utahsix

Hate to ask another itinerary question but it is so hard to judge what is do-able on google map! My husband and 18yo daughter are going to England in August. We don't have any "must do's" except visit central Wales where my husbands grandmother was from. We tend to be active vacationers, getting up early and going all day. We fly in early on a Sunday morning and were planning on renting a car. We're not to into the toursity places-I'd rather see some obscure standing stones rather than stone hedge if possible. We like to do hikes and bike rides as well. More into scenery than cities. Not too into museums-maybe one or two. My daughter wants to see a few castles. We did Scotland a few years ago so we don't want to go too far north, though I heard the lakes region is beautiful.

Our thoughts would be:
Sunday-fly in and rent car, drive to Bath area, stopping at stone hedge etc. Stay somewhere around there.
Monday ?day trip to Cornwall? Devon? Stay at same place in Bath area
Tuesday drive to grandma's place in Wales (by Merthyr tydfill) and head up to north (?warwick)-stay there that night
Wed-Warwick, do a hike or bike ride somewhere? head to York
Thursday-explore york and maybe oxford,stay in cotswold area again
Friday -to London
Saturday London
Sun-fly out.

Maybe we should blow off Cornwall and just center ourselves in the cotswolds? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

historytraveler

Not quite sure where to begin but suggest that if planning to visit Wales you limit your itinerary to Wales. Not counting the day you arrive, you only have four days before heading to London.You really don't have time for Cornwall, Devon, Warwick, the Cotswolds, Oxford and especially York.

I would also strongly urge you not to drive all the way to Bath upon your arrival.


Stonehenge.

janisj

"<i>We fly in early on a Sunday morning and were planning on renting a car.</i>"

Bad BAD idea IMO. Driving after an overnight flight is dangerous. I'd either: 1) move London to the front end of the trip since you don't need/want a car in the city -- or -- 2) stay in Windsor the first night and rent a car the next day -- or 3) -- take the bus from LHR to Bath, stay the first night and then pick up the car on day 2.

The rest of your ideas need lots of help. (it is Stonehenge BTW, and Merthyr tydfill is in South - not mid - Wales). Bath to Merthyr Tydfill to Warwick will be a minimum 4.5 hour drive and possibly longer. That is just driving w/o any stops.

Cornwall is not a day trip from Bath. Bath to say Penzance will take about 5 hours each way. Again -- just for the drive. You don't really have time for places as far as Cornwall or the Lake District or York. York is not 'day trip-able from the Cotswolds or even Warwick. Chipping Campden (just for example) is 4 hours from York.

janisj

W/ just 7 days (you can't really count day 8 since that is your departure) you could stay in Windsor on Sunday night. Then:
- Bath on Mon. night.
- Tues drive through south Wales/Merthyr Tydfill and on to the northern Cotswolds for Tues/Wed nights.
- Late Thurs afternoon drop car at LHR and go in to London by public transport.
-Thurs/Fri/Sat nights in London

Hooameye

Use the route planner on: http://www.theaa.com/
for driving times although quite often they are the "best" times as they can't predict road works, accidents etc.

texasbookworm

When we planned our driving tour for last August, I used googlemaps and plugged in destinations to get travel time--and then I always DOUBLED that when planning what we actually did. That way we were quite busy but never rushed, nor did we miss getting to anything (except bridge in Conwy) that we wanted to see most. You CANNOT "explore" York and Oxford in one day. All of your destinations have perhaps equally appeal but you don't have time. Since Wales is more of a must-see, and you should spend some time in London, then janisj's suggestions make a lot of sense.

For the rest, you need to add at least a week or be resigned to "next trip!"

travelgirl23

i would definitely spend at least 2 days in london. There is so much to see and do, even if you don't want to do touristy stuff. i usually stay at the holiday inn in kensignton, it is very close to several things. Don't plan your day out too much, just make a list of a few things you want to see and plan on wandering.

utahsix

Thanks so much. I suspected that we were over planning but it's always difficult to tell. We did Scotland in a week, Tattoo in Edinburgh, many castles, hiked in that Cairngorms, Loch Ness, Highland games in Skye, bike ride in Glencoe, Loch Lomand, Stirling castle, even a day trip to Berwick, so we do tend to cram things a little tight. I like your itinerary, janisj and will probably do just that. We can put London first or last. We have it reserved for the first two nights at the Marriott (points) but were thinking to move it to the end. My thoughts are that we will surely return to London and will probably take the city in a little with each trip. Thanks again for all the advice!