London Day Trips
 

Having a bit of a dilemma deciding on where to go for a day trip outside of London. My husband and I will be there for five days, and want to spend one of those days doing a day trip. I know that five days isn't enough to do London, "properly," and trying to fit "too much in" is always a bad idea, but because I know we won't be back to London for a LONG TIME (this is our last hurrah before having children, and we can barely afford it this time around), I still want to go against advice and try to see all I can (I know all of your experienced travelers are rolling your eyes).
So...here's the dilemma:
The husband wants to see Stonehenge and I want to see Bath.
I've heard a lot of great things about the "London Walks" Tours and I want to do their "Bath" tour, but because the husband is dead set on seeing Stonehenge, I'm considering booking a tour through"Viator," or "EvanEvans" to see Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath in all one trip.
Thoughts? Has anyone done any of these tours? What was your experience? Worth the money? Or are there better options to appease both my husband and I??

I suggest he go to Salisbury & Stonehenge, while you go to Bath.

You're right in thinking you may be trying to do too much. You both should see your first choice, and see it well. You won't be sorry.

Doing Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath sounds like a very long day.

I went on a "Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury" daytrip with Golden Tours in 2010. That's not quite the same, but probably close enough. It was many hours on the bus. It started with about one hour at Stonehenge, which was barely enough time to walk around the stone circle. Then there was lunch in Salisbury and a quick visit to the Cathedral. The time in Bath was a bit longer, including a visit to the Roman baths.

Are you actually chained together in some way or could you split up so both of you get to do the daytrip you want?

If it sounds at all feasible for the two of you, I do like the idea of splitting up - it would make for some great dinner conversation!

I'd pick Bath of the two, personally, but if Stonehenge is his #1 priority, it would be good to make it happen one way or another. I do agree, though - Stonehenge, Windsor + Bath sounds like a LOT.

I haven't taken the London Walks Bath tour, but did take one to Oxford and the Cotswolds back in 2009 and very much enjoyed it, along with several of their city walks. They are fantastic - I actually just made a long list of possible walks with them for my upcoming trip!

Thanks all. Unfortunately (although not so unfortunate in my opinion :)), the husband and I are "chained" together, figuratively speaking. This is our last big "romantic trip" as a childless couple, so we want to do all of our activities together- trite as it may sound. But yes, my worry has been that a tour of all three was a bit optimistic. Him and I might just need to flip a coin to see who's day trip wins!

Well then, if chained is the reality, I suggest the Salisbury/Stonegenge visit. I love Bath and Salisbury certainly isn't the same, but he can't have Stonehenge if you go to Bath, but you can have an interesting historic city & cathedral if you go to Salisbury to get to Stonehenge. So that seems to me to be the logical compromise.

You need not book a tour, there are trains from London to Salisbury and buses to Stonehenge from there. You can take your time and do it independently.

Don't miss Old Sarum if in Salisbury - in some ways as significant as Stonehenge - on the edge of Salisbury - I think Stonehenge buses may stop there - do so on the way back.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/d...ies/old-sarum/

You can't do anything romantic on your day trips so I'd VERY seriously consider 'un-chaining' for this day. The all-n tours are awful . . . Not long enough at any of the sites and since Windsor isn't one of your musts you'd be sacrificing things you really want to see. And w/ the new visitors' centre at Stonehenge, the tour buses can't just drive up, let you out, and everybody back on the coach in 30 minutes.

You take an early morning train to Bath and be back in London by dinner time . . . Hubby takes the train to Salisbury, does Salisbury/Stonehenge and is back in London by dinner time.. easy peasy. Then have all the romance/togetherness you want that evening.

OR - stay chained and have and unsatisfactory experience all around . . .

Something to consider, the lasting marriages are the ones where everyone gets what they want.