sanderskn

I'm planning a trip to England in the next year or two, hopefully to go with my mom. I want to focus on southern England. Our interests are gardens, history, architecture, cathedrals, beautiful landscapes, and art.

I have been to London before but my mom has not. As of right now, I would prefer using trains and buses to renting a car because my mom doesn't want to drive and I cannot drive due to nerve damage in my feet. However, we will decide about this. This itinerary has been created with public transportation in mind. We would probably go in either May or September.

I'm looking for opinions on my preliminary itinerary.

Fly into London, sleep 4 nights (so we would have 3 1/2 days there); I would really like to use one day to make a day trip to Hampton Court Palace. I have a particular interest in Henry VIII and Tudor England. I would go to Kew Gardens one day. If my mom wants to explore London on her own another day, I would also like to make a day trip to Canterbury to see the Cathedral. So many possible day trips from London!

Salisbury 2 nights: see the Cathedral and a trip to Stonehenge and Avebury on a tour excursion

Bath 2 nights

Oxford 3 nights, one of these days include day trip to Blenheim Palace or Windsor (if possible using public transportation

Back to London and fly home

Total amount of days we spend in England is tentative. Probably a little less than two weeks.

PalenQ

All seems nice - could also hit the Cotswolds by train and bus from Oxford (or take a tour to these fabled hills) - if doing that much train travel you may want to look into the Days Out of London Railpass which covers all the places you want to go and allows fully flexible hop on at will travel -just show up.

Otherwise scour www.nationalrail.co.uk to see sample fares - some sweet discounts exist - especially for your Mum if she's 60 or over and wants to get a Senior RailCard - discounted fares come with varying restrictions however - like maybe not leaving before 9:30am or restrictions on refunding, changing (some may not) - so do you research and if you want totally flexible hop on at will any train then the pass may be a great benefit to you.

For lots of great stuff on trains in England check these IMO superb sites: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Trains are more expensive than buses but to me they are infinitely more comfy and also often faster - if not on a low budget consider going first class - there is a world of difference on longer distance British trains between Standard (2ns) Class and First Class - the latter having much larger seats and often very few people in the cars so you can put your bags on a nearby seat, etc. Standard class is often quite full - get a seat reservation in advance if you want to have two adjoining seats available once on the train.

MmePerdu

I don't see any visits planned specifically for gardens on your list, except Kew, which is altogether different from, for instance, country house gardens for which the country is so famous.

I suggest you look on http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ as a starting point for locating houses with gardens you could visit using public transport. There's a "how to get there" entry for each property that will show the various options and which are most practical without a car.

Here are the NT properties in the area around London and the SE: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visi...to-see-and-do/

I must add that Blenheim is among my least favorite of any of the many I've visited over the years in England. Use the link above and you might find one or more you'd like better. Where houses are concerned, bigger is not always better, especially for the gardens.

sanderskn

thank you palenQ for the info on the Out of London railpass, and thank you MmePerdu for the links. I just read about the National Trust the other day and will check out which NT properties will be on our route because I am very interested.

PalenQ

Windsor (if possible using public transportation>

Oxford to Windsor easily done by train (and probably coach) - with one change of train.

historytraveler

If using trains, the only website you'll need is the National Rail site. The others will just be overkill. www.nationalrail.co.uk will give you all the information you need. Check the various ticket prices and do a bit of arithmetic to determine if the rail cards will provide any savings. Your best option will probably be the Two Together card which will give both of you 1/3 off most tickets. First Class can be a good option with advanced fares savings but only for longer trips. Not worth the price for anything under 2 hours.Your longest trip will be London to Salisbury which will take 80/90 minutes depending on what time you leave.

Your itinerary looks good as is, don't try to add anymore to it.

PalenQ

Oops the Days Out of London Pass is now called the London Plus Pass - anyway for 4 days of unlimited at will travel on trains throughout SE England and as far west as Bath costs $249 - that is 4 unlimited travel days within an overall 8-day validity period - you chose which days you want as you go along.

4 days out of 8 + $249 which translates to about 38 pounds a day for fully flexible travel - plus you get a round-trip ticket on either the Gatwick Express or Heathrow Express to be used anytime outside of the 8-day pass validity period - making the pass a better deal than 38 pounds a day.

Yes go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and see what various fares are and then compare - if close at all go for the completely unrestricted pass. And if interested in first class travel then the pass is not all that much more expensive.