Itinerary help please!
 

Hi,

I'm a 27 year old woman traveling to London for work, but managed to sneak in a bit of a holiday beforehand :) I'm leaving in a week - cue panic - so any advice is much appreciated! I have an outline of an itinerary that may be too ambitious/vague (not a good combination), so I out could really use a sanity check and recommendations to help me narrow in. For me, Bath and York are unmissable; the Cotswolds seem lovely and are half-way between but I worry about the volume of tourists there in early August, and whether I will be too limited by my restriction to public transport (no car). I threw Wales into the mix but am ok with skipping and adding a day to Yorkshire if it will be rushed/am not doing justice to it.

I also have a weekend at my disposal later on that I was going to reserve for exploring London more or taking day trips, so some stops (eg Oxford/Stratford upon Avon) could be postponed til then.

Day 1, Sunday: Afternoon arrival in London
Day 2, Monday: Morning train to York
Day 3, Tuesday: Day trips in Yorkshire (eg Castle Howard, Haworth)
Day 4, Wednesday: Travel to Cotswolds (eg Chipping Campden)
Day 5, Thursday: Cotswolds
Day 6, Friday: Day trip to Oxford or Stratford upon Avon
Day 7, Saturday: South Wales (Cardiff? Chepstow?). Travel to Bath.
Day 8, Sunday: Day in Bath. Return London by evening

I'm looking to see historical buildings, enjoy beautiful countryside, and talk to old-timers in local pubs, rather than necessarily hit all the tourist "hot spots". Thank you in advance for your suggestions!

Is there any chance you could fly into Manchester? That would save you wasting time between LHR, King's Cross etc. However, you show only an afternoon in York before you start your day trips and Castle Howard and Haworth are a long way apart. Unless you're a big Bronte fan, I'd miss Haworth this time and spend a few more hours in York itself.

That is a lot of travel, hey up to you but Yorkshire has lots moer to offer, I'd do that for your week and the weekend for the Cotswalds.

Sorry for the short feedback, I'll try for more later

This would be very challenging, esp without a car. The places you want to see are not necessarily close to each other as the train flies. Have you actually looked at the train schedules, esp for the days you would be traveling.

I would definitely drop Wales, drop Haworth for more time in York (or if Haworth is a must drop Oxford) and allow more time for Bath.

We covered some of these places in a road trip several years ago but in 7 days we did Oxford, 1 day exploring a couple of Cotswold villages and York with Castle Howard. And that was a very busy trip. (Before that we had been in London for 4 days, but it was out 3rd trip, and we went on north ending with 3 days in Edinburgh after visiting several places on the coast and Hadrian's Wall/Houstesteads - for a total of 18 days).

Ok, after a 3 hour bike ride, here is my idea. For the week take the train to York, spend a day walking around it, hire a car and visit the Castles and abbey ruins like Fountains, Ripon Minster, Bolton Abbey, Castle Howard etc which will take maybe 3 more days, dump the car and take the train up to Durham and spend two nights there, then catch a train to Cambridge (not Oxford but tough) or Oxford (which is better but I think the journey is longer) then back to London.

Weekend, train to Bath for Friday night, enjoy, in afternoon hire car to visit Cotswalds (i'd B&B it) enjoy walks pub etc before drive to dump car and train back into London Sunday night.

How long will you be working in London? If for only a short time, I can understand your urge to see as much as you can when you first arrive. If you will be there for an extended period, most of those places on your list can be easily reached in weekend breaks from London.

Or will you only have that one weekend later on?

Hi all,

Thank you for your great replies! I should have been clearer - must depart from London, and car is a no go for me, no license (long story). As per your suggestions, sounds like I cut South Wales and save Bath for my one extra weekend, and expand time in Yorkshire.

How about this then?

Day 1, Sunday: Afternoon arrival in London
Day 2, Monday: Morning train to York (2 hrs), arrive lunchtime
Day 3, Tuesday: York
Day 4, Wednesday: Day trips around York
Day 5, Thursday: Day trips around York
Day 6, Friday: Morning train to Cheltenham (3 hrs), arrive lunchtime
Day 7, Saturday: Cotswolds
Day 8, Sunday: Cotswolds. Return London by evening (2 hrs train)

I picked Cheltenham sort of at random, is that a good place to base myself for two nights to explore Cotswolds by public transport? Would need a good train/bus connection to London for Sunday evening as well.

Am now wondering if I should try to find a 2-day bus tour to help me get around the Cotswolds more easily...any recommendations?

This makes a lot more sense. There is so much to do and see in York from the Minster, walking the walls, Clifford’s Tower, Fairfax House, Treasurer’s House, Barley Hall, Merchant Venturers’ Hall, the delightful Holy Trinity Church on Goodramgate as well as the Castle Museum and Yorkshire Museum or a boat trip on the River Ouse.... If you have chance do try and attend the choral evensong in the Minster - it is a magical experience.

Castle Howard is easily done from York by bus - details here:
http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/house-...blic-transport
There is a lot to see in the house and the grounds are extensive. You can probably spend nearly a ful day here.

Howarth isn't so easy as it involves getting from York to keighley by trian and then bus to Howarth or the Keighley and Worth Valley railway.

Your second day - think about catching a bus to Pickering (rather a nice market town with a castle). Then catch the North York Moors railway (super run on a steam train through very good countryside)to Whitby (fishing and ruined abbey with Dracula connections as well as St Mary's Church).

Rather than Cheltenham which is a large town, why not catch a train from York to Moreton in Marsh, which is smaller and has a lot more character. It's a slower journey and will take just under five hours. There is reasonable access to buses (and probably as good as from Cheltenham). Have a look here:
http://www.escapetothecotswolds.org....inghere/north/

It also has a reasonable train service back to London on a Sunday.

For train info check www.nationalrail.co.uk - all kinds of fares with varying restrictions - www.seat61.com is full of info on discounted fares and for general info - www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

I loved taking the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as an easy day trip from York thru the Moors and then with connections to Whitby - the seaside home of Dracula!

http://www.nymr.co.uk/

@ESW, what a wonderful collection of sights to see in and around York - looks like I'll be pleasantly busy for a few days! Took your advice to base in Moreton-in-Marsh... imagine the longer train ride will be part of the "experience" :) I booked a day tour with Secret Cottage Tours for Saturday, which should give me a good taste of the area (as well as some home-made scones, yum!)

A small hiccup: Moreton-in-Marsh was full up in on lodging and I was only able to book one night (Friday), so I'm going to have to find somewhere else to stay on Saturday night. Only real requirements are that it's 1) nice to visit and 2) has a good Sunday connection to London. Am thinking possibly Oxford? Anywhere else come to mind?

Good decision to cut Cheltnam.

Oxford is pleasant to stay in and Sunday morning walking around can be very pleasant. It's what I'd do but you kind of miss the pleasure of walking in the Cotswalds.

You need another village to walk to and get your stuff sent over by taxi

Classic Cotswold walk - Lower Slaughter to Upper Slaughter over foot paths. An easy bucolic walk.

Oxford is so cool!

If you're ending up in Moreton on a Sat, and merely need somewhere nice with a connection back to London on Sun, as a general rule Charlbury (The Bull or the Bell) or Kingham (the Plough or the Wild Rabbit) have direct trains to London every hour on Sunday, are prettyish, offer loads of Cotswold walks and are accessible from Moreton by train. Neither microtown offers much more than pretty townscape, lovely surrounding countryside, decent pubs and eateries and dynamite local footpaths.

Note that through trains to London along that line are seriously messed up for the first two weeks of this August. If that's when you're travelling, abandon my pretty microtown idea, get the train back to Oxford on the Sat eve (the line's fine as far as Oxford), stay there, then get the train back to London from the suburban Oxford Parkway station, which uses a different route.

Note that so much work's being done on our railway system and it's obviously best done at weekends, that it's always sensible here to say when you're travelling.

Thanks for tips. Ended up deciding on Oxford after all, and am looking forward to that pleasant Sunday morning walk!

@bilboburgler:
"You need another village to walk to and get your stuff sent over by taxi" - in an ideal world... ;)

You'll find the colleges all have different opening hours, (google it) but you do have the opportunity to walk along the river, through Chrstchurch meadows and (I think) Magdalen rose garden and the botanic gardens early in the morning.

The Parks are also open but a bit out of the centre to the north. The water meadows are good over in Jerico.

It all depends where you stay.

Once the colleges open there is lots to see, by far the biggest walk is through Magdalen into Addison Walk and beyond up the Cherwell.

Alternativly you could take a punt out.. good rental points Magdalen college, the Parks and up at the Bridge (name forgotten), some of the colleges also do chauffeured punts.

Museums; google is your friend

If you are a fan of Morse the central area is great for you