Need help from UK dis'ers

[luvgoing2disney]

OK I need some "reverse" advise from my friends across the pond.

In two years, the DW and I will have our 25th wedding anniversary and are seriously considering a trip to Great Britain, with most of the time spent in London. What would you consider the absolute top ten things to that must be done while visiting your country, and also, we would like to take a hop over to Paris to visit Disneyland Paris. Can that be done in one day?

We are just beginning to get ideas so any suggestions on what part of London to stay, transportation, etc, would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[wicket2005]

It is very easy to walk and take the tube around London. I would recommend viewing the famous sights. I think we did a circular tour of Traflagar Square, The Mall, Buckingham Palace, Horseguard's Parade, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Pudding Lane and the other huge church (sorry name just escapes me at the moment) we mostly walked and then did the tube down to the Tower of London area.

Most of the places you can pay to go in. We just did Tower Bridge and walked across between the two towers.

All the British museums are free to enter, the British Museum was our favourite, followed by the Natural History and the Science Museum. These latter two are positioned just need Harrods which is worth a look around.

We also did the London Eye with a tour guide present which I definitely recommend. The tour guide points out the sights and gives you a bit of history.

If you were considering nipping across to Paris I would make it for a few days. I have not been to DLP but would suspect it would need a full day if not more to cover both of the parks depending on what time of year you are going and their opening hours. Paris is a couple of hours away by train I believe from London and then I think DLP is another hour away from Paris.

We stayed in the Novotel Euston which I think has been named Novotel St Pancreas now as it is right near it. It was a lovely modern hotel, handy for tubes and main stations.

It depends how long you are coming over here to stay to what to recommend to do as each and every area of the country has beautiful things to see and do. If time was short a simple trip up the main North East main line could see you at York in a few hours. York is a lovely historic town and again is on the main North East main line to take you directly up to Edinburgh which would be nice for you to see. I would also suggest a visit to Wales, in particular, Snowdonia is a lovely part of that area then you will have visited the 3 countries that belong to the UK.

The UK may appear small to your own country but really it is still quite vast to get around on our trains or motorways.

It's a case of perhaps just concentrating on one area and seeing everything you are interested in or doing whirlwind tours of places if you try and cram more places in.

 

[irongirlof12]

agree with all of above.

I also recommend that you head out of london, as most brits don't 'live' there.

you can't go wrong with the Cotswolds ( think quaint cottages, antiques and tea shops) or a visit to Warwick Castle for true British history! Or even head to Cornwall or Devon for a favour of our seaside at it's best.

 

[rhysd2]

echo really what everyone else says. tube/walk round london and be a little selective what you go into as some places are stupidly expensive to enter.

and yes definetly on getting out of london. the cotswolds are lovely. devon/cornwall are good bets. somerset aint bad too

as for paris... it can be done in a day but it'd be a very long tiring day and unless the flights/trains worked out perfect you wouldnt get a ton of time at the parks

 

[luvgoing2disney]

Thanks for the tips thus far. In speaking with my travel agent, she is recommending 3 nights in Paris and the other 8 in UK. We definately will do Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Parliment, 10 Downing Street, Traflagar Square, Westminster Abbey, , Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and St. Pauls. Can we be based in London but have day trips to the other areas mentioned?

As far as getting out of London, how difficult will that be for someone who will going on an unescorted tour package? Do most hotels offer assistance with tour companies for these out of London trips and can these be done in one day, returning to London in the late afternoon or evening?

 

[wifey]

Don't be afraid to venture away from London we have lots more to see and do in other parts of the UK too many places are just a short train journey from London (in comparison with how big the USA is). We have loads of historical towns and castles and lots of nature walks and some beautiful countryside for taking in the air and getting some really wonderful photography done You could pick up a few history books and see things from a whole new point of view before you get here. There are national parks here and many miles of great coastlines too Yorkshire and Cumbria are outstanding for natural beauty. We have lots of regional foods to try and more of it is now locally grown and organic, it's not all pie & mash with pea-wet or curry so come on over and stop a while before you head over to Paris

You could always see if someone here will do a house swap or something

 

[PoppyAnna]

Thanks for the tips thus far. In speaking with my travel agent, she is recommending 3 nights in Paris and the other 8 in UK. We definately will do Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Parliment, 10 Downing Street, Traflagar Square, Westminster Abbey, , Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and St. Pauls. Can we be based in London but have day trips to the other areas mentioned?

I think that's a really good mix - although I'm not sure you will need to spend eight nights based in central London. Coming from someone who lived in central London for 30 years you can get about and cover the major sites in two full days A boat trip on London's River Thames to either Hampton Court Palace (Henry VIII's house) or Greenwich (lots of maritime history) is a lovely thing to do too. This will give you a good idea of the scale of London's surrounding areas too (the donut). Hyde Park or Regents Park in central London are a "must do" too.
I'm not sure which south-easten seaside town has the best Pier these days (fires in recent years have caused many to be damaged) but one of those could be worth a visit (enroute to France, Maybe?). Stratford-Upon-Avon (birthplace of Shakespear ) is popular with over seas visitors. Do you want to consider a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland too? I think all these things are "doable".
I'm popping out now so have to go - but ask lots more questions if you need to, and I'm sure I can speak for all the other UKdisers when I say we'll be happy to help
Happy Planning

 

[Aardvarks]

Ok In London, don't miss the Greenwich Observatory where the zero merridian lies. Also onsight is the London Planetarium (last show at 4.00pm)

Walk down to the old Naval Colledge and have a pint and a sandwich at the side of the Thames.

Then get on a Train, and go to York !!!! Enough stuff there for 2 days and all inside a genuine fortified city wall. Drink afternoon tea in Betty's, visit the Castle Museum, the Viking Museum (Jorvik Centre), York Minster, the Nationa Railway Museum. Walk down the riverside, maybe catch a Passion Play if you are there at the right time of year.

If you want to go futher north, I believe Edinburgh has some nice things but it is not as nice as YORK.

Also very worth visiting is the historic roman city of Bath

 

[MrsSparrow..]

Just going to agree with what the others have said, do all the "must-do's" in London and then get outta there!

Try and buy a good travel guide on the UK and pick the locations that you will most likely enjoy.

Have fun

 

[Tink2312]

I definitely agree with exploring out of London. I love travelling around the Yorkshire Dales, which is just beautiful countryside. My favourite place in the UK however, is North/ Mid Wales. The coastline is spectacular - particularly on Anglesea (from which you could even take a day trip over to Dublin, Ireland). Also, Snowdonia national park and Mount Snowdonia in North Wales is something to behold! Just returned from my caravan there and I still get goosebumps!

 

[PoppyAnna]

Just going to agree with what the others have said, do all the "must-do's" in London and then get outta there!

?

 

[Pinky166]

This website may be of help. http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

It's a bus tour company that you can buy a ticket for 24 hours and hop on & off as much as you like at all the major attractions. We have done it a few times when we have stayed in London and would recommend it. You have a tour guide on the bus telling you about the history of buildings etc all the way round. It also means that you see a little more of london than the inside of the underground!

Another suggestion for something a little different to all the attractions listed above is to have afternoon tea at the Ritz. http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/index.asp

Feel free to post as many questions as you want. I am sure that between us we will be able to help.

 

[PoppyAnna]

This website may be of help. http://www.theoriginaltour.com/

It's a bus tour company that you can buy a ticket for 24 hours and hop on & off as much as you like at all the major attractions. We have done it a few times when we have stayed in London and would recommend it. You have a tour guide on the bus telling you about the history of buildings etc all the way round. It also means that you see a little more of london than the inside of the underground!

Another suggestion for something a little different to all the attractions listed above is to have afternoon tea at the Ritz. http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/index.asp

Feel free to post as many questions as you want. I am sure that between us we will be able to help.

Fantastic suggestions Claire, I completely forgot about Tea at the Ritz!

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

I would like to add from experience that DLP can be done in one day, get the first direct train from St Pancras to Disneyland Paris, you should get about 5 hours in the parks then get the last direct train back to London in the evening. You wont get to experience the whole park in one day so you would need to plan what you would like to see etc in that one day.