You have picked four places that are four entirely different directions from London. Perhaps you should take a peek at a map of the UK. Leeds Castle is ESE of London; Stonehenge is WSW; Warwick is NW; and York is N (a long way north at that). It would be hard to hit all four of those in 5 days let alone in a couple of days out of London.

On top of that you want to add Paris and Cardiff and/or Bath. It seems that very little of what you actually want to see is in London.

My daugher did a day trip to Edinburgh when she got caught in London after 9/11. She was waiting day by day to see when she could come home and didn't want to commit herself to a longer visit. She said it was a very long day and she was quite tired when she got back to London; but she thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and it whetted her appetite to go back and spend more time in both Edinburgh and Scotland.

There is PLENTY I want to see in London. If I listed everything, I'd be typing for the next 5 minutes. I've got 6 days for that, though.

I just don't know how to divide the last 4 days. I think York will definitely be a day trip. ...Probably Warwick, too. I don't know. Would it help if I woke up at the crack of dawn, moved very quickly, and didn't mind exhausting myself? (LOL)

I did check out a map. I also went to that rail.co.uk site. It's not that I haven't done the research... I'm just wondering what people think.

STOP!!!!!!! Take a deep breath. Everything doesn't have to be planned in two days. You've been given lots of, perhaps too many, opinions, some contradictory.

Well... I finally talked to my sister. After weeding through all of your suggestions, and reading about daytrips on other sites, as well as the Fodors message board, I've put together a very basic itinerary.

(We've added an extra day. We will now be staying for 11 days)

Days 1-5: Spending time in London, checking out all the major things we want to do.

Day 6 & 7: Try to squeeze in as many "out of London" sites as we can, including Windsor, Warwick, Blenheim Palace, Straford-on-Avon (only because it's close to Warwick) and Salisbury (but only for Stonehenge) One of more of those are likely to be omitted.

Day 8: As early as possible, travel from London to York. We'll stay in York overnight. (Looking forward to the Minster Cathedral and the ghost tour!)

Day 9: Check out of York hotel. As early as possible, travel from York to Edinburgh (we'll have our clothes in handbags) and spend 8 or 9 hours in that city. Return to London that night.

Days 10 & 11: Spend time in London, catching up on all the things we might have missed.

How does that sound? :) Am I getting closer to realism?

I've omitted Paris. *sigh* Maybe someday...

I definitely need to "stop and take a deep breath." That's wise. I've been obsessing over this.

Hi - it would definitely seem like you are a castle fan! I have been to Warwick, Leeds and Edinburgh castle. All are fantastic and very different. When you go to Edinburgh you must do the castle there and take the audio tour it's brilliant - the walk along the cobbled streets to get there is right through town too so you actually feel like you're in Scotland. You didn't mention where you were flying out from but I would certainly recommend you look at EasyJet or Ryan air websites, as the flight is only just over an hour and at the moment you can get them for as low as ONE POUND. So if you are going up by rail via York, you could save yourself alot of time by flying back down to London if that is where you have to fly out from.

We were in a somewhat similar situation when we visited London (wanting to see a lot with not enough time!). We took and Evan Evans tour that included Oxford, Stratford and Warwick Castle. It was a little rushed, but overall quite enjoyable. Our guide was very good. They have many other tours such as Bath with Stonehenge. You may want to look into them further.

Hi
Yes! The trip to York, overnight stay and then on to Edinburgh is good thinking, and should work really well. York is a lovely place (I live close by)and then Edinburgh the next day is ideal. A couple of tips from a frequent traveller when going on the train from London to York/Edinburgh - go first class if you can afford it. If you can't, go second class but maybe have a breakfast/lunch/dinner on the train. If it isn't busy you will be able to keep your buffet car (ie first class) seat all the journey. The food on the GNER service is actually better than a lot of restaurants I go to. The breakfast is especially nice and might be worth considering if you are making an early start to Edinburgh.
Another tip - when travelling north from York sit on the right of the train. That way you get the good views - watch out for Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and some stunning seaviews, as some of the way the train goes right next to the coast (near Berwick on Tweed). I never tire of looking! Small points I know when planning a big trip but you might as well make the most of it all!
M

"Day 6 & 7: Try to squeeze in as many "out of London" sites as we can, including Windsor, Warwick, Blenheim Palace, Straford-on-Avon (only because it's close to Warwick) and Salisbury (but only for Stonehenge) One of more of those are likely to be omitted."

I think I give up. Have you consulted a map yet? Maybe you have and figure it's worth all those hours on a bus/train just so you can say when you get home:

"we went here, and we went there". All you'll have done is tick them off.

Good advice from above poster on the good things about taking the train from London to Edinburgh. But the passage from your last post (above) really says it all.


Happy holiday.

I agree with alice. You risk cramming far too much into too short a period of time.

Your current plans for days 6 & 7 will be utterly exhausting and frustrating.

You might be able to cram Warwick Stratford and Bleinham into one (nightmarish) day if you went on an Evans Evans type tour by bus.

However, if (as you apparently plan to do) you rely on the train and connecting bus services you would be lucky to cram Stratford and Warwick into one day.

Bleinham does not itself have a train station. You have to get a bus from Oxford. You could easily spend a day at Bleinham/Oxford (which is a relatively swift journey from Paddington).

Similarly, the trip to Edinburgh still seems quite rushed to me even stopping off at York. It takes about two hours from York to Edinburgh by train and about five hours from Edinburgh to London. Even if you catch a train at 9.00 by the time you have arrived in Edinburgh deposited your luggage and left the station, it will be almost midday. You will have five hours maximum before you need to catch the train back to London.

It would be better to either skip the trip to Edinburgh and spend a relaxing day and a half in York or skip the stay in York and go straight to Edinburgh (perhaps as Ben Haines sugggests getting the sleeper there) and spend almost a day and a half in Edinburgh.

Alternatively, scrap the trip to Edinburgh/York and have a series of daytrips from London to southern england destinations(as suggested by the excellent Ben Haines) using your hotel as a base and making the most of your rail pass.Most train services radiate from London.

Then next time you could visit Scotland or Wales.

I understand that you want to cram as much as possible into your trip but if you leave some treats for another time there will be an incentive to come back!

You guys aren't being very nice anymore. ...I'm not talking about everyone, but the last couple of posters were very discouraging, and one post was borderlining on rude.

I want to point out a couple things I said:

"One of more of those are likely to be omitted."

"Days 10 & 11: Spend time in London, catching up on all the things we might have missed."

I don't plan on visiting ALL of those places in 2 days. However, I only plan on spending a few hours in each place. ...Is it really so bad to go home and say "we went there, we went there...?" We probably won't be back. My sister and I don't travel too often--we're young and on a budget. We're excited, and we're trying to make the most of what little time we have.

On the other hand, I want to say thank you to Morgana for your encouraging words and helpful tips. :)

I'm sorry if I upset anyone with my previous post. I was briefly discouraged.

I'm not scrapping York & Edinburgh. I'm deadset on them, and I KNOW people have done similiar things and had a great time.

But I have 2 more days. Which 2 of the following daytrips would be the most fulfilling/entertaining?

1. Stratford-upon-Avon + Warwick

2. Blenheim Palace + Oxford

3. Salisbury + Stonehenge

I've given up on Leeds Castle. It's lovely, but I just don't have time.

As for Windsor, I hope to shimmy it into the schedule on day 9 or 10.

Thanks to EVERYONE who has taken the time to read my posts, even the girl I was referring to in my last post. Don't "give up" on me! I've never been to England, so it's hard for me to visualize how long it takes to get to and fro. I'm learning!

Hi
Don't be discouraged! I think your trip to York/Edinburgh is a good use of time. You are young and energetic, and a couple of early starts and late finishes will ensure you see plenty of these 2 cities. Just walking into York Minster will make the trip well worth while!
However, I think it is easy to imagine that because England is 'small' it is easy to get everywhere. If only that were so! Choked motorways, roadworks, delays on the train - you can't assume you can just swish from place to place. The rail network is fine when it all works well, but the days where trains went to numerous small towns and villages are long gone. I think you really need to decide WHY you want to go somewhere. For instance Blenheim is wonderful - but do you have a particular reason to want to go? Architecture? paintings? military history? Once you have narrowed it down a bit you will be fine!

Sorry if I gave offence. Just want you to have a fantastic time and rushing around is not the way to do it - esp, as Morgana says, when you can't count absolutely on the reliability of public transport. Please remember that although it is a small country to you, it is densely populated.
As I said in my very first post, if you are on a budget, why stay at a hotel?
You are in your twenties - wouldn't you like to meet other travellers? And to think you will never return - well, you have a point there cos there are so many places to see. But if you stayed in a hostel you would save - let's see:
average cost of bed in hostel = gbp18 * 2 = 36. Guess hotel costs gbp 100+.
Multiply by 10.
Wish you all the best.

I have a solution! Instead of considering Windsor & Blenheim, I'm going to Hampton Court Palace. It's much closer to London, and the history is more interesting to me, anyway.

Also, when I go to Warwick Castle, I'll likely skip the Stratford-Upon-Avon trip.

I'm still doing York & Edinburgh. The York Minster is just so beautiful, and I desperately want to see Edinburgh Castle and walk the Royal Mile. I'm also doing Salisbury/Stonehenge. I've found some other things I want to see there!

Thank you guys for ALL of your help. I think I've finally worked up a reasonable itinerary. I hope the trains don't fail me! ;)

Elle, my husband, daughter and I are planning a similar trip for May. We are flying into Gatwick and then taking an Easyjet flight to Edinburgh the same morning. We are spending 3 nights in Edinburgh before traveling by train to Durham for a half day and then into York for 2 nights. Our final 6 nights will be spent in London, but we will do a couple of day or half day trips to other locations around London.
Deciding on the kind of rail passes to purchase [or not purchase] is confusing. The cost of a rail ticket can vary by 100% adding to the confusion! There seem to be so many options, plus we haven't nailed down the 6 days in London yet. If anyone can offer suggestions about understanding rail pricing, I am sure we will both benefit.
Good luck and have fun. London is a wonderful place...I can't wait to go back and see a few of the things we missed the first time...and share some of the favorites with our daughter.
Karen

Hi again
Sounds as if you are just about sorted!
I am sure you will love Hampton Court and it's not far to travel. Did you read the stuff recently about the Hampton Court ghost caught on video and camera - a google search will bring up the pictures or you can watch the video. It's yet to be proved a fake!
Near Hampton Court you will find Kew Gardens - have a look at www.rbgkew.org.uk - a world heritage site and a fantastic place, well worth a visit.
Hope you have a lovely holiday.
M

ElleKay,

Apologies if my previous post was too negative! I was just trying to stop you returning home exhausted.

Your current plans sound much better.

I am glad you are going to York. The Minster is fantastic (but I am biased as I come from York originally).If you have time try to walk along the city walls.My favourite stretch overlooks the Minster and the Deanery.

Hampton Court is another good choice. You can easily spend most of a day wandering round the palace and gardens.The setting on the River Thanmes is spectacular!

Have a marvellous time and please post a trip report.

Have a look at www.discount-london for some great deals on accomodation and attractions. Have you thought of going to Paris for a day or two? I took a friend from Florida on Eurostar from London to Paris and he waqs very impressed! Not expensive either.