anicecupoftea

I'm English, been driving for 30 years, and I won't take a car into central London. Once you've sat in a bus or a taxi and winced each time the driver squeezes through an impossible gap, pulling out into congested traffic and changing lanes with seemingly no regard for what else is around them, you'll agree with us. Don't even think about doing it.

nytraveler

London is a very large, very old and very crowded city. Places to park near tourist attractions simply do not exist. People who live in subrubs have cars and use them there or away from London. Driving into London is madness. And if you have to park a car figure at least $40 per night for a garage - if you can find one.

I know in Texas cities have broad boulevards and there are major highways and everyone drive everywhere and there are places to park everywhere. The same is just NOT true of London.

As for how long - I already said to get a Michelin green guide (any decent bookstore - or Amazon or B&N online if you have no bookstores). It will tell you how many hours of each site - and rate by by * and tell you what to look for.

I have been to London almost 20 times and some of the others here are locals or even more frequent travelers. Please listen to our advice. Your plan is not doable. You need to get more specific information and lay it all out on paper. And you need to get and study 2 good maps - London streets and London Tube - which you will be using a lot since your lodging is so far east.

jazzie0498

OMG....LOlll!! Sounds like pure madness!! ���� Now I know hubby's not getting on that steering wheel for any reason... I have some people advise us to rent a car for day trips and most of ya'll don't so we'll go with the majority..�� We we're so used to driving here in Texas , and you can just park everywhere and anywhere you want...even on freeways where people drive from 80 miles up. And to NOT have a car in Texas is a no-no. Establishments are so far apart unless you don't mind walking 5 miles to get to the nearest supermarket . So thank y'all for the well meaning advise.
Going back to my question:
Can we go to bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury in one day trip? And how to get there from our hotel in the tower hill location?

dwdvagamundo

jazzie--While I would not want to have a car in London, I don't think your idea of renting one on arrival at the airport and driving to Salisbury or thereabout is crazy. I regularly pick up a car and drive the day of arrival in Europe. I drove Gatwick to Canterbury some years ago without any problem except finding something decent to eat on Sunday morning.

But don't try to do Stonehenge and Bath in one long day and then return to London. As you've already got your hotel in London, I wouldn't do this unless you can drop a nite or two from your stay in London. Otherwise, you'd be better off going straight to your hotel and then doing a day trip.

BTW--we stayed near Tower Hill last year and really liked that part of London. There are some good east Asian restaurants around there, and easy access to the Tube and to the River Bus, which is good for going quickly to and from Westminster as well as giving you a nice view of the City.

Cathinjoetown

It's okay to rent a car for day trips, see my suggestions above on how to do it. Just be prepared for a very long day.

Regarding a day trip, Bath and Stonehenge or Stonehenge and Salisbury are more doable--all three would be a stretch. I would make a decision between Salisbury and Bath based on what you want to experience. Salisbury Cathedral is amazing while Bath combines the Roman spa with the classic Georgian architecture featured in many Jane Austen novels. I can't see giving justice to both in one day particularly adding in an hour or so at Stonehenge.

jazzie0498

Thanks for the reply dwdvagamundo-- as I've said in my last post that we're not renting anymore because of all the hassle and madness with driving in London so we'll take the public transport. So now my question is still the same--go to Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury in one day and how to get there from tower hill? Stonehenge should only take 10-15 min to visit so we have Bath and Salisbury for the rest of the day.

dwdvagamundo

You posted while I was writing. I don't know of a way to do all three in a day without a car that would not involve taking a tour. So, that 's what I'd do. Just googled and found one that goes to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Bath.http://www.viator.com/tours/London/S...d737-3858EE021

I am not recommending that one--just pointing it out as something available and that does not look all that expensive. It is eleven hours, so it would be a VERY long day trip. Looks like one of the hotels where they pick up is near Tower Hill.

dwdvagamundo

PS I was also going to say that my calculus on driving might change if I had three people rather than just one yelling at me about my driving!

jazzie0498

Thanks dwd!�� We might just do that tour that you recommended. We'll see...we'll figure the math -- 4 people , transportation and entrance fees for four people, then we'll decide which is more ecomomical.

BigRuss

<<we're so used to driving here in Texas , and you can just park everywhere and anywhere you want...>>

I live in Texas. European cities are not like Texan cities. The closer parallel is downtown Boston - tight, crowded, not necessarily logical, and streets that go any bloody direction.

Do get a London map. You need one. Londontown.com will help too.

jazzie0498

Where in Texas Big Russ? I live in San Antonio.

tuscanlifeedit

A fairly easy day trip from London by public transport is to train to Salisbury, and from Salisbury bus to Stonehenge, and reverse.

Windsor Castle is an easy day trip by train.

So is Hampton Court Palace.

At least the second two of these can be combined with activities in London itself, if you are up and out and no what you're doing.

I personally think that Bath is too long a day trip, and your time there will be so limited that unless you have just one or two particular things you want to see, you probably ought to skip it.

Windsor and Hampton Court are standard and popular day trips by train from London. There's a lot to see, especially at HC.

I didn't mind staying at Tower Hill, but I would use my day trip days on the weekend, when Underground routes may be cut.

BigRuss

Metroplex.

<<I didn't mind staying at Tower Hill, but I would use my day trip days on the weekend, when Underground routes may be cut.>>

Um, Tower Hill is on the District/Circle line and that's a bit hard to "cut." Even if there's a complete stop on service on the District/Circle lines, Bank, Monument, and London Bridge are close by. Last check, there are buses too.

HCP and Windsor are more crowded on the weekends.

europeannovice

As others have already said, London is more like New York with narrower streets and nothing like Texas where everything is sprawled out.

I would definitely vote for a day at Hampton Court Palace. My son then 10 at the time loved it. Try to go when they do the live kitchen demonstrations. It was great and the gardens are wonderful. We spent about 5 hours there and it is easy to get to by train.

Bath you could save for another time unless you are a huge Jane Austin fan and in love with Georgian architecture. There is plenty to do in London with only 8 days.

Rick Steves and Frommers guidebooks suggest to spend only two hours at the Tower of London and I don't see how they can recommend such little time unless you do a quick run through. To see it thoroughly--crown jewels, Beefeater Tour, White Tower with loads of arms and armour etc. etc. took us also 5 hours and we didn't even go into every building. We did have lunch there in the cafeteria and it was quite good. Hopefully the Michelin guide as nytraveler suggests is more realistic as to time needed for places.

The British Museum you can get lost in for a month but reasonbly to see some of the highlights you need 2-3 hours at least.

If you want to see changing of the guards without having to stand there for hours and not being able to see anything, I suggest you take a London Walks tour that includes that--they plant you in a spot when the guards are passing by right in front of you and you are not waiting there for hours.

I also agree that the Imperial War Museum and the Churchill War Rooms are fantastic places to visit. The IWM re-opens in July after rennovation. When are you going?

Things are very spread out--look at a map and go to the TFL website and do a journey planner--it tells you the best way to get from point A to point B via public transportation. Try to group things that are together.

Have fun and we would love it if you wrote a trip report when you return to tell us what you actually ended up doing.

jazzie0498

Thanks europeannovice!�� We'll be in london last week of June to first week of July so the IWM will still be closed at that time I presume. My husband has driven in Manhattan and yup.... He hated it! He's also driven in Manila and Thailand where rules are non existent. And you share the roads with everybody and I mean EVERYBODY! --- farm animals, peddlers, beggars, jaywalkers, tuktuks - type of transport in Thailand , jeep neys in Manila , and what-have-you. If you've driven in one of these cities, I think you can drive anywhere in the world!!...LOlll!! But because of well meaning suggestions from the community here at FOdors, we're following the advice and just take public transport.
And yes, I'll be happy to share a trip report of our family when we come back. ��

PatrickLondon

Get used to the public transport system:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/maps/visitors-and-tourists

Every tube station and bus stop will have a diagram-style map showing what services go where from there (at many points it will show all the bus stops in the area and all the routes served from them). Check out the maps on the TfL website to get used to the conventions (this tends to be the kind of thing youngsters can get a handle on very quickly, and could be their contribution to the trip).