14 days to England and Germany
 

my husband and I will be celebrationg our 20th anniversary this year and we will be celebrating with a 2 week trip to England and Germany ( our home base will be London and Munich). We've never been to England but have been to Germany twice and we loved it so much its a must do.. we are very active and healthy 41yr olds and are pretty much up for anything fun, interesting, historic to see and/or do... wondering if anyone can suggest day trips that could be done from London and day trips that can be done from Munich.
Thanks Anissa

Day trips from Munich we did were Dachau Concentration Camp and Nuremburg (do see the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and the oldtown area). We really enjoyed both.

When we go this fall we are going to Neuschwanstein Castle by Fuessen and probably to Ulm. Munich has some really great day trip options.

Salzburg, austria is a great day trip from Munich - about 90 mins each way on train but you get to see one of Europe's most gorgeous cities - a Baroque wonder that is compact and everything within walking distance of the Salzburg train station.

There are many from London; what are your interests?

We did the following:
Oxford via bus--my favorite--easily done via bus or train and much there to delight.

Salisbury/Stonehenge--Also a fairly easy if long day.

Dover--Loved the castle and the cliffs, enough to return via car a couple years later.

We had two idiosyncratic trips--One to Chatsworth and one to Silverstone RaceTrack. Both of these were absolutely wonderful days and special to us, but they weren't easy to do via public transport.

Many will suggest York. We were in York via a car last summer and absolutely loved it, too.

So trick will be for you to decide what most interests you and how many days you want to spend doing day trips.

My first choice would always be Oxford.

A couple half-day trips from London would be Hampton Court and Greenwich (on different days maybe).

There are lots of "day trips" from Munich - I suggest taking the train up to Garmisch (I can't spell so forgive me on that) which is a lovely if somewhat touristy resort area. If you have a car for the day the Romantic road beckons with lots of lovely villages within a reasonable drive. And of course all the places already mentioned. I think in your shoes I would plan more day trips from Munich - But Munich needs 3 days or more. (I could stop at 3 days of Munich and go wandering after that I think).

London on the other hand could command all your time. I can easily stay busy and engaged in London for the entire 2 weeks but there are several nice day trip options that come to mind. For example, take a train out to Salisbury or go see Stonehenge. Go see Hampton Palace, or Windsor Palace and Eton. A long day might be a trip to Bath. Another place is to go to the southeast to Battle and so on (look it up and do some research if you don't recongize it).

Frankly with just 2 weeks I might focus on just one or two day trips out of London - and anyone sleected will be fine depending on what you are interested in. London just has so much. Do your research and plan - no matter what, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Uhm...that was suppose to be "and anyone selected will be fine...". Sorry about that!

@texasbookworm- appreciate the advice, we initially decided agains renting a car while in London, in your opinion would it best to rent a car, or do you think we can get along fine without doing so?

@Joecal- thanks so much for the advice i've read so much about the romantic road that's definitely in our plans, my plan is to spend 7 days in the Munich area using half the time for day trips and half for Munich... The other 7 days will be for London and day trips does that sound pretty good?

Linden27 & PalenQ thank you both for taking the time to provide great advice it's much appreciated. :-)

Definitely do NOT need or want a car IN London; don't want to drive, cost too much, can't park it. Tube and legs are way to go! (some will say also bus)

If you want to read my trip reports (one trip of 2 weeks in London with 5 day trips, one trip 4 days in London and then 9 days driving a loop) you can click on my name and it should take you to my profile page, then at the bottom are my trip reports.

You will see that a week in London will just barely get you started IN London, much less give you much time for day trips. But there are plenty of day trips possible, too, if you want.

To underline TBW strongly: of the daytrips cited, Silverstone can't be done by public transport. All the others can, and from London in a day even Chatsworth is easier by train then bus than by car. All the others are far, far, easier and cheaper by public transport.

Unless you've got some unusual objectives, it makes no sense in ANY European city worthy to be called 'city' for a brief visitor to bother with a car.

I think JoeCal is right, if you only have 7days in England stick to in and around London. York and Oxford are fantastic, but why spoil a holiday rushing around the UK?

Thanks everyone, @texasbookworm I'm clicking to your trip reports right now..............:-)