JmVikmanis

I'm trying to help my daughter's mother-in-law plan the wonderful trip she was given for a retirement present--3 weeks in UK, with flights in and out of London leaving mid-October. This will be her first trip to Europe and though I've done a lot of trips to Europe, I've only done 6 days in London and nothing outside of it. Please suggest to us broad general areas to explore for maximum exposure to the charms of the UK with some savvy advice on how much time to devote to each given the three week time period she has. For instance, I rather expect Edinborough and surrounds is the ultimate Scottish destination--or am I all wet? Skip Wales enterely for a first exposure? Cotswalds are charming and not to be missed, devote x days. That kind of advice from those of you who know would be very much appreciated.

janis

Is she going to drive or rely on public transport? That would have a bearing on where she can conveniently go.

That being said - here are some basics. If she wants to go to Scotland she might want to go there first and the work her eay down to London at the end. That is simply because the weather might be better in October than in November. Of course there are no guarantees - I have had glorious weather in Scotland in late Nov and dreadful weather in July. But her odds are better the earlier she makes it to Scotland.

There are hundreds of places she could go - but to start off and start the ideas flowing think about something like this (assuming she is using public transport):

Fly from London to Edinburgh on the day she arrives. Stay in Edinburgh 3 days. Take a local 2 or 3 day tour from Edinburgh up to the Highlands or to Skye. Take the train from Edinburgh to York and stay a couple of days. Then to Oxford for 3 or 4 days. She would use this as a base to see the Cotswolds, Blenheim Palace, Warwick, Stratford on Avon, etc. (There are good train and bus connections from Oxford to all these places). Then to Bath for 1 or 2 days. Then end up in London for 6 to 7 days.

obxgirl

I would second the recommendation to leave the London portion if the trip until the end. Beginning mid October, lots of countryside sights reduce their hours or days of operation. And some, like Blenheim, close entirely for the season (Nov. 1).

What a great retirement present!

jmv

Thanks so much for the great start. It helps to have some ideas of where to concentrate the research efforts.

Trevor

I don't think she should skip Wales!! Wales is a great country full of culture. Don't expect a really busy, cosmopolitan city such as London though. Wales is a fairly large farming country. The two main cities - Cardiff and Swansea are both within about 2 hours drive from each other, and it's best to locate your stay in Cardiff. There are pleanty of large, chain hotels such as Hilton, Marriott etc, all within the city centre. Cardiff is a compact city, so everything which you would need is all within walking distance. There are many attractions in the city - modern and historic from Cardiff Castle to the Museam of Welsh Life (St Fagans) to Cardiff Bay. There is so much to do here, and l really would recommend a stay here for at least a day or two.

Hope this helps!!