marciakaz

Hi all,

We'll have 6 1/2 or 7 full days for London, the Bath area (particularly interested in Jane Austen related sites for my 18 year old daughter), Stonehenge, and possibly Cotswolds. We will be arriving from Liverpool on July 19th or 20th, and will be flying out of London on July 27 or 28. I know this is not really enough time, but given that is all the time I have for this leg of our trip, how could I best configure the itinerary? I've considered staying in London, and daytripping a couple of days OR staying in/near Bath for 2 nights, then moving on to London. Would consider renting a car if it would help us make the most use of our time.Your thoughts and suggestions are, as always, much appreciated

crckwc1

You're sure to get other ideas, but I personally would base in London, take a day trip by train to Bath, another day trip by train to Salisbury/Stonehenge, and spend the other 4-1/2 to 5 days in London, saving the Cotswolds for another trip. IMO, traveling around, changing hotels, etc., would eat up too much of your short time in the area. You might take a look at London Walks, www.walks.com, and see if they have day tours to Bath and/or Stonehenge during the time you're there. We did both these tours some years ago and found them quite good. BTW, if you're set on visiting the Cotswolds, I believe London Walks has a tour there too.

newmember

If you've never been to London you'll find plenty to keep you busy for a week. You are trying to cover too much ground and will be on the move constantly. You're best off deciding which areas of the country you want to see on this trip and leave other areas for future trips. My advice is to base yourself in London and consider trips once there.

I have done the London Walks tour to Oxford and the Cotswolds and it was awful. I do not recommend this trip, althought I have been on other London Walks tours that were good.

marciakaz

Thanks for your thoughts. Are there any other ideas out there? Would renting a car for a couple of days allow me to make better use of the time?

ron

The other option would be to travel to Bath from Liverpool by train, stay 2 or 3 nights, and then continue to London by train for the remaining time.

While in Bath, you could rent a car for your Stonehenge and Cotswold visits, or do the Mad Max tours of those places. I would choose the latter.

http://www.madmaxtours.co.uk/

ElendilPickle

Here is a link to my trip report from 2007. We visited a few Austen-related places. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...b-may-2007.cfm

I think ron has given you a good suggestion, and I agree with others that you won't really have time for the Cotswolds on this visit.

Lee Ann

texasbookworm

Just to muddle your mind, you might also consider Winchester as a day trip--absolutely lovely and Miss Austen is buried in the beautiful cathedral.

Salisbury is easy day trip by train; get bus-tour-thing at the railroad station for trip to Stonehenge.

If you like trip reports, you can click on my name and find my trips to England--LeeAnn's (see above) are wonderful and full of good info, too.

Arrive in London as soon as you can, get based there, leave as late as you can. Then if you want 2-3 day trips, you will still have some time in London (never enough for me, but still...!)

oh2doula

texasbookworm - just read your trip report!! Loved it!!