Finally able to book the flight to London for 7/4 holiday... Actually leaving at end of June. Will be there for 9 full days. Really want to explore more than London, or England. Perhaps even spend a night in a castle for $150. Seems like Scottish castle are cheaper than English. Need advice:

1. How would you split up the 9 days? And where?

2. I can take one more flight from London at no cost. It is worth taking? Or train is better?

3. Does it look like this summer is going to be as hot as the last?

Thanks.

Have you been to London before? There may be much more to see and do in London than you expect.

If it was my first visit, and I didn't have any place in particular, outside of London, that I was dying to visit (it sounds like you don't), I would stay in London and take about 3 day trips. Either by train by myself, or with tour companies.

Keith

You can easily spend all your time in London, but if you insist on going elsewhere, fly - UK trains are always late, apparently, fly or drive!

i would maybe an take an overnight trip to bath. that would leave 7 days in london which you can easily do.

Hi!

Just wanted to make a travel suggestion: when we went to the UK a few years ago, we decided to rent a car. Everyone thought we were crazy but it wasn't bad at all. It was kind of strange at first, getting used to driving on the other side of the road and from the other side of the car, but honestly it wasn't too bad, and nowhere near the headache we thought it would be. One thing I will recomment if you decide to rent a car: avoid driving in London at all costs! Believe me, we learned the hard way! The countryside in England and Wales was just beautiful and very green and lush. With the car we were able to explore a little more and stop whenever we wanted. Much more leisurely. And cheaper I might add, with the great deal we found on orbitz.com.

We spent 5 full days in London and I can think of a handful of places we didn't get to see. However, seeing the countryside and getting a true feel of life outside of London was definitely worth it. Not seeing everything we wanted to in London just gives us yet another reason to go again soon.

You will have a great time with whatever you decide. Have fun!

Tracy

Thanks for all your replies.
Mostly like we will visit outside of London. If the timing is right, we are going to meet some local there. Yes, this is our first time to the UK. May be the last too. I deeply believe that my life time is too short to explore much of the world - so no repeats.
Keith even suggested 3 days in London!! I know London is a city that I can spend as much time as I have, and still don't see enough. So let's mix it up with somewhere different.
I am thinking about Wales or Scotland. What do you suggest?
The next question is fly or drive. Both places seem to be pretty far from London. How long drive would that be?

We drove to Cardiff, Wales and it really didn't take too long at all. If I recall it was 2-3 hours from London on one of the motorways. We really enjoyed Cardiff and the drive there from Bath, which went through charming little towns and terrific scenery. We took the M (I think that's the name of the highways) homem. However, I think the prettiest scenery in Wales is farther away than Cardiff so I'm sure the drive would be longer. We I'm not sure about Scotland as I've never been (although always wanted to!).