I just looked at the gotoday website for discount travel, and found a deal for 3 nights in London. My husband and I are seriously considering going either President's Day weekend (Feb. 14-18) or Easter weekend (the only times when we have a day off from work). Has anyone done this kind of trip in 3 days? We would be flying from Newark, NJ. Any advice would be helpful.<BR><BR>Also, the hotels offered are the Barkston Gardens, Norfolk Towers, Jarvis Kensington, Byron, Kensington Moat House, Jurys Great Russell Street, Sheraton Park Lane, and Marriott Grovesnor Square. Any thoughts on these?<BR>Thanks in advance for any ideas!<BR>Melissa

Even if it is a good deal, I think you'll be way too overwhelmed with all the attractions to see, especially in London. If you want to get away for a little vacation go somewhere nearby, but if you want to go to London, go all out-- those trips are special occasions. You also have to take in consideration the time it takes to fly to London and back-- pretty lengthy depending on where you live. I spent five days in London last year and was completely overwhelmed. But whatever you do, I hope you have a wonderful time!

Given that it looks like only 5 or 6 hour flight (?) from Newark, I think it might be fun. Don't plan to do too much and consider it your "taster trip" and you'll be primed for a return. <BR><BR>I did a 4 night trip over Thanksgiving weekend from the West Coast and had a great time. I don't know any of those hotels but I recommend the Kensington area.

I would do it and stay at Jurys Great Russell St.My daughter stayed there over Thanksgiving, they treated her very well, did a lot of very helpful extra things,the hotel was really comfortable and in a great spot as far as walking,Tube stops and safe location,although in my opinion, most of London is safe..You can get a lot into 3 days-make a list of the places you want to see most, and go for it~ you can rest when you get back home Also, for some reason, I never have a bad case of jet lag when flying to and from London so maybe you will have the same luck..

Hi<BR>I'm considering a short jaunt to London (repeat visit) myself, saw what sounds like the same deal on go-today.com<BR>I had also found recommendations on this message board and elsewhere for Barkston Gardens and the Byron. You can search on this message board for comments on those hotels.<BR>I'm going to add that I've priced this by looking at fares and hotels on Orbitz and on airline websites, and have found that I can come within a few dollars of that same price by booking through Orbitz, and with a far greater range of hotels at all prices, and more dates available, and the ability to add on an extra day or two if I want.<BR>The only other variable is the<BR>airport-hotel transfer.<BR>Go-today includes it, but I recently read about people experiencing delays and problems with the go-today<BR>van transfers, and I think I'd find it just as easy and quite inexpensive to take the tube or the Gatwick Express on my own.<BR>If this is your first trip to London, I have a long file; if you'd like to see it, email me.<BR>Good luck with your trip.

GO FOR IT!! I've never done a trip like that, but I definitely WOULD! You only live once, and with such a great deal, why not? How nice to say "oh yes, we're going to London for the weekend."

Go For IT!!!<BR><BR>We did a weekend trip (well, Thursday to Monday, but three full days on the ground) in London in late October. It was a blast. You can do an amazing amount of stuff in three days. I have a travelogue of my trip posted at www.appleberryroad.com under London In October.<BR><BR>jpm

Thank you all for your replies! I think when my husband and I get home from work, we will probably book the trip! Please continue to respond...any advice is helpful.<BR>Thank you!

I too am thinking about jumping on the British Airways special. However, I have never go to Europe for less than two weeks For people that suffer from the blues after a trip or the blues from just not traveling recently, (my last trip was in July) do you find the weekend trips help or hurt your "Not travling blues"?

I did this trip with gotoday.com last year from Los Angeles. GO! I got to see a lot (and now ALL the major museums are free).<BR><BR>Can't tell you how much I enjoyed myself. Make sure you go and see some shows (it is the height of the show season).

I definitely get the blues if I don't travel as frequently as possible! I would grab this weekend, maybe I will! There must be a way to juggle house renovations,dog sitters,life! to make a quick trip to London Sometimes it is just plain good for the soul to get away from everything that is "usual" and go somewhere new and discover things...having been to London many times, there are still so many things to see...a must always for me has been to see at least one play while there,book from here..tea at Browns or even Selfridges,lunch in a pub,at least one good museum,maybe an evening concert at one of the churches like St Martins in the Fields..wander Covent Garden, dinner at an Indian Restaurant,stroll through Hyde Park..Speakers Corner in Hyde Park can be a hoot..oh so many things to do,so little time

I've always tried for at least 10 days in london and have just planned a trip in March for 21 days (not sure how I will afford it...). <BR><BR>Once my daughter and I went on a short, last-minute trip, 4 days I think it was. We had no set itinerary as we had no time to plan one. It was wonderful! We just got up in the mornings, boarded the Tube, and got off by whim, maybe the stop's name had a nice ring or perhaps it would be a name we recognized by having read something about it somewhere. We stopped at plenty of pubs and talked to the locals. It was a hoot and stands out as a primo journey.<BR><BR>DO IT!<BR><BR>Yes, I find I often get quite depressed after a week or two of being back home from a trip. I try to schedule as much work as possible immediatly upon my return. It helps. I also try to do really basic things, like gardening or fix-up work like painting a closet, which while requiring some attention also lets the mind wander without too serious consequences.

Also-Re:travel blues...It helps if you start planning the next trip while on the plane headed home~C

you guys are as bad as me about the need to travel. I feel addicted to it. I can only stand 3 months without a trip. Since I can only afford Europe once a year, I fill in with local trips and then there's always a long weekend trip to EPCOT (seriously).<BR><BR>I will also be in London near the end of March for 4 days. Will the museums still be free at that time? Also, should I really make reservations for tea someplace or can we just pop in somewhere near our hotel? I was thinking that maybe tea (aka high tea)in London is as easy to come by as coffee and pastries in Paris; or am I totally wrong about that?

Please, please, please high tea is a substantial meal usually with something cooked. You have it about 6 o'clock and is what other people know as supper. Tea or afternoon tea is taken at about 4 o'clock and has dainty sandwiches, cakes etc. Why WILL Americans persist in confusing the two. Is it because they think that "high" equals "posh"?

To tea:<BR><BR>aka means also known as. It does not mean that the words following it are the correct term or name for something. It just means that people may also refer to or know something by the next term given.<BR><BR>aka is more correctly written as a.k.a., but I was being lazy.<BR><BR>Sorry that I confused you and got you upset for no reason.<BR><BR>Your post gives me the impression that you are from the UK, so what do you think, are there plenty places in London where I can just pop in for tea at 4:00? Will I need reservations for high tea at 6:00 since it is a substantial meal?

The idea of seeing a show while in London sounds wonderful to me! Does anyone know of a website where I can check availabilty and prices and/or order tickets? Thanks!

Go, go, go! I do those kinds of trips a lot and take different people who want to go to Europe, but can't spend many days away from home. They are always great trips. I do two or three a year, though changes have made it hard for me to get a direct flight from where I live, so that curtails it some. For theatre tickets go to www.ticketmaster.co.uk. You can even see seating charts. Pick up tickets at the theatre.

I am now also looking into booking the flight and hotel separately, which would enable me to get FF miles so that I can plan another trip to Europe! My question is, how difficult/easy is it to get from Gatwick Airport into the city? Is there a direct train?<BR>

My daughter came in through Gatwick(we always end up in Heathrow) and she had a car waiting for her.I know it sounds posh, she had a small boy with her and this was her first trip-but I think it was not too expensive,I'll check and let you know.C