I would like to take a couple of day trips from London. I'm interested in Stonehenge, Cotswolds, Stratford, and Windsor. Can anyone recommend a tour company? I've been on Premier Tour's website but I don't know if that's a good company. Thanks for any insight.

London Walks - www.walks.com - offers Explorer Days to a variety of locations outside London. You might give them a try.

Lee Ann

Some you can easily do by yourself. Windsor is only about 30 minutes on the train But, if you want to do more than one place in a day you'll need to take a tour - and will get only a wuick once over of the various places.

You would certainly need more than a "couple of day trips" to see all those places -- unless you just weanted a mad dash through to tick something off a list.

Windsor is easily done on your own from central London. Train to Windsor -- 1/2 a day there -- train back to town. easy peasy. No need to pay a tour company.

Each of the places you mention except for the Cotswolds are very easily done independently as day trips by train from London. For Stonehenge, you'd take the train to Salisbury and a local tour bus to the stones.

The Cotswolds are a large region - not a single place. There are few train stations in the Cotswolds -- Moreton-in-Marsh is really the only Cotswold village w/ a station though there are some other stations on the outer edges. The Cotswolds aren't really a place you can "go see" - but more an area to be explored, either on foot or by car.

So why not do Windsor and Stratford-upon-Avon as separate day trips on your own. It wil be much cheaper than paying a tour company.

The London Walks mentioned above are a good alternative to guided coach tours. But for Windsor and Stratford, even they are not necessary. They do have a good Cotswold explorer day - but it only hits a tiny corner of the region.

Yes Windsor is very easy to do on your own. Just a short train ride, and the castle is a 5-min walk from the train station. You can take a look at this part of my trip report (day trip to Windsor):
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-2006648

Thanks for the tips. Its sounds like an easy trip to Windsor and Stratford-upon-Avon so I'll do those on my own. This is my first trip to the UK so I'm still looking for advice. You have all been most helpful.

We did Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath in a one-day bus tour led by a Blue Badge Guide, and enjoyed it very much. Can't recall the exact company, however.