First Time Traveler to UK and Europe

We want to travel throughout the UK as much as possible.

A week and a half sounds like a good bit of time. But it really isn't if you move about a great deal because of the time you will lose relocating. It almost always takes longer to change locations than anticipated even when everything goes well. It's the packing up, checking out, actual travel time, and then, upon arrival, you have to locate the new hotel, check in (if your room is ready), and unpack to some degree. That will eat up at least one half to three quarters of a day. My suggestion is to include only London and one other location. Just offering food for thought.

This was helpful, thank you! Thoughts on the other city to stay in?

For 1st time, and just UK, go with the capital cities of London and Edinburgh. You could start in London, then go to Edinburgh, then come back to London for your flight home. That could involve lots of time on the train, at some cost. Or, go first to Edinburgh (stay 3 nights) - probably by flying from home to the London airport, and catching a connecting flight to Edinburgh right away, then after those first few nights, take the train towards London, optionally stopping at York for a night or two, then finish your trip in London.

While in Edinburgh, hear traditional Scottish music at the Royal Oak pub, Have fantastic pork sandwiches at either location of Oink! restaurant.

While in London, consider making a trip out to see Hampton Court, Henry VIII’s palace outside of town.

Consider Bath as it's easy to get there by rail from London, One can easily spend a couple of days, and do day trips from there to other places close by. Do a google search for Bath itself, and then one for day trips from Bath. That should give you a good idea if that area is of interest to you and your daughter. Cyn's suggestion of just doing London and Edingburgh is also a good one. Just a matter of what interest you more.

You could do several day trips from London. Stonehenge, Bath, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, etc!
Or, 4 days London, Eurostar to Paris and spend 4 days there and fly home at your week and half date from Paris.

Definitely fly open jaw if you intend to go to London and Edinburgh. Fly into London and out of Edinburgh, or vice versa. That will save you time, you won't be back tracking.

If you visited York, it would be a shorter train ride and you could fly in and out of London.

My daughters and I visited the UK in 2018. It was a two week trip and we spent 3 days in Wales. We also took day trips from London to Oxford and Salisbury/Stonehenge.

Diane- I was wondering how do-able a quick trip to Paris would be!

TC- thanks, I was looking at Bath!

You are going to get so many different replies depending on each person's preferences.

My suggestion is get a good guidebook of London and areas close to London. Go through it and decide what you want to see. It may be that London and a slew of day trips will keep you busy the entire time.

Or, after a few days, you may be ready for a change. I agree that Edinburgh is much different than London and would be a good choice.

Edinburgh is definitely on the must do list!

I also think a week and one half is only two places and all advice above is good advice. For me the UK is very expensive for that reason splitting the time between Paris and London would work better. Yes there is the cost of a flight or train between the two, but unless price is not a concern I would look into the option of flying into Paris and flying home from London. Why Paris first because the way home always feels twice as long as the way there. Totally think the trip is the best present ever! Enjoy your trip! J

As others have indicated, 4 days in London is fine, but maybe focus another four UK days in one location. For the other location, consider Bath, York, or Edinburgh. Each offers a nice change from London, and offers some interesting days trip options as well.

For Paris, from London it is a breeze, a short trip on the train. Plan at least 3 nights, you won't see everything, but you will see enough.

This makes a decent trip, probably whets your appetite to go back and explore more, based on what you liked.

For flights, it would probably be as easy, and lower cost to just do round trip to London, or even Paris if that offers a deeply discounted fare.

• Diane- I was wondering how do-able a quick trip to Paris would be*

As Rick Steves says, “you can’t see everything so plan to go back”. It’s an easy ride between London and Paris. I did it with my stepdaughter several years ago and saw just enough to know I would return. It was a great trip. I’ve been back to both several times since and still have not seen it all.

Make it easy on yourselves.

London and Paris.

2 completely different cities.

Perfect introduction to Europe for an 18 year old.

If these are the 2 cities you decide upon be certain to book your Eurostar tickets at least 2 months in advance….will save you money.

London’s St Pancras station where you will board the Eurostar is as an interesting as a train station you’ll find anywhere.

Lastly, been going to London for decades. If you’d like some guidance about where to stay, must sees, feel free to PM.

If you stay in the UK fly open jaw (multi-city) or one way in and out of London and Edinburgh. You can take a direct overnight train between London and Edinburgh and rent a sleeper car. I did that once and highly recommend it; this way you kill two birds with one stone: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ldb.aspx and click on Journey Planner.
If you don’t want to sleep on the train stop in York (2h 30m from Edinburgh and 2h from London) and make sure you spend a minimum of one night and take an evening walking tour.
A good day trip from London is Bath that’s a direct train ride away (1h 30m).
If you decide to visit London and Paris, fly open jaw or one way to and from London and Paris and take the Eurostar (2h 30m) to get between London and Paris: https://www.eurostar.com/us-en. Tickets for next Aug are available now and the further out you buy the cheaper they are. Do wait until after you book your plane tickets though. You should also book your hotels at the same time.

Paris is so convenient from London that during one trip, we rode to Paris for the day just to eat lunch :)

What a wonderful gift. My husband and I are going to London and Paris in December 2022. 7 nights London, 6 nights Paris. Eurostar tickets were affordable and it seems like an easy way to see two very different cities with only a short train ride. However make sure to factor in a mostly lost day for traveling. This will be our first time on the Eurostar but I know it does require one to arrive to the station about 2 hours early which doesn’t include getting to the station from your hotel and on to the next hotel. If you are going to do any long distance between the two cities you choose, don’t forget to think about the time lost in moving to a new location. Also don’t over plan. 4 nights in each location may seem like a lot of time but it can go by quickly. Take time to relax and just wander. You’ll have a fantastic time!

You have somewhere between 7-10 days, I suggest sticking to England. Four days in London, perhaps day trips to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath and York.