We decided to take advantage of great BA deal to London and booked our flight last week, however, hubby misread my notes and booked it for 3 WEEKS, instead of the intended two...such are the perils of Internet convenience. Naturally, BA told us Sorry Charlie! So we will be there from March 17 to April 6 for first trip ever to UK and budget revisions are in the works! We are in our 50's and not only are we excited about seeing London, but with all the extra time we are thinking about a Brit Rail pass to see all the countryside. What do you think? Hubby wants to rent a car, but I know that would create major stress and arguments so I am discouraging it.
There seems to be a difference of opinion on this forum regarding advantages of rail pass. Also, my husband is interested in staying in a castle if not outrageously expensive. All advise you can give us as first timers will be so appreciated. I am reading this forum voraciously and taking notes. Right now I have booked a room at Holiday Inn Express Victoria just for CYA purposes until some better deal comes along. Is taking the Gatwick Express rail into London a big hassle? Thanks for any suggestions.

How about taking a side trip to Edinburgh Scotland? It's an easy train ride from London and a nice place to spend a few days.

With three weeks (lucky Oops!), why not spend a week or 10 days in the countryside and take a 4-5 day "side" trip to Paris? You'll still have a week for London.

I would second Edinburgh. You also have Luton airport and Easy Jet as an option. We flow from London to Belfast for $40 US per person roundtrip. With cheap flights like that all of Europe is at your fingertips!

Well I'll be there around the same time (although under much different circumstances-have been many times) & have also been trying to decide where to go. First on car vs train-you get to see much more by car & are not limited by where the train goes. I'd suggest some combination. For example places like York, Bath, Brighton-easy by train. The Cotswolds doable but more limiting by train. I've never been to the Lake district & thought that would be a good idea but have been told weather will be iffy at that time & the Lakes are dismal if weather isn't good.

So I guess first decide WHERE you want to go & then determine easiest way to see it. Also keep in mind you can go ANYWHERE in Europe from London (Paris by train? Venice? etc.) Easyjet.com & Ryanair.com & BMI.com all discount airlines. We flew to Venice last year from London. One scenario-spend 7-9 days in London, maybe intersperse some day trips (Hampton Court, Greenwich, Stonehenge) then fly to Venice for 5 days, return to London (airport not city) & rent car for touring English countryside then home.

As to castle stays, I've heard (in England) they're either cheap & awful or great & expensive-probably a major simplification but...there are several threads here on castle hotels if you type it in the search box. Maybe also consider Wales or Scotland where I think castle hotels are more plentiful.

Some other issues to consider-do you prefer staying in just a few places or do you not mind packing & unpacking to be able to experience more variety.

Lucky you!

With 3 weeks, you can do a lot. Mclaurie is right - you should figure out WHERE, and then figure out HOW.

A train pass works if you are taking relatively long trips and a lot of them, otherwise, it usually works out better to buy r/t or individual tickets. Also, many small towns in England are not easily accessible by train - we rented a car and were glad we did! Don't be afraid of it. Why would driving create major stress (unless your car trips in the US create them, I don't see why England would be any different)? Just keep repeating "Stay to the Left" as your mantra and you will be fine).

I like the idea of London for a week, the English countryside for a week, and then either Wales or Scotland or Ireland or Paris for a week - you have so many options.

The Gatwick Express is an easy way to get into London. I don't know anything about staying in castles, so I can't help with that part.

Sounds like a great trip, and maybe once you have decided where you specifically want to go, we can give more concrete advice as the best mode of transportation to do it.

Karen

Very Lucky you! Maybe I can do the same thing too ;-)! We are going to the UK for 2 weeks in Sept and are renting a car. We did the Britrailpass before and would like to try something differant. Do go to Edinburgh(have been before and ADORED it) as the others have said, and do York too. They are both on my do do list this time. Week in London for sure> Heck I could do a week in London each season! I LOVE LOndon. Judy

Hi laredol,

Hubby misread your note, huh?

I also vote for a week in London, a week in Paris, and a week in the countryside.

You can find costs of rail transport at www.railsaver.com to see if you need a railpass.

You can purchase discount tickets on the Eurostar to Paris if you buy early. See www.eurostar.com

I agree with you about the car.

Thank you all for all the wonderful ideas. Please keep them coming! We would not be interested in the Paris side trip as we did Paris a few years ago, loved it- but want to see different things for now. Other recommended cities would still be considered (except for Rome)so open to all suggestions. Thanks again. Laredol

Such an easy mistake to make.....lol
I will try it next time.
Just one tip,the local rail network here is pretty grim, driving really would be better for local journeys outside of London.
Of course long trips by train should be fine.
Perhaps you could consider Wales both North and South are great, I am sure there are castles to stay in either in Wales or Scotland,I remember a thread here some time ago, I will try to find it and re post.

Muck

With three weeks you could get a low-budget flight to another European destination (perhaps a cheap one) and have that be part of your trip. Maybe Week1 London, Week2 - other destination, Week3 British countryside.

i vote for a trip on the chunnel to paris....you avoid airports and paris accomodations can be cheaper there than another week in england...you will still have ample time to take sidetrips.

laredol writes:

>We would not be interested in the Paris side trip.... want to see different things for now ...except for Rome.<

How about Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Rotterdam, Marseille, ...?

Do you want to stay in the UK or would you like to take advantage of the extra time and cross the Channel for a week somewhere in Europe.
Keeping in mind that you have to watch your budget a little more than originally planned, you could always go to the Loire Valley...only 1.5 hours by train and you can find some very good deals on hotels there and food (good food, too) is cheaper. In Angers, for example, the Mercure Centre hotel often has specials for about 70 euros a night for very nice doubles overlooking a pretty park. The city abounds in inexpensive restaurants where you can have a 3-course lunch, INCLUDING wine and coffee for under 10 euros. You could either rent a car or take advantage of various tour options. Or take the train or bus (easy connections to Chinon, Amboise, etc.). Or go to the Netherlands...Delft or Leiden would be a good base (less expensive than Amsterdam) and you could easily explore the area by train. (NL experts, Keukenhof would be up and running by then, right? A sight not to be missed if you're in the Netherlands at that time of year)
I would take a week in London, 5 days somewhere in the British countryside (although the weather won't be at its best, unless you get lucky), and a week somewhere on the other side of the Channel.

I agree with the Edinburgh suggestion. You could go there for a few days, and rent a car and drive up around the whiskey trail and the castle trail areas. A few years ago we stayed at the Kildrummy Castle Hotel and loved it. We were there in late February and thoroughly enjoyed the area. You can find that, as well as other castle hotels, at www.celticcastles.com.

Don't be taken in by the "don't be afraid to drive" folk. If you think driving on the opposite side of the road will stress you, there is no need to subject yourself to it.
Public transportation in Great Britain is not perfect, but it does work. A first class Britrail Pass will let you wander the country in style. With three weeks, I'd suggest spending 10 days in London with some local day trips -- Brighton, Bath, Cambridge come quickly to mind, then five to seven days exploring Scotland, Wales or Cornwall, then back to London to see the things you realized you missed for the last couple of days. If you use the same hotel for both ends of your London trip, they'll likely store some of your luggage for you.
Use the rail pass for the major hunks of your trip, don't waste it on short hops. When you decide where to base yourself, your hotel or b & b will help you to fathom the mysteries of local transportation. Outside of London, it's usually possible to hire a cab driver to take you to a place of interest and guarantee to pick you up a few hours later. That's how we explored castles in North Wales last year and it worked perfectly.
You're in for a wonderful trip.

V.

I wish my husband would make a mistake like that!
My son was in London for an extended stay and enjoyed going to Brighton for a couple of days.
I would go to Bath for 2-3 days for sure! There are plenty of modestly priced B&Bs or inns to stay in.
Cornwall...you can take a train to Devon then rent a car and drive around for a week.
You should stay IN London once you are there, you will waste too much time getting here and there on trains.
We did take the Eurostar from London to Paris for a weekend once, that was fun but I am not sure how economical it is.
Scotland would be fab! Overnight train, arrive in Edinburgh, sightseeing for a few days..so many choices, what a great Oops!

You are not alone. My husband did the same thing on Thursday. I called from Heathrow before my return flight and asked him to check the availablility of flights for Dec. 27. Not to book them until I got home (7 hours later). Of course, the reservation agent told him that the flights were going fast and he had to ticket immediately. So he did. His error was not nearly as extreme...I always take the morning flight from Newark, but now we are on the 6pm flight. I come back on the 2:00pm flight, now we are on the 8:55 am flight. I'm glad we are going, but I hate to fly overnight. I will survive and the flights sure are cheap. BUT..my favorite flights are still available today and even cheaper. Oh well...we are gong together and he meant well.

Do think about taking LondonWalks in London and even doing a day out of town with them. Good value. Going to Paris is easy on the Eurostar and there are special excursion prices. If London is good, Paris is...maybe, better.

Try this book of inexpensive hotels from Margo Classe. I have met her and she is a classy lady who checks out all the hotels she recommends personally. The hotels are usually family run and do not pay to be listed in her books, they are inexpensive too.

I have used her book in Italy and have always liked her recs.

http://www.helloeurope.com/brit.htm