Best Day trips from Edinburgh, London, and Paris

From Edinburgh a day trip to the Scottish Highlands is a must. We took the train to Inverness. Spent a couple of nights there and then took the train to the Isle of Skye.
Did an organised tour from Inverness to Loch Lomond. Can't remember the name of the company.

I think it would help to be able to give you some information if we knew how many days in each city and what you want to see, castles, museums, etc. and have you been there before. Let us know and can tell you that you will get some good information here.

I will be spending 4 days in Edinburgh, 6 days in London, and 4 days in Paris. I have been to each of the cities before but did not do any day trips.

I agree that a day trip through the Highlands is a good idea. I've heard good reports of Gray Lines, Rabbie tours and others. A whisky distillery tour is also fun. In London I'd encourage you to do Windsor (on your own is easy by train). It is a lovely town and the castle is one of my favorites. There are lots of other places you can do on your own by train also- Birghton, Canterburry, Dover, Cardiff, Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon, Winchester, York (could make this a stop between Edingburgh and London), Oxford, Cambridge, and others are all easy to reach by train.

From Paris,, depending on your interests, I would suggest either Versailles or Monets Gardens,, both are easy to do on your own, which I have done,, or on a bike tour( Fat Tire) which I have also done( easy and fun, and yes, I am middleaged and not particularily fit,, don't even own a bike at home) . With only four days in Paris I wouldn't do a daytrip,, even though I have been many times now,, but hey to each his/her own . If you are interested in big bus tours there are two well known and reputable companys you could look at,, ParisVisions or Cityrama,, I have used both.. one for a daytrip to Brugges, and one for a daytrip to the Loire Valley to see the Chateau( which I enjoyed also). I also enjoyed visiting Chantilly and Fontainbleu,, but one of my favorite daytrips was to Roen,, I did it on my own and my only regret is I wish I had booked an overnight there at least. For London,, I have only been 4 times,, so haven't done alot of daytrips, but did enjoy one day in Brighton, and I love history, so enjoyed my visit to Hampton Court,, and I loved visiting Bath, all of which I did on my own. I also took a bus tour to Stonehenge , Bath( yes went twice) and Salisbury,, which frankly I didn't like much,, very rushed,, places like Bath needed more time. I also visited Canterbury years ago,, it was very cold and sleeting, so I think that rather took something away from the whole experience( it was March) . If you have children with you then I do recommend Warwick Castle,, my 14 yr old loved it,, we went with local friends so I have no idea how you would do that one,, bus or train or what, but it was fun.

There are endless day trips you can take from London. Toni identified my favorites. I think Stirling is the best day trip from Edinburgh, but St. Andrews is also nice. The only day trip I've done from Paris is Chartres, but it was a great one.

If you think that this is the only time you'll get to Scotland, then yes, I would agree that the day trip to the Highlands is a good idea. However, if you think you'll be back, then I would look for some closer trips where you spend less time on a bus and more time exploring the area. For example, I would recommend a day trip to Stirling Castle. Stirling's Renaissance palace has just been restored and opened this June. Another trip could be to Glasgow. Both of these are reachable by train in less than an hour. Also, day trips of the Border Abbey's would also involve less bus time and take in some characteristic parts of Scotland. If you are walkers and hikers and you have good weather, you could take the train to Dunkeld / Birnam and go for a walk in the hills, and them explore Dunkeld and have dinner in the Music Bar and maybe hear some music before catching a train back to Edinburgh. Pam

Sounds like a fun trip! From London you can actually make an easy day trip out to Warwick. This town is the home of Warwick castle, which many say is the best preserved medieval castle in the UK. Given that it is September (still with plenty of daylight hours) you might even be able to do a combo of Warwick and Stratford upon Avon, though it would be a busy (and long) day. You can get to both of those easily by train from London. From Edinburgh, my wife and I did a day trip by train out to Stirling, which is a nice university town with a castle and, of course, the site of the Battle of Stirling Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stirling_Bridge) that you may have seen in the historically inaccurate Mel Gibson movie (he he, sorry to all you Mel Gibson lovers out there!).

The movie was dreadfully inaccurate, but when you're in Stirling on the Castle Walls you sure can understand geographically why the battle was fought where it was and why Stirling was such an important castle.

From London I would do Bath or Warwick Castle. They are both great.

My favourite daytrip from London is Stonehenge and Salisbury. It's easy - you take the train to Salisbury, exit the train station, and you will see a double-decker red bus that takes tours to Stonehenge. They drive you through Salisbury, through the countryside to Stonehenge, and they have interesting commentary on the town and area. Then you get walked right into Stonehenge (ticket is included in price of bus tour) and they leave you there, with an included audioguide, to do your own thing. This way, you can take as much time with Stonehenge as you want. Then, catch the bus back (you can catch any red bus back, regardless of time), and it drops you off either in Salisbury centre, or back at the train station. Stop in Salisbury, and if it is a market day, grab lunch at the market and do a bit of shopping. Then, walk to the cathedral, go in that if you like (I forget the fee), wander through the town, hike it back to the train station, and train back to London. It's an easy day, super fun, and I like that the tour allows as much time at Stonehenge as you want. Oh, and you can also stop at Old Sarum if you want too. Windsor is a great daytrip too, like others have said, and it isn't really even a full day - you could see the castle in the morning, have lunch, and be back in London for the afternoon. I wouldn't go to Bath - it is a great city, but I think it deserves more than one day.

Day trips UK:
York- the Minster, the Shambles, The Castle Museum, and if you are so inclined the Railroad Museum. Just walking about York is fun. And, Betty's Tearoom is good for lunch. Warwick Castle- lovely gardens there too Oxford- Nice college town, Beautiful buildings could combine with a trip to Blenheim Palace- beautiful grounds and the palace is full of history. Rose Garden is beautiful and if you walk a bit further there is a pretty waterfall. Anywhere in the Cotswolds! Cambridge- another place with beautiful buildings, nice college town, a ride down the river Cam... Hampton Court Palace outside of London proper- beautiful, beautiful and full of history. My personal favorite! could take boat or train out. Take the train to Brighton- pretty seaside town, or down to Portsmouth- Naval history there. Chester is do-able, so much to see and shop and the town just oozes history, complete city wall to walk on, two-storey shopping in beautiful buildings, lovely little places to stop and grab a bite, and there are special trains that go there that have dinner included to and from London- complete with silver, crystal and white tablecloths. From Paris: have done the champagne tour that included Piper-Heidsick and Moet et Chandon wineries very informative and you can sample :) - stops in Rhiems for the cathedral where the Kings of France were crowned and lunch. Giverny- Monet's home and gardens are breathtaking no matter what time of year. Versailles- easily doable just south of Paris proper, take the train. Beautiful.

I would agree with Pat that with 4 days in Paris, a day trip will mean missing out on great Paris sights. And I'm assuming one of these is a travel day anyway? But if you really want to see it, Versailles is a good 3/4ths of a day trip. I wouldn't try to do anything further away than that, at least it gives you the late afternoon/evening back in Paris.

The only daytrip I did from Paris was to Chartres but it was a great choice, if you like medieval churches. The town is only an hour on the train from Paris and you can see the cathedral from the train station, so it's possible to spend only half a day on this daytrip and enjoy Paris for the afternoon and evening.