I think I got my England-Belgium itinerary (but I'm ready to pull out my hair)
 

Yes, I know I have almost a year before I am going (late May) - but I know how fast time flies (It is already Aug. 26! This year is going by so fast!) The B&B I want to stay at in York is already going to take reservations for next year -next month @-) so I figured I better get some kind of a plan together (and I have enough time to change it if need be)

Mon. May 23 leave from Atlanta:
24-26 stay in Brighton ( daytrip to Canterbury on 26)
27-31 London
June 1-2 York
3-6 London
7-9 Bath (Bristol day trip)
10-12 London
13-16 Brugge
17 Brussels
19-20 London
21 Leave to go Home

- It is important to point out I want as many Saturdays in London as possible (because of special tours at the British Museum) and Sundays I will be going to religious services (so I don't want to use those days for travel)

Also, I might do 1 or 2 more daytrips from London.

I wasn't planning on staying so long. I couldn't figure how to do it any other way. If I try to cram too much in I may make myself sick ... this was supposed to be a relaxing trip. :D (That's what happens when you start planning too early! You keep wanting more.)

Ok, now I am thinking 3 nights in York so I can use 1 day for a day trip to Manchester. - Is Manchester even possible as a day trip?

manchester is *possible* but why would you want to go there? Unless you have a specific reason to go there (Oasis Fan? Coronation St Fan? Football Fan? All fairly unlikely I think) it's not that great and you could do better with your time. If you're going from York why not Durham? Or if you just want to enjoy a noisy northern city - Newcastle (you won't understand a word they say - but neither do we, but after a few Newcastle Browns it won't matter)

david beat me to it. Three days in York would be great -- but to use one of them for a day trip to Manchester -- no reason I can think of . . . . . .

Well, I don't know why either :) I thought I would be missing out on something if I DIDN'T go to Manchester. - I wasn't really planning on it. The BTA just decided to send me a Manchester brochure (came in the mail today) - it looks interesting enough, and I have never been...

I don't know.

Everytime I think of Manchester, I have to sing that song from "Hair"

"Manchester, England England..." ;)

Great, now I'm singing it too!

So, Manchester is out then ... how does the rest of the itinerary look? Any suggestions? Comments?

I am just wondering about doing a day trip form Brighton to Canterbury. Although there is a Motor Way going out of Brighton, the roads aren?t particularly fast after that, so you would spend a good part of the day driving. As you going to London the following day, why not consider spending the night in Canterbury? That would cut the driving by half and let you visit a few places on the way. There are some nice castles in that area.

After Canterbury Cathedral, consider a visit to the Canterbury Experience, we found it good value.

I don't drive. :D I'll be taking the train ...

Yes, I LOVED the Canterbury Experience! (I was there in 2002) That is mainly why I want to go back. I confess to being a bit of a nerd. :"> I LOVE the Canterbury Tales!!

Truly, Manchester is just a big, bustling city....as is Bristol...neither one the quaint England. London, of course is exciting, but that could be your BIG city!..Brighton is fairly "seedy" some think....Canterbury is lovely, lots of nice B&B's there.

mari5,

I already said Manchester was out. I will just stay 2 nights in York as planned (was only going to add a 3rd if I decided to day trip to Manchester)

I don't want to stay overnight in Canterbury - just a day trip. I will either take this daytrip from Brighton or London (I think from Brighton makes the most sense)

I want to go to Brighton. I think the sea air will be perfect for my jet lag days.

The cities I mentioned in my original itinerary are set in stone :D - I have been planning for some time on this

I just wondered if the arrangement is good ... or if anyone had more suggestions of daytrips from London etc. (I have to go to Belgium last because I'll be bringing chocolate home for my mom...it is all she cares about ;) )

Ooops, you said "Bristol is a bustling city..." I thought I read Brighton. :">

Yeah, Bristol is - but I think it might be good for a day. I'm hoping to find a lot of Wallace and Gromit merchandise :D (I'm a BIG fan!!) and that big complex (what is it called?) looks like fun. ... I'm glad I'm not doing Manchester (was just a afterthought anyway) I probably don't need Manchester AND Bristol!

I agree Canterbury IS Lovely. But I've been before, so I just need a day.

I take it you are aware that there are no direct trains from Brighton to Canterbury? You would spend a lot of your day waiting for connections.

There's lots of good days out from Brighton - what about Lewes, or Chichester?

For the Belgian part of your trip.
What annoys me during holidays is packing, changing hotels and unpacking.
I can only suggest to stay in Brugge all of the time. I would not change hotels to Brussels for 1 night only.
By train, it takes less than an hour to get to Brussels or to Antwerp,
less than half an hour to Gent, 20 minutes to the seaside. Brugge also has a lovely countryside/seaside where you can walk, cycle, and is very well situated as a base for visiting the Flemish part of Belgium.
For B&B in Brugge, you should look at http://www.brugge.be/verblijf/en/gastene.htm
Take a 8000 zip code, which stands for the historic center.
http://users.skynet.be/brugge-gheeraert/ has a very good quote from Fodors members.

baldrick,

Thanks for the advice on Belgium. I hate that too! :) I was orginally just going to stay in Brugge. (I could spend a year there and never have enough time!) It will be my 3rd time -NOT my 1st.

I have plans for Friday though. By the time I get to Brussels (for the Eurostar) it will already be evening. I can't check in to a London B&B after 10pm! :D - So, I'll stay the night in Brussels. I won't unpack everything. Just what I need ;)

david_west ,

I missed your post before! THANK YOU!! This is exactly the type of info I was basically asking for. No, I didn't realize it would be so much trouble to get to Canterbury. I thought it was close enough to Brighton to get there quickly. (Ionly ran through Brighton very quickly in 1997)

Ok, so I will take a day trip to Canterbury from London and either stay in Brighton or go somewhere else.

Maybe I can do exactly what I did last time. I stayed at Gainsborough Lodge near Gatwick (LOVED it) the last 2 days of my trip and used 1 day to go to Canterbury. (But I'll have to wait and see wich airport I will be using! :D)

THANKS!!!