5 days in England

• Hampton Court Palace. Easy ½ day trip, end of a commuter rail line on the edge of London.
• Canterbury. Good whole day trip. Old city, lots of old stuff, Cathedral, city walls.
• If you want an overnight location: York. 2 hours by fast train. More old stuff, Romans, Vikings, Cathedral, city walls you can walk on. Lots more.

@Chris F Thank you! Will research those things now. Thank You!

I would spend two nights in York. In London, the British Museum-it houses the history of civilization.

Have you thought about Sevenoaks and Knole House? It is 30-45 minutes on the train from central London with a very regular train service.

This article about Sevenoaks is two years old but is still worth reading.

https://www.kent-life.co.uk/out-about/places/town-guide-to-sevenoaks-kent-1-5179782

The restoration work at Knole House is finished and it is is well worth a visit for its history dating back to the C15th and links with Elizabeth I. It is one of the largest stately homes in England and is often referred to as a 'calendar house' with 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards. The number of rooms is approximately correct, although the number of staircases has been reduced by internal renovations and changes. It is just a short walk from the centre of Sevenoaks.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knole

And as ever there is even more information on Wiki....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knole

Oxford can be a day trip from London. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has one of the best historical and natural collections in the world. Plenty of ancient artifacts and a real Dodo. You can also take a short bus ride to see Blenheim Palace in Woodstock from there.

Whitsable on the coast is an hours train ride from London.

Museums: Museum of London, Alexander Fleming Museum, Household Calvary Museum, Imperial War Museum, Petrie Museum....are all good and lesser known.

Not sure why you thought the Marriot next to the eye wasn’t “ central “ enough. Short stroll over Westminster Bridge to Parliament Square
( parliament, Elizabeths Tower with the Big Ben bell, Westminster Abbey and ChurchillWar Rooms) which is as about as iconic London as one gets. Then a 10 minute stroll up Birdcage Walk to the Palace. For nearly everyone “must see” sites.

What’s central to you? There is no Piccadilly Square? Are you thinking of Piccadilly Circus?

Try looking at the Premier Inns that are through out London for your accommodation.

Day trips from London via train:
Whitsable ( mentioned above)
Oxford
Cambridge
Canterbury
Brighton
Tube to Turnham Green and walk about Chiswick.

New area to explore: tube to Kings Cross and explore Coal Drop Yards and Granary Square. Then walk along the Regents Canal up to Camden Town.

York deserves more than a part of a day. We spent three days there and were very busy. The Minster (Cathedral) is amazing and has a great tour. We spent more than 3 hours there.
Walk the walls and go to the old part of the city with narrow streets. Also, take in the National Railway Museum.

Dover Castle. In addition to the many other wonderful places already suggested.

See if your son is willing to be involved in the planning. Mine at that age were definitely interested and had marvelously quirky ideas of places to visit. We humored one with a super-long day trip by train (get off at Wool) to the Tank Museum in Bovington. I wasn't super in love with the idea at first but didn't get tired of tanks until I'd been there five hours!

I'm not sure if the Tower of London counts as your museum, but watch out because you can spend most of a day there. The British Museum is another place that can take forever to see unless you pick out one or two sections to focus on. I like the Museum of London, which has exhibits that illustrate the history of London starting around the Ice Age, and you might find that less overwhelming.

I'm not sure what to recommend as a quaint town that is not-so-touristy. Lavenham is off the beaten path with Tudor architecture. Its importance dates from a time when wool was king.

Have a great trip,
Marty

If you like history; within London, I don't think the Museum of London gets the love it deserves. It exhibits the chronological history of London from primordial ooze to modern times. My choice for a day trip is Hampton Court Palace--Henry the VIII's house. Loved it.

Two spectacular day trips from London are Bath (1h 30m) train and York (2h) train ride. The two museums I recommend are the British Museum and the Churchill War Rooms. If you visit the latter, you'll need to purchase tickets online before leaving home.

If you like boats, consider Portsmouth. We did it by train as an exhausting day trip from London but if you don't mind packing up and moving to another location you can fill to leisurely days.

The thing about York is that there's a lot to see there, and day-tripping from London doesn't give you an awful lot of time. Don't be seduced by the 4 hours (or a bit under or a bit more) on the train. First you have to get from your hotel to Kings Cross Station. How long will that take? You'll have to do the same thing in reverse at the end of the day.

When you arrive in York you'll be a fair walk from the historic center. Google Maps (usually reliable for this sort of thing) says the walk to York Minster will take about 13 minutes; to the Shambles it's about 15 minutes. I only walked, but I imagine a taxi could get you pretty close to the church, but I'm doubtful about the Shambles. There's lots of pedestrians-only territory in the historic center of York.

Best case, you'll lose a full day in London to get about a half-day in York. I don't think that's good bang for the buck, time-wise. And it's not a cheap rail ticket, either, because you're covering an awful lot of miles.