EmilyWylieHill

Hi!

My husband and I will be in Ghana Africa for 2 weeks from June 1st - June 12. We've extended out layover on our return home (California) in London for 6 extra days, so we'll be in Europe from June 13 - June 19.

We'd like to spend 2-3 days toward the end of our trip in London since we'll be flying out of Heathrow airport, but we'd like to explore outside of London, perhaps another country for the first 2-3 days.

We've thought of taking the train to Belgium, France or Switzerland OR going the other direction to Ireland. Really not too sure what would be the best use of our time, since it's only 2-3 days.

We're pretty chill people, would love to see some history and some unique places. We're not real big city type people and will get enough of that in London we're thinking.

ANY suggestions would be AWESOME!! Our trip is coming up FAST and we're just a little confused on where else to visit. We have friends who recommend Switzerland, but will it take too much of our time to get there from London?

Thanks!

tailsock

with the amount of time you're working with i'd advise against traveling too far away from London. Paris and Brussels are two locations that are between a 2 to 2 1/2 hour high speed train ride away. You could also consider Bath, Cambridge, or Oxford which are fairly nearby.

annhig

are you locked into flying into London from Ghana?

the most time-efficient thing to do would be to fly into Genva [if you want to see a bit of Switzerland] or Paris, spend a few days there, then fly/train to London to finish your trip.

if you can't do that, it would still be worth going straight to Paris, say, on the eurostar, spending a few days there, before returning to London. you don't really have time to go anywhere else and splitting up your stay in London will make it very bitty.

alternatively do what tailsock suggests and do day trips from London.

EmilyWylieHill

Thanks tailsock and annhig for your replies! Yes, our flight was booked with a group, so are only option was to extend our layover in London.

We get into London early on 6/13, so we were thinking of getting on the train and getting to our first destination pretty quickly to make sure we have enough time there.

For first timers to Europe, any recommendations between seeing Belgium or France? Any specific cities/towns in either that is recommended? I know Paris would be the touristy thing to see..

Thanks!

suze

Taking the train from London all the way 'back' to Switzerland is way too far in your short timeframe. Paris works much better for what you describe. Or just stay in London. There's more than plenty to fill 6 days.

sofarsogood

<<We get into London early on 6/13, so we were thinking of getting on the train and getting to our first destination pretty quickly to make sure we have enough time there.>>

If you're intention is to leave London as soon as you arrive then simply fly to where you want go as you'll already be at the airport.

<<Really not too sure what would be the best use of our time, since it's only 2-3 days. >>

The best use of your time is to stay in England. You have to make a choice between ticking places off a must-see list or "chilling".

EmilyWylieHill

sofarsogood, thanks for your feedback. Our flight has already been booked. We didn't have much choice in our layover city, so London it is.

We've never been to Europe and not sure when we'll be back so we just thought seeing as much as possible would be ideal. We wanted to end our trip for sure in London since we're flying out of there and didn't want to rush the getting to the airport on time stuff.

I guess I'm looking for suggestions on what to MUST see around that area. Paris day trip? Brugge day trip? or would it make since to just stay in one of those places for a few days and forget the other. I hear London is quite expensive to say in, so some place less expensive would be good for part of the trip.

suze

I would add a few days in Paris to London and call it good. You can control the hotel expenses in either/both cities by choosing a somewhat modest hotel.

annhig

if you want to take the opportunity to see Paris, you could do 3 nights there and still have a bit of time left for London.

but if you want some R&R and a chance to relax, Bruges would be lovely. it's still quite touristy though and you'd need to stay overnight rather than doing it as a day trip .

Lynn_Gibson

I'd suggest going somewhere outside of London - you said that you like smaller towns and want to save some money. One time when I was in England, I went to Rye (on the train) and stayed for 2 days. It was a lovely trip and I enjoyed it very much. Another time, I went to Shrewsbury and Hereford for a few days and enjoyed that as well. The Cotwolds would be another option - close to London, but far away in terms of what you will see and experience in London. Another option would be to get on a train to York. I love London and have been many times, but love equally to get away to the smaller towns.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

jamikins

If you are coming into heathrow it would make sense if you wanted to stay in england to go somewhere to the west just for ease. Lots of areas would fit the bill - Cotswolds, Oxford, Bath, Devon, Salisbury and Stonehenge....