Need some advice for a short trip in London?

Question

Me and a few friends are heading to London (from the USA) in early November for 4 days. A buddy of ours now lives about an hour north of London. Our plan is to spend a day in his area of England, a day in London, and then maybe 2 other quick day trips. Any suggestions? I was curious about Paris, Amsterdam, Ireland, and Scotland. If you had to pick the most realistic ones to go back and forth in a day....what would they be.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Wow, all of those locations will be very difficult to do for a day trip from London.  The most feasible is Paris because you can get an early morning Eurostar train there and come back at night.  The other 3 will require flights (or an 8 hour train ride to Scotland) which will take up way too much of your day shuffling around airports with possible delays, etc.

I would recommend slowing down and spending 2 days in London (there's more than enough there to keep you busy) and taking a day trip somewhere else in England.  You can get to Stonehenge very easily by coach or train and the village that it is outside (Salisbury) is lovely with an amazing cathedral and one of the only original copies of the Magna Carta.  Also for a day trip out you could easily go to Bath (GREAT town and tons to see), Brighton, Cambridge, Oxford or many other nice places that won't cost you as much to travel to and waste so much time on transport.

Answer 2

I'd like to mount a campaign to encourage people not to go anywhere. Travel has become so expensive and unpleasant that it's hard to understand why people don't stay home.

Why are we crowding our highways and airports to get someplace else? Newspapers and magazines are filled with ads trying to get us to travel. They want us to go somewhere - anywhere but home.

Answer 3

wow you are ambitious!

You can fit in a lot, IF you are prepared to get up early!

Ok, so i say:

Day 1: get into London! If you friend lives out side of London, the best way to get in is by over ground train. When buying a ticket, ask/buy one with a London travel card included. This will give unlimited tube travel & bus all day. However, you can only use this after a certain time (10am i think) so if you are going in earlier get a return and buy an oyster card. yes they cost £3 but they will be cheapest over 2 days.

So do some research! Get a tourist map that shows the main sights, and plan your day around areas. Visit the London eye & big Ben at the same time eg. End your evening in one of the many restaurants in picadilly circus- see the lights and the busyness of London. There are also some good clubs around there. Don’t miss the last train home-taxi's are VERY expensive!

day 2- do more London sightseeing! if there are more sights you want to see great! Maybe take a trip to Camden, have lunch in Covent Garden & watch a performer. if you are there on Saturday, go to Portobello market in the morning

Day 3-Paris! Book the euro star train in advance! Get a really early train. You could do Paris in one day, if you plan! Maybe try and get a tour or something, as this way you will get to see the sights. If you can get a late train back, go to the Latin Quarter in the evening for food & drinks. DONT go by plane, checking times etc will eat up too much time + getting to/from airport. get the euro star straight from central London.

Day 4- relax in Brighton/bath!

Bath is very olde worldly, typical British town. Lovely! However you may find more 'to do' in Brighton. Brighton is more relaxed, has the pier for entertainment (great in the evening), and all the lanes to look through for weird and wonderful stuff. Do some research on both and if you can’t decide, swap out a day in London or Paris

you have lots of time, so do lots of research on what you really want to see!

have a great time!