My wife and I are taking our first trip outside the US for 2 weeks in mid August. Initially, we were going to do a small group tour seeing the highlights of England, Scotland and Wales. After much discussion, we opted for independent travel (we are renting a car) and have focused our visit on the Cotswolds (3 nights), Bath (3 nights), Cornwall (2 nights), somewhere between Cornwall and London (1 night) and London (4 nights). We want to be sure we are not "wasting" precious time visiting areas that aren't as worth visiting as another area (i.e., York?). Can anyone advise of their most favorite areas of England? Thanks so much.

Seems like a very comfortable well-planned trip to me. Concentrating on the south cuts down on travel. In the south, I enjoyed Wells, Salisbury and Glastobury. Also I really like Canterbury.

I think it will depend on what kind of attractions or activities you like. If you like cities, you should go for London, York and Edinburgh, and consider a rail service: 2hr to York, 4 to Edinburgh from London King Cross's. If you prefer countryside, it is true that a must is cornwall, I wouldn't spend up to 3 nights in Bath (normally i did it as a day-out). From bath, you can get to south Wales by motorway, or go to cotswolds. The south-western coast of Wales is Pembrokeshire national park, walking along the cliffe is really nice, but the activities would be like those in Cornwall, you may go for Snowdonia in North Wales, beautiful mountains and scenery (second to none).

We enjoyed Bath immensely, the Roman Baths are so interesting, but I don't know that you need 3 nights there. We stayed at the Marlboro House, which was very nice with a great breakfast. We drove to Bath from London and made a stop in Oxford along the way and also a quick stop at stonehenge (which is all that I think is necessary for stonehenge - funny thing, my camera started acting up as I took my first picture of stonehenge). We didn't do the Cotswolds or Cornwall so I can't comment on them.

John, <BR>If you have access to a Barnes & Noble, Borders or other quality bookstore, pick up a copy of the Michelin map of southeast Great Britain and the Midlands. It's Michelin map number 404 and will serve you well until you can pick up a more detailed map at a service station in England. The Michelin is on a scale of 1 inch = 6.3 miles. In suggesting the following Cotswold tour, I trust you have a map of sufficient detail to follow my suggested meanderings. <BR> <BR>Take a look at Banbury on your map. It's about 23 miles from Oxford, 35 miles for Warwick, 30 miles from Stratford and 35 miles or less from the heart of the Cotswolds. The whole area is laced with lovely country roads. Check the website www.smoothhound.co.uk/hotels/castle2.html and take a look at The Castle Inn in Banbury as a potential place to stay. As an alternative, check out the hotels in Chipping Norton in the heart of the Cotswolds and look particularly at The Forge House at www.smoothhound.co.uk/hotels/forgehou.html. Chipping Norton is equidistant from Stratford, Oxford, Warwick, Cirencester and Cheltenham. <BR> <BR>For a tour of the Cotswolds, consider the following: from Banbury or Chipping Norton, take route A361 south, first to Burford a charming little village with a number of coaching inns with a great deal of character. Continue south to Fairford and the Church of St. Mary with its unexpectedly stunning stained glass windows. Drive northwest from Fairford to Bibury, supposedly the loveliest town in England with its Arlington Row, early 17th century grey stone wool workers houses. Continue northwest to the Chedworth Roman Villa remains with its wall murals and mosaic floors. Travel north to Sudeley Castle, the former home of Catherine Parr just outside of the non-touristy town of Winchcombe. Continue north to Buckland, an exquisite little village, then on to Broadway and Chipping Campden, both of which are featured in all the guidebooks. Drive south, southeast back to Chipping Norton, stopping at Chastleton to visit its early 17th century Jacobean country house and formal garden. <BR> <BR>One other thought, if you're planning to visit Stonehenge, by all means visit Avebury and particularly, the village of Devizes. Visit Devizes before either of the other two sites. Devizes has an anthropological museum that will go a long way in giving you a fuller understanding of the stone monoliths of Stonehenge and Avebury. By the way, you can't get close to the Stonehenge monoliths and will no doubt encounter a number of tour buses there, as well. At Avebury, the stone circle surrounds the village and you can get as close to the stones as you'd like. When in Avebury, look for signs for the immense chalk horse drawn on a nearby hillside. It's a primitive, ancient and quite impressive artistic rendering of a horse rivalling some of the artwork in France's Lescaux caves. <BR>

I have traveled to the UK for the past 6 years, my suggestions would be Oxford, Bath (one day is really enough) Spend a lot of time driving through the Cotswolds, Bibury, Stow-on-the-Wold,Morton-on-Marsh, Little Tew, Upper & Lower Slaughter. We stayed at cottages in Stanton (about 5 miles from Broadway) and also at The Unicorn in Stow. I know you will be absolutely thrilled.

John, <BR> It sounds like a good itinerary. The only thing I'd change if I were going would be a little less time in Bath and a little more time in Cornwall. There is so much to see and do in Cornwall. If you'd like more info. e-mail me and I would be glad to share some of my favorite places including B&B's, theatre, gardens and other sights. I'm not trying to take anything away from Bath. It truly is very beautiful, but since you have a car, Cornwall has so much to offer.