Visit in Oct
 

My son will be studying in Newcastle for the semester. We will go visit him October 16th. We will have two weekends with him Friday through Sunday. Thought of heading to Scotland or Wales. Any suggestion on where to go and how to get there train or renting a car. Any possibility of going to Paris one of the other weekends or is this too expensive and time consuming? Thanks

Well - two really easy places to get to by train from Newcastle are Edinburgh and York. Either would make a terrific weekend getaway w/o a car. If you had a few more days, then renting a car to explore either a bit of Scotland or a bit of N Yorkshire would be good too.

But for just Edinburgh or just York - a car is more a liability than an asset.

I'll assume you already plan on exploring the Northumberland coast and Hadrian's wall on other days.

You can fly from Newcastle to CDG on easyJet - and if you book far enough ahead, you can get really cheap fares. Not sure I would though - since there is soooooo much to see/do in northern England/southern Scotland.

Durham is well sorth a visit too.

My son is particularly interested in castles. Would there be some to see both in Edinburgh or close by via train or bus for day trip? Any suggestions on where to stay? Possible to find decent place to stay for 150 US dollars? Should rail tickets be purchased ahead of time or when we get there>? What does one do for cell service over there both for us when we visit and my son for the semester.

there are (literally) hundreds of threads on here about cell phone options. You can search for info.

I should have mentioned this w/ my first post - your title is not very useful. &quot;<i>Visit in Oct</i>&quot; could be asking about anyplace in Europe,

If you have cell phone questions - I'd re-post w/ a better title. Something like &quot;Cell phone options for the UK?&quot; I won't offer suggestions re cell phones (though I do understand the basics) because I only use calling cards and don't bother w/ taking a cell.

As for Castles - Bamburgh and Alnwick are relatively close to Newcastle and are amazing. The trains stop near but not at either one so you'd have to take taxis or local buses from the stations. There is also Lindesfarne/Holy Island near Bamburgh which has a castle, ruined priory, etc on an island reached by causeway when the tide is out. Again - you'd need to take buses or taxis from the nearest station. All three of the above would be very easy if you'd rent a car.

Then there is the Grandaddy of castles - Edinburgh.

All of those towns along the coast have lots of B&amp;Bs.

Just to be pedantic - it is Newcastle upon Tyne.

And isn't Newcastle named after the fact it has a castle?