Touring outside of London
 

Will be in London during the week of April 9, 2006. Would like to take a few day trips outside of London to the country side. Kids want Castles I like the idea of the Cotswalds. My travel company has a list of day trips, but by the time I add what it costs for the 5 of us I am wondering if I shouldn't rent a car?

Any suggestions on Castles and other day trips? Any thoughts or experiences of renting a car?

I recommend you take the kids to Hampton Court. It's a (cheap) short train ride from London and once you pay the entry fee all the tours are included. The tours led by costumed guides will be fun for the kids. The audio tour of the Tudor kitchens is really interesting. The gardens are splendid. The kids will like the maze.

OK - a couple of comments.

In just a week's stay you likely won't have time for "a few day trips". What do you mean by "few"? To me that sounds like 3 or 4+ (more than 2 anyway). What do you expect to see in London if you are spending more of your time outside of the city?

Nothing at all wrong with wanting to spend most or all of your time out in the countryside. But if that is what you want, don't spend the money for very expensive accomodations in London or use up all the time commuting out and back.

If you want to see castles and the Cotswolds - then stay a few days IN the Cotswolds. The hotel/B&B will cost a fraction of anything in London, you will save the cost of 5 train tickets everywhere, and by driving around the Cotswolds you will be able to see Warwick Castle, Blenheim Palace, other stately homes/gardens/castles and actually see abit of the Cotswolds.

So something like 3 days in the Cotswolds (also a good base for visiting Bath) and 4 in London, or 4 in the Cotswolds and 3 in London depending on your preferences. In either case you will save hundreds of dollars over staying the full time in London and traveling out a "few" times.

It is also quite easy to get to Windsor by train from central London, and once there you can visit Windsor Castle, walk by Eaton, and browse through the town of Windsor. It makes a nice day trip.

You can also easily get to Oxford by train, and once there the city and colleges are quite interesting. You are also close to the Cotswolds and there are some companies in Oxford that offer day tours of them. Or, you could hire a car in Windsor perhaps if you are comfortable with driving in England.

Another good day trip, by train, is to Leeds Castle. This castle is very pretty and has nice grounds. I also second the idea of Hampton Court, one of my favorite places.

If there are 5 of you and you are confident that you could drive OK then a car rental may make more sense. The main problem will be getting in and out of London. It depends on where you are staying.

have fun

Oh - I totally agree w/ Catbert. Hampton Court Palace is pretty much a "must" w/ kids. It is really in a suburb of London so you could visit HCP the morning and be back in central London by mid afternoon for more sites. Not really an out of town day trip. Same for Greenwich.

Georged01, It sounds as if you have already booked a package that includes airfare and hotel and offers optional side excursions. And you are right, the cost for five of you could be so astronomical you might be better off hiring a car and driver for one grand excursion outside London. For the rest, I'd look into public transportation. You certainly don't want to have to deal with a car in London itself and getting the five of you outside the city would make the cost of car rental for day tripping prohibitive.

janisj's idea of staying outside of London is the best if you really want more than 2 day trips. Unless your hotel is booked for the whole time as part of a package. If that is the case, there are still many day trips that are easy to do by public transportation. The problem with renting a car will be: 1) you'd have to drive through London to get out of London and if you've never driven in the UK ('wrong' side of the road and all) that will be difficult/foolish. The second problem will be that one day car rentals are very expensive compared to 3 day or more. So you'd probably do just as well with public transportation.

Oxford is a wonderful day trip but don't take the train, take the "Oxford Tube" which is a bus. Much cheaper and drops you in the center of Oxford as oppossed to the outskirts as the train does. Google it and you'll get the website with prices and schedules.

In my opinion the "best" castle is Warwick. Easily done by train, and the train station is walking distance (about 15 minutes) from the castle. The town is nice too, and while not exactly a tiny Cotswold village, it will kind of give you a feel for it.

With only one week in London I would do those two day trips but probably no more. Windsor Castle is not even a real day trip as it's so close, so more like a half day. But you can only see certain parts of it, and you have to take a tour, as oppossed to wandering on your own (although you can wander parts of the grounds). It certainly is an impressive castle but overall I think Warwick would be better.

Someone mentioned Warwick Castle as part of a posting. For kids, Warwick is one of the best castles to visit since there are usually activities going on: falconry, medieval weapons demonstrations, etc.

Leeds is a fantastic castle, but generally more static, from a kid's perspective.

Hampton Court has the advantage of being close to London (30-40 minute by train) and it boasts a number of custumed actors and live displays. Hampton Court is a palace, not a castle, so it is light on battlements, moats, etc.

Dave W.