I have 4 days scheduled in London from October 17 to 21 (after spending time in Edinburgh) and would normally spend every evening seeing shows. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything playing that I want to see so now I'm thinking about spending that time elsewhere in England. I've been to Cornwall, did a walking tour of the Cotswolds last year (which included Bath, Stonehenge, Oxford, Blenheim Palace, and the Cotswolds generally) and now I'm trying to find some other places outside of London to spend that time (given that I also spent 10 days in London last year seeing most of the tourist sites I hadn't seen before as well as spending a day in Brighton and a day going to Greenwich). Any suggestions for places outside of London that would justify 4 full days? I'm not very good at just sitting around.
Posted by
Preston UK
876 posts
You might want to look at what's on in other cities in terms of theatre etc - that might throw up somethings you would want to see. Many cities will have various offerings but in particular Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Birmingham and Bristol would be worth a look.
If that doesn't throw up anything interesting I might suggest Manchester, Liverpool and Chester as possible bases for a 4 day trip. They are all close together and between them have way more to see than you could fit in. You could stay in any one and commute to the others by train pretty easily. I can outline the major sights if that helps?
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6508 posts
Manchester/Liverpool/Chester is a good idea. So is York and Yorkshire, especially if you're willling to drive around the countryside up there. Easy train from London to York, the city worth a full day or two, and many things to see in the surrounding area.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Johnew52 - thanks for this. These places had not even been on my radar so I'll look into them and get back to you if I need suggestions about what to do/see there.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Dick - thanks for bringing up York - that was one thought I had so I'm glad to see it recommended. I'm not much for driving in England any longer - after scraping the sides of my rental car on the narrow roads of Cornwall, I've decided to leave the driving to someone else, but I bet I can find a guide!
Posted by
Freedonia
15007 posts
How much of Scotland will you be seeing besides Edinburgh?
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Frank II - none. I only have 3 days there - added at the last minute because I decided I didn't want to spend so much time in London. And now, of course, I don't need to spend much time there at all - other than to buy some Sainsbury chocolate powder for my sister, who's addicted to it!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16276 posts
York is wonderful; with four days for that area we included 2 nights on the coast in the village of Whitby, but I don’t know how the weather is there in mid- October.
Note that the October schedule of shows for London is not complete yet, so you might check back later.
Posted by
Preston UK
876 posts
Of course Sainsbury's chocolate powder is available almost anywhere in the UK!
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
4100 posts
We loved Canterbury in September 2022. 4 full days may be a bit much but you can also make day trips to places like Dover. Will you have a car? The last few days of our trip were spent visiting Rye, Battle, Bodiam Castle, and Dover before making our way to Canterbury for two nights.
Posted by
Land of La
8672 posts
Rye, Whitsable, Cambridge and Canterbury.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you to everyone for your suggestions - you've come up with places I hadn't even thought about so now I have a wonderful list of places I can visit!