Here we go again- traveling to London Summer of 201with 3 college age kids-

Do you mean summer of 2011 or 2012? If the former- not much time left. If the latter- remember the Olympics- you will need to plan around that. We will need a little more info to give you really good advice. What is your budget? What is your prefered 'style' of lodging (hostels, b&bs, 5 star hotels, smaller hotels, self-catering apartment, etc.) Do you want to stay in one place or have 2 or 3 destinations. With only 10-12 days (8=10 if you don't count departure and arrival) you'd loose alot moving around. I'd first suggesst having them list their interests. Then find some commonalities. History- great, what periods? Architechture? Art?, etc. Then let THEM do some research (Rick's books and videos, Lonely Planet, TripAvisor, Fromers, etc.) and suggest some activities- you do the same. Then compare lists and start prioritizing. Try to let everyone 'get' at least one of their top priorities. There ahve been some recent threads about using index cards, etc. to plan- you might want to do an advanced search on this site and read those. Here are a few of my favorites you might consdier if based in London- Kew Gardens, Covent Garden Market, Camden Lock markets, Leiciester Square, day trips to Windsor, Bath, Brighton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Canterburry, Dover, Winchester, York or others, Tower of London, Pall Mall walk..... You might find this article interesting
http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm?zip=28208

Thank you! It is the summer of 2012! Not now! :) I couldn't take that stress! I spoke with a couple of people about the Oluympics and whether it would be a conflict and it sounds like if we go early it wouldn't be. ( end of June beginning of July.) I am not stuck on London- had discussed Italy, but with only 12 days ( counting travel) so really 10 or so to travel was trying to think of a place that we would enjoy that was relatively easy to get to. I am open to France, Italy ( posted something and got lots of good ideas) for Italy. We are just trying to figure out a great experience that isn't too terribly hard to get to, and one that we can enjoy with the time we have.Life is hard to get us all together so want to make some memories! Thanks for the help!

London is a great place for what you describe! It is one of my absolute favorite destinations. With 10 days ground-time, you could spend a few days in either Scotland or Wales in addition to London. Maybe something like this Day 1- leave WA- arrive London morning of day 2 Day 2-6London with 1 or 2 day trips out by train Day 7 train to York- 1 night Day 8 train to Edinburgh Day 8-11 Edinburgh with possible day trip to Highlands via tour company Day 12 fly home
I could offer other suggesstions if you share interests, etc and let us know if you want to move around more or less You could also just stay based in London (get an apratment maybe through London School of Economics or Citadiens or other) and do several day trips out by train. Or spend a night or 2 in Bath and see some of the Cotswolds... Lots of ideas

"for their ages" ,, um they are adults,, what are their interests. I would make them plan what to see,, they should do the research since they are getting a free trip.. I made my 11 yr old and 14 contribute to each of their trips by telling them to do some research and find three sites THEY wanted to see. Both my kids enjoyed the Tower of London, the Victoria and Albert and Natural History Museums ( and of course the British Museum).. My son loved Warwick Castle, but your "kids" might not be quite as enthralled,, I did enjoy it myself though. I though Canterbury was ok,, Stonehenge was anti climatic, and Brighton was a good daytrip if weather is reasonble( beach is rocky, but the walkway is interesting etc). With 12 days you could easily take 2 days and visit Paris on the Eurostar, buying tickets in advance makes it a cheap option,, and theres lots to see there too.

Besides giving the "kids" more ownership of the trip, I found that having my teens do some of the research took the responsibility for everyone's happiness off my shoulders. Another idea that worked for us, was having each family member be leader for the day. They acted like tour guide: set the pace, gave us pertinent details on what we were seeing, decided when to eat, etc. I did however, take everyone's ideas and put them together into a workable itinerary.

I am gonna join in with the majority and say ask the three of them where they want to go. I am pretty they have a better idea of what they want to see than any of us.