Warwick Castle or York
 

If you had a choice and not much time which would you pick for a day-trip from London?

The York Minster was one of the highlights of our trip to England. The town was also enjoyable. Warwick castle was neat, but not close, in my opinion, to the Minster.

both are wonderful - but it totally depends on your interests.

Warwick is the most complete Medieval castle in England and is a lovely day trip. The town including St Mary's Church also should not be missed.

York is more of a "complete experience" since it is a walled city (only parts of Warwick's city walls are still standing), the Minster, Shambles, and great museums.

If you have kids w/ you I'd probably choose Warwick - it would be a shorter day, less tiring and kids LOVE it.

If you are on your own I might pick York - but it would be a very long day.

We did both last year on our first trip to the UK-and both out of a love for medieval history. Warwick is amazing...but short lived...too many children running around-too many wax figures taking away from the experience (IMHO). York was AMAZING. We talk about going back all the time even though we only had just over 1 full day. The Minster is incredible (we are by no means religious), the cobblestoned streets, the wonderful medeival pubs and restaurants...couldn't say enough about it. This is simple-hands down...York!

I agree Warwick is interesting but sort of artificial ( in spite of the real historical aspects) but York is real.:-B

York is really far away and right now the trains are running really slow because of the heat - the tracks are having a problem. Think about going to Dover Castle - fasinating.

York is further from London than Warwick or Dover, but according to www.nationalrail.co.uk, train travel times from London to Warwick, York, and Dover Priory (for Dover Castle) are about the same, between an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours for a direct connection. If traveling by train, the choice between the three should depend on which destination appears most rewarding.

If you'll be driving, however, the trip to York would, in my opinion, be too long, at 3 hours, to be a comfortable day-trip. However, you're the best judge of your comfort level driving that much in a single day.

By the way, the London-York route appears not to be among those affected by heat-related delays, per the nationalrail website.