Coach tour recommendations from London
 

I'm tagging along with my husband on a work trip to London next week. I'll have three days on my own while he is in meetings and I'm thinking about taking a coach tour from London to see some of the sights.

Are there specific companies and/or tours that you can recommend? We were in London a couple of years ago and ventured out to Bath and Stonehenge so I'd like to go someplace different. Also, I'm visiting Windsor on my own one of the days.

Thanks for your help!

London Walks doesn't offer coach tours, but they have different tours that go to places outside of London. They use local transportation (trains and the Tube). The website is www.walks.com.

Check out Golden Tours or Evan Evans Tours. They have websites that list their tours.

A friend used EvansEvans tours and was pleased on a trip two yrs ago. They have a good reputation as far as I know and they are frequently recommended here.

We always do day trips on our own and you can easily do that as well if you wish. I'd recommend Canterbury. It's 90 min. from Victoria or Charing Cross Stations and you can visit the lovely cathedral (it's a beauty, with much history too) and the town - lots of shops, etc. It's a nice day out and easy to do on your own. There are also tours (EvansEvans) that combine Canterbury and Leeds Castle.

There are so many places to visit, the list is almost endless :-)

I am sorry I cannot comment on the companies, as I use tours based on Greenwich, near where I live. But I set Google for “coach tours London” and found these to be main day trips
Stonehenge, Avebury (prehistoric sites of the old religion), Salisbury (beautiful medieval cathedral)
Bath (Roman baths, fine eighteenth century town and summer resort, medieval abbey church)
Oxford (university city strong in classical buildings), Blenheim (great old country house), Cotswolds (charming stone houses set in urbane woodland)
Warwick (medieval town buildings, old castle), Stratford (memories of Shakespeare)
Leeds Castle (medieval castle on water, with fine furniture, Canterbury (large and beautiful cathedral, full of English history), Dover (castle in defence of England from Roman times to 1998)
And two day trips made by just one company in my selection
Lacock (medieval abbey, country house, gardens), Castle Combe (pretty village)
Sandringham (royal country house and gardens), Cambridge (university city, strong in medieval buildings, and classic riverside).

The tour companies usually take people to two or three places per day. I find this rushed. There is enough at most places to spend a whole day there. Some companies offer this, but with a little daring you can have a better time, cheaper, if you take a day trip by train to any of the following: Salisbury, Bath, Oxford perhaps with Blenheim, Stratford perhaps with Warwick, Canterbury, Dover, or Cambridge. Trains are more comfortable and have more space than coaches. Day trips by train are cheaper after 9.30 or 10 on weekdays, but you need to leave about eight on a Saturday or Sunday to have enough time for a cheap day trip to Salisbury, Bath, Stratford or Warwick. You can buy your ticket in the station five minutes before the train goes: your hotel concierge can tell you when. When you reach each place you walk or taxi to the tourist information point a mile from the station, and collect a map, notes on sights, and ideas for evening theatre or music.

An advantage of trains over coaches is that you are out of greater London in half an hour, whereas coaches drag their way for an hour through the suburbs. Another is that you can buy a packed breakfast and eat it as you go. An advantage of coaches is that they reach some places that have no trains, and take you to three places in a day (in a rushed fashion).

Please write if I can help further. Welcome to England.

Ben Haines, London
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Thank you for all of your responses!

I did check out Evan Evans website as I see this company discussed favorably on the boards, and it looks like there is quite a selection of tours. Since I'm going to Windsor by myself one day, I thought it would be nice to leave the other day in the hands of someone else.

Thanks again!