Seeing Britain properly: a first itinerary for visiting students

A first visit to Britain invites a familiar mistake: too many places in too few days. A student who spends the week on a coach remembers the coach. A better plan chooses fewer places and gives each one time.

London

Allow at least three days. The Tower of London, Westminster and the British Museum cover many centuries of history between them. Add one thing chosen for the student and not for the guidebook: a West End play, a football match, a gallery or a market.

Oxford and Cambridge

Both are about an hour from London by train. Students who are interested in a British university education should see a college from the inside, walk through a quadrangle and, if possible, talk to a current undergraduate. For a short visit, one of the two is usually enough.

Beyond the south-east

Bath offers Roman baths and Georgian streets in a city small enough to walk. York has its medieval walls and its Minster. Edinburgh, about four and a half hours from London by train, gives visitors a castle, a capital city and a different country. Windsor and Stratford-upon-Avon both work well as day trips.

How to plan

Combine one large sight each day with something smaller and slower. Use the train where you can. It is quicker than the road between most cities, and it is part of the experience. Leave an afternoon free. And expect rain, which seldom lasts as long as visitors fear.