After a death in the family I have been spurred on to visit relatives I have never met. My daughter (18) and I are travelling in April, have 21 days. My Aunt lives in Milton Keynes, is it feasable for us to stay in London and travel to see her? I have other relos in Nottingham and Woldingham to visit. We need to then head to Glasgow. Should we hire a car and drive or is there a better option? I think we will need a week in London to catch up with everyone then I want to take my daughter to Paris - I believe the tunnel is best for that?

So a day to settle in, 7 days with the relos, a day ( or should that be two?) for Glasgow, 4 days in Paris, thats 14 days, can any one advise on the next place? Should we travel through Wales and Ireland or head to Venice or Rome?

Also I have travelled extensively through Asia and America, but know nothing about security and the nuances of travelling in UK? What are the "must know" things? I have been reading through previous postings and want to learn as much as I can. Thank you .

You should find driving in the UK reasonably familiar, since we drive on the left. But Milton Keynes is half an hour by train from London. Nottingham is about two hours away by train. Woldingham is almost a suburb of London, to the south (where the others are north), or least there are plenty of commuter trains to Caterham, which is nearby. So you could do all of those as day trips from London if you wanted.

Or you could go to Milton Keynes and travel from there to Nottingham (by train about 2 hours, with changes en route), or you could drive. By train from Nottingham to Glasgow is about 5 hours, whichever way you do it (either come back to London, or change at Derby and Crewe), and longer by car.

If the timing is set in stone such as to put Glasgow in between the relatives and Paris, it might make more sense to fly from Glasgow to Paris (Easyjet do it, but you may find the luggage you're carrying for 21 days would bump up their headline fare, which is otherwise quite cheap).

As Patrick says -- commuting from London to Milton Keynes/Woldingham/Nottingham by train would be easiest.

But one day in Glasgow? By train or plane, it will take 1/2 a day to get there and a 1/2 day to get back. Of course the flight doesn't take 1/2 a day -- but getting to the London airport, checking in, the flight and getting into the city from GLA will take 4-6 hours depending on which London airport and where you'll be in London.

Driving it would take most of a full day.

So one day just seems crazy making IMO. I'd fly up to Glasgow and stay a couple of nights, then fly to Paris from there.

It sounds like you need to go to Glasgow, but I would make sure to visit Edinburgh while you're there.

If you go by train to Nottingham or other locations, keep in mind that prepurchased tickets, well in advance, can save you up to 30 or 40 pounds per ticket.

Oh yes, I agree w/ WillTravel. If there is any sightseeing involved, you really should try to fit Edinburgh into your plans. But if you are only going for a quick relative meet/greet - I'd still stay over in Glasgow at least a night or 2.

Stay at least 2 nights in Glasgow.....lots & lots to do and see. The train from Euston takes just over 4 hours....

thanks, we will stay more days in Glasgow. I was born there but have never been back so there are a few places I need to check out and then will spend some time in Edinburgh. I should be able to leave some luggage with a relative so would you advise to drive to Glasgow, then fly to Paris? Is there lots to see on the drive to Glasgow or is it just a highway? I am following junk4rp posts on apartments, I intend to stay 7 nights in London so not sure whether to stay in a hotel or rent an apartment? Would it be safe to leave booking the accommodation in Paris 'til a few days before? I just want some leeway, if we are having a great time with family I could stay a bit longer or if its not working out we could leave a bit earlier. We are travelling in April.

For your time in London you might check out accomodations offered by At Home in London--B&B's in several areas--we got a discount for staying a week in the Belgravia area. If you want to prepare your own meals, these won't work, but if you are just comparing to hotels, might be worth a look.

"<i>I am following junk4rp posts on apartments,</i>" Oh no! Well, before junk4rp is finished, you will at least have seen half the flats available in London . . .

No, you can't really wait til the last minute to book Paris accommodations. You'll likely be able to find something, but it will take a lot of searching, and you may not get the location(s) price you want. Paris (and London and Edinburgh) are cities I <u>always</u> book as soon as I know my dates.

As for driving to Glasgow -- if you mean just driving up, then no, take the train or possibly fly. If you mean taking 3 or 4 days for the drive up - that's different. There are hundreds of things to see enroute. But If you only want to drive straight north - or even do it 2 days/1night -- don't bother driving.

Thanks Janisj I think we will take the train to Glasgow and I will book Paris soon. Previous posts have said the 2nd 3rd or 4th is the best place to stay so I will look at those.

I have been looking at London accommodation but am confused about the best areas to stay. This is my daughters first trip so we will want to see the obvious things, the Tower, Palace, etc so we will do the hop on hop off bus trip, should I buy a London Pass as well? Which areas would be the best for us, I have looked at Belgravia, Southwark and the City but its hard to see which is better because I don't know what I need to be near. Any suggestions? I jave tried to look at all of junk4rp posts but there are so many....

You don't want a London Pass - lots of reasons,, mostly because they don't save you any money. If you do a search, there are many threads that mention the pros and mostly cons to the LP.

Some people do like the 2nd, 3rd and 4th in Paris. But many others would recommend the 4th, 5th and 6th.

As for London -- in "general" the best areas for a first time visitor are mostly along the Piccadilly tube line. These include South Kensington, Knightsbridge/Mayfair (a very pricey area), Covent Garden, and Holborn/Russell Square.

Other good areas would include Victoria/Westminster, Belgarvia/Sloane Square, and a few very specific parts of the southbank/Southwark. Not everything called the Southbank or Southwark is equal.

There are other good areas -- but these are most central for first timers.

1.Decide what you most want to see, decide how much time you actually have in the city to see those things, look at a map, and group your destinations into days or half-days.
2. Pick an address that seems very near a tube stop that would give you access to the areas you've picked out as must sees. You probably can't walk to everything you want to see from one hotel; the city's main sights are pretty far-flung. If you just had one or two days, you might limit your sight-seeing to within walking distance, but as you say you will have a week (with some trips out to see relatives), you will have time to do some tube or bus traveling. But having easy access to a tube stop has been one of my top priorities.
3.We stayed in a B&B in Belgravia that was just about perfect for ease of access to what we wanted. It's hard to recommend a specific B&B to "strangers" because what each of us wants is so different (talkative host? cooked breakfast? quiet? big room? plenty of hot water? access to eating facilities? etc.) but the one we booked through At Home in London was great for us. We booked 2 weeks and got a discount. We are using this agency again for this summer, but as we will have DD with us this time, we needed a room for 3 and so are staying in the Bayswater area--again, very close to a Tube stop (and some pubs and Hyde Park and shopping and a grocery and some ATM's so we think this one will be good for us).

All that to say that London is so big and has so many suitable, safe areas that it's hard to say which is best or even better. There's not ONE that works best to be near all you want to see. I would think that South of the Thames might be a bit far away, and the City is a business section that shuts down more at night, they say.

Don't buy the London Pass, "they" say.

Keep reading London posts here on Fodors--you'll begin to see patterns and the helpful-est of folks (of which janisj and patrickLondon among others will rank high).