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Scotland Travel / London Day Trips / Glasgow Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / History Travel / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: And Into Glasgow (Some More)

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Read Part 1 here

PART 2:

After exploring the university area, see the more urban, up-to-date side of Glasgow by heading downtown. Unlike central London, downtown Glasgow is easy to navigate by foot, and most of the main attractions are quite close together.

The place to start is George Square. In the square itself is the famous statue of Robert Burns, the unofficial poet laureate of Scotland and a beloved national icon. Although his birthday is celebrated as a holiday, you’ll often find flowers and notes left for him all year round. Also in the square is the Cenotaph, which was originally built to honor Scottish soldiers who died in World War I and was later updated to include soldiers killed in World War II. The square also boasts a new attraction: the Wheel of Glasgow, a white Ferris wheel with enclosed seats that offers beautiful views of the city.

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Scotland Travel / London Day Trips / Glasgow Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / History Travel / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: And Into Glasgow

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Q: What do you call people from Glasgow?
A: Glaswegian.
Q: What do you call people from Edinburgh?
A: English.

This old joke sums up the way that Scotland's two main cities compete against each other. While a daytrip from London to Glasgow might be too difficult to pull off, it's absolutely worth a long weekend. Easyjet offers cheap fares to Glasgow from Gatwick, Luton and Stansted airports, and there are also daily trains from Euston and King's Cross stations.

Rest assured that Glasgow has plenty to offer for even longer than a weekend, but let's just address what we consider the highlights.

Part 1:

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London Day Trips / Stonehenge Travel / Harry Potter / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: Check Off Stonehenge from the Bucket List

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

If you can make it through a visit to Stonehenge without making a Spinal Tap joke, you’re a better person than I am. The stone formation, built by Druids during the Bronze Age, is still one of the world’s great wonders as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site. That said, it’s also kind of in the middle of nowhere. Though there are plans to build a more convenient rail route out to Stonehenge, currently the only way to get there is by car. There are several tour companies who will take you there and back from London and it’s also quite common to combine this with a trip to Bath, which is the route I took.

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London Day Trips / Harry Potter Travel / Harry Potter / Movie Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: The Harry Potter Studio Tour

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Although you can’t get there from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the newly opened Harry Potter Studio Tour in Leavesden is an entertaining and easy daytrip from London. Despite the London address, it’s actually located in Hertfordshire, near St Albans.

The WB studio complex is home to many of the original HP sets, props, costumes and more, which makes it a worthy pilgrimage spot for a Potter nerd. If you don’t drive, the best way to get there is by taking a train from Euston Station to Watford—there are plenty, and it’s only about 20 minutes’ ride—and then taking the HP bus to the studio for an additional £2. (The bus is black and painted with Harry Potter characters, so it’s pretty hard to miss.)

Be sure that you book your tickets in advance (£28 per adult and available here) as no tickets are sold on site, and, if you try to go into the parking lot security guards will ask to see your printed-out confirmation notice. Additionally, you’ll need to arrive about 45-60 minutes before the time your tour is scheduled to start, just to make sure that you have enough time to wait in line and/or browse the gift shop.

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London Day Trips / Bath Travel / Spa Travel / Literary Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Historical Travel / Get Out of Londontown / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: A Day Trip to Bath

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Last year, John Cleese famously announced that he liked Bath better than London. “London is no longer an English city, which is why I love Bath,” he said. “I love being down in Bath because it feels like the England that I grew up in.”

Not only does Bath feel like the town of John Cleese's fond memories, it feels like the one where Jane Austen used to live. Many of the buildings were designed during the Georgian period and have remained mostly unchanged since. If you ignore the lone Starbucks, it would even be easy to think the town hadn’t changed at all in hundreds of years. Although it’s only 90 minutes away from London via Paddington Station, it’s easy to feel like you’re in another time and place, which makes it a beautiful choice for a short trip outside the city.

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