5n / 6d in London - 3n / 4d in Edinburgh - What to do??

The OP I guess requested my response be deleted. Don't know why it does say on this board do some research before you ask the question what is there to do in London.

I will make the point very politely then.

London and Edinburgh are both brilliant cities packed full of things to see and do. You could spend a month in London and not see everything.

That's the beauty of it. No matter what your interests, you will find something in London that you love. Each person's choice of things to see will be unique depending on their interests, and my perfect day in London will be very different from some of my friends.

I reccommend you read a guidebook and narrow down the list of places you think will be interesting for you. Then come back here, tell us what your interests are and what your idea is, and you will get useful feedback.

I'll agree with everyone else that a trip to Bruges makes no sense. Not only is it quicker and cheaper to do day trips within England, there are plenty of nicer places than Bruges (which is just a big tourist trap with some pretty canals - not a patch on Edinburgh). I'd recommend Cambridge on a summer's day, but Oxford not far behind. Not much to see in St Albans, though it's a nice place and very quick to get to. And plenty of day trips within London - Greenwich, Hampstead and Richmond are particularly nice, depending what you like.

Greenwich has a beautiful park, fascinating observatory, great views, some lovely old pubs on the river, and a bit of character too. Richmond has a stunning stretch of river, great for boat trips or walking, and again some lovely pubs and cafes. There's a huge park but it's not easy to navigate on foot, and London has better. Hampstead Heath is probably the best open space in London, and Hampstead itself has cafes, old pubs, narrow lanes and boutique-y shops. All three are basically villages that have been swallowed up by London but retain their distinct characters.

As some people have said, you've heard wrongly about Bruges. If you leave really early in the morning and get appropriate ferry times, you might make 4 hours or so in Ostend. I like Ostend, and though I'd prefer going there, it's not as interesting or eyecatching as Bruges - it's a huge traveller draw.

If you have 4 days Edinburgh, a really good idea is to get out of the city and take a half day boat trip on The Firth of Forth to one or more of the islands. Some of these trips go from North Queeensferry which is a lovely little place to visit also, you can get a bus from Edinburgh which should take less than an hour, or drive. Some trips leave from suburban parts of Edinburgh.

You can see much of what most tourists see in one full day in Edinburgh - New Town from Princes Street, George Street and Queen Street to some of the Georgian crescents and circuses down the hill a bit, and Old Town, on and around The Royal Mile. And a peek around the crescents at the West End of New Town.

There is a nice, simple beach at Portobello in Edinburgh. Make sure to visit Holyrood Park and if you aren't the type who would climb it, take the lovely road path along and around Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano. The green scenery is a contrast to the stone in the city, and the views over the city, if you can safely get yourself to a good viewpoint, can be splendid. In the vicinity, Newington is quite a nice area with juice bars, cafes, delis, pubs - quite cosmopolitan in its selection, Asian and other foods. If in Newington you might want to walk a bit further to walk around The Meadows (well mown parkland, not meadowland), maybe stopping for a picnic on the grass, and see the lovely, distinctive, high, old, some elaborate some simple town house appartment blocks on the edge of Marchmont, at Warrender Park Terrace and Crescent and Melville Drive.

On the way to Newington two places I really recommend. One is for food The Phoenician Restauarant, just beside the Edinburgh Mosque which is near Bristo Square (see this also for the circular McEwan Hall, historic Teviot building, my old student union, and Reid Concert Hall beside, part of my old ""Music Faculty"" at university where I went in good faith to study music but left unhappy). Look for the big Mosque steeple and you'll find The Phoenician. It's really cheap and they serve North African and Meditteranean food, simple and lovely usually. Wine is cheap too. Lunch and dinner.

The other is for a good night out - The Cellar jazz bar, a basement jazz club and bar in Chambers Street has live jazz music most nights of the week (also on the way to Newington).

Stockbridge can be really worth spending an afternoon or evening in, nice bars and cafes. A good idea is to on the way to or from a visit to the splendid Botanical Gardens.

Calton Hill is very popular and a nice place to visit, with very nice views over Central Edinburgh. I recommend both Calton and Arthur's Seat. You have enough time. You could set aside 3 hours one day you are in the city centre to go Calton Hill for a change, it's only 15 minutes walk from near the very central Waverley Bridge. But Calton Hill and Salisbury Crags at Arthurs Seat are both lovely places to sit down with a bottle of wine or beers, plastic glasses and a bottle opener on a good evening and watch the sun go down.

I didn't see this mentioned in any of the other posts, but I would include a trip on the London Eye for a first-timer -- you get a great bird's eye view of London.

Op have you looked at the Visit Britian site at http://www.visitbritain.us/? I have used the Australian Visit Briain site as a resident of Sydney Australia and have found them a wonderful resource. In the past I have emailed them my planned itinerary and they have responded with detailed 'how to do it' information.

I'll just reinforce some of the other things said. Bruges, bad idea. Buy an LP guide book. Get an open bus tour ticket. I don't think Wayworn's response was particulalry rude. Visitbritain is a good place to look at. If you like green stuff - Hampstead Heath, Richmond Park and there are also lots of commons which are great for summer days. Restaurants I have enjoyed (but you will have to dig deep into your pockets for these): Savoy Grill (may be undergoing renovations), Oxo Tower (good food but great view, bit of an event restaurant), Sarastro's (again, good food - not great - but an event). Cheaper - Wagamama, Pizza Express, Stockpot (all three are dependable chains), Balan's (Old Compton St in Soho, small one at Chairng X Rd end, big one nearer Wardour St end).

And finally, in user's instructions on this board it does talk about doing your own research first.

Maybe Wayworn1 assumed that the O.P.'s trip was 10 days in The U.K. in total and that isn't what the O.P. meant, just a mistake then.

If it is to be 10 days in the country only, then it is worth bearing in mind that train travel between London and Edinburgh takes 6 or 7 hours

Considering the indirect route: the time in London to get to / from Kings' Cross station, or Euston station if going via Glasgow (I'm guessing Virgin Rail still do that service) - it's often nearly the same travel time including the separate hourly or half hourly Glasgow to Edinburgh service because the Virgin trains are faster British trains, not being high speed trains which we don't have. But you'd need to get a taxi from Glasgow Central Station to Glasgow Queen Street Station, or walk nearly 20 minutes with luggage if you have a clear map, longer if not.

Flying between Edinburgh and London can be cheaper than taking the train. And even an hour or a little more faster including 45 minutes getting to Edinburgh Airport and, say, 1 hir 45 minutes on the coach between, say, Stansted Airport or Luton Airport and London, faster if through Heathrow or Gatwick.

Getting to Glasgow Airport can only be around 50 minutes longer than the time getting to Edinburgh Airport during the daytime by Edinburgh airport bus, which is often stuck in traffic from the West End to Corstorphine for an hour or more. In the past I've got minicabs who I asked to go by a different route, and got there within half an hour, but the black taxis hailed on the street wouldn't do that - some may though. It wasn't unknown for me to miss my plane in Edinburgh which I left in normal time to catch when in a black taxi because of the traffic in Corstorphine.

it is worth bearing in mind that train travel between London and Edinburgh takes 6 or 7 hours

No. It takes about 4 and a half.

Considering the indirect route: the time in London to get to / from Kings' Cross station, or Euston station if going via Glasgow (I'm guessing Virgin Rail still do that service) - it's often nearly the same travel time

It's about 2 hours longer travel time and involves carrying your bags quite some distance between stations in Glasgow.

We're talking about different things, greencelery. You're talking about the exact time of the fastest trains from leaving the station in London and arriving in Edinburgh. I was talking about getting / from to King's Cross station in London by Underground train which can take 40 minutes from Victoria in the middle of the day, a bit longer with less frequent tubes in the evening, longer from say Chelsea or East London, and then waiting 20 or 30 minutes and a more average train time. To compare with the time taken getting to and from airports if flying. And not the fastest train journey which you highlighted. The fast train is pretty regular these days, but there are also slower ones.

Good to highlight the station change in Queen Street. It's only ten minutes or so walk with a trolley bag from Queen Street station to Buchanan Street station in Glasgow (or the bus, a bit longer than the train, more than a bit longer in rush hours, has Buchanan Street as a stop). Check "queen street station, glasgow" and also buch. st. stn. on multimap.com for getting to Buchanan Street.