Swinging 60s London and... swinging Viking York?

November 21, 2014 8:15 AM

I'm heading to London (and for a two day trip outside) a week from today and need a few more ideas. I have two days unbooked in which I'd like to get out of London (Monday and Tuesday Dec 1 & 2). I'm thinking maybe one or more of :

• Glasgow
• York
• Durham
• Bath
• Cambridge

Should I just go see the Solar System in York? Also, are there any must see places or events in London that are can't misses given my interests?

I've been to the city before and done most of the main sights. I would love to find a club where my Mom would have seen the Animals in 1965 for example.

• LOVE: 60s Mod scene and music, Mod Revival (The Jam etc) & Soul music, History-- Viking, Roman, Science. A chance to walk in the woods.
• LIKE: well curated art museums, Xmas things.
• No thanks: Churches, Royal stuff.

Thanks for any ideas!

posted by travertina to Travel & Transportation around London, England (13 answers total)

How are you planning to travel? Glasgow, York and Durham involve reasonably lengthy train journeys which will eat into your time.

Do you have a clear idea of where your Mod scene landmarks used to be? They are almost certainly gone now. I went back to my childhood city of Manchester a few weeks ago and nothing remained of where I used to live in Hulme, not even road layouts. Everything had been wiped away, even my old school.

Unless you know London like the back of your hand you'll have as good a time exploring new areas of that city without the long winter commute. But if you want to get out of town then Brighton (which has strong mod connections) and Cambridge (which does not) are not very far away.
posted by epo at 9:04 AM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

Vikings: York. Also, the St Nicholas Fair (xmas market) opens on the 27th.
Science: Cambridge. I love the botanic gardens, the Polar Museum, the Cambridge Science Center and the Whipple Museum.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 9:07 AM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also in Cambridge, The Fitzwilliam for historical objects (although it will be closed on Monday), and The Eagle if you'd like to hoist a beverage where Watson, Crick, & company did.

If your interest in history extends to Anglo-Saxons, and you're up for renting a car, West Stow is an interesting historic site about a half hour's drive east of Cambridge, with surrounding countryside where you could get in a walk in the woods.
posted by penguinicity at 9:28 AM on November 21, 2014

I was in York in 1995 when I was 12, so I can't speak to what it's CURRENTLY like, but I really enjoyed the Jorvik Viking Centre in York when I went there.
posted by agress at 10:00 AM on November 21, 2014

York is 1 hour and 50 mins on a direct train, so not too bad. The Jorvik Viking Centre is worth a visit.
posted by chr at 10:05 AM on November 21, 2014

Oh, sorry about that misinformation. I must have been on a slow train south from York.
posted by epo at 10:10 AM on November 21, 2014

Bear in mind though that it can take an hour just to get out of London, in addition to the nominal length of the train journey... depending of course on where you start.
posted by emilyw at 10:18 AM on November 21, 2014

There are several guides to Beatles sites in London.
posted by brujita at 11:00 AM on November 21, 2014

If you like the Beatles then there is the museum at Liverpool.

I spent two days in early October in York. Loved walking the wall. It's 3.5 miles in length currently and is not continuous ( buildings in between ). Easy to find and easy to follow. Viking museum is on the way. Also visit Clifford's tower along the way if the day is nice and you want a panorama of York from above.

The old town is a bit of a party town on Fridays and Saturday nights, make reservations if planning a nice dinner.
posted by seawallrunner at 11:09 AM on November 21, 2014

Grand Central gets you to York in under two hours from Kings Cross on its non-stop routes. The bits of York that will interest you are compact and walkable, and if the weather's iffy, the buses are cheap and plentiful.

If you wanted to put together a multi-city route, London-Cambridge-York is doable with the Cambridge-York bit via Ely and Peterborough, which is a slow train, but a pretty route, especially in winter.
posted by holgate at 11:23 AM on November 21, 2014

I regret that I still haven't written the AskMe guide to Bath yet. It's worth the trip, and a considerably cheaper train journey than York. I'd be reluctant to recommend anyone come next weekend, as the Christmas market is on and it's massively overcrowded, but Monday and Tuesday will be fine (and the Christmas market will still be running), and the Bath skyline walk is a truly beautiful walk in the woods. The Roman Baths are worth the visit, too. It's great to see the steam and feel the steam rising off them on a damp wintry day. There's a few smallish art galleries, the Holburne museum being the best, and the fashion museum has a few bits of 20th century stuff.
posted by ambrosen at 11:26 AM on November 21, 2014 [1 favorite]

You can get to Edinburgh in four hours by train, or overnight on a sleeper. Just sayin'. We have a castle!
posted by Happy Dave at 12:00 PM on November 21, 2014

The journey to York isn't all that bad, and it's a lovely city with plenty to see.

You might enjoy Edinburgh more than Glasgow. If you like Cambridge, you'll probably also like Oxford.

I found Worcester to be a really charming little city, but it might be of less interest to someone who doesn't live in the UK. Rural Cornwall is beautiful, but you'd need a car.

Can't-miss places in London for you would be Hampstead Heath, Kew Gardens, the Courtauld Gallery, and all the big museums that you have probably heard of already. Not sure how long you're staying, but there will be Christmassy stuff going on in Trafalgar Square from the 4th. There's also a Christmas market planned at Tate Modern, but it's bound to be poncy.
posted by Perodicticus potto at 2:41 PM on November 21, 2014