23yr old dude taking 50yr old mom to London for 2 weeks - Tips please!

So I went to London for 30 days in the Summer of 2008. And now I'll be starting school there in September 2010. I'll be going to UCL for grad school.

I figured I needed to take a preliminary trip (Leaving April 1st) to tour the schools I got accepted to, just in case King's or Queen's can win me over. And to also put a hold on one of those applications for a year, just in case I can't come up with the funds to get the visa this year, it will be good to have a great school waiting for me, right? This seems like a good idea to me, but there might be a flaw in it. Ant tips? Anyone else put their application/acceptance on hold? I don't know what the term is for it, but you basically accept your position, but for a year out. Wouldn't it be a good idea to get that situation with 1-2 colleges other than the one I plan to go to this September?

Anyways, I need tips what to do with my mom. When I went I went with my girlfriend and we did everything touristy. My mom has a bad back and cannot walk 14 hours a day like my girlfriend and I did. She likes art and museums, but what she really likes is green/forests/water/gray clouds and rain. I'm thinking of taking her north one day. I stayed with a man for a week that lived past the end of the Northern line and then on a 20minute train further north. And his house was in the middle of green parks and a huge forest/lake area. That's the kind of stuff she will LOVE!

She's also a Christian so she loves all the Church stuff and any art relating to the Bible or Jesus. I'm planning on taking her on a 2 day sidetrip to either Paris or Edinburgh. Any tips or possible other ideas?

I'm also hoping to get tours of the schools. I hope they are still doing them? Do I have to call in advance? Getting on those tours is like 50% the importance of this trip, specially because it will be a good memory with my mom to choose a school..so tips in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Alright all. Any advice is great. Just a casual, laid-back 23 year old who is very close to his laid-back mom that LOVES the cold/rain/trees. Any bigger parks outside of the city I can take her to? Or big forested areas with trails and paths? Similar to what you'd see in eastern Europe like Austria? She won't like the Royal Botanical Gardens...I went there and hated it (too much light!).

Edit: Don't get the idea that she is some forest creature and doesn't like buildings. She loves old architecture and beautiful structures, and she loves the bricks and old buildings in London. So she does like city stuff, she loves when I take her to Tempe in AZ, and that's basically a rotten turd compared to London. So good shopping areas (budget) is good too. I know to take her to the Camden Town market (hope its running this early in season)?. So don't just think of nature ideas, she does love history and beautiful buildings and citylife like London. She's extremely friendly and people love her within a few minutes of talking to her, so social places are great as well.

Thanks guys! PLEASE don't be shy. If you have any ideas, please write them down...and if you've been on a trip with your parent, then you HAVE to post .

Thanks!

How about Bath?  It's a beautiful old city full of Georgian architecture (late 1700's).  It's only a short train ride from London.  If she is at all interested in Jane Austen there is a JA museum there as she lived in Bath for a while.  There are the Roman Baths of course which are amazing and very old.  There is also the Fashion Museum in Bath which I love!
http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/

Glastonbury isn't too far either and there is the Glastonbury Cathedral (and interpretation centre / museum)  If your mom is at all into King Arthur stuff, she'll like Glastonbury.  There's also the Chalice Well there (beautiful spot for meditation / prayer).  There are a lot of myths surrounding Glastonbury that connect it to both the King Arthur legends and Christian stuff.  Supposedly the Chalice was buried under the Glastonbury Tor.  Also there is a legend that Joseph of Arimathea was in there and planted his staff which turned into a tree--you can google all of this, I'm a bit sketchy on the details.

Wells and Wells Cathedral (another beautiful old church!) is also close by to Glastonbury.  It's also a very pretty old town.

Being Christian and all, I don't know if your mom would be into the stone circles, but that is my passion and of course you're not too far from Stonehenge as well as the town of Avebury which is located *inside* a huge stone circle!

If I think of anything else I'll let you know!

Any bigger parks outside of the city I can take her to? Or big forested areas with trails and paths?

You may want to look into Richmond Park or the New Forest.

Anyone else? I'd love some ideas from other moms or adults. I'm more mature in my nature, meaning I like simple/quiet green areas as well, just like my mom...but I need some more ideas!

Well, if you are in London, I really enjoyed walking around Hyde Park, so I am sure she would like that. Since it's hard on her to walk for too long, you might consider just doing one thing per day and then taking it easy. You should definitely take her to Westminster Abbey. It's so amazing.
As far as getting outside of London, I don't really know much about the areas down south since I live up north near the Scottish border, but I can tell you that there are some amazing places around where I live. Alnwick Castle is great, there are wonderful gardens there and a giant treehouse with a fantastic restaurant inside - very magical. Alnwick Castle is where they filmed Harry Potter. Earl Grey's house is near to there - Howick Gardens, and you could take her for a walk around their gorgeous gardens and to have tea and scones in the tea room. There are some other amazing castles and churches here, too. Plus, Edinburgh is only an hour train ride from here (and a lovely train journey at that - the scenery is incredible) and you could pop over there or something. The only problem is that all of this is 400-500 miles north of London, so you would have to get up here. You could take a train journey from London to Alnmouth, which would take 3.5 hours and stay in a bed and breakfast here in Northumberland, but you would pretty much need a car to see all the sights around here, as this is the least populated county in England, and so the transport isn't that great up here. You could take buses to get where you want to go, but there aren't an awful lot of stops, so sometimes you have to walk quite a way to get where you are going.
If you do go to Edinburgh, I would highly recommend taking the bus out to Rosslyn Chapel. It's incredible. Edinburgh is very much a walking city, though, lots and lots of hills, so this might be uncomfortable for her. My friend had a bad knee and thought she would die when we went to Edinburgh. Every single toilet in every place we went to was upstairs! So just be aware of that if you go there.
Basically, since you will be in London, you should probably go somewhere nearer to there so you don't have to spend too much time traveling around. I would love to go to Bath or Stonehenge. There are lots of gardens I'm sure you could go to, and English gardens are always so beautiful. I'm sure you and your mom will have a great time no matter what you do! 

Try looking in Time Out to see what's on:

http://www.timeout.com/london/

Hello,

What a great son you are, taking your mother around London! For lots of inside tips and fun places to go, and directions on how to easily get around London, see my blog/site for Americans traveling to London @ newcomer link: http://www.aprilslondoninvitation.com [nonactive] . Plenty of easy-to- follow directions there. AND IT IS FREE.

Be sure to take her for a deilcious affordable breakfast over-looking the Thames (see my post "The Best Cafe in All of London"

If she loves churches, don't miss Westminster Cathedral where you can light candles in memory of loved ones (a rarity these days because of so much vandalism in churches) and Westminster Abbey. Southwark Cathedral is also lovely.

Very best of luck.

Let me know if I can be of further help.

april

Its a bit cheesy, but I took my parents around on one of those open top bus tours- that we could see everything, but didn't have to walk for miles and miles on end.

And the London Eye!

I love open top bus tours and like to do them on the first day of arrival in a new place - it is great for orientating yourself. And there's nothing wrong with cheese! 

The London Eye is at it's very best if you can plan your ticket around dusk, so you go up in the light and come down in the dark - two views of London!