Thank you airline gods for giving us a nice, cheap fare so we can spend our Thanksgiving vacation, once again, in London. We went last year but as the kids announced, "Mom, we're not finished with London." What can you say?

One of things my husband proposes is a trip to Warwick Castle. They want to see a "real" castle. (Like the Tower of London isn't?) It sounds all right to me and there's some cool Christmas Fairs in that time period but I'm having trouble with logistics. My preliminary search of train fares is at around $66 per adult. That plus entry fees puts it into a pretty expense day. A 10 hour coach tour to Oxford, Stratford and Warwick sounds like torture. Hire a car? Well, it's an option and I know petrol is horribly expensive.

Anybody have an idea about this? Is it worth it? Is there a better way? Suggestions?

Here is a suggestion of what to do -- this is what we did last March with our kids. We took a train to Oxford; rented a car from Avis (which was located right at the train station); drove to Warwick Castle via highways.

Now, mind you, we didn't stay very long at Warwick Castle. My kids were 12 and 14 at the time and they don't linger over things, but we still got a good feel for the castle and had fun. Then we drove via smaller roads through the Cotswolds towards Woodstock to see Blenheim Palace. On the way we took a detour to see the Rollright Stones (in a field pretty well hidden from the road). In Woodstock we found a tiny tearoom and had fabulous and inexpensive scones, clotted cream, homemade strawberry jam and tea. YUM! By the time we got to Blenheim Palace they had just closed, although we did get to see it from inside the gate.

We then drove the short distance back to Oxford to return the car and take the train back to London. It was a very full, but fun day. It might be more relaxing to take a bus tour, but we like to venture on our own and at our own pace.

Susan

You could get cheap day return train tickets to Oxford for a lot less than $66. But to get those you cannot leave London until after 9:30 AM and by the time you got to Oxford, arranged for a rental car and drove to Warwick you would be lucky to get there by noon.

I would simply rent a car for the whole day and drive. If you leave London in the EARLY AM you could easily be to Warwick by the time it opens and then have alittle time afterwards to see a few villages on your way back.

A car for the day would be less expensive by far. If you cannot bear to think of driving out of and back into London - arrange to pick up the car at heathrow - a 15 minute train ride.

(unfortunately - you can forget about adding Blenheim - it is closed for the season.)

Oops - forgot to add. There is also a direct coach from Victoria station to Oxford - so that is another option to the train.

Yes, Janis. You're right. We caught the train just after 9:30 so that it would be cheaper. We arrived at Warwick Castle just in time for lunch and ate at the castle. It worked out fine for us. After all, with 2 pre-teen/teens, we couldn't have gotten any earlier of a start even we had tried!

By the way, I remembered the name of the tearoom in Woodstock - it's Harriet's, located on High Street.

Susan

Cheap day return tickets to Warwick are £22 for adults, which is a lot less than $66, unless the dollar has really tanked in the past few days. And the cheap day return tickets are available for travel before 9:30 am. Further, Chiltern Railways offers Combined Rail and Admission tickets from London for £27.80 per adult and £14.50 per child.

All these other suggestions seem way too complicated if what you want to do is see Warwick Castle.

ron,

What is the best way to book cheap railroad tickets?

Keith

Keith, for the tickets I mentioned, the cheap day return to Warwick or the combined ticket for Warwick Castle, just buy them at Marylebone station on the morning of your departure.