London and.........?
 

I'm in the beginning phases of planning a trip to England and I'm trying to figure out what other city or town we should visit in addition to London. We are planning for a week and when we travel to Europe we typically like to visit a larger city and then a smaller city for a few days (ie Madrid/Seville, Paris/Dijon). A little about us, we are a happily married couple in our low 30' without kids and quite active. We would prefer to travel by train, love history, architecture, good food and like to explore an area by foot or bike. Bath has piqued my interest but I want to see if there are any other good suggestions out there. Any advice is appreciated.

I think Bath is a good choice, if you like Georgian architecture (and the Roman baths of course), but somehow it just doesn't "do it" for me despite 2 visits.

You can easily spend 2 days in Oxford, which I find facinating with lots to see/do; or to York (which I haven't been).

1 week is not a lot of time for London though, esp if your "1 week" includes arrival and departure days. You can easily spend the entire week in London and just do a day trip to Windsor or Hampton Court Palace.

York makes a great two-day, out of town trip. The Minster is a great church and can take up the better part of a day for a complete exploration. Walking the walls gives you an interesting view of the city, which in itself has lots of fascinating streets and shops to explore. The Ghost Walks tours get good reviews; we've never done them but we did enjoy a river cruise on the Ouse.
Cambridge, an hour outside London by train from Kings Cross, is also worth an overnight. The colleges are fascinating, punting on the Cam -- or just watching other punters, walking along the Backs, exploring the Fitzwilliam Museum and the botanical gardens, visiting the American cemetery at Madingley, heading out to the air museum at Duxford will keep you more than busy.
For royal excess and kitsch, a one hour train journey from Victoria to the seaside resort of Brighton gives you the extravagant Royal Pavillion, built for George IV when he was rendezvousing with Mrs. Fitzherbert and trying to cure his gout. There can also be interesting shopping in the Lanes and wonderful promenading along the seafront.
Have fun.

Hi, I live near York and would definitely second the suggestion. There's a very frequent and generally efficient train service from Kings Cross London to York, with the faster trains taking less than 2 hours. The city itself is compact and easily accessible by foot. It is also extremely beautiful and steeped in history.
www.yorkminster.org
The Minster is worth the trip in itself but there are numerous other places to visit. I love the Railway Museum (free entry), fascinating even for people who 'don't like trains'.
www.nrm.org.uk/
www.yorkshambles.com
www.visityork.org
Yorkshire people are renowned for their friendliness, and also for the wonderful food up here - Yorkshire pudding, Nidderdale lamb, wensleydale cheese etc etc. There are some fantastic restaurants in the city too.
www.jbakers.co.uk
www.thebluebicycle.com

I love both Bath and York, and both would fit your requirements perfectly. Maybe the architecture is a shade more interesting in Bath, and there's a nice walk along the canal to Bathhampton.

You don't say what time of year you'll be traveling, but again both Bath and York have plenty of indoor options.

If you like Music, culture, and bars try Manchester for a few days go and watch the football, maybe even day trip out to Liverpool

A friend and I did a refreshing 3-day "loop" about 6 years ago at the end of a 12 day trip; but don't think much has changed; she (lifelong Anglophile who'd never been able to visit England before) was thrilled to pieces, and I enjoyed it so much through her fresh eyes:

Day 1 - Early train to STRATFORD; we skipped icky bus tours figuring we could walk by most landmarks (we were right), and hopped a RT bus to Warwick Castle. If you can only see ONE castle, this is it! Stayed in a B & B and (pre-booked)saw Romeo & Juliet that night.
Day 2 - 9 am-12, bus to BATH (we learned of it online, from BATH YMCA!!).. it winds all thru beautiful Cotswolds. Did Royal Crescent, browsed all over town, found a good dinner.
Day 3 - Lovely FREE guided tour of Bath by an Oxford Don; starts at City Hall 9 am; 2 hours. Easily caught an express afternoon train back for dinner in London on our final night.

Hi BR,

London has enough to keep you busy for much more than 1 week.

Ditto Paris.

>We are planning for a week and when we travel to Europe.....<

Isn't England in Europe? :)

((I))

Another option in York, given that you like train travel, would be the North Yorkshire Moors steam railway across the moors to Whitby:
http://www.nymr.co.uk/

Thanks for the responses thus far, looks like we will have to give York a look.Time frame is likely late May.I know that London, like all the world's great cities has more than enough to occupy a week, my husband loves hitting the major cities while I find Europe more charming in the smaller cities so I always like to include a little side trip even if we have limited time. We don't try to cram in all the sites, but we enjoy what we do see.

Apologies if you are already aware, but just to let you know that ‘late May’ is half term week (usually called Whit week) for UK schools. Monday 25th May is a Bank Holiday, and the rest of the week is a school holiday for most schoolchildren. Please don’t underestimate the effect this makes – everything is much busier especially trains and tourist attractions.

Another with Morgana.
Points of merit, both Oxford and York are built on the flat while Bath is hilly (I'm older and biking is my hobbey so you notice these things)

Both York and Oxford are bike friendly cities
Both have ancient centres and are easy to get to.
Both can get busy in high season but May apart from the school holiday should be ok