2nd Time visit to England......Advice on places to visit

kristie, that sounds great! It would help to know how long you will be in England. Can you give more details about your trip?

Definitely York . If you didn't see them on your last trip to London, I recommend Kew Gardens and maybe the Victoria and Albert Museum. I also really like Cambridge-King's Chapel and the Eagle Pub.

Here's a link to my Trip Report from September 2022. Maybe you'll find some ideas. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-the-south-of-england

We will be visiting for a week.

Stick to one area of the country, e.g., southeast of London or Oxford, Cambridge, York area, or Lake District., etc. With only a week don’t try to see the entire country.

With only a week I would be inclined to stick with one locality and not try to switch locations.

London is always good for a week long return visit and a town such as Canterbury is a good day trip. Last year I spent week each in Chichester & London. Chichester was good for heading to Portsmouth for the museums there and then to the Weald & Downland Museum.

I'm getting ready for a week long return visit to Ironbridge as part of an upcoming trip.

Chester is worth a visit.

Bletchley Park, Hampton Court, Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton, Whitsable, Durham…

The problem with seeing different areas is that you will end up spending the best part of one of your days moving around the country. It'll be getting dark around 4.30 and you need to be ready for it to be wet and/or cold.

You don't say how many people "we" are. Train travel can be expensive, although others will go into the details of the advantages of early booking etc but if there are 4 of you a car might be cheaper.

York is very attractive and there is a lot to see there and you can easily do a day trip to Durham by train. You'd need to check as some places have restricted opening (or are closed in November) but Castle Howard and (the ruins of) Fountains Abbey are both attractive places to go and accessible from York - but much easier by car than bus. If possible try to go to these places (particularly Fountains Abbey) on a dry day. If you do go to York by car, check the hotel has parking and I think much of the historic centre is now pedestrianised.

An alternative would be to stay in or near London and do day trips by train or car - there's a lot of interesting places you can get to by train from central London in an hour or just over.

Hi, kristie, I agree with the others that the easiest option would be to limit your stay to London and then take a variety of day trips from there (for example, Oxford is definitely doable by day and is a wonderful place to visit!). You could visit Hampton Court Palace, Greenwich, etc. And as others has also said, train travel (or car travel) will eat into your schedule especially considering the time change. Plus the short days will limit your sightseeing.

Or you could stay in London for 3 days and then head for York for the remainder of your stay. Train travel is easiest, I think, although as noted, car travel will get you to more places.

One idea I thought of was that you could stay in London for 3 days, then take the train to York for 2-3 days. After York, you could take the train to Oxford (you would have to do that in 2 stages - one trip to Birmingham, then one to Oxford so you're not routed through London). Even with just one night in Oxford, you could see a lot, and then at the end take the Airline Bus from Oxford, which goes directly to Heathrow for your flight.

It's hard to give advice without more details. What time does your return flight leave? And do you have a full 7 days of travel, or is one of those days included in the flight over?

Cross Country Trains have just introduced new cheap Advance (Train Specific fares) for many journeys.

I've just booked one today for Bristol to the Cumbrian Coast in 5 weeks time for £19 with railcard- which is amazingly cheap for a 300 mile journey.

Looking on Tuesday 5 November there is a 0936 train from York all the way direct to Oxford (arrive 1241) for £20.70 each.

If you buy a 2 Together Railcard for £30 then you get 1/3 off that and all other rail travel (like London to York) after 0930 on a weekday, so that train becomes £13.75 each.

With a week, then maybe you have 6 nights? 3 in London and 3 elsewhere. Chichester or Winchester for a small town feel. Oxford would also be good for 3 nights. York and give it 4 nights.

Be fitting to be in York ,Guy Fawkes was born there !

https://visityork.org/media/news-and-updates/bonfire-night-in-the-home-of-guy-fawkes

Oh yes! Bonfire night is November 5th. You should try to catch a firework display. Once you have your plans finalised you can see what events are on in the local area. There are some big, impressive ones in London but every town will have one at the local football club or similar. There is also a big one at Bath racecourse every year but that is on Sat 1st Nov this year so might not work out.

With only a week, I would also agree, to not try to fit in too much.
I am assuming you are flying in and out of LHR?

Maybe upon arrival, take the express bus to Oxford for 2 nights.
Then take the train to London, and staying near Paddington Station, would make things easier.
Then take the Elizabeth Line from Paddington Station to a LHR hotel the night before your flight.
I also recommend, Bletchley Park for half a day, Greenwich for half a day, and Richmond/ Hampton Court for a day. Mardee always has great advice.

London is so big and spread out, you will easily fill your days. Enjoy!

Thanks so much for all of the input!! All amazing ideas and I think we will either go on a day trip to Oxford or stay the night. The bonfire with fireworks sounds wonderful!! Thanks again. CHEERS.