Edinburgh w/ just 2 or 3 days in between really doesn't give you enough time to get around.

If you had 15 or 16 days total, you could do London 7 days, pick up a car and tour the Cotswolds for 2 or 3 days, then the Lake District for 2 or 3 days ending up w/ 3d

janisj

darn - hit post by accident . . .

. . . then the Lake District for 2 or 3 days ending up w/ 3 days in Edinburgh.

But w/ just 13 days total you'd be just too rushed. So I might be inclined to spend the 10 days in London w/ maybe 2 day trips. then fly or take the train and finish upp in Edinburgh.

Any chance you can squeeze out a few more days??

stever

Thx alot for the quick replies. Yes, an apartment does make more sense if we didn't have the free hotel stays. We figured that since London is so expensive, we could blow our valued Starwood pts there. It sounds like 10 nights in London wouldn't be excessive then from what you're saying.

The other thing is that we definitely won't be driving in the UK so we'd have to rely on trains and busses. Your advice on taking a train to Edinburgh to see the country scenery is a great idea. From the plane we obviously wouldn't see too much up close. And you're right about airport travel - it's generally a pain for us.

So, 10 nights in London and 3 in Edinburgh. I hope it's not extremely expensive to fly into London and out of Edinburgh and back home, otherwise... I guess we're stuck with having to fly back to London and then home.

I doubt she'd be up for more than 2 weeks off for traveling, but I'll run it by her. Lately, after 2 weeks, we're pretty ready to head back home. We really love it here back at home and miss our cats and our house .

We did 3 weeks in Italy last year and were SO ready to come home towards the end. We said we'd never do 3 weeks again unless it was Australia or something extremely far away. The advantage of the UK is people speak English which makes it much easier to get around and get info when lost or just in general.

I've only been to the UK once, 10 years ago to London and Bath. Good advice to do Cambridge then instead of Oxford. I'm making a list from notes I read on Fodors about what to "try" to do within the time we have. I'm sure we'll end up halving that list when we get there! We always plan too much into a trip.

Steve R

janisj

OK - just a couple more comments

Yes - using points in London gets you the most bang for your buck, so to speak.

If you definitely don't want to drive - the Cotswolds and to a lesser degree the Lakes are difficult to tour w/o a car. So dropping that idea is a good thing.

Another option - if you can squeeze in just another day or two: London 10 days/nights, train to York for 2 days/1 or 2 nights, then train to Edinburgh for 3 days/nights.

You definitely don't need a car in London, York or Edinburgh, and York is a fabulous 1.5 or 2 day stop.

Usually you can book open jaw into London and out of Edinburgh (or even Glasgow) for about the same price as London/London.

stever

Janisj:

That is amazingly great info. One of my friend's recommended York as well, and I'm originally from York, Pennsylvania USA, my hometown, so that would be a great novelty staying and visiting York, England. Not driving in England makes the decision easy then if the lake district requires a car.

I'm sure I can squeeze and extra day or 2 from my wife to get in 2 nts in York . I'll check the search function as to where to stay in York.

Starwood pts... I love these things! We just stayed at the Westin St John and they gifted us 30K pts for some screwups that happened there, effectively giving us 2 free nts in London!

Now my wife is saying we might have to go in September instead... Any thoughts as to going in Sept as opposed to the first 2 weeks of June?

Steve

janisj

Both are fabulous times in the UK. June has the very VERY long days (daylight until after 11:00 p.m. in Scotland). Sept is often "Indian Summer" and can have really great weather. Gardens are beautiful - but of course different flowers in bloom. Crowds would be about the same both months - not crazy crowded at all since British and most European kinds are in school in June and in September.

Either would be fine - just pick the one that fits your plans best . . . .

Rachele

I'm actually going to London at the end of September (2007), taking the train to Edinburgh, for a few days, then coming back to London. The train is fairly priced, it's about $75 round trip. I'll post about my experience there when I return. I'm in London a lot, my sister lives there, and we catch a huge break with expenses staying with her. Using frequent flyer miles to go from Newark to LHR, so that was helpful too! Staying in a highly recommended B&B called Elmview in Edinburgh. Over the years, we've done more local trips from London to Bath, Greenwich, Brighton, Kent (to see Winston Churchill's home Chartwell, wonderful) and Stonehenge. We still have lots of places to visit in England alone!

P.S. If any Edinburgh experts respond to this thread, please recommend favorite bars and restaurants! Thanks!

meks

The Elmview is in Glengyle Terrace. Edinburgh which is on the southwest side of the city about a 10 - 15 minute walk from Edinburgh Castle. There are a number of good bars and restaurants in the area of the Meadows / Tollcross / Bruntsfield and you are only a ten minute walk away from the Grassmarket where there are a number of popular late opening bars.

Have a look at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...om:Inside.html as this will give you information about Edinburgh in general and included in the various topics are three sections which relate to pubs in Edinburgh, which take in the areas around where you are staying. There is also a section regarding dining and you will have a wide choice in Tollcross / Bruntsfield never mind the city centre.

takemealong

York, PA is my home town, too. I still have family there.

Mimar

Once you get your dates down, buy your train tickets online well ahead of time up to 60 days. That will make a significant difference in the price you pay.

I second Janis' great suggestion of York. You could spend 2 or 3 days there easily.

stever

This is great info. I wish we could buy tix that far in advance to Edinburgh, but we're more spur of the moment folks and may change our plans part of the way through the trip. If we break out of that mold for this trip, we'll definitely take your suggestion and buy the tix online in advance.

So it soundsl like June or Sept will be equally decent weather. That's great news for us then. I'd hate it to be blistering hot like it might get in August, but I think by mid September it should be cooler is my hope, if we decide to do this in Sept instead of June. Our goal is to only do this trip when the little kiddies are in school! Anyone know when school ends in June for them? We want to be long gone by then .

The Edinburgh info sounds great too. We usually just ask store owners when we get there where they eat, and where they'd recommend, but it's good to get some advance advice in notes we'll bring.

York sounds great too. I still have family there as well. We call it Dork, because it's generally so backwards.

Cheers,
Steve R

janisj

except for week long holidays in different parts of the country - the main school hols don't start until into July so you are fine in both June and Sept.

twk

I'll second the suggestions above. You can spend 10 days in London if you like, and break up the city feel by taking daytrips. We went to Oxford/Blenheim during our week in London--and I don't really even count Hampton Court and Greenwich as daytrips from London. With more time, I would like to have gone to Chartwell (I'm a Churchill nut), or perhaps to Cantebury and Dover.

However, a week in London, a couple of days in York, and 3 days in Edinburgh sounds great. The train to Edinburgh takes you through York anyway, so it's a natural. If you want the best deal on train tickets, then you need to book when they first become available (about 7 weeks out), unless you get a rail pass (which might work for you).

As to flying open jaw into London and out of Edinburgh, you might miss one of those freakishly low RT fares to London that one finds once in a blue moon (usually due to a computer glitch), but it won't be out of line with RT fare to London 90% of the time.

polly229

Was in London in June 35 years ago and never got my clothes dry. Since '98, I have been in London/Scotland 4 times in late Aug. to mid-Sept. and had delightful weather, though some rain, of course. So, of course, that must mean it always rains more in June. ;-) Anyway, I think you'll probably be just as happy in Sept. as in June.

We drove in '98 - including to the Cotswalds and on to Leeds but haven't driven again. Don't ask. I second York - we left the car at the hotel in Leeds and went BY TRAIN. Don't ask how long it took to find the hotel in Leeds; we thought since we'd finally found the hotel, we should just leave the car there till we left.

If you like cities, I don't imagine there's "too long" in London. If you don't like cities, London may help change your mind. If it doesn't, get out of town for the day. I second the other suggestions, particularly Cambridge and Brighton, but also add Dover (which I wasn't sure I'd like all that much but loved the castle, even on a dreary Dec. day) and maybe Winchester. Also enjoyed Leeds castle, a nice day trip from London; recommended it to a friend who said it was the highlight of their visit, though I wouldn't go that far myself.

We took EasyJet to Edinburgh rather than take the time on the train. The flight was quite cheap but getting to Luton was neither cheap nor easy, so the next time we went to Scotland, we suffered a 6 hr. layover at Gatwick rather than getting from Gatwick to Luton and arriving in Scotland 3 hrs. earlier.

Regarding food in Edinburgh, I was going to suggest you eat before you leave home. If someone else has other suggestions, they're ahead of me. I'd avoid the Royal Mile pubs and the neighborhood around the little Bobby statue; we ordered pot pies and got what looked like stew in a bowl and when we asked, they said, "Oh, we were out of 'pie lids'." Best meal we had might have been sandwiches from Marks and Spenser that we ate on a park bench. (Of course, I tried haggis on the Royal Mile and still haven't gotten over it, so that could be affecting my attitude.) A year later we didn't have a single bad meal in Inverness, so you never know. Take the train to Stirling Castle, which makes a nice day out of Edinburgh.

In the late '90s and until about 2002, we were great fans of Guide Friday, the inexpensive hop-on, hop-off buses that operated in most of the towns we visited in England and Scotland. Then someone bought them. I don't remember who it was, but I think the cost went up and they stopped operating in some of the towns. We used to get full day passes for 6 to 8 pounds and often retired university dons driving and narrating in Cambridge, Oxford. Anybody know if there's still a company doing that?

janisj

&quot;<i>Regarding food in Edinburgh, I was going to suggest you eat before you leave home.</i>&quot;

That's just plain silly - there are quite a lot of really wonderful restaurants in Edinburgh. Sorry you seem to have missed all of them.

Mimar

Regarding the cost of train tickets, we traveled second class from York to London this last June. Having bought our tickets well ahead of time, we paid 16GBP each. Last minute it would have been 132GBP each. For that much saving I'd embrace pre-planning -- but I like planning anyway.

stever

Wow, that's quite a difference in price for the tix in advance vs the day of. Uh, yeah... I think we'll be preplanning and buying them in ... advance!

As far as plane vs train, I think we'll just train it. The train can be interesting and at least we don't have to deal with air travel which we despise.

London and it's surrounds sounds really great, and it sounds like Sept may be alot dryer than June. If this year is an indication, it seems VERY wet there right now.

Steve R

VirginiaC

Stever:
In considering whether to go in June or September, it would be wise to remember you get 16 hours of daylight in June vs. only 14 hours in September. Weather is whatever it decides to be. We've had shirtsleeve weather in April; we've been damp and cold in July. We've only once experienced the kind of deluge Britain has suffered through this summer and that was in October and it only lasted about half an hour.