Must...Fly!

I realise this is a loaded question but I'm really stuck trying to choose where to spend some time in the UK.

I am arriving on a Saturday night and have booked 3 nights in London, checking out Tuesday. I basically have until the Sunday to fill in as I plan to fly to Athens that day.

I thought Edinburgh/Glasgow to see some of the Commonwealth games but that is a fair distance and also quite expensive given the games are on. Manchester crossed my mind as did Cardiff. I could go to Liverpool then Manchester as that would take up a few days nicely, though it would mean I couldn't get back to London (but I'll live, can always go back ). Advantage of that would be flights are a little cheaper out of Manchester.

Anyway, thoughts on that? Or are those places a waste of time, somewhere better to go? I thought of heading to Vienna/Zurich etc but I'd prefer to see more of the UK.

Thanks

visualAd

A day trip to Oxford and to Windsor is always a good use of time. In the south and within a 1/2 hour train ride from London you also have Brighton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight, Southampton, Cambridge, Bletchley Park (if you are a geek like me), Canterbury, Dover, Margate (sure there are loads I have missed).

Bristol is also a good base for visiting the west country, Weston-Super-Mare, Bath (amazing Roman city), Cheddar Gorge and many more.

If you venture up north you can either buy a train ticket from Euston or fly from Heathrow. Manchester can be as cheap as £12.50 single by train if you book an awkward time (on a specified train), I have seen these fares 6pm the night before, make sure you use the Virgin Trains website and go for the fast ticket option. e-Tickets and m-tickets are totally non flexible (advance paper tickets can be changed for a £10 fee and fare difference before travel) and you have to remember to print them or have your phone charged. Airfares are more expensive at about £150 return if booked in advance.

From Manchester you can visit Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, The Lake District. For a geek like me there is Jodwell bank and the science museum in Manchester. Football (soccer) is a way of life in Manchester so you could go an see a game at Old Trafford (I am not allowed to mention any other Manchester based teams)

visualAd

If you want to go to Scotland, have a look at Edinburgh, its not far from Glasgow and may be less expensive. Both East Coast and Virgin Trains go there although I would recommend stumping up a little extra cash for First Class as the journey is 5 hours+.

exilencfc

Norwich has a very pretty medieval center and would make a nice day trip. Or you could go for a few days and visit the Norfolk Broads.

Plymouth maybe? Bit far for a day trip but you could go for a couple of days and take a trip into Cornwall, maybe the Eden Project (indoor rainforest).

York is another nice old city and you could get the train from there to Manchester/Liverpool - possibly via the highly scenic Settle and Carlisle route which is well worth seeing but a rather major diversion so that the journey would end up taking most of the day - in fact it's so indirect that national rail's website refuses to consider it as a routing, though it helpfully informs me that a direct York - Manchester train takes about 1.5 hours and costs £12. If DeutscheBahn is to be believed it would take 7 hours or so via the Settle and Carlisle.

IAN-UK

As you can see from the replies, all cities and regions will have their proponents, even if some of the places are short on any obvious charms.

At the end of the day it depends what floats your tourism boat, and to be honest I think London might offer plenty for a few days. If not, while Edinburgh is a fine city, a slightly off-centre suggestion would be a short circuit of Northern Ireland: Belfast, Antrim coast then Derry.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h3cYy9Dw2M)

stut

Really depends on what you want. Old, new, town, country, relaxing, lively...

For a few days, I enjoy heading down to the coast - train from Paddington down to Bodmin Parkway, pick up a hire car and head round Padstow, Fowey, St Mawes, the Lizard...

Heading up to Scotland, you've got York on the way (more roman stuff than you can shake a stick at, stunning gothic Minster, and a pub for every day of the year), Newcastle (great industrial heritage, insane nightlife), the wonderful Northumberland coast and then Edinburgh. All gettable to by train. Then Edinburgh's only 45 minutes from Glasgow. There's a direct train from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Manchester Airport if that helps.

Or... Head overland to Athens. Take a couple of stopoffs in France, Switzerland and Italy, then jump on the overnight ferry from Brindisi to Patras.

Sixth Freedom

I would say York, with it's medieval walls, winding streets and beautiful Minster. See if you can find Whipmawhopmagate, the shortest street with the longest name!

Must...Fly!

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. It was a tough decision and I really liked the idea of hiring a car and driving around for a few days. Unfortunately though as a young person that is simply not feasible, due to the excessive surcharges. I will definitely do a driving trip when I can, as I think it could be an amazing experience.

As it turns out I've booked another few nights in London, at the end of the week (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) so I just have 2 nights to fill in in the middle of the week, so I fancy going somewhere I can reach by train for 3 days (say leave early Tuesday, back late Thursday night). I am thinking of taking in a trip to Manchester as it is only a couple of hours away and it looks like there is some interesting stuff to see that could easily take up the time ^. Feel free to suggest somewhere else though!

I will probably do a day trip or two outside of London while I am there so will certainly keep referring to the wonderful suggestions in this thread to determine where

Seat64A

I think you should have written "1-2 hour" as "1/2 hour" could be taken to mean 30 minutes!

lhrsfo

Not sure I would particularly recommend Manchester for two days in the middle of a London trip, unless there's a particular personal reason. It's another big city but not as big with not as much to do. I would suggest somewhere rather more different, such as York, which is beautiful in itself and from which it's easy to get to stunning countryside on public transport. Or perhaps Brighton - much cheaper to get to and with a vibrant young scene. Or, as a third option, Bristol which has a little bit of both.

big_mac

I was wondering the same thing! While Manchester is nice enough, it doesn't really offer anything noticeably different.

Brighton is close enough for a day trip, and interesting enough to stay overnight. I would personally also go for a day in Bath, then continue on to Bristol (it's also probably a more interesting place for a 'young person' at night).
(Visiting suggestions: Royal Pavilion, Roman Baths, SS Great Britain, respectively)