<p>I agree with the people who suggested York! I loved it there. I think Oxford is worth a visit as well. When I went to the UK, I enjoyed the calmer areas more than London, but I don’t live in an urban area so that might be the reason. The city seemed so hectic! I really enjoyed going to the covered market in Oxford. It’s not something that would need an entire day, but if you were traveling around it would be a nice addition. </p>
<p>If you plan on going to the British Museum (which you really must) try to give yourself some flexibility. There is SO much to see. </p>
<p>Be prepared to see a lot of sandwich shops! They’re on every street corner. I hope you have a wonderful time! Don’t forget to bring your power adapters.</p>
<p>3 years ago, a friend and I did the Paris in one day trip from London through one of the tour companies. It was less than perfect but still much better than we could have done on our own.</p>
<p>We did it because we decided to go at the last minute and the tour, which included more, was cheaper than the chunnel would have been at the last minute. Chunnel prices are set so the further in advance you book, the cheaper it is. The tour operators scoop up seats as soon as they become available. </p>
<p>So, believe it or not, a tour which included the chunnel, a boat ride on the Seine, and a bus tour was cheaper than buying Chunnel tickets ourselves…and, of course, the tour company gets you to and from the train stations in London and Paris. </p>
<p>So, despite the down sides, unless you are able to get cheap Chunnel tickets at this point, I’d recommend the tour. Just skip the lunch they book for you (for an extra fee) and take the audio tour in the Louvre rather than the one with the guide. And be aware that since they stop at a number of hotels, it takes twice as long–at least–to get to the London train station in the morning as you could do it on your own.</p>
<p>True, Hadrian’s wall is practically up in Scotland, it’s just perennially on my wish list!</p>
<p>I’m so glad I saw Stonehenge before they fenced it in. Now your best bet for that sort of thing is to go to Orkney, which was fabulous! (But not a day trip! Though theoretically you could probably fly in and see the sights.)</p>
<p>I’ve been reading this thread with great interest. I’ve always wanted to visit London (love the whole royalty thing) and my husband just surprised me with an anniversary trip there. We are planning on going for a week in September. We have not booked anything yet, is there a better time to travel in September? As I mentioned, we will be there for a week and have no restrictions on when to leave. A midweek to midweek visit would even work for us.</p>
<p>Reading all these ideas with interest. We will not be visiting Paris, but will want to venture outside London to see some country side. Have a great trip with your daughters.</p>
<p>Sipping a cup of tea with my grandmother in 1996 in the crypt (there’s a small cafe) at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in Trafalgar Square was surreal and educational as well. A nice break in the day. We stayed busy from around 8am until at least 11pm, sometimes later. Loooonnngggg days, chocked full.</p>
<p>We ate lunch in the crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields. It was quite the British experience. We were in London for 10 days and made day trips to Bath and Paris. We got a great price on the Eurostar in advance, but it made for a very long day and we are going to Paris for real this year. I don’t know that I would recommend it, but it is for sure doable. We also got train tickets in advance for Bath. It was an easy and wonderful day trip. We went to a play as well as saw Shakespeare at the Globe and spent a lot of time popping in and out of those wonderful free museums and riding around on buses. You have to get an Oyster Card. London is very expensive, but there are so many take out salads and sandwiches you can picnic every day. We went in September also and the weather was a bit brisk and rainy at times but great for tramping around. Have fun!</p>
<p>So exciting! We went to England last year for 10 nights (not including the flight over) with our teenager. We considered the Paris day trip, but decided against it. It would have been pretty rushed. We’ve been to Edinburgh and it’s lovely, but it is far from London, too far for a day trip IMHO. Some tips:
-We flew into Manchester and flew home from London. We did this so we could go to Liverpool (big Beatles fans) but we could have also gone to York or even Edinburgh from there. You might consider flying into one city and out of another.
-We took an overnight train to Cornwall on part of the trip to see family. Loved it! Probably a similar experience to Edinburgh, but Edinburgh is farther away. We were allowed to board the train a couple hours early and go to bed. Woke up at our destination.
-London has many really cool markets, like Camden and Spittalfield. With a teen, we spent SO much more time than we expected at the markets. PLAN LOTS OF MARKET TIME.
-London is BIG. It can take quite awhile to get from place to place. And there is so much to do in London.<br>
-Bath is a wonderful day trip. And if you are Harry Potter fans, there are a couple tours out of Bath that go to Stonehenge and Lacock. Or you can take the bus there, but it’s complicated. Some of the HP scenes were shot in Lacock and Lacock Abbey. The house they used for James and Lily’s house is in Lacock. No one wants to tell you where it’s located b/c it’s a private residence, but we found it and took a discrete photo of us in front of the house. </p>
<p>Sometimes it’s hard to balance pre-planning, which is needed for many attractions, and just going with the flow. I know my family calls me a travel Nazi ( I started out as the Disney Nazi, from our WDW trips and my reputation has spread) and I have to let go sometimes, but they admit they’re glad I plan ahead many times. ;)</p>
<p>Have fun planning your trip! You will love it!</p>
<p>Hokiefan, Buckingham Palace tours should be open in September -I did the state rooms tour last September and would strongly recommend it. Buy the tickets well in advance online. In addition to the classic London sights, check out Borough Market on a Saturday morning. Greenwich Park is also well worth a visit. Bath is a great day trip - I am writing this from Bath where we are for a weekend visit and we have really enjoyed it, the Roman baths were incredible.
Edinburgh is an easy train ride from London but long enough that you need an overnight stay.</p>
<p>Yes, I am still reading this thread :). I went ahead and booked the Paris trip and was able to get the lowest priced tickets since I booked early. We are only planning on seeing a few things, so I think we’ll be fine. We can’t book Edinburgh until late April, so that is keeping me from booking another tour outside of London for the day. We want to do the Caledonia Sleeper to save the daytime for touring. I just know if I book something else now, that will be the only day I can get the cheapest train fares. Ugh!</p>
<p>Loralaigirl > I, too, like everything planned. I think that this trip is very similar to a Disney trip. It’s too short and too expensive to just “wing it”. I am planning on leaving 3 or 4 of the days to explore London, but I would like to have at least a basic plan. Otherwise, you find out when you get home that you missed something wonderful one street over from _________.</p>
<p>I love reading all of the suggestions here - keep up the good work!</p>
<p>The Buckingham Palace state room tour is terrific, if you happen to be there. I also really enjoyed the tour of Parliament, which runs roughly the same dates.</p>
<p>St Martins Cafe in the Crypt is one of my go-to spots for lunch. Do the brass rubbing experience while you’re there - 5 pounds for something not likely to be encountered at home.</p>
<p>A day trip to Hampton Court Palace (get the audio guide) and the maze is nice. The O2 Arena has something called the British Music Experience, which is a sort of rock museum with interactive components … haven’t seen it yet but am taking a group of students there in May.</p>
<p>My teenagers favorite places in London: Camden Town market, Westminster Abbey, seeing Shakespeare at the Globe (in season) or a West End play, British Museum (split decision, one kid enjoys mummies and such, the other one was bored silly), and stuffing their faces with Cadbury.</p>
<p>jrpar and others - Thank you for the tips. I did read that the palace was open for tours at that time. We still haven’t booked our flights yet. I sure hope the weather is decent. I’m thinking a trip to Bath or the Cotswalds will be lovely. I am also a planner but this trip was a surprise and there is so much to do, I am kind of overwhelmed. I bought two guide books to help me. I will use the internet for up to date info, but I really like books.</p>
<p>An alternative to the Paris day trip is Brussels, which is a bit shorter (and cheaper), also on the Eurostar. There’s plenty to do–but not as much as Paris, so you don’t feel like you’re missing as much.</p>
<p>As for travelling to London with teenagers, they’d probably like some of the markets with lots of interesting food, funky clothes and stuff sold by young designers (as well as cheapo stuff). The two we’ve enjoyed the most are the Sunday Upmarket near Brick Lane, and the markets in Camden.</p>
<p><<I’ve been reading this thread with great interest. I’ve always wanted to visit London (love the whole royalty thing) and my husband just surprised me with an anniversary trip there. We are planning on going for a week in September. We have not booked anything yet, is there a better time to travel in September? As I mentioned, we will be there for a week and have no restrictions on when to leave. A midweek to midweek visit would even work for us.</p>
<p>Reading all these ideas with interest. We will not be visiting Paris, but will want to venture outside London to see some country side. Have a great trip with your daughters.>></p>
<p>I’d suggest avoiding mid / late July, August and the first week in September, because those are the school holidays, attractions are busy and prices are high. June, early July and mid-late September are good times of year to go. </p>
<p>Do be aware that the weather can be unpredictable, both day to day and year to year. A few days I was cycling about with my coat undone and the weather was feeling quite balmy. The next day there was wind and sleet. This time last year it was 20C. Now parts of the country are under 12 foot snowdrifts. Bring enough clothes to deal with different types of weather, as it can be fairly changeable in September (though snow is unlikely!) </p>
<p>If you want to get out into the countryside, then I would suggest either (a) a national park [url=<a href=“http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/]National”>http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/]National</a> Parks in the UK | Britain’s breathing spaces<a href=“b”>/url</a> Devon / Cornwall for picturesque seaside, or (c) a combination of the two - Exmoor / Dartmoor + the seaside. You could combine (b) or (c) with a trip to Bath, which is pretty much on the way down from London. Please do also be aware that whilst public transport within and between larger centres of population is good, in more rural areas it is often poor to the point of being unusable. That may necessitate getting the train down to somewhere like Exeter, and hiring a car there. The cost of petrol is high though, compared to the US - around $8 per gallon.</p>
<p>boomting- Thanks for the tips on when to travel. We were thinking sometime in September as that works for my husband’s work schedule. I know the weather can be unpredictable which is something I cannot worry about. I’ll look into your suggestions outside of the city.
Thanks again.</p>
<p>If you want to visit a national park by public transport try the New Forest. You can get there by train from Waterloo in 1.5 hours. Get off the train at the village of Brockenhurst and you can just walk into the forest. Or in the summer there is a open top bus tour or you could hire a bicycle, both from Brockenhurst station.</p>
<p>The forest is full of semi wild animals running loose. The little ponies are famous in the UK. Plus there are Highland cattle and the like. Nothing that will hurt you , and they don’t have much fear of humans or cars.</p>
<p>I just wanted to thank all of you again for your suggestions. Our trip was wonderful. We loved London and were there during the birth of Prince George. My H and D12 were at Buckingham Palace a few minutes after the announcement and D12 loved the crowds and celebration. D15 and I were seeing Les Mis and missed that fun, but loved our night out together. Edinburgh was beautiful and I would like to go back and see more of Scotland. We loved the architecture, restaurants, just everything about both London and Scotland. We were very lucky to have beautiful weather. </p>
<p>Crowds were a problem at the major sights like Westminster Abbey. The line to get in was really long. We were able to see all of the sights on our list in both cities. My DH who wasn’t planning on coming with us changed his mind and halfway through the trip mentioned “the next time we come here…” </p>
<p>The sleeper train to Edinburgh was a great choice. We arrived around 7am and had till 6:30pm to get the train back to London. We took a regular train back to London and I couldn’t stop watching the scenery. Next time (I hope) we can see some of the towns and sights outside of London.</p>
<p>As for Paris…we were glad we got to see some of the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was so much bigger than I ever imagined. We actually walked almost everywhere since most things were fairly close together. We only used the subway to and from the Gare Du Nord train station and took a bus from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower. The Eurostar was a great way to travel. We left London at 7:30am, got to Paris about 10:45 and had till 7pm before we had to leave. </p>
<p>Paris was a beautiful city. The architecture was stunning, so different from the US. But, we got tired of the constant harassment by kids with clipboards who, according to trip advisor, were trying to distract us so that their cohorts could steal something. There were signs in the subway/train stations warning of pickpockets. It just got annoying to have to be so vigilant. So many people were walking around with their backpacks in the front. It was almost comical. To be clear, we never felt threatened, it was just that feeling that if you relaxed too much you’d be going home without your iPhone or wallet. Maybe it’s not so bad if you avoid the tourist attractions or go during a different time of year. It’s such a shame because it really is a beautiful city. But…once was quite enough for us.</p>
<p>Glad you had a wonderful time! Have enjoyed following this thread as I am planning a London/Paris trip at the moment. We leave mid October for 5 nights in London and three nights in Paris. Also doing the chunnel. Have plane tickets purchased, train tickets purchased and rooms reserved in both cities. Now trying to nail down the itinerary. So excited! Any other highlights of your trip? Anything you would have changed or done differently?</p>