London along with other day excursions?
May 1st, 2009, 06:35 AM
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London along with other day excursions?
I will be going to London (May 13th) for 9 days, but 2 days are used for flying. We plan to see all the usual sites within London but what would be an nice one day excursion outside of London. I was thinking of Stonehenge/Bath together, if possible. Does this sound like a good plan? What other day excursions can anybody suggest in the event this is not possible or there is enough time for a second excursion?
May 1st, 2009, 06:43 AM
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Check out explorer days with London Walks. http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Stoneh...t/default.aspx
I've been on tonnes and they are all great. You get transport (usually by train) to the location, a 2 hour walking tour in the morning, some spare time usually for lunch and another 2 hour walking tour in the aternoon.
Hope this helps!
I've been on tonnes and they are all great. You get transport (usually by train) to the location, a 2 hour walking tour in the morning, some spare time usually for lunch and another 2 hour walking tour in the aternoon.
Hope this helps!
May 1st, 2009, 07:07 AM
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Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace are both easy day or half-day trips which you can do on your own by train; Windsor from Paddington Station and Hampton Court from Waterloo.
If you have a pretty day, and I hope you have many, Kew Gardens is beautiful, reachable by Underground as it is in Kew, part of Greater London.
If you have a pretty day, and I hope you have many, Kew Gardens is beautiful, reachable by Underground as it is in Kew, part of Greater London.
May 1st, 2009, 03:41 PM
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There are MANY 1 day excurions possible--via train, or a bus, or a tour. So I would suggest you decide what you'd really like to see. We spent a whole day at Stonehenge and Salisbury.(went on a train) We spent a whole long day in Oxford.(via bus) We spent a whole LONG day at Dover. (got there on a train) Bath is great, too, and worthy of a whole day.(was on an EF tour with kids when I went there) Greenwich (got there and back via tube and tunnel and boat) and Hampton Court are both half day trips. There are tons of places I haven't been to suggest personally. So what do you like--history, authors, castles, scnenery, ?? Have fun with your decision-making!
May 1st, 2009, 04:01 PM
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Grayline tours has several day trips from London. A few years ago I did the Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Bath and it was a nice jaunt out of London. Bath is a beautiful city and the countryside around it is lovely.
May 1st, 2009, 04:02 PM
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You could also do Cambridge or York, in addition to the good suggestions you've already gotten. See what tickles your fancy! A good place to start might be deciding whether you want to see scenery, history, architecture...
May 1st, 2009, 04:12 PM
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WE used Evan Evans tours for a full day tour to Salisbury,Stonehenge and Bath.They pick you up at your hotel in a van and than go to a central meeting place and take you in a really nice coach. The guide was excellent. I am sure you could do it cheaper but it really was a easy way to see these 3 sites and we felt it was worth the money.
May 1st, 2009, 05:36 PM
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Thank you so much for all this great information, as I have come to rely on all of you. I need to sit down, review my travel guides both London and Great Britain and spend some time figuring it out. I have been so busy trying to book an inexpensive, but clean place to stay (not easy). This trip was planned on very short notice (about a week ago). I love it all, scenery, history and architecture, as jent03 said - and this is such a short trip. I will probably have specific questions as I review my books; not sure where to book various trips, except letsgo39 - Evan Evans, how long was that trip? Any thoughts on accommodations? Not enjoying the prices, I think I have been doing too much traveling in Asia (cheap!!!). Thanks again....
May 1st, 2009, 05:54 PM
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I don't think anyone has mentioned Brighton, which has the Royal Pavilion and a nice little museum, among other things, and is about an hour by train. I second Dover/Dover Castle, where we went once time in Dec. and unexpectedly liked a great deal more than we thought we would - wish we'd had another hour or so at the castle but didn't realize it closed early in Dec. Have been all the other places except Oxford (which we plan to do on next month on a London Walks Explorer Day) and all of them are excellent ideas. My husband and I are going to Wales (Cardiff) for a day, which I figure should be about 2 hrs. by train. So you can add Brighton and Cardiff just to complicate your decision even more. (I won't even mention Canterbury or Leeds Castle or ....)
May 2nd, 2009, 10:23 AM
#10
Regarding where to book, if you decide on an Explorer Day with www.walks.com (as jamikins mentions above) you don't have to prebook, you just turn up and pay your money. All details are on their website. It's also reasonably priced.
If you decide to do a day trip by train and explore yourself check out www.nationalrail.co.uk for trains times and fares or try www.trainline.co.uk We did a one day trip to Canterbury and signed up at the tourist office for a great guided walk once we arrived. Then we spent some time shopping and exploring.
Most of the touristy places outside of London offer guided walks once you arrive, check out the official tourist websites for times and prices. We've done these in Oxford and Cambridge, just arrived, found the tourist office, paid our money and enjoyed the walk. The rest of the day is free to do whatever you please.
If you visit Cambridge, Ely is a nice place that is only 15 mins away by train. Peacocks is a great tearoom by the river, 5 mins walk from the cathedral.
Have a great time.
Kay
If you decide to do a day trip by train and explore yourself check out www.nationalrail.co.uk for trains times and fares or try www.trainline.co.uk We did a one day trip to Canterbury and signed up at the tourist office for a great guided walk once we arrived. Then we spent some time shopping and exploring.
Most of the touristy places outside of London offer guided walks once you arrive, check out the official tourist websites for times and prices. We've done these in Oxford and Cambridge, just arrived, found the tourist office, paid our money and enjoyed the walk. The rest of the day is free to do whatever you please.
If you visit Cambridge, Ely is a nice place that is only 15 mins away by train. Peacocks is a great tearoom by the river, 5 mins walk from the cathedral.
Have a great time.
Kay
