rozium

Am beginning to plan a trip to England for Mar 2007. Plans so far are to spend the first few days of a 10 night trip in London. Considering the fast train to York for 1 night and then another train to Edinburgh for 2 - 3 nights. Finally, back to London (train?) for the remainder of our stay.

Prefer trains to car rental...the driver doesn't see much.

What do you think?

amaclise

All those trains are great. I think there's a night train back to London if you need to come back that way.

I might suggest the London Walks day trip up to York and then a stay overnight. This tour covers a lot of ground in a short time and leaves time to wander on your own after they all go back to London and you are still in wonderful York! There are some B&B's along the river that are reasonable.

You can then catch a train to Edinburgh the next day.

lscott

Sounds like 2 of our trips, including recent one in May. We flew to Gatwick, had BritRail passes which we bought via internet before leaving home. One trip we stayed first night in London and took train to York next day, stayed one night there at Royal York Hotel by the station. This last trip we went directly from Gatwick to York via Thameslink train to Kings Cross. Stayed 2 nights at same hotel, took train next day to Harrogate to sightsee. Then, both trips, we went on to Edinburgh and returned by train the day before our flight, staying in London overnight one trip and at Gatwick Hilton the next trip. Both trips were about 10 days long. You can get a taste of all 3 cities in that length of time and all are well worth a longer or return trip. We have been to England 5 times and always make good use of the good and frequent train service. We like to stay in London and take day trips by train..we have been to Bath, Salisbury/Stonehenge, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, Windsor a well as exploring London, and recently a whole week in Edinburgh.

Mimar

Consider an open jaws flight into London and out of Edinburgh. Then you won't have to spend valuable time backtracking. Ten days isn't very long, and you're planning to spend 3 of them moving base.

London is a pretty expensive place to use as a daytripping homebase. I wouldn't do more than 1 or 2 daytrips in a week's visit.

janisj

I definitely second Mimar's suggestion of flying open jaw into London and out of Edinburgh or Glasgow.

And if you can't do a reasonable open jaw, I still wouldn't break London into two stays. That would just make your already short visit seem even more rushed and disjointed. Stay several days in London > train to York > train to Edinburgh > Fly from EDI to either LHR or LGW to catch your flight home.

Open jaw is best - but flying back to catch your return flight is almost as efficient.

Master_Hawkins

My wife and I just got back from York. We had a wonderful time. We stayed at a B&B, "23 St. Mary's". A 5 minute walk to the middle of town and all the shops and museums. (The museums are excellent, however, I did miss [lack of time] the WWII POW camp 18 miles N.E. of York)

Be sure to go to "Betty's" for tea. We did it twice.

"23 St. Mary's" is in a very quite part of town, very nice rooms with canopied (sp?) beds. "Rick Steve's" had this one right.... they have a good breakfasts and the owner, Chris, is very helpful with places to visit, if your interested. Be sure to book ahead.

alanRow

If you don't go open-jaw I'd suggest that you leave London until the end of your trip as it means you are close to your deaprture airport a few days before your return flight - it reduces the effects of any public transport problems that clould prevent you getting your flight home

noe847

Master Hawkins, (and anyone else) which museums did you see/enjoy? We are going to be in York for an overnight next month, and are interested in the Yorkshire Museum exhibit on Constantine, the National Railway Museum, the Yorkshire Air Museum, and the Eden Camp (which I realize you didn't get to see). Some of these may be my husband only, as he has previously been to York and visited the Minster, Wall, etc. I plan to make the old town my priority, and hope to catch Constantine. I'd especially be interested in whether the museums might be (primarily/strongly) geared to children - that will help my husband make his decision.

Morgana

Noe
I live near York and often visit. The Railway Museum is superb - and it is free to get in. Many of the other Museums in York can be quite pricey, especially if there' several of you. The Railway Museum is only a few minutes pedestrianised walk (signposted) from the Railway Station. The only slight negative is that the food served in it is expensive and not that good, but many people take a picnic (there's a designated picnic area in the building, and lots of seating outside). Marks and Spencers in the centre is perfect for buying picnic food.
I would say the Railway Museum is for adults and children - even for those who 'don't like trains'. There's loads for kids to climb on and sit in, and parents will find the exhibits (especially the Royal Trains) fascinating. And most children fall silent when walking into the massive exhibition hall!
Eden Camp is a fair way from York, and a favourite for school trips, so I have been many, many times. Fascinating place, well worth a trip. Again geared up for children, but also great for adults.
Don't miss the Minster, whatever you do!

noe847

Thanks, Morgana. The Minster is #1 on my list! I plan to see it, and other things in the city center. If I add a museum it will likely be the Constantine exhibit at the Yorkshire Museum.

My husband traveled to York on business three years ago, and saw the Minster, walls, and city center. He is the one who would see the Eden Camp, the air museum and/or the Railway Museum while I do the Minster, etc. He went to the Maritime museum in Greenwich and was a bit disappointed with it; he got the feeling it was 'geared' to children (school groups?) and not as in depth as he would have liked.

caroline_edinburgh

I agree with Alan : if I were doing these 3 centres & flying to & from London, I'd leave London until last so my (presumably) transatlantic flight home wouldn't be messed up by any problem with the EDI-LHR flight.

Open jaw would obviously be best though, if possible.

alanRow

Just a point about rail tickets. Some of the cheaper return tickets only allow you to break your trip somewhere on the RETURN portion of your ticket. Some allow you to break it only on that day (ie spend a few hours only) but some allow overnight or more

In this case train direct to Edinburgh, then train to York, break trip, train to London.

RogerM

The open jaw idea makes a lot of sense as it's a very long day's journey from Edinburgh to London. We were in York last year and extended a 2-night stay to 4 because it turned out to be so darned interesting and enjoyable. Along with the minster and surrounding old town there are 3 or 4 first-rate museums including the viking museum, a regional folklife museum and then the historical and train museums. Plus it's just a wonderful place to wander about. We also extended our time in Edinburgh - both extensions at the expense of time in London which we were glad we did.