best 7 days in English Countryside during October
 

We arrive 10/11 into Heathrow and want to go straight to the countryside. Am not a big fan of driving and changing lodging but realize renting a car maybe neccessary. we love to walk.

1st 3-4 days and would like to stay in one location do daytrips thru the Cotswalds, Cambridge, any other ideas.

Then want to change lodging and spend 3 days with daytrips and see Bath, Stonehedge, Battle area.

if anyone can recommend itinerary and great places to stay would appreciate ideas.

You seem a bit confused. Cambridge is a very tedious 3 hour drive from the Cotswolds, and Battle's an equally unpleasant slog through exurbia from Stonhenge. With little to show for it at the end.

Unless you're keen on Ely and on Suffolk, just see Oxford instead of Cambridge. Oxford, the Cotswolds, Bath and Stonehenge can all be done from one centre. And do you really want to see Battle?

>> Am not a big fan of driving and changing lodging <<

To comply with these criteria, I suggest Kent/East Sussex for the entire 7 days. You could easily do daytrips and walks from one location - the attractions are close to one another.

One of our most memorable hikes was atop the "Seven Sisters" east of Seaford.

Any particular reason for going to Cambridge? If it's the historic university vibe you're after, Oxford might be a better choice.

Distances in England can be very deceptive, while heading out of London you can get a long way West very quickly on the M4 motorway, driving on the minor roads can eat up the time.

To minimise accomodation changes and driving time you might want to base yourself in a small village town off the M4, for instance in the area of Newbury to Marlborough.

From that area most places you're interested in will be doable as day trips.

If you're going down as far as Stonehenge, you might want to consider carrying on to Cerne Abbas to see the giant. Apart from the giant being of interest, it is a delightful village and there's a well mapped circular walk through very pretty countryside.

If Stonehenge interests you, don't forget you can book special early morning visits where restricted numbers of visitors are permitted to enter the area of the stones.

Also consider visiting Avebury stone circle, it attracts far fewer tourists, it's free and within a mile there's also Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow, which you can actually go inside!

Sorry if I sound like the tourist board, but pretty much every one of my guests that I've picked up from Heathrow, I've taken straight to Avebury and area, and they've all been blown away by it.

Plus it has a pub in the middle of it, how many Neolithic sites can boast that? :)

Sorry, meant to provide this link

http://www.avebury-web.co.uk/index.html