"Must See's and Do's" in and from London when there for 10 days?

Hello all -

My 17 year old son and I (his Mom) are taking a 10 day trip to London in April. While we're considering visiting Stonehenge, backstage theater tours, museums and such, what might truly intrigue us while there? Day trip to Liverpool? White Cliffs of Dover? How about venturing to Wales, Paris or Ireland while there? Want to do a lot without over doing it, and don't want to miss any "Must See's and Do's." What are feasible day trips, or even multi-day side trips from London? Eagerly awaiting your thoughts, suggestions and feedback. Thanks.

You´re in London for only 10 days, and you´re asking about visiting Stonehenge, Liverpool, Dover, Wales, Paris, and Ireland.

I don´t understand.

London and its surrounding areas will take up all 10 days.

Liverpool isn't exactly a day trip destination from London - have a look yourself on some train / bus timetables. Stonehenge isn't in London, either! Paris is in another country, and Ireland is an other conntry!

So, a bit more research might be a good idea. But I wouldn't advise anyone to spend 10 days exclusively in London - it's a great city, but it doesn't equal England or the UK in general.

I've always failed to see why people are so eager to go to Stonehenge...it's just a bunch of rocks in a muddy field and other tourists. You pay yourself silly to get there and back, to get in and there is nothing else there apart from a coffee shop with over inflated prices. Might as well look at some pictures in a book, does the same job. It's probably the biggest disappointment of all the "famous" places I've been...I just happened to be going past on a motorbike and stopped.

Anyway, Brighton is a nice day out from London, fast train from Victoria station takes only 50 minutes.

http://www.visitbrighton.com/

And as far as "must do's" it would help if you listed what you actually like to do: shop? art? museums? general sights? etc etc.

If you're not on too tight a budget, a two-day trip to Paris on the Eurostar train is perfectly viable. (You can get there and back in a day but it's too rushed IMHO.)

Wales and Ireland really demand a car if you're going to get the most out of a short visit and I don't think you have the time available to do much justice to either of them.

Dover is a bit of a dump, frankly. It's mildly interesting to see the White Cliffs if you happen to be there but I wouldn't make a special expedition for it.

Of course, there are plenty of options in England itself. What kind of things are you primarily interested in seeing and doing - historical sites, nature, museums, shopping?

Get a ticket for one of the hop-on hop-off bus tours which will cover most of the must sees in London. Add to that the Imperial War Museum possibly... avoid art galleries unless your son is interested - probably not would be my guess. Not because they're not some of the best in the world, just cause a 17 yo is likely to be very bored! ; )

For day trips, consider Cambridge, Oxford and further a field is Bath. The Roman Baths are excellent and very interesting for a day trip, though it's a long day trip as travelling can take some time to get there ~2-3 hrs by train I think it is. Brighton is a nice option, but IMO there is little of interest to see there. Consider Portsmouth as well.. not a terribly nice city but it's of huge historical significance and they have a naval museum there that's quite good.

Stonehenge in my opinion is a must see... ignore the naysayers who live here or have been several times. I think it's an interesting, historic, intriguing site - though little is really known about it. However it is really out of the way and it will take up the best part of the day to get there and back - I think you could spend the time more effectively elsewhere with so little time.

Another place to see would be the Cotswold, specifically the tourist epicentre which is Stratford (birth place of Shakespear).

Yeh forget Dover... I always thought there was some magic to the place, but it's just a big white cliff and Dover is a grubby port only visited really, for it's links with the continent.

I enjoyed seeing Stonehenge actually. So many people told me that it was overrated etc that I really wasn't expecting much. I just read up a bit on Stonehenge and various theories about it through the ages, and also included a nice wander through Salisbury and, more particularly, the Cathedral. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Are you willing to rent a car? If so, consider doing a mini side trip to include Bath, Bristol and Wales.

Hop on hop off tours (as suggested by Scaryant) are a great way to see the sights. At the very least you can see where things are and where they are in relation to each other. The tour can be a bit overpriced but they are easy and do tick off a lot of the sites you may want to just get a picture of.

Go on a London Walk - traditional ones like the Jack the Ripper tour would be great. But there are lots of tours. They last about an hour or so - so it's not like you have to plan your trip around them. Just turn up on a day which suits.

If your son likes movies, find a guide to popular movie locations in London. There are (obviously) a lot, but if he likes a particular movie it could be fun.

Take him to a pub for a meal.

Imperial War Museum is great. Do war stuff.

Do touristy stuff. Take him to Harrods and get your son to try on a £20,000 Armani Leather Jacket. Actually, if he is 17 he would be mortified at doing such a thing. So I would definitely suggest doing that!

I probably can't help more than that. I love historic sites and did as a teenager. I imagine that would bore a lot of teens.

Cambridge, my home city, one hour on the train from London, makes a very nice day trip. You must have never been to England before if you think Ireland, France and Wales are day excursions! Wales would be at least a five hour journey! Dover is do-able in a day. To do Stonehenge in a day you would need to rent a car, it would take you half the day to even get there on public transport.
I seriously think you would be much better to spend your time in London, take it easy and enjoy the city rather than dash around like headless chickens - you will never see everything in the south of England in ten days so don't try! Remember if you like museums then you don't want to be just straight in and out of one, you need to have a half day perhaps to enjoy it. Lots of really good museums to choose from in London now and they are free! Plan yourself a feasible itinerary. You should be expecting to spend a good five days just in London, I would say, then maybe a couple of day trips and a shopping day or two or just relaxing somewhere nice and taking in the atmosphere.

Thank you all for your replies and opinions; they have been useful and greatly appreciated. Yes, I actually HAVE looked at maps and local transportation options, and do realize some of the suggestions were a bit afar. However, I was asking for guidance just in case someone could provide a good reason to especially try to include a particular Yor advice as to what makes sense for an overnight v. single day journey has also been great. We are interested in sites of historical importance, visual beauty and unique interest, as well as shopping for other than run-of-the-mill or easily-available-elsewhere items. I've just had some surgery and my vision and strength are temporarily limited; thus my reaching out to you guys. Just gathering all the info I can from those who have been there/done that, and trying to make sure our trip is planned right. Thanks!

I wouldn't recommend spending 10 days in any major/capital city even when there is so much to see and do. There is so much more to any country than just the cities and you do have the time to explore.

I lived near Stonehenge for most of my life and it never failed to excite/intrigue every time I drove past so I would include that in your visit. You can either hire a car and drive down (stay in Salisbury because that city is also worth a visit) or go by train to Salisbury and get a local tour there. At least you will then see some of the beautiful countryside as well as city sights!

Salisbury Cathedral spire is the tallest in Europe and built in the 13th Century. There are amazing tours up the spire - you're not allowed to the very top, but just before the pointed part of the spire you can go outside and walk round the edge which is fantastic. The tour itself gives you the history of the cathedral and you get to see the inside of the roof and it's incredible structure. Plus from outisde the amazing views of the city and its environs.

You could spend a couple of days in Salisbury and see Stonhenge.

Enjoy!

I wouldnt bother with Stonehenge either myself.

My mohter and I quite frequently go on a Saturday for lunch in Paris. You can go in the morning, wander around taking in quite a lot, have lunch and be home (well, in London) for around 9pm quite easily.

"My mohter and I quite frequently go on a Saturday for lunch in Paris"

Ooooooo lar di daa... bit expensive to do regularly innit wapsy? Unless you book a discount seat weeks/months in advance... even then it's probably £100 return right? Credit crunch didn't you know?

Anyway, not a bad option... I could see a 17 yo boy very much enjoying a short trip to Paree, quick stop in for a Moulin Rouge show and then pop back over to London town. FYI though, Moulin Rouge while a fabulous show - is a little expensive.

NB: Just did a quick search and the cheapest I could find for 2nd week in April was £96 pp return - overnight trip.

Yes I am quite la di da indeedie.

£59 return if you book it in advance the last couple of times. Brussells recently for the same.

For the historical bit - take a day trip out to Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, south west of London - it takes about 40 mins on the train from Waterloo. The palace & gardens are amazing, and you can easily take a day to wander around there. You can also get there by boat from Westminster or Waterloo, which takes about 3 hours, and if the weather is good, its a great way to relax & enjoy some lovely scenery going past places like Richmond & Kew.

I'm another in favour of going to Paris. Forget a few of the expensive tourist attractions in London like The Tower of London, the London Eye and Madamme Tossuards and you have the return price on the Eurostar right there.

Oh come on now... the Tower of London is not merely an expensive tourist attraction and certainly not in the same league as the London Eye and Madamme Tossuards (which by the way, I agree with you on those).

I would not forgo the Tower, it has a deep and interesting history directly related to the UK and London itself (unlike the other two you mention). It also houses the Crown Jewels... I'd see the Tower over the likes of Stonehenge if I had to choose between them.

London Eye £15.50 / £7.75 child, for 30 minutes. If you pre-book, the weather´s poor and you can´t see a thing. Tough.

Tower of London £17.00 / £9.50 child, for as long as you like to discover almost 1000 years of history.

No contest.

Point taken about the Tower of London. Was just giving a contrast to the price of going to Paris.

Wanted to drop you a note, thanking you for your most useful and thoughtful reply. We do appreciate your taking the time to share and offer these wonderful suggestions, and for paying attention to possible desires of my son as wqell.

best,
Zzzthree

I found your suggestions particularly informative and helpful. Thank you so much!

My 17 year old son and I ..........

My 17 year old son and I .......... http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1741562&tstart=0

Same person with different names, or just a coincidence.?