My family (Mom, Dad and two sisters) and I are planning a trip to the U.K. this May. I’ve never been there. Any suggestions on what (and what not) to see/do? So far on my list is Stonehenge and Castles. Please help a clueless American.
One piece of advice - don’t waste all your time in London! Get out and about…there’s plenty of other really good places to go.
I’ve just been away for a weekend that included a day in Bath where we went to the Thermae Spa, went to look at the Abbey and the Roman Baths, and also down to the Abbey Vaults.
What to see depends on how much time you have and how far you want to travel. There are lots of historic places like Stratford, Oxford etc but some of the best castles are further north like Warwick Castle - if you like things medieval, try to catch the displays by the Knights of Middle England, they’re well worth watching.
If you want to pick some castles to look at, try this site: Castles UK.
Also, May’s an excellent time to visit north of the border, you get some of the best weather in Scotland at that time of year and it’s before the midges start biting!
Yeah, I had a fabulous time in Scotland. Edinburgh’s a very pretty town, especially from above (Arthur’s Seat). We took a three-day bus tour of the Highlands which was terribly interesting and contained more cool little detours than we could have found for ourselves.
I’ll second ScareyFaerie’s advice - don’t spend too much time in London. It’s very expensive, touristy, crowded and a pretty hostile environment.
It’s difficult to be more specific without knowing more about your interests, but I’ll also second matt_mcl’s Edinburgh recommendation. It’s a beautiful, friendly and charming city, and, if you’re flying into London, there’s an extremely good rail connection - you could even break your journey at York, which itself is a fascinating place.
But London - unless you really need to see the landmarks (Tower Bridge, all that stuff) or spend your time in museums (which are actually mostly excellent) - well, you’re better off on the first train out, IMO. It’s a horrible place.
I just read your other thread, and the first thought I had when I saw the title of this one was ‘not if your penis keeps shrinking, you aren’t’.
Apologies, and have a safe trip. 
Thanks all. We will be there for a full two weeks. Looks like we will spend the first two nights in London and then venture out from there. Hopefully we’ll be able to visit all your suggested sites. Thanks again!
When you are in London, I recommend the boat trip that leaves from by Westminster Bridge. It’s only 90 minutes, but very interesting. You can do the Eye from the same location too.
The Tower of London qualifies as a castle!
How about a guided walk around London?
If you were to come up to Scotland, this is Edinburgh Castle . The city lies all around it and the photo was taken from a hotel bedroom on Princes Street. A room there could be quite pricey, though!
It’s a fairly compact city and full of old stuff to look at!
What else do you like?
We have thousands of years of monarchy, Shakespeare and Dickens, Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper, canals and railways, beer and curry…
Beer and curry, that’s the way to go! You really need to check out some real ales pubs while you’re here!
I’ll second a visit to Edinburgh but I’d advise against Glasgow.
You could take a look at Chester, it’s a beautiful city and with a bit of luck you’ll get to see the ghosts of Roman soldiers as they patrol the walls of the city.
Even you don’t see them take a trip along the River Dee
Manchester aint so bad either 
I won’t say don’t go to Stonehenge, but if you do you should also visit Avebury where you can still wander between the stones* and get a real feel for the place, you can’t get near the stones at Stonehenge anymore.
*it would be tricky to fence off the Avebury stones, the site is enormous and there’s a village in the middle of it.
I second a visit to lovely Bath. Mind you, I would, seeing as I chose to live there…! Pop in and say hello, why don’t you!?
Seriously though, I agree with everything so far - London in 2 days max to see the main sights, then out of Paddington to the West Country - both Bristol and Bath are well worth a visit. After that, I’d head into Scotland, personally.
I’ll be eagerly watching this thread. I’m going to be studying in London for a month this summer from the end of June to the end of July. It’s part of my community college, and we will be touring quite a lot together. I know we’re going to Stonehenge, Stratford on Avon, Edinburgh, and we’ll be staying a couple of days in the Lake district, but that’s all during the week. I’ll have the weekends free and will likely be travelling on my own.
I’m eagerly watching this thread too. I visited London – and the London Dopers – in May 2004. I should be back in Europe (Belgium and the Netherlands) this year, and I fully intend to repay a few beers.
I’ll second the Warwick Castle recommendation - my wife and I did that tour last April, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
If no one in your family is much of a motor racing fan, this probably won’t be of interest. However, for anyone who is, the Donington Grand Prix Collection is a stunning museum, well worth the trip. It’s right off the M1 a bit south of Nottingham, adjacent to the Donington Park circuit.
I’ll agree to visit Edinburgh. If you’re content on seeing, essentially, London again but colder (although undeniably with it’s own charm).
If, however, you want to see the real capital city of Scotland then come to Glasgow. Definately visit Edinburgh, but dont skip out on the largest city up here. Take it from a bloody Southerner, this isn’t a misplaced sense of pride in my current locale. The city has plenty to do (give us a shout if you come nearby), but my favourite bit is being able to cycle to Loch Lomond, which is stunning (and cold all year round, it’s not worth falling in five minutes into a 5km Jetski journey in March).
You can miss Dundee, though.
Second a recommendation to visit Bath, I hail from the South-West and say without bias that Somerset is the most beautiful part of the UK 
. If you make it down there, take a trip on the West Somerset Railway, and stop along the way to explore the Quantocks. Just make sure you dont go all the way to Minehead. It’s not worth it. The highlight is being able to see Wales over the channel. And that’s saying something.