Alsacienne

Well, let's hope the OP has posted there as well ....

but I don't think s/he has ...... ;-)

GRALISTAIR

Ahhrr sounds like my alma mater - Imperial College London -love South Kensington ^

MSPeconomist

Sixteen weeks of weekends could easily be spent exploring London and the British Isles. Use trains to see England, Scotland, and Wales. Perhaps fly to Ireland once or twice. A week or two on either end could be used to visit a country or two in Europe.

However, what's the real purpose of the semester abroad? Is it mostly a vacation or will the son be expected to do some serious academic work? If he'll be taking regular Imperial College London courses with British students studying for degrees, the standards and workload could be high. He might not have time to take a long weekend every week to play tourist.

GRALISTAIR

Not could be high WILL be high. Google it -Imperial is known for very high standards, very competitive environment and high workload. It used to have the highest suicide rate of any university in Britain because of this.

I know - I am an alumni from there!

Romelle

Rather than risk missed connections and late returns, time spent figuring out transportation options, time spent to and from airports and trains to get to Europe for only a couple days or even hours, why not just enjoy London with the little free time he will have?

Play darts in a pub

Eat various ethnic foods, including pub grub

Take a new girlfriend to tea at a posh place

Go to a sporting event

Watch the changing of the guards

Ride the wheel

See the Cutty Sark

Maybe a few of these tourist attractions:
British Museum
National Gallery
Churchill War Rooms
Natural History Museum
Tate Modern
The London Eye
Science Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
Tower of London
Royal Museums Greenwich
Madame Tussauds
Kew Gardens

And just a little further afield:
Head north for Hadrian's Wall
Stonehenge
Stratford upon Avon
Anne Hathaway's house
Scotland distilleries
Dublin

And much, much more....

Save the continent for when he has more time and energy, IMHO.

Romelle

GRALISTAIR

Excellent advice ^

callum9999

It is? My friends at Imperial don't seem to have a particularly higher workload than anyone else I know doing an equivalent degree.

And this could just be because I'm a Brit, but I'd much rather spend a weekend in Barcelona/Madrid/Berlin/Paris etc. than exploring the UK! Every weekend is a bit excessive I agree, but a couple of times a month seems fine.

I also wouldn't recommend STA travel like someone above has. I have never, ever seen a flight with them that was cheaper than elsewhere (I believe they have good one-way deals to Asia etc., but no good for Europe) - you'll be much better off going to Ryanair/Easyjet/Norwegian/Wizz/Vueling/BA etc. direct. Skyscanner has pretty good coverage.

txtxyeha

Thx, everyone for your comments. For the record he is studying at Ithaca College based in New York. Besides the week they have off for spring break and maybe a week in May after the semester is completed, I do think I will encourage him to immerse himself in London and the UK.

Romelle

I think Edinburgh Castle is worth adding to the list. A defense structure of multiple gates, each strategically separated from the prior. Even if one is breached, the enemy still has to loop around a walled area to the next, etc.

An amazing place. Even more so if your son happens to be of any Scottish heritage.

Whenever I pack for a trip, I think of it. I use its defense concept with multiple credit cards from different vendors plus cash, separating it in different areas about myself, with the final best-protected stash enough to get me home.

Romelle

CKA1

Instead of spending a fortune for your son to have a series of quick trips to the continent, consider banking that money and letting your son go for a 3-week trip after his year's schooling is done. Don't give it to him until his coursework is done.

If he is spending 6 hours in transit, he won't have enough time to see much. Why not ask him to go somewhere after school is done for the semester. If you give him the cash to do it now, he might spend it on beer and wooing women.

CK.

mrisoli

Hijacking this thread a bit, but I have some similar situation, I just booked a week trip to Amsterdam on february out of the blue due to a mistake fare, I have no plans, no idea what to do, I've been to Amsterdam and a couple other cities in Europe, I was looking for another stop in this trip to do maybe 3-4 days, any one has suggestions?(or should I create a separate thread for this)

Romelle

Probably a good idea to have your own thread.

Amsterdam is only 1'51" from Brussels, and another 1'20" on to Paris.

You might tell some more about your interests, your age, etc. The more people know about you, the better the responses will fit.

Have you looked in the country specific Destinations section further on in this site? Might pick up some ideas there.

Feb is of course cold and short on daylight. South is always a good idea. Along the coast will be warmer than inland and uphill. Unless you are a skier? See how knowing your interests would help here?

Romelle

mapu

Forget the trains for short trips. Ryan Air has very cheap flights all over Europe for weekend trips. And a month long trip after the end of the semester is a lot more fun.

callum9999

A fortune? Choosing a random weekend in January you can fly from London to numerous German cities for around £50 - including 2 nights hostel accommodation.

CKA1

Even if you can fly cheaply, doesn't it make more sense to ask the OPs son to hold off on seeing Europe till after the semester is done. Assume the cost of an airplane ride from Point A (London) to Point B (lets say a major European center) is 100 Euros. What makes more sense, fly to B and spend 2 nights, or fly to B after the semester is over, and spend a week. In either case, the flight is 100 bucks, but if you stay at a hostel, you can maximize the value of the flight, and you get to see the area longer. If I were flying somewhere once a month for 1 or 2 nights each time, I'd be spending way more than if I was going to save my money and go when I can spend 1-2 weeks.

I know if I take a weekend trip (in Canada) during the semester, I miss out on the studying and writing that is part of being a student. I would probably enjoy the travel opportunities when I don't have assignments, papers, group work and tests looming over my head.

When I did my undergrad, I took exactly two trips a year. One was Model UN and the other a national political science conference. Most of them occurred during the semester, and sometimes I regret taking those trips, because I probably sacrificed grades for fun.