Just back from London/Edinburgh
 

Hello, we had a great 2 weeks in London. Thanks to everyone on this forum for their helpful advice. I would like to return the favor. Below is a brief (hopefully) list of what we did over the 2 weeks. If anyone has any questions,etc. feel free to email me direct or via this forum. While in London, we stayed at the Swiss House Hotel in S. Kensington. Easy access to tube station (District, Circle & Piccidilly lines--very easy). Small hotel with small rooms, but great staff, clean & reasonable. We stayed at the Elmview in Edinburgh & liked it very much. Prior to our trip we bought tube passes, British Heritage Passes, 4 day flexi Britrail pass & booked 2 tours & seats for The Tempest @ the Globe. Here goes: <BR>Day 1) Kensington Palace & Gardens, Leighton Museum, walked around S. Kensington. <BR>2) Big Bus Tour, walked around Buckingham Palace area, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens <BR>3) Tower of London, Tower Bridge experience (nice views), tube to Covent Garden area <BR>4) Westminster Abbey (take the Virger tour), Trafalgar Square area, Leicester Square area, National Gallery, saw "Fosse" in the evening (great show!) <BR>5) Train to Bath, Guide Friday tour there, Roman Baths & walked around some. Took train to Salisbury, had to catch a cab to Stonehenge as the local buses had stopped running (were on winter schedule), the cab driver drove us by Salisbury Cathedral for some pictures. It was beautiful. Train back to London. <BR>6) Train to Hampton Court Palace. Evensong at Westminster Abbey. Walked around the Westminster/St. James area. Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London @ 9:30 (awesome). <BR>7)organized tour to Leeds Castle/Canterbury/Dover <BR>8) Banqueting House, St. Paul's Cathedral (we climbed the stairs to the top-great views, not a great idea if you are out of shape!), afternoon showing of The Tempest @ The Globe (we loved it!), spring for the cusions if you are lucky enough to get a seat. Jack the Ripper walking tour (had a great pizza at the Dicken's Inn in St. Katherine Docks near the Tower) <BR>9) Greenwich, visited Royal Observatory & walked around a bit. Back to London to see the British Museum. Walked around S. Kensington area. <BR>10) Train to Edinburgh, Guide Friday Tour, shopped down the Royal Mile <BR>11) Edinburgh Castle, Georgian House, walked around the old & new town areas. Had lunch at Brown's (which was great). Missed Holyrood Palace as Prince Charles was in town. Train back to London. <BR>12) Oxford/Stratford-upon-Avon/Warwick Castle Tour. Late shopping in Knightsbridge area. <BR>13) Hampstead Heath view of London, Harrods department store, saw "Whistle Down the Wind" in the evening (we loved it) <BR>14) Train to Windsor Castle, some more shopping, Haunted London walking tour. <BR>15) back to the states <BR>In between all this we walked, walked, walked. If you are able to walk a lot, you can see an amazing amount of things every day. I was amazed at how much energy we had, even at the end of the day.

Thanks for the great report! Sounds like you really planned well. So, when is your next trip?

Just booked the elmview in Edinburgh for 1 night in August, but we are returning to Edinburgh at the end of our trip. Is it worth another 3 nights?Could you be a bit more descriptive about what you liked about it.Thank you

Thanks for the report. You certainly covered a lot of territory. Sounds like you had a marvelous trip.

Dru--- good recap! <BR> <BR>Where is the Elmview located in relation to the Royal Mile? Any website? <BR> <BR>I noticed a lot of shopping! Any special recommendations? <BR> <BR>How you liked Bath? <BR> <BR>On point #7. Can you elaborate on the tour? Did you felt rushed? <BR> <BR>Thanks for sharing.

Here is the website for the Elmview B&B in Edinburgh: elmview.co.uk. I made all my arrangements over the web (they offer a 5% discount on cash payments- we paid about 80 pds). They were very helpful with how to get to their place from the train station (bus or cab). They are located about 1 mile from Princes St. If you like to walk, it is not a bad walk from their place to Princes St. It is a private townhouse of about 3 or 4 stories. The B&B part is on the lowest floor with it's own entrance (so you don't get the feeling you are in their "home"). The room was a good size with a very modern bathroom. There are 3-4 rooms & a breakfast room. The breakfast was very good (fresh fruit, breads, eggs, meat & other stuff was on the sideboard that I never even looked at {I'm sorry to say!}. They were as nice as can be. There is also a small fridge in the room, hairdryer, coffee/tea making facilities. I wish my bath towels were as nice as theirs!! I would definately stay there again. Let me know if you have any other questions. <BR> <BR>Regarding shopping. I probably made it sound like we did more shopping than we actually did. But one place we really liked in London was Whittard's of Chelsea (tea). The store we went to was down the street from Harrod's (I believe West on Brompton Rd on the same side). Although I enjoyed browsing through Harrod's & the food hall is definately not to be missed, we bought our teas at Whittard's. I even bought a teapot there & I had no intention of buying a teapot. We just really like the store. Certainly more reasonable than Harrod's. <BR> <BR>Regarding Bath. Unfortunately, I was not as enamered by Bath as I expected. When other posters said all you needed was 3 hours, I thought they were crazy, but it was really about all we needed. I loved the Roman Baths & the city is beautiful. We ate at Sally Lunn's (the veggie soup I had was excellent). I brought back tea from there for work & we have been enjoying a "cuppa" everyday. <BR> <BR>Regarding the Leeds tour. Leeds Castle was absolutely beautiful. Canterbury Cathedral was also beautiful (the stained glass is unreal). The town right around the Cathedral is very touristy & we felt the 1 1/2 we got at Canterbury was enough. Dover was a short hop & about all we needed. It seems the best way to see it is by approaching from the sea, not an option while traveling in a bus. However, we're glad we saw the cliffs. Let me know if there are any other questions.

dru, Thanks for the wonderful summary. We'll be going in August and doing alot of the same things. Where did you get your passes? were the British Heritage passes worthwhile? Thanks alot !

Elaine, I ordered our Britrail passess, British Heritage Passes & London tube passes through Britrail (www.britrail.com). Call them & ask for their 2000 booklet (for lack of a better name). Definately get the tube passess, we used them constantly. Since we were staying for a 2 week period we each bought two 1 week passes for zone 1-2. We did not need a passport photo & had no limitations on what time of the day we traveled (& we did travel very often during rush hour--which I guess some passes will not let you do). As for the Brit Heritage Passes we found them worthwhile. I requested a brochure from the British Tourist Authority. The brochure lists all the sites that you will get in for free using the pass. It cost us about $75 for a 15 day pass. Here are the places we used it for: Kensington Palace (though we did have to pay 1 pd- an unadvertised cost), Tower of London (1/2 price), Tower Bridge Experience, Pyx Chamber/museum in Westminster Abbey (did not include admission to the Abbey), Banqueting House, Hampton Court Palace, Windsor Castle, Royal Observatory in Greenwich (also can use for the Maritime Museum in Greenwich though we didn't see it), Roman Baths in Bath, Stonehenge, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace (though we couldn't get in due to Prince Charles being in residence), Georgian House in Edinburgh. There are many other places through-out Great Britain where they can be used, but only a couple more places in London itself. If you will be in London only, it may not be worth it. We got our moneys worth, plus it was great because they were payed for up front. Have a great time!

I am trying to plan a trip to London/ Scotland for either December w/ 2 friends or next summer alone. I am thinking of hosteling- did you try that at all? What do you think about 9 days to cover both from the US? Did you see much Vegitarian fare as far as the food went? I appreciate any input I can get, this is all a bit overwhelming to plan. Thanks.

Nancy, can't speak to hosteling it. 9 days to see both England & Scotland? hum, you may see a lot as it all whirls by you in a blur. Sit back & prioritize what you must see. We started by first deciding did we want to do a tour or do it on our own (we decided up front to do it on our own). Seeing London was our first priority, so we decided to base ourselves there. Did the research on what we wanted to see there & then what we were interested in seeing that was doable as a day tour. Seeing Edinburgh was also a priority, so we worked in a 2 day trip. This worked out well for us. Unfortunately, there is only so much time, so you need to decide do you want to see a lot of things but not in much depth or fewer things & really enjoy them. Only you can make that decision. I got tons of info off this website & bought a couple of guide books. Don't get overwelmed, planning is part of the fun!! Use this forum, people are very helpful. <BR> <BR>As for the food, we ate in pubs mostly & it seems I do remember seeing vegitarian items. Good luck!