Hello everyone. This will be my first time to Europe in about 14 years. I will have a hotel in London from afternoon/early evening on Monday Sept 4 until Sunday morning on the 9th. My itinerary is not yet set, except for a musical in London on Wednesday night. My question is, what should I do on a Saturday? I understand that this is the busiest day for sightseeing in London, and since I would like to do a day trip or two outside of London, would Saturday be a good day for that? I would really like to see York, even though it's a two hour train ride. I'm used to the travel, and it would be nice to see the countryside anyway. How is York on a Saturday? Is it particularly crowded? I think that the York city walls are closed on the weekend, would that be disappointing to miss? I also have Tuesday in mind for a trip to York. Any other suggestions for a Saturday? I am also interested in doing a day trip in Bath, Stonehenge, Dover, Oxford, a castle, etc,. Would any of those be better for the weekend? Thanks in advance for your tips.
Posted by
San Francisco
1008 posts
We went through York for one night on our way from London to Edinburgh a few summers ago. We arrived Friday afternoon, and left Saturday afternoon. I thought it noticeably more crowded on Saturday. It is also apparently a big destination for bachelor/bachelorette parties, as we saw quite a few big groups of young folks. :)
It was a super cute little town though, we liked it a lot. Surprisingly, one of my kids' favorite memories...
Kim
Posted by
Yorkshire
1344 posts
The York City Council website would suggest that the walls are open seven days a week, although the closure times are different throughout the year dependent on hours of available light and weather conditions. See details here: https://www.york.gov.uk/info/20114/york_city_centre/1340/the_city_walls
If you are happy with a long day of travel and sightseeing, go for it. York, or the essence of it, is 'do-able' in a day, although you'd have to be a little selective about what you wanted to see/spend time visiting.
Have a great trip!
Ian
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
While Saturday may be slightly busier for sightseeing in London than other days, it's not like London sights aren't busy every day. And York is also not exactly "undiscovered" - every day - and the same is true of your other ideas like Bath, Stonehenge, etc. In fact, Rick mentions that many Bath hotels have a 2 night minimum on weekends, which suggests it's substantially busier then compared with weekdays.
So, I wouldn't worry about getting out of London on a Saturday. Instead, figure out which day trip you want to take, and look carefully to make sure everything you want to do is open on the day you will be going. Unless it was a place that is clearly less busy on the weekend, I'd plan to take the daytrip on a weekday.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks for the advice. I've read in a couple of places that the city walls are closed on Saturday and Sunday, including the overview in the tripadvisor website. I did read the website linked, but I'm not sure why there is conflicting info. Also, I didn't mean to imply that the other touristy sites aren't busy as well, especially on the weekends. Thanks for the info on Bath though, I'll probably avoid that on the weekend and think about doing York on Saturday, especially if I can get more info on the walls.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Thanks for that info, that's good to know about Sunday trains. Unfortunately I will only be able to do one day in York this time if I go at all, and I really want to go :). But I've changed my mind about the weekend, I think I will go either Tuesday or Thursday. Thanks for the advice :)