London in April
 

What does one do for 10 days in London and 2-3hrs from it? What should one expect re weather? Would Bath be an option? How does one dress?

"What does one do for 10 days in London and 2-3hrs from it?"

Westminster Abbey, the Tower, Big Ben
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.

"What should one expect re weather?"

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licóur
Of which vertú engendred is the flour;"

"Would Bath be an option? "

Yes, or Shower in the more modern hotels.

"How does one dress?"

In the usual manner, trousers, shirt, etc.

Seriously, " . . . when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
— Samuel Johnson

So, let us know a bit about your interests.

Bath is doable as a day trip or better yet, and overnight or two to see the surrounding area as well.

Weather can be variable. Rain gear and layers for changing temps.

you really do need to give us more info. What you like to see/do etc.

W/i 2-3 hours of London (depending on your mode of transport) would include all of the UK, Ireland, and most of Europe.

Do you mean 2 or 3 hours by car or train?

~Picasso exhibition at the National Gallery

~Byzantine exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts

~Flemish Masters exhibition at the Queen's Gallery (for the Massacre)

~Shah Abbas and 17th century Iran exhibition at the British Musuem

~American Ballet Theater doing Le Corsaire at the Coliseum

Those would be on my list for April 2009...

I agree that you need to give us more info to really get useful responses as there is so much to do/see in London...a few of my highlights are:
- museums (they're pretty much all free)
- West End shows
- pubs
- London Walks (www.walks.com)
- the Tower, Big Ben as already mentioned

janisj said that most of the UK is within 2 or 3 hours of London - this is absolutely correct - we've done day trips to Bath and Stonehenge, the Peak District, Salisbury Cathedral, the Cotswolds...Edinburgh is only 4.5 hours away by train, so pretty much anything south of that is within striking distance!

To echo the above--what are your interests? History, arts, literature, food, etc.? 10 days sounds like a lot but it will fill up quicky. Your feedback here will be much more meaningful if you give "us" some guidelines.


Is this your first trip there?

Are you staying in London and looking for "day" trips? Do you know generally where you are staying yet?

Also what are you doing for transport--private car, train, bus, or "packaged tours"? That definitely impacts what you see outside of London.

Also what is your general age/health? Can you walk hours and hours?

The answers to such questions will definitely determine what you can do.

We spent 14 nights in London last July and went on 5 day trips via train or bus. Each of those trips was under 2 hours one-way. (We did have the summer's long daylight, of course) We took trains to Salisbury (and from there went to Stonehenge via bus), Dover, Chatworth (also used bus from train station) and Silverstone Racetrack (also used bus from train station). We rode a bus to Oxford.

So if you're staying in London and looking for day trips, I'd highly recommend Oxford and Salisbury/Stonehenge. Dover was a highlight but was a lot to do in one long day and you won't have as much daylight in April but it's great. Our other 2 trips were rather specifically for our tastes. I'd highly recommend Bath. There are tons of packaged tours that could get you to Bath, Salisbury, and Dover/Canterbury if you're interested in those. And lots of other places, depending upon your interests.

In London you "must" see the Tower and the British Museum, I think. Plus you need lots of time for just walking by and through stuff like the Parks, Buckingham Palace/Big Ben/Parliament area, the South Bank, and the Millineum Bridge.

So give us some idea of your interests, in and outside of London, and you'll get some more specific suggestions.