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London and......

So here's the deal.

A friend of mine got tickets for the Harry Potter play in London in October. Her daughter is working there for 6 months starting in July so their entire family is going for a week. I am going to join them for part of the week and go to the play on Sunday.

I have my plane ticket and I fly into London (great deal so that's not changing). IMHO flying into London is fine because there are generally inexpensive flights all over Europe from London.

My first thought was Paris, but honestly I need to try to break my Paris rut.

So if you have 3-4 days flying into and out of London where would you go?
Right now I have the following on my list.

Prague - Looks nice, not a real high cost city (Since London is, it would be nice to balance the budget)
Edinburgh - Always appealed to me, can probably do it by train from London instead of plane which is appealing.

Paris - I know I love Paris, but I went last Spring and promised myself a break
Normandy- Take the train to Lille an go from there for a few days
Dublin - Another place I've never been, but has appealed to me.

Your thoughts on these or any other suggestions.

Posted by
533 posts

Are you primarily interested in major cities? There's a multitude of smaller cities and towns around the UK that could easily keep you busy for 3-4 days, and since you say it's appealing to go by train rather than plane, that seems like a natural choice.

Posted by
356 posts

Give Prague a shot, and make time to include Brno and Olomouc. There is some really great exploring to be done in the Czech Republic.

Posted by
308 posts

I would personally go to Edinburgh if you haven't been yet.

Posted by
7891 posts

Carol,
With only 3-4 days, why not stay in Britain and save the waste of time flying elsewhere.

There is a lot of great places in the English countryside that you can see on day trips from London, or rent a car and see is closer on your own.

If you like Harry Potter, you would like Warwick Castle, west of London. Also, Bath, Stratford on Avon, Oxford, the Cotswolds, etc.

Canterbury and Cambridge are great places to visit on the east side of London.

York is great and doable by train is another option.

I love Prague, but save it for when you are visiting Munich or Berlin.

Posted by
15633 posts

Edinburgh is my first choice.

But as stated previously, there are lots of great places in the UK.

With Edinburgh, there is quite a bit to see and do. But with 3-4 days, you could also take a one day tour into the Highlands, go castle viewing, hit a distillery.

Dublin would them be next but the best part of Ireland is outside Dublin and that would need three or four days on its own. (But you could skip Dublin, and fly direct from London to Shannon and spend the time on the west coast. )

October is cooler and rainy but there will be fewer crowds.

Posted by
14580 posts

Hi,

If you intend to fly to the second destination, then I also would recommend Prague if the crowds don't bother you, and some neighboring towns.

Posted by
2764 posts

Thanks everyone!

I am leaning towards Edinburgh or Prague. Sorry but for some reason the UK countryside suggestions aren't doing anything for me. Possibly because on London visits I have done a lot of these as day trips.

Posted by
14580 posts

Hi,

Check if Wizzair flies to Prague from London. A friend of mine flew a few years back from SFO to London LHR, then connected with Wizzair to Gdansk. She basically had only a week too.

Posted by
3428 posts

EDINBURGH!!!!! It is a wonderful place to visit. Easy 4 ish hour train ride from London (with great views, too). Lots to see and do. And the day trip to the Highlands will convince you that you MUST come back and spend more time there.

Posted by
3813 posts

There is an overnight train from London to Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Sleeper.
If you take a daytime train, you might consider a stop in York for a couple of hours if you haven't been there before.