Returned from London, Paris, and Scotland
 

Hello everyone. My boyfriend and I just returned from our whirlwind trip from London, Scotland, and Paris. We had a blast and saw everything! Highlights include trips to Stonhenge, Bath, St. Andrews, Windsor, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, and Versailles. We stayed in Richmond, a subburb outside of London, which was fantastic. Just beautiful! I really liked Paris, but I honestly liked London and Scotland the best. The people there are SO friendly, and we had the most awesome conversation with two young Scots on our train back from St. Andrews. Paris can be very intimidating when you can barely order dinner! However, it was a trip of a life-time and we saw EVERYTHING. and, to top it off, my boyfriend asked me to marry him on top of the Arc de Triumph! What a SHOCK!!! Of course it is great to be back home in the US, even if it is 115 degrees here and we enjoyed beautiful, sunny weather at maybe 75 degrees over there! If anyone has any questions about any of the places we visited, please write and let me know; I'd be happy to return the favor since so many people on Fodor's helped me!!! <BR>Sincerely, <BR>Bridget =)

First of all congrats on the engagement.. :-) <BR> <BR>We r also planning a trip to scotland and london this coming august. we considered going to paris...but not knowing the langauge was too much of a drawback..and the image of the French being unfriendly -wether it is true or not- also made us change our opinion. <BR> <BR>Where did u guys stay in scotland and london....and how did u travel..if by train then how much did it cost u, and how was it?...what were the best places in england and scotland u visited?? <BR> <BR>i am thinking of staying in the travel lodge or the travel inn in scotland and maybe in the lake district?? have u heard of them?? if so would u advise on staying there?? the most important thing to me in a room is that is very clean and not rundown and the place is safe... <BR> <BR>thanks for any help.. <BR> <BR>

Hi Rashid, <BR> In London we lucked out and stayed with friends who live in Richmond, a suburb outside of London. We would buy travelcards for 4 pounds which allowed us all day transportation (trains, tube and buses) starting at 9:30am, from Zones 1-4 (Richmond is in zone 4). To get to Scotland, we took the night train, called the Caledonian Sleepers, with Scotrail. You can find all sorts of information on their web page at www. Scotrail.co.uk If you book in advance, you can get pretty decent rates, like 79 pounds round trip. Unfortunately, we only were in Scotland for 1 day, and we really packed it in. We bought another train ticket to get to St. Andrews (Leuchars) and then took buses or taxis. I think the round trip ticket from St. Andrews to Edinburgh was 12 pounds. Then we got back on the train and arrived in London, which was great because we killed 2 birds with one stone - sleeping accommodations and transportation. <BR> <BR>Our favorite places in Scotland were St. Andrews (what a GREAT town) and Edinburgh Castle. We ate lunch in St. Andrews while a student played a bag pipe. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was fantastic. In London, we LOVED St. Paul's (the whispering dome is just wonderful) and we liked Madame Taussand's Wax museum. We also went to a performance at the Globe, which was neat, although I've seen better performances of Comedy of Errors. I also really enjoyed Stonehenge, and thought that Bath was really overrated. Windsor was really nice too. <BR> <BR>I hope this helps, even though I know that I couldn't really answer your questions about lodging. Please let me know if I can offer more specific information. <BR> <BR>Sincerely, <BR>Bridget <BR>

Rashid <BR> <BR>Travel Inns and Travel lodges are perfectly good, perfectly clean, not exactly budget, but not expensive hotel chains. You won't go wron with them They are as I imagine Howard Johnson's to be in the US. <BR> <BR>However, they're not especially special. if yu know roughly where you want to go, how you will be travelling and what your budget will be I will try to suggest "specialler" alternatives <BR>

Thanks for the help... <BR> <BR>We will be a family of four "all adults"...who r planning a trip to the uk...we have been to London alot and are very familiar with the city...this time we r thinking of visiting Scotland in general...while staying in edinburgh or somewhere near to it ....we r planning to stay in scotland for roughly 2 weeks...and visit the lake district for a few days....and london for about a week... like i mentioned in my previous message the most important thing about the place is that it is quite clean and safe...we r looking for somewhere nice that will not break the bank... <BR>we r also planning our trip for august..which is quite near and is the festival season over there...but we cannot delay the trip cause of the school opening...if we do delay it ..it has to be a delay of a year or two ;-( at least <BR> <BR>thank u for all your help...

Scotland is brilliant - glad you enjoyed it! Regarding the question about lodging in London, you may find the London Hotel Guide helpful - it is at: http://londonhotels.cjb.net and reviews London hotels in various price categories. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps, <BR> <BR>Mark.