If I was going to suggest a single activity to spend several days doing it would be to leave your suitcase at a hotel in Oxford, pack a day pack with essentials and 1 change of clothes and set off downstream (in the direction of London) on the Thames Path along the beautiful and historic river and stay in B&B's in riverside towns and villages along the path. Walking in England on the beautifully marked paths is one activity in which you can participate that can be done easily and better than anywhere on the planet. The available guides and maps are superb and you can choose to stay in humble guesthouses or beautiful country house hotels. I go back every year and can't get enough.

If you want to deviate from the Path there are historic properties to visit. See nationaltrust.org.uk

Google "thames path" for loads of information.

I've suggested the Thames Path in particular because of the ease of following it and the beauty of the landscape as well as the particularly nice towns and villages with lots of choice of places to stay. But if a different sort of landscape appeals to you more there are paths, long and short, covering the entire country. There's loads of information online.

If you intend to start in the north then fly into Manchester and take the train from the airport direct to York. No need to fly into Heathrow.

Base yourself in York - castles, countryside, museums easily reachable by public transport. Then work you way south to London

If you are interested in Yorkshire do a search here for Morgana - she lives in the area and I believe has posted many times about how to do day trips from York using public transport. Its a lovely area of England!

Thanks, for your replies. nice to hear that I could include York as a second base. What about Birmingham as another base..Like that I will go down from York to Birmingham to London? Your suggestions are welcome.

I wouldn't use Birmingham as a base. It's not the nicest of places. York is a great shout. You could head west and also use Bristol as another base, but that's some distance - train and scenery would be nice though!

Hi plastic_paddy, so what location do you suggest instead of Birmingham, that is centrally located (apart from York and London), as I think York and London will be my 2 bases and now I'm checking for the 3rd base.

Except London, I see no advantage for visitors to base themselves in big urban places. For me that would include Bristol as well as Birmingham. I think York, Oxford, London would be a good combination. Oxford is entertaining itself and towns in the Cotswolds as well as Thames-side towns are easily reached by bus and train from there. I find it easier to get around from smaller cities rather than the big ones providing they have regular services and these do. If you wanted to be farther south than Oxford I'd choose Bath rather than Bristol, much prettier.

Oxford is great, but is probably doable as a day trip from London (as is Cambridge).

What are people's thoughts on Stoke-on-Trent?

Stoke-on-Trent? Are you having a laugh? There are few cities in the UK that can vie with Birmingham for top spot in the "Antithetical To Tourists" league, but most assuredly Stoke is one of them.

York is in East Yorkshire - closest to the A1. And the East Coast Mainline. It therefore follows that location 2 should also be on or close to that same York-London axis. Therefore, and by way of a contrast to big city London and tourist dominated York, Stamford.

It's very picturesque and historic, there are good restaurants and excellent lodgings. Burleigh House is but a hop and skip away (5 mins in a taxi) and Peterborough, for its magnificent and oddly overlooked, Cathedral not much further on the train. Beyond P'boro it's 40 mins into Cambridge for all sorts of Gothic and Perpendicular delights.

To be honest - if you wouldn't just love 2/3 days in Stamford you're not doing it right.

And then, when moving on to London, it's back into Peterborough and change for the fast train and you'll be up in town within the hour.

It's a no-brainer I tell you!

Dr D.

Dr_DoGood, I didn't quite understood your post.

He's saying that Stoke on Trent is a dump and there's no point going there, and I agree.

If you want a third base in the Midlands area, there are plenty of better options. Like Stamford.

Your third base could be Bath. Should be lots of tours from there as well as buses and trains. With our car, we went to Wells, Glastonbury, Stourhead Gardens, Longleat House and nipped into Wales, driving up the pretty Wye River valley to Tintern Abbey.

But I'd also consider Oxford. No reason to reject it just because it's near London. There are several museums, the colleges. And you can do a lot from there, in addition to walking the Thames path. Woodstock and Blenheim aren't far. We did a daytrip by train to Winchester, a town full of history.

Both Bath and Oxford are on the edge of the Cotswolds, prime pretty English countryside. And you can do tours to Stonehenge and Salisbury from both.

I was thinking of something in the area of Birmingham with more appeal and came up with Stoke-on-Trent - obviously not a choice favoured by others

Stamford's a very good shout.

You can do Winchester from London as well (much quicker from Waterloo than Oxford) and is another one that get's overlooked.

Looking at the York to London train, Peterborough makes the most sense

Hi all..thanks for all the info. I will do some homework and get back to you, but if you have other ideas please paste them here.

Question: Some friends suggested Manchester instead of York, what do you say, or are they different from each other? Remember that what I'm after is somewhere centrally based to take 2 day trips to outer nice cities/town, no need to see mountains, but I don't want a dull base.

As different as night and day. York is one of my fab towns, lovely historic centre, easy day trips into the Yorkshire countryside, railway museum that is awesome, lovely church. Manchester is a much larger, former industrial town, much destroyed and rebuilt in modern post-war architecture. One of my least fav places in England.

Thats what I thought as well...so I have York and London definitely on my list as bases...now I'm still a bit confused about the 3rd base.

What about flying into heathrow and takIng a bus to Bath...you can do day trips to Salisbury and Stonehenge, wells etc. Then train to London and see London. Then train to York for the rest of the time then fly home from Manchester airport?

York isn't in East Yorkshire as someone said above, it's in NORTH Yorkshire. And it's a tourist hot spot for good reason - it's stunning and packed with wonderful things to see and do.
One or two somewhat 'different' suggestions being made of where you should base yourself. I think some responses are putting you in the best place geographically or practically but these places are often not what springs to mind for a tourist new to the area.
I think that's putting it as tactfully as I can!

So, first 2 bases ready (York and London). Now I'm deciding on the other base..its a fight between Bristol and Bath...Bristol looks to be more central especially for trains, while Bath although it looks nice, I'm worried that its not central especially for trains, also I ready that there are too few restaurants in Bath...correct me if I'm wrong.

Bath is about 10 minutes from Bristol on the train so there's no reason whatever to stay in Bristol when you could be enjoying Bath. And it'a very popular place so, yes, you're wrong, lots of restaurants.

Thanks.

Agree - definitely Bath over Bristol!

Suggestion for a daytrip by train from York: the town of Durham. See the cathedral, the university, the pedestrian old town and walk along the river. Durham Cathedral is one of my favorites.

"I am thinking of the last 5 or 6 days to spend them in London and do 2 day trips from there."

First of all - IMO 5 or 6 days is not nearly long enough IF you plan 2 days trips. While Bath and Oxford and York all are wonderful, London is HUGE has many, MANY times more sites& sights.

If it was me - I'd fly into Manchester and take the train to York. Spend 3 nights there. 3 because day one will be eaten up w/ travel/logistics/jetlag. So you'll really only net 2 full days in York.

Then take the train to Bath - a 4-ish hour journey w/ one change in Bristol and stay 2 nights there (3 nights IF you decide to take a day trip w/ Mad Max to Stonehenge or the Cotswolds)

Finish up by taking the train into London for the last 7 or 8 nights - and do a day trip to Oxford (or Cambridge or Canterbury) from there.

Fly home from London.

Another way to manage the same trifecta w/o the open jaw flights would be to land at LHR and take the Express coach to Bath. Stay 3 nights (inc Mad Max day tour). Then early train to York and stay 2 nights - 3 nights if you take a later train.

Then train to London for the final week-ish.

oops - should say >>IF you plan 2 day trips.<<

<<definitely Bath over Bristol!>>

I beg to differ - lots to see and do in Bristol which is not just a tourist venue but a proper living city with loads of history, culture and restaurants. and you can do Bath by train or bus as a day trip.

but if you want a "foodie" element, try Ludlow as a base - surrounded by wonderful Shropshire countryside and a very good reputation for its restaurants.

is Salisbury nice to visit from Bath or Bristol?

is Salisbury nice to visit from Bath or Bristol?>>

rbezzina - if you were driving back from Bath to london, it would make a nice stop-off point, especially if you wanted to take in Stonehenge too.

London will serve all your city and museum needs. For castles, you have the Tower of London, and Leeds Castle and Dover Castle in Kent from your London base, and Chepstow castle from your Bristol/Bath base. Birmingham is as people have said it is, but is close to both Warwick and Kenilworth castles, and Stratford on Avon.

I would have thought possible 3rd bases could include
Salisbury, Bath or Oxford. Bristol is possible but is not a tourist centre. If you like the idea of Bristol you could also look at Southampton, Portsmouth, Newbury or Coventry but as Dr DoGood said "you're having a laugh".

Salisbury, Bath or Oxford each have a "historical centre" with Salisbury being roughly medievel, Oxford mainly a little younger while Bath 1700-1800s. All have the odd roman bit but Bath has the biggest bit (surprisingly a bath).

On top of these three cities they are also close to the Cotswalds, famous for their golden stone cottages with loads of little shops selling stuff to happy tourists. Despite my description many visitors have great breaks in this area but I think the best part is spend a night or two, take a walk in the hills and go to a pub. Part of visiting England is visiting a pub. It is worth researching the correct behaviour. You may be entertained by this article I wrote about this subject in Essex http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Essex_Drink.php

Bristol is possible but is not a tourist centre. >>

what do you base that on, bilbo? there seemed to be plenty of tourists there when I was, and there's loads to do both in and around about.

I remain mystified that it is off the tourist trail.

annhig, I understand that there is plenty of money trying to make Bristol a tourist zone. Over the years I've been there off and on, plus a major visit this summer. I just don't see it in comparison with other sites. Still I see that Birmingham is now trying to become a Mecca for tourists as well, we shall see.

bilbo - i spent 3 years there as a student over 30 years ago, and then 3 weeks working there in May-june this year . i was really struck by the efforts that had been made to attract tourists but also by the things it offers, just by being itself. Personally, when i am on holiday, i much prefer "real" cities like Bristol as opposed to tourist ridden ones like Bath.

but I agree with you about Birmingham - i lived near it for the first 18 years of my life and would be hard pressed to find anything good to say about it. Coventry, now, is an entirely different kettle of fish!

What do you think about the Lake District? May be I will base myself more to the North, Lake District and York, and then 5 days in London.

I like janisj's recommendation rbezzina. I think it will give you a good first time to England. And you will be back for trips to others areas & cities up north. (England has a strange draw on people!)

I love the Cotswolds, area and if I was independently wealthy would move there and buy a second house! If you like Shakespearean plays you can spend the day in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

If your itinerary is fixed and you're taking the train, it's well worth buying the train tickets early. You can save a considerable amount. Slightly out-of-date example: we bought tickets for York to London for about £32 pp; last minute walk-up tickets were more like £136.

If I had to do 7 days in York..will that be too much...as I was thinking of spending some time in the north and then go to London.

Lately, I'm thinking of ignoring the South, just do London only and spend some more time in the North..example York > Liverpool (or somewhere else) and London. What do you think. Yes..I'm a bit confused as there are a lot of places...but I need to find a place that is a good hub to go easily to other places.

rbezzina - you seem totally confused. what do you like to see and do? how long have you got? how are you going to get around? any must sees?

answer those questions [to your own satisfaction] and you might be able to answer some of your own questions.

I have around 17 days. I want to see interesting museums, architecture, parks and some english countryside. I have to rely on public transport as i dont drive abroad. York and London are already on list....now deciding ona 3rd base.

Have you done a search for Morgana on this site? She lives in Yorkshire and has posted lots of help for using public transport around York.

Have you thought about somewhere like Bath as your third base? It has good train links to Bristol, Salisbury/Stonehenge, Exeter...you could fly into Manchester and train to york, then train to London, then train to Bath...then take the bus to heathrow and fly out of that airport...

Sorry, I didn't go back up to the top so maybe you have decided against it already.

You could also do Edinburgh and do day trips from there...

Here is Morganas profile where you can review her posts!
http://www.fodors.com/community/profile/morgana/

Yes - do check Morgana's posts. There may be some threads about York/Yorkshire by public transport.

My concern would be staying a week in York w/o a car. You don't need one for York itself of course. But York is small and you'll see everything in a couple of days. There are probably local tours to places like Fountains Abbey and/or Castle Howard to fill some more of your time. And you can take the train up to Thirsk if you are interested in all things Herriot.

But filling a week w/o driving might take some doing . . .

Hi all...I'm finally closing my plans..can you please give me your suggestions about these plans..which one is better?

Plan A: 5 nights York - 5 nights Bristol - 6 nights London
Plan B: 4 nights Lake District (Windermere) - 5 nights York - 7 nights London
Plan C: 5 nights Lake District - 4 nights York - 7 nights London

Note that I will depend on public transport. In Lake District I already chose I tour company to take me around. From the other bases I will do day trips using trains.

rbezzina,

I know that I was the one who started the Bristol hare running, but given the time of year your are travelling, it seems a shame not to take advantage of the chance to see the Lake District; for me it would be Plan C.

which tour company have you decided upon for transport in the Lake district?

Based in Yorkshire I have to support B but C can be good if the weather holds, now after the "wettest year in 100 years" what exactly causes those lakes?

I like C with an alternative to the Lakes if you're rained out. This is the voice of experience, rain all day every day for the first few days of a planned week so went elsewhere. But I will go back, it was beautiful, not suggesting don't go but have a plan.

@ annhig..I will be using the Mountain Goats tours for the Lake District..sorry I don't want to do any advertising.