Can anyone recommend a tour company in London that does day trips to places like Bath, Stratford, Devon, etc. I would prefer a guided bus tour than just going on the train. Thanks.

Hope this will be of some help, but I can't remember the name of the bus tour company, but it was located just off of Russell Square, about 1 1/2 blocks from our hotel. I have the infomation at home. But we used them to take to bus tours to areas that we would not normally get to by train. 1 was to Oxford, Warwick, & Stratford Upon Avon, & we returned to London by traveling through the Cotswolds. I really liked that one. They stopped at all the main sites where we were allowed to visit the sites on our own, after the guide gave a description. & the tour also included the guide taking us around for a walk in Oxford. The 2nd tour we took was excellent. That one took us to Leeds Castle for a guided tour, to Cantebury Cathedral for a guided tour & then to Dover castle which we visited on our own. The bus also stopped on the beach in Dover & allowed some time to meander there. I got liturature ahead of my trip, but there was also a number of brochures at our hotel in London. I would use the same company again. I think it was the Frames-Richards company. By the way, I saw in another posting about the Russell Hotel. We have stayed there twice. I liked it. We had avery large room, the restaurant was very good, & it was very convenient. <BR>

Brian: <BR> <BR>I took a day trip using the Evan Evans tour (believe they do have a website, but I don't have their URL handy). <BR>Went on the package to Salisbury, Stonehenge & Bath. (this was during my Nov 98 visit to London) <BR> <BR>There’s the upside and the downside of taking guided tours. A goods thing is having someone else handle all the logistics of getting you from place to place. You just get on/off the bus and enjoy the sites. Of course, the down side is giving up your autonomy – you can’t linger as you’re on a limited time schedule – no opportunities to explore things that may temp you and no choice in where or what to eat for lunch as they’ve got that prearranged as well. It was a long day & we did have to spend a lot of time on the bus going to each of the 3 stops. And I really wish we could have had more time in Bath, but overall, I’d say the trip was worth it. One thing I would suggest – schedule your day trip(s) after you’ve been in London for a few days. After a couple of days of walking/running around the city, it actually feels kinda good sitting in a bus for a couple hours and being able to rest your feet. <BR> <BR>As for the specifics of what I saw our itinerary included: <BR> Salisbury Cathedral ( 12th century gothic church built beautiful stain-glassed windows; <BR> Magna Carta (next to the Cathedral is the Chart House which houses one of the four remaining originals of the Magna Carta. It's under glass, but in amazingly good condition for a document written in 1215. It's so legible that if you can understand Latin you probably could read it) <BR> Lunch @ the Salisbury Arms (pub across from the cathedral) <BR> Stonehenge (what can I say about the stones? There’s still much about them & the people who built it that remains unknown - do know that the Druids did not build them) <BR> Bath (Toured the Roman Baths) <BR>

Brian, <BR>An alternative to taking a tour bus from London to Bath,Oxford Stratford, etc. is to purchase a Cheap Day Return ticket, travel by rail to the city of your choice, then take a local tour bus. The Green and Cream Open Top Double Decker Tour City busses start their tours at the train stations in Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Chester, Oxford, Salisbury and Stratford, among other cities. I see two advantages in this alternative. The City Tour busses offer a tour narrative and allow you to hop on/hop off allowing you the liesure to explore at your own pace; you simply pick up the narrative on re-entry; costs should be significantly cheaper than bussing from London.

Brian, last summer I took the Frames-Richard tour from London to Oxford/Blenheim Castle. It was a nice trip and the countryside was lovely, but I do not think I'd do it again. The poster who suggested taking a return ticket to, say, Oxford, and then picking up a local tour really would be a better way to do it. Had I know that there was a tour bus which shuttled between Oxford and Blenheim Palace, I absolutely would have done it myself. <BR> <BR>On the other hand, if you decide to take the package tour, I suggest you take a look at the London for Less book. The discount offered by the Frames-Richard company was substantial! It might have been 25% but please don't quote me. The only catch is you must book directly with them but that wasn't a problem at all. <BR> <BR>Which ever way you decide, have a great trip. <BR>

We used Frames-Rickard for a tour to Oxford/Stratford/Warwick Castle and had a great time. True you don't get to linger too long in any one place but it was a great introduction into a variety of places. The guide was very good.

BRIAN:MANY TOUR OPERATORS E.G.GOLDEN TOURS WILL PICK-UP CUSTOMERS AT MOST HOTELS ASK AT YOUR HOTEL.GREEN LINE BUS RUNS FROM VICTORIA STN.THESE TOURS ARE GOOD.WE HAVE ALSO TAKEN THE TRAIN TO PLACES LIKE CAMBRIDGE AND JOINED A TOUR AT THE TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER.

Thanks to all of you for the great suggestions. I really appreciate it. I've traveled a lot in my life and this time I just felt like taking a lazy man's tour of London and environs. These suggestions really hit the spot! I'll post some comments when I get back in the middle of April about the trip.

Brian <BR>I've done exactly the same tour as Robin. To my mind it's a waste of time to go on bus tours because of its limitations. They're always rushing to the next stop - really frustrating. If you insist - there is an excellent tourist office at Victoria station from where you can pick up brochures for a number of companies; you can book right there as well. On the day of your tour you can meet your guide right there at the office, the bus is waiting just around the corner! ENJOY!