Husband and I want to take a 9-day trip to Europe in late April-early May. We can get to London pretty easy on FF miles, but anywhere beyond that becomes a hassle with the miles. I'd like to spend a few days in Londan as husband has never been, and it's been more than 10 years since I've been. But then the question is where to after that? I would really like to go to Rome, but looking at the flight times and the cost, it seems like a hassle. I have no interest in seeing other parts of the UK, and Paris is out because although we like, we've been there pretty recently and would like to go somewhere we haven't been. We've also been to Amsterdam recently, but it was a 2-day trip in the middle of winter - would it be worth a second visit? We're city people in general, like to walk around, see architectural sites, people watch, shop, eat, museum-go, pretty much in that order.

Lille would appear to fit yopur bill pretty much - it's on the Eurostar route, so only a couple of hours from London, and it was a European City of culture so it has plenty of galleries etc.

Excuse my geographic ignorance, but what country is Lille in?

France. It's on the same line as the London-Paris train.

Here's the official site (in English):
http://www.lilletourisme.com/uk

I know you say you aren't interest in the UK, but, if Paris and Amsterdam are out, and your return flight will be from London, you should really think about Edinburgh. You can reach it by train, it's a city (not bucolic countryside), and there is some interesting architecture to look at it (most of it old, but the new parliament certainly isn't).

Did you check RyanAir and EasyJet for Rome? We got great rates for Venice out of Heathrow on BMI in March, although I purchased those tickets back in September.

tudorprincess -- I have checked, and the fares are good, but I'm wondering how much of a hassle it would be, especially given EasyJet and Ryan Air's baggage restrictions. If anyone has used these airlines to connect out of London (especially if it required transferring between London airports), I'd love to hear about it.

If you prefer to use trains...how about Amsterdam or Brussels? Amsterdam is gorgeous in the Spring with all the tulips. Brussels is also a lovely place that doesn't get enough attention!
If you prefer to fly- EasyJet is a great option. Barcelona, Madrid, Dublin...these are all cities with short flights.

Hamsterjam is a pain in the rear to get to by train - it's a slow service from Brussells.

Why would you have no interest in the rest of the UK?
Edinburgh would be wonderful to visit, and you could get there by train.

Edinburgh , Amsterdam , Brussels ( Brugge), Nice and Provence ?

Dublin.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Decided to go to Venice for 3 days, via EasyJet. PS - meant no offense to UK-lovers, just am more interested in other European countries.

My wife and I also have FF miles to London and 9 days for our trip. We got tickets to Rome for just over $200 on Alitalia (in March, checked back a week later and they had dropped about $40) and only about a 2hr flight. RyanAir had cheaper tickets but the times didn't work well 4 us.