Need Help Planning London Trip
 

My husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to London. We actually had plans to visit London a few years ago, but it never worked out. We decided to spend the money we saved and put it towards purchasing a property.

Anyway, back to London planning... last time we were planning to take a week or a week and 1-2 days and visit London and then a day in Paris. We are both in our late 20s, and this will be our first trip to Europe. We like to visit cities quickly, and don't linger long on attractions. We have visited a few US cities in a day's time, and it's been good enough for us. We love walking around, taking photos, and eating (already have food places chosen, as we are both vegans).

After doing some research on the forums, I am thinking of leaving Paris out of this trip, since we will lose days due to traveling/jet lag. I'm trying to get some advice on planning another day or two trip within England. I've seen some mention of Windsor, Oxford, etc. Thoughts, suggestions?

Also looking for some advice on which website to book this trip with... I've been trying to do some research, and it seems like it would be cheaper to book a hotel & flight together on Priceline or Orbitz. We don't really care too much about the hotel room. We'll only be there to sleep, but would like something nicer than a hostel. We would be flying out of NYC. We are pretty used to public transportation, so that wouldn't be too much of an issue besides cost.

One final thing is... when? We can take this trip anytime during the year, except right now as we'd have to get passports. We'd like to pick a time that would be somewhat more affordable than peak times like June-August. We were thinking late September-early October or possibly even March-April?

Paris for one day; are you kidding me?

A little on the rude side, cheryl? Several years ago I was in Paris with a friend who had never been to London. She asked if we could possibly go for a day -- we jumped on the Eurostar and had a wonderful time. No, we didn't see everything but she got a taste of it and has since returned for a longer visit.

I don't have specific advice for OP but we've usually travelled in March or October. You may find that April and September are more expensive.

Good luck and be prepared to fall in love w/London!

Thanks 29Feb-- we're narrowing it down to March or October. March seems more affordable though.

We loved Oxford. I really wanted to go there for its Tolkien/C.S. Lewis connections, and we were not disappointed.

We went there after London as part of a larger trip - click on my screen name and look for "Roundabout the UK" - but it's a pretty easy day trip from London.

Lee Ann

It sounds like you will have between 7 and 9 days, does this include travel time? You may have time to do a few day trips if you wanted. Windsor is easily reached by train and the castle is well worth seeing. The town of Windsor has lots of shops and restaurants and is right beside the train station and the castle so it's all very walkable. Check the castle website before you go, as sometimes there are special things on and sometimes things are closed.

Oxford or Cambridge would be a good day trip. We prefer Cambridge but both are lovely. Check the Explorer Days on www.walks.com they offer day trips from London, with a group and a guide, including two guided walks when you get there and some free time. An excellent idea. We've done lots of their London walks and enjoyed them all. You don't need to prebook for any of them, just turn up.

Some of the English Heritage and National Trust properties close for a long period over the winter so if you are coming in March or October and want to see any of the stately homes it would be worth checking opening times. I would choose May or September as March and October can be cold, though as you are from NY you will be used to cold weather.

This website is good for loads of info on London and also booking hotels:
www.londontown.com

For vegan restaurant ideas, try www.squaremeal.co.uk or www.timeout.co.uk

Kay

Paris for a day would be very worthwhile, via Eurostar, booking well in advance for lowest fares.

Priceline/Hotwire hotels are the way to go. We like Bloomsbury area, but anywhere close in is fine.

You'd find plenty to do without any other day trips, but the ones you mention sound good.

We have used AtHomeInLondon www.athomeinlondon.co.uk/
to stay in a B&B in London (true B&B in a home, not a room in a hotel)once in 2008 and booked through them again for 2010.

You could definitely just spend the entire time in London, but there is so much to see, I urge you to continue to consider at least a couple day trips. What are you interests--history? literature? art? homes/castle/gardens? night life? shopping?

I'd definitley second ElendilPickle; Oxford is a very easy day-trip via bus or train.

Many many other places are do-able in one day: Dover, Salisbury/Stonehenge; we even figured out how to get to Chatsworth on a day trip! Bath is a possibility, too. Hampton Court and Greenwich (and Windsor, but I've not been) are half-day trips, easily reached by public transport.

If I were you, I'd stay in London this time. You're young; Paris will still be there! I'd figure out priorities for London and see how many days that takes and then see how many day trips you want to take. (We spent 15 nights in London, and took 5 day trips.) I'd also urge you to look into do-it-yourself travel, unless you just really like tours. There are so many resources (and you have time) in print, here on the forum, and on the internet to custom-make your day trips to fit what you are interested in (and to linger where you want and skip what you want). Tours do take some of the responsibility off of you, so they do have their merits.

Also, when you narrow down your lists/preferences/likes a bit and come back here, you'll get a lot of specific suggestions.

Hi.. You will love London.. I'm not an expert on London, but my wife and I have been there twice and are planing our third trip there for next march.. We first went in September and the weather was great.. then we went back in May.. It was chilly and rainy most of the time, but was still a great time..

We are in our 40s.. we enjoyed all the usual sites.. this time we are looking for some "off the beaten path" sites..

Just our opinion, but I would skip Bath and Stonehenge.... but if you do go to Bath, I would spend the night in nearby Norton St Philip, at the George Inn.. the public bus goes there from Bath.. It is a 700 year old inn that is pretty cool. But there is NOTHING else in that little town except a 12th century church and a gas station... The Inn has a restaraunt and pub in it, but only has 7 rooms to rent so plan early.. and watch for ghosts!.. I took pics in our room and found a pretty strange image of a face in one of them.. We spent two days in paris and thought it was plenty.. I think one day would be good enough.. This time we are thinking of a one day trip to Edinburgh..

You might want to consider taking a bus or train to Portsmouth, from there you can take the overnight ferry to France and tour the Normandy area.. It is a fantastic part of France loaded with history.. I would stay a night in Bayeux, take a guided tour (Overlord tours is really good), then take an overnight ferry back to England..

In March we will stay in London for four days on our way home from an Egypt trip.. we like staying at the comfort inn on buckingham palace road, nice and not expensive.. it is abpit a half block from victoria station, and walking distance to big ben, westminster, the eye, the thames river cruises etc.. there is also a great pub called the travelers in about a 2 minute walk from the hotel, next to the victoria coach station..

Whatever you do, I'm sure you will love London... Have a great trip!

John

You could head north to York - about 2 hours away by train - York is very nice - you can walk the town - stayed at The Queens Hotel 2 years ago in early May for 2 days - very pleasant - We used booking.com to make reservations (they are part of Priceline) fyi We have found air fare & hotels generaly run cheaper between Nov 1st - May 1st

I like your approach to travel -- hanging out and observing the city rather than bouncing from site to site so you can check them off a list.

You can go to Paris and back in a day. People do it all the time for work or to shop, but it isn't a good idea in your case because of jetlag, as you mention, and because of the possibility of mini-strikes (greves) in France screwing up your schedule but mostly because of having to deal with a completely different set of social rules, a different transportation system, yet another currency. The learning curve is steep.

Oxford and Cambridge, as noted above, make good day trips. The railway station in Cambridge is a bus ride from the town center, which is a slight complication, but the town center is a pedestrian district, and I can still remember the sound of feet on the cobblestones. Oxford is more like Cambridge, MA: the groves of academe in a very urban setting.

In London, use an Oyster card and take buses as much as possible rather than the Underground. When you see someplace interesting, get off and walk around. Compare neighborhoods: South Kensington to Bloomsbury to Islington, for example. We like Sir John Soane's house and Handel's house. The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery are fabulous, but the Wallace Collection and the Courtauld Institute and the Tate Modern are too.

I prefer Paris to London, but my wife, who did business in London for a good many years, feels the opposite. But we would agree that they are better appreciated as separate trips.

I work in London and would suggest that the weather is normally better in October than March - though this being the UK it is always advisable to expect rain and be pleasantly surprised to stay dry :-)
The bus is much better than the Tube - but the tube is much quicker of you need to get somewhere specific.
Going to Oxford is probably easier and cheaper by coach (OxfordTube) if you book early enough. Leaves from Victoria Station and arrives on Oxford High St.
For somewhere a little different, try Ipswich. A fairly typical English town - easy to get to by train.
Check for cheap flights up to Edinburgh ... you can get some good deals at the moment. Same with Dublin (Eire) - not sure about visas for Eire though, and you will need Euros.
York is amazing as mentioned above - well worth the effort, but getting there needs early ticket purchase to be economical. Can be an expensive last minute thought.

Besides Travelzoo, are there other websites you can recommend for deals on flights? And is $400-$450 pretty much the lowest its going to get for a RT ticket? That is how much tickets are on Virgin Atlantic at the moment.