London Travel Answers

Hi, Well, with your limited time you need to avoid back-tracking! The route I suggest will require shorter hops on the way to the more distant cities... So, think London to Stonehenge, then onto Cardiff. Honestly Stonehenge is bit of a damp squid as it's cordoned off so you walk a fair way away from it! Think Avebury instead, similar but you get up close :-) BTW do you have to do Stonehenge? OTHERWISE THERE ARE NICER PLACES TO VISIT IN THE WEST, EG BATH (HISTORIC TOO) or Windsor Castle. Next, Cardiff to Manchester. Then Manchester to Edinburgh. Try to savour Edinburgh, so eg arrive early morning & leave at night. If flying, check Ryanair for good fares. For budget coaches megabus.com. If booked in advance substantial savings can be made, same for trains. Edinburgh to London at night, you could relax in the train - 4 hours. Coaches take upto 10 hours! BTW if you're hiring a car, if could be cheaper, butt importantly offering maximum flexibility. Just bear in mind you will have to park in the outskirts of some of the cities & take a local bus in (to save on parking fees!) Enjoy your trip, good luck :-)

I think the idea of making a tour as suggested by Durfun is a very good one. To travel in and out of London for each of your trips could cost a lot of money - unless you are very clever and manage to spend a long time on the internet making advance bookings at the best availavle prices. Or can bring a very fat wallet with you. The recent increase in UK train prices is having an enormous impact on travel. I have a Senior Rail Card but am still staggered by the costs. More to the point I often book tickets for a family member who travels on business for a small company. This month a return ticket from Cardiff to Leeds was nearly £250.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'm willing to scrap Stonehenge. I just read somewhere that it was one of those places you absolutely have to visit. "It's a mystery how it still stands" the writer said. Ok, so I'm thinking: London to Bath, Bath to Cardiff. Cardiff to Manchester. Manchester to Edinburgh. Edinburgh to London overnight. I'm not hiring a car. I'm just 20, barely legal in Canada :p

@ranger49: Thanks. I'm gonna do as Darfun suggests.

One more question: What modes of transportation should I be looking at booking as I travel through these locations? Renting a car is out of the question. For sure, I will take the train from Edinburgh to London., but what do you suggest from London to Bath, Bath to Cardiff, Cardiff to Manchester and Manchester to Edinburgh. A bus (coach?). Thanks.

This looks like it could be one the few occasions when a railpass makes sense. Have you looked into the Britrail pass youth discount? I had a quick look, it's 159 Euro for four days within a month. Sorry, I don't have the time to check how much it would be in Canadian dollar. Standard class is perfectly fine, there is no need to pay for first class. I go to the UK a lot and mostly use trains there and I always compare fares and the railpass. Usually the point-to-point fares are better value, but not always.

With the limited amount of time you have you are best off doing all of this by train, it will take a lot less time and should be more comfortable.

Yes, train is best, especially if you can get a good deal via a card as Christine suggests. Book well ahead for the Edinburgh to London stretch, especially if you're not splashing out on a sleeping berth, as you don't want to find yourself standing all that way! Try to maximise your time in Bath; it's a beautiful city :-)

I disagree entirely about Stonehenge, but one does need to know something of its context and history to fully appreciate it. If you have no car then train is definitely the best way to travel in terms of speed and comfort, but long distance bus is cheaper. Check times and fares (and book online) on www.nationalexpress.com and www.megabus,com (Megabus has fewer routes than NatEx).

@ Femiluv "I just read somewhere that it was one of those places you absolutely have to visit. "It's a mystery how it still stands" the writer said." The writer obviously was not interested in the even greater mystery of how those great stones were brought a few hundred miles from Pembrokeshire in West Wales. There have been many University projects at the highest levels trying to fathom out that great mystery.

And even more research trying to find how Stonhenge relates to the 'sacred landscape' in which is stands, and how it relates to its earlier wooden henge the numerous nearby tumuli, Woodhenge, Durrington Walls, Avebury, Silbury Hill and the many earthworks and processional ways. 'How it still stands' is not relevant. It still stands (in part, not completely) because its structure is so massive and its joints so marvellously-crafted..... and because it has been respected/feared/whatever over the millennia.

You're leaving out Northern Ireland ;) Judicious use of concrete has been propping up parts of Stonehenge for at least 110 years. Anyway, from what I gather it can be done in about an hour or less, so yes you'll want to pad out the day. It's not easy to reach without your own car, but tour buses from London regularly slot a visit in with Bath and/or Oxford.

It is easy to reach Stonhenge without a car. Take the train to Salisbury (its magnificent Medieval cathedral which will certainly help fill the day) and then the bus from outside the station. The bus used to be ordinary bus number 3, but now it's called 'thestonehengetour' and has become a hop-on type thing: http://www.thestonehengetour.info/

i agree with leics....i seen stonehenge in december and really was thrilled by it. i have seen many pictures of it and to see it for real was marvellous. it was higher on my list than bath achititure...we went swimming in the hot pool at bath.

Agree that continual returns to London will not only eat up time but will eat up money on train/bus fares as well. Don't forget your umbrella (and outerwear suitable for wearing in rain) *anywhere* during your visit. Cardiff is no more likely to be wet than anywhere else at the time you visit, although the west of the country does tend to be drier than the east. That's what the statistics say, though it never actually feels like that. Whenever you visit the UK you need to pack for several varieties of weather. Clothes which you can layer, water-resistant outerwear, umbrella and sensible foot wear are all required, whenever and wherever.

Yes, you have found my early-morning-brain typo. Well done..I didn't spot it. Of course the west is wetter than the east...that is what I meant to type and what did not come out via my fingers. But it doesn't automatically feel like that, and doesn't automatically mean that an umbrella will be required in Cardiff.

Ho ho ho. I lived in Wales for 6 years. It was wetter than where I live now in the East Midlands, but it was often dry when other places (including London) were wet. So there are no rules and no guarantees anywhere in the UK. Layers, waterproofs, umbrella wherever you go.