36 hours from London

If you want a 'different' country, what about Cardiff Wales. It's about 2 hours from London by train and is a great place for a short stay. Lots of good shopping, a nice harbor that's recently been refurbished, a neat castle and often a good concert or play in town. Check it out!

If you want to stay in England, consider Brighton, Bath, York or Stratford-upon-Avon.

I thought of Cardiff, but it seems to be fairly expensive to get there. Then I most likely have to get back to London before flying home.

I have not been to Bath, so not ruling that one out, just had previously thought of going to Bath and the Cotswolds in one trip but that's obviously not necessary. I go to Brighton regularly, and have been to York and Oxford and have heard mixed reviews regarding Stratford. Still need to look into maybe visiting Salisbury.

One of the lures of another European city is low cost flight, time (it's easy to get around in a big compact city), then I can fly back directly from there rather than having to go back to London, often cheaper than flying back from London. So I could potentially add a few more fours at my destination on Sunday morning (depending on when the flight leaves).

Venice is great for a short trip -- small enough that you can hit the high points and get a sense of it, but big enough that you can go back for more if you want.

Check the discount rail fares- there may still be some available. Or look into a cheap flight or even renting a car. You could also look into a cheap flight to either Edinburgh or Inverness or Glasgow. That would give you a taste of Scotland.

Then there is always Paris.

EasyJet flies to Amsterdam and to Zurich, both perfect places for a quick trip.

Cyndi - When are you done your work in London? When do you fly out to MPLS? You can get to Cardiff for as little as £26.00. Have you thought about Oxford or Cambridge?

we spent 36 hours in amsterdam from paris (about the same travel time on the train) last month and it was GREAT.

Dublin?

I second the Venice suggestion!!!

How about Brussels or Bruges, by Eurostar?
Or Dublin.
There's also the coast- Brighton and Hastings for fun and history; the Isle of Wight, for a real change of pace; or Cornwall.
The Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey.
Hope you find something you like!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided to go to Stockholm - a place I've heard good things about but it wasn't really at the top of my list. I got a good deal on a BA flight there on Friday evening, then much cheaper to fly back home from Stockholm than London, which allows me to make these crazy kind of trips.

Unfortunately, now to find a hotel at a decent cost. I was already enthralled with the idea of Stockholm when I started looking at hotel rates...