Country or City First?
 

Due to hotel booking hiccups, I may need to switch around my itinerary in England (was planning on doing London first) to this:
Day 1(Tuesday)-take train to Bath, overnight there
Day 2 (Wed.)-take Mad Max Tour, overnight Bath
Day 3(Thurs.)-take train to Windsor, overnight Windsor
Day4-7: London
Does this sound like an acceptable itinerary?
Which will be more crowded on weekends, London or Bath? Which is easier to handle by 3 jet-lagged individuals?
Please keep in mind that this will be my first visit to London and the surrounding areas.
Thanks!

Having never been to Bath myself, I can't tell you that you won't be amongst London escapees for the weekend.

However, I've read in one of my guidebooks that doing the small towns before heading to the faster pace of London is a very nice way to get your feet wet before heading to the bigger city.

Happy Travels.

Jules

Hi Mich,

Are you arriving on Tuesday? What time and where?

((I))

Both options have their advantages/disadvantages - really doesn't make that much difference.

London is crowded ALL the time so that really isn't an issue. Just avoid the Tower of London on a Sunday because it is REALLY crowded. And Westminster Abbey and St Paul's aren't open for tours on Sundays.

Where are you arriving? There is no direct train connection to Bath from either LGW or LHR. If you land at LHR you would have to take a bus to Reading and then catch a train to Bath. OR a bit easier - just take the bus from LHR to Bath and skip the train.

Staying in London at the end makes getting to the airport easier.

If it were me - I'd go to Windsor the first day/night. It is a short bus or reasonable taxi ride from LHR. The next morning, on to Bath for 2 nights. Then train to London for the end of your trip.

Hi everyone:

Thanks so much for your responses thus far. Sorry, I should have been a bit more detailed in my explanations, I was a bit rushed this morning :)

OK...we are scheduled to arrive at LHR on Tuesday July 12 at 8:35. We will be leaving London on July 19 (and taking the Eurostar to Paris). My aunt (in her late sixties) and my mom (in her late fifties) will be accompanying me on this part of the trip- given my aunt's health issues I don't want to strain ourselves too much.

Thanks for the suggestion re. doing Windsor first- would we have enough time to get to Windsor, check into the hotel and arrive at the castle to watch the Changing of the Guard (at 11:00 am)? I'm not sure how long it takes to get to Windsor by taxi from the airport. I would prefer to see the Changing of the Guard at Windsor as I hear there are less crowds than at Buckingham Palace. Would it be too tiring to try to tour Castle, walk a bit around Windsor/Eton and take a short river cruise on the first day we are there?

OK..so following that plan we would then go to Bath on the Wednesday (do walking tour, tour Roman Baths, Abbey, Georgian Court?) stay overnight and then the following day (Thursday) do the Mad Max Tour of Stonehenge, Avebury and the Cotswolds (stay overnight again in Bath).

On Friday- Arrive in London/Check into hotel, Have lunch in Hyde Park, check out Harrods, then take an double decker bus tour

On Saturday-Cruise on River, followed by tour of Westminster Abbey, lunch in Trafalgar Square, National Gallery

On Sunday-British Museum, British Library

On Monday- Tower of London, St. Paul's, Tate Modern (just a quick look)

Tuesday- Depart early morning for Paris

Somewhere in there I wouldn't mind working in 1 or 2 London Walks, and a show in the West End

So..is this doable? It seems as though London is a bit more crowded in terms of time when left to the end. But perhaps it would be better to begin at a more relaxed pace in the countryside.

Thanks!

First of all - I don't quite understand why London seems more crowded at the beginning or the end of you trip. Same number of days for the same number of sites?

But w/ the new, info you could stay in either central London or in Windsor the last night. Both have decent connections to Waterloo. HOWEVER - the train from Windsor arrives at Waterloo Mainline and the Eurostar departs from Waterloo International. You would have to hike w/ your bags between the two -- so staying in London and just taking a cab to Waterloo would be a lot easier.

The changing of the Guard at Windsor is fine but not really that big a deal - easier to manage than at Buckingham Palace tho'. W/ an 8:30 arrival you could easily be in Windsor before 11 a.m.

Your basic plans for London are fine - some days you will be able to even squeeze in another site or two.