8 day - mid May - England trip

Places to stay look at Premier Inn chain. It does all the basics right.

For your initial stay in London, with the plan of going on to York, I would stay at one of the Premier Inns near Kings Cross - the station you take to York. +I assume you arrive at Heathrow, if so, easy to get to King's Cross hotels using the Piccadilly line.

York is fabulous. +An attraction that is not on everyone's radar - but should be - is the Railway Museum, just terrific.

One thought, Bath can be done as a day trip from London. So maybe not so much moving around needed?

Whilst York to Bath by train is eminently doable it is slow, will require at least one change and will use up most of a day. If you came back from York to London you could do a day trip to Bath and would free up time to do other stuff in and around London. For example Windsor, Hampton Court, Kew Gardens and Greenwich are all a relatively quick train ride from central London but need the best part of a day each to see properly.

Hi, Beth,

I would second the rec for Premier Inns. They are very clean, very comfortable and very reasonably priced. They have many locations throughout London and the UK. I'm staying at the Premier Inn County Hall in London for 5 nights in mid-March and I'm only paying £140 a night for my Premier Plus room (extras like mini-fridge, enhanced wifi, etc.). A standard double would have been about £20 less.

One thing you might consider is tacking the 2 London nights at the end to your first 2 nights. so you would be spending 4 nights in London at the beginning. Plus if you follow Katy's advice above and take a day trip or two to Bath (it's only an hour from London by train) you could do 5 nights in London, then head to York for 3 nights. That would give you 2 full days in York instead of one, with time for a day trip from York. York is wonderful but the surrounding countryside is just gorgeous! Depending on your interests, you could spend the day visiting Castle Howard, or Whitby, a gorgeous fishing village by the sea, or anyone of a number of charming villages in North Yorkshire.

So something like this:
London: 5 nights (include day trip to Bath)
York: 3 nights (include day trip to ?)
London: 1 night - maybe airport hotel?

After that, just take the train back to London for your flight. In fact, you could just book a hotel at the airport the night before. I'm doing that - staying at the Holiday Inn Express at Terminal 4, which will save me a lot of time and angst for my 6:30 am flight.

ETA: I would use Google Maps to calculate distances rather than Rome2Rio, which I have found to be inaccurate a lot. Google gets its information from the train stations directly. For example, when I do a search for directions using public transport from London to Bath, it shows me that there are direct trains (using GWR - Great Western Railway) that take about 1 hour and 18 minutes from London Paddington. I'm not saying Laurie Ann's info is inaccurate; just that I've found Google Maps to be more reliable than Rome2Rio.

If you conclude that you would like to do Bath as more than a day trip from London you might consider going there directly upon landing at Heathrow, coach (what we call bus in USA) to Bath and then all your London time at the end. It appears at rome2rio.com that you can train Bath to York through Bristol with only one change but do check the more specific rail sites for best accuracy of available trains and times. With only 8 nights I might not try and do all three cities. You would have lots of options for day trips from any of them if picked just two.

I’m only going to focus on London and it’s neighborhoods.

As you are walker I encourage you to follow the Thames River Path. Few years back I enjoyed following the public art walk; https://the-line.org/.
Got to see non touristy parts of London and as well as interesting public art creations.

As far as other walking options from where ever you are staying in London I’d train to North Sheen and make your way to the Kings Gate Ride off of Sheen Road. Follow the lovely path past the East Sheen cemetary into Richmond Park. Be on the look out for the red fallow dear herds.

From Richmond park you could make your way to Ham House and Gardens. Have a tea or coffee at the Cafe.

For another lovely walk you could tube to Hampstead Heath and walk to Parliament Hill for a lovely view of London. You could also hike into the Heath to the Kenwood House.

London has a number of stellar parks to explore on foot.

EDIT: I’ll 3rd the Premiere Inns. Also meant to say follow to Thames River path the Thames Barrier.
EDIT: Since its your first visit do try to see theatre.
London theatre is brilliant. Checkout offerings at the 1/2 price ticket both.
EDIT: Even if not a museum person know they are free ( i still donate a £ or 2) and are great spots for a respite. Using the loo, having a coffee, sandwich, bowl of soup, etc as well as a meander through the gift shop(s). I often travel to London in November and museum gift shops are great for getting unique Christmas Cards. Ages ago before he was King many of Charles’s watercolor paintings were made into gift cards. I bought a box. He’s quite talented and today I’m rather proud to say I have a King Charles watercolor.

Seconding Claudia’s recommendation for the Thames Path.

In York itself there’s an interesting walk around the old city walls.

If you’re staying in Bath, the Skyline Walk is worth doing.

Just a thought - a more logical train journey from York to London would take you via the east of the country. Although Bath is high on most tourists’ radar, you could look instead at a day in Lincoln (splendid cathedral) or Stamford (beautiful historic town) or maybe Cambridge instead of Bath. All of these might make a more logical journey, but the truth is there are many beautiful towns and cities across the UK.

If you stay in Bath two nights, you should consider doing a Rabbies tour from Bath. I would go to Bath from Heathrow. I have done York to Bath and we missed our transfer to the train. Fortunately a train employee was really helpful to us. Also, when using trains, remember it is "Bath Spa".
EDITED: Sorry, I meant Mad Max day tour, not Rabbies.

wow! Lots of good things to look into here. I will check out Premier Inn for sure - I had made a couple bookings at Hotel 63 (all able to be canceled!) just to make sure I had something as that helps me when starting to plan :) I can already see there's a big difference in prices now (much lower) than mid May for sure so I don't want to put that off.

It does sound like the trip from York to Bath may not be my best bet - I don't think I properly understood the change in the route and missing that connection would be stressful. I had considered going directly to Bath, but I was a little leery of booking tickets when the plane could be late or something else could interfere. Again with the stress, and that would not be the best way to start my vacation :) I'll have to see if there's a better flow for me, or how I can mitigate the stressful parts. I do realize that if I do this I am on a train for much of the day, but the way I travel that will probably be my only downtime in the whole 8 days :D

I will have to go through each of these suggestions and see what might be a better option. I love the walking suggestions, and I already had the Railway museum on my radar :) Thanks for the info so far! Super helpful. I can't wait for this trip.
Beth

63 Bayswater has been my preferred accommodation for years.

I have also stayed at and enjoyed the Premier Inn in Richmond. Did that on my last trip. Will say if one attends an evening performance in the city center it’s a 25 minute Tube ride from Covent Garden to Richmond and then a 25 minute walk to the PI. I found myself at midnight walking from The Quadrant to the PI. Wasn’t scary, simply saying it was a long way “home.” I chose that PI because I love Richmond Park, and my “ local “ is a 15 minute stroll.

There is a lot of mistaken hyperbole about the use of advance tickets. People get stressed for little reason. On a Bath to York trip you will be on two, maybe three trains.

The only one to worry about is the first train. If that is late and you miss your next one your ticket is automatically valid on the following train- in this case it will be along one hour later. (even a train specific Advance Ticket).
Furthermore you are entitled to money back if you are delayed- which is a very simple process.
Bluntly, if you are late just accept it. Take a deep breath and carry on.

Until the last few weeks the advice has been to route through London on cost grounds for a Bath to York journey. That has the 'stress' (maybe complication is a better word) of a cross London transfer. Now that Cross Country have introduced lower advance fares in the last few weeks (taking as much as 75% off ticket costs) the advice has evolved. Via Bristol is a reasonable route again. At a reasonably big station like Bristol there are plenty of directional signs and lots of staff to assist you.

Just so you know, a recent poster here had a bad experience with Hotel 63 in Bayswater, so you may want to keep that in mind. She was a solo traveler like you. I think Claudia has had good experiences there, but just something to be aware of.

ETA: Here is the post I was talking about. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england-reviews/hotel-63-london-england

Isn31c - Thank you so much for that train information. Really helpful to know that missing the connection just means a little bit later train and not losing out completely. Because, as much as I try to move around itinerary within my days, I really think I’d like to keep my initial thoughts. Although the suggestion to do a Rabbies tour from Bath by Cala does sound like a good idea but that could alter how I want to do things too.

Mardee - thanks so much for the link to that conversation. I am almost certain I booked that tiny room being discussed 😀 but I would be completely ok with that. I actually think it sounds pretty interesting and the history of the building was also great to know.

Claudia - I did see your comments in that thread as well and location to public transportation is a huge plus for me. I think it sounds like a great little hotel, and I love places with history and a little bit of oddity.

The review mentioned was by bostonphil7 (sort of a similar name to yours, Beth haha) who has walking problems and travels on a tight budget, so she chooses the absolutely smallest and cheapest room which may not have been as successful as she hoped.

Here's what she wrote:

Hotel 63 is at 63 Bayswater Road, an excellent location.

It is right across the street from Kensington Gardens. It is a block
or two away from Lancaster Gate Station and a reasonable walk to
Paddington Station. Besides the tube, there are numerous bus lines on
the street.

Prices are reasonable and include a small but decent continental
breakfast. There is a slight variety every day and plenty to eat. The
breakfast includes fruit, cereals, sweets, breads, cheese, jams and
jellies, coffee tea and juices.

Many restaurants in the area.

Staff is super helpful and super nice.

There is good TV service and internet service for the most part.

Being on a tight budget, I booked the smallest room at the "cheapest"
price for five nights but was forced to add on a night when my airline
decided to fly me in a. day early. I had to add on a small room but a
larger one for a higher price.

The first room that i stayed in was ok but I was also paying paying
130 pounds for this room being.a Saturday night in London. Everything
worked fine. I had everything that I needed. I believe that had a view
of the street or the Gardens from the window but can not remember.

But the second room that I had was not terribly nice. This was the
smallest room at the "cheapest" price I appeared to have gotten a very
good deal when I booked this room.

The room was on a landing. I believe that i was considered to be on
the first floor but it was a stand alone room. I had to go to the
second floor and walk down steps to the landing that my room was on.
The other option was to go to the first floor and then to walk up a
steep flight of stairs to get to the landing that my room was on. I
was sort of in between floor one and two.

The room was extremely small and that was ok but the window overlooked
an alley and trash bins.

Wi Fi did not always work in this room and I had to go to the lobby to
use the Wi Fi which then worked fine.

TV did not work ok at first but it did improve.

Although a very small and not particularly attractive room, I did have
evrything that I needed.

Location was still great. Breakfast and staff were more than ok.

In walking by other rooms, I noticed some were very pretty and
attractive. They were well located within the B&B with lovely windows
and nice views.

I would not recommend the smallest, "cheapest" room that I stayed in
unless necessary.

If possible and within your budget, I would highly recommend one of
the larger rooms.

Nigel, I consider you a valuable resource on this forum, and I always appreciate your help! But I'm not quite sure why you are trying to defend the original review. Let's face it - Bostonphil said it was a tiny crowded room with no access to the lift. Beth has the right to know that so I don't understand why there is the need to "explain" BP's review (and FWIW, I did link to her post so she could read it). I think the OP has to keep in mind there is a chance she could get that same room.

I will also say that at least one other poster on the thread I linked to (and I) noted that even the smallest room at Hotel 63 was more expensive than any Premier Inn. I found that out when Claudia recommended it to me. It's a nice location but was more expensive than I wanted to pay. And given that I am also a solo traveler and there was a chance I could have been stuck in that room, I've very glad I did not.

It's possible to beat Premier Inn prices sometimes, but you'll usually be in a non-air-conditioned hotel (extremely unlikely to be an issue in May, I'd assume), and there's a good chance of a not-very-central location and no elevator. In B&Bs converted from what we in the US call "row houses", there can be some small, quirky rooms. When I'm in London outside air conditioning season and alone (with no one to split the cost with me), I look for a less expensive place. I've been happy with the Vincent House just north of the Notting Hill Gate Underground Station, but it's not extremely central, and I think one reason I've gotten good rates in the past (haven't been there since the pandemic) is that I've always been staying at least a week.

On the subject of sightseeing, I want to mention London Walks, which has a huge slate of walking tours that vary considerably from day to day. The tours last about 2 hours and cost only 15 GBP each. The guides are all licensed and deliver accurate information in a very engaging manner. I've taken at least 10 or 12 of the tours, and all were excellent. I'd recommend checking the calendar for your dates to see whether there's something that aligns with your interests. https://www.walks.com/ They request that you book in advance but don't require payment before the tour. I confess that I have usually just shown up (which was the policy before the pandemic), because I am loathe to leave a museum early just to run off to take a tour. I've had no problem being included on tours without reservations; I think for a solo traveler it would be unusual to run into a problem. Definitely reserve at least the night before if you are certain of your plans.

London Walks now has a bunch of virtual walks on its website. You could take one from home for 10 GBP and see how great they are.

I'd definitely try to get to one of my out-of-town destinations on the day you arrive in the UK. It takes time to travel from airport or train station to a hotel and get settled in. On a short trip, it's a shame to do that twice in London.

In Bath, also look at Mad Max Tours. I've taken a few with them as have others here. Highly recommended.

My first times in Bath and York about a century ago were one day trips. I've been back to both places for extended stays and it was worth it.

Hi
Nigel - I did get a chance to read the review and I am actually ok with it. Your note about BostonPhil7 and my name similarity is even more true since I live in the Boston area :)

Mardee - I do think I booked that room 🙂but, I don’t mind, it’s really just for sleeping, and I am not finding the Premier Inn prices to be lower than what I booked, and they have much less flexibility than the other as well, on the off chance that something changes. I also really like quirky, don’t mind if there isn’t an elevator, and at the time of year I’m going A/C shouldn’t be an issue.

acraven - thank you for the recommendation on the London Walks. I will definitely keep those in mind since it sounds like I could book them with less notice.

Frank II - I will check out that tour company as well! And yes, I just don’t feel I’d be happy with only a day trip.

Mardee - some people (not necessarily our OP from the Boston area, as was I from 1971 until the blizzard of 1977), but the greater reading public don't like clicking and reading, and I wanted to emphasise that the previous correspondent's tiny crowded room was the exception rather than the rule and she encouraged taking a larger if affordable.

Sorry you took umbrage. We'll stay on the same side....

No worries, Nigel - my "umbrage" (great word!) was only because I thought that you hadn't seen I had posted it. :-)