Day trip to Bath/Stonehenge from London?

Your schedule seems to have you coming back to Salisbury from Stonehenge at 5 pm and then traveling to Bath for half a day. Is that correct?

I'd choose Bath over Stonehenge every time. Go by train from London early in the morning, spend the day, have dinner and catch the train back to London.

You can also visit York from London on the same kind of schedule.

I remember a long walk from Salisbury station into the town center. You might plan on a cab if the Stonehenge bus doesn't stop at the station.

I think it's too tight. Why do you want to visit Stonehenge? Personally I think it's magnificent but that's because I have a real interest in the Neolithic era, if you don't then I suspect that it will be of little interest. 1 1/2 hours is long enough if you're really interested but I've seen people spend 20 minutes and then leave with a look of boredom in their faces. It just seems to be one of those "must do" places but that's only perpetuated by everyone including it on their itinerary not because they actually want to see it but because everyone else seems to go. The last time I took my kids to Stonehenge was in the Summer holidays, it took an hour and 1/4 to drive there and we arrived around 10.00. Coupled with lunch and a wander around the cathedral and viewing the Magna Carter we didn't arrive home until late afternoon. You would have to leave London early and be prepared to rush around to cram Bath in as well, and doing it no justice, before returning to London in the evening.

It all boils down to your interests. There is so much to see in that little pocket of England (and elsewhere) that it seems a shame to tick something off a "to do" list if there's no actual interest. Bath deserves more than a day, I could spend most of it at the Roman Baths, others would baulk at the prospect. You could spend several hours wandering around Salisbury Cathedral and the surrounding area and include a viewing of the Magna Carta. You could spend a day in Winchester (closer to London) and view all it has to offer.

I find it a shame that a significant number of tourists visit the UK and the only trips they consider are Oxford/Cotswolds/Stonehenge/Bath when there is so much more to see.

I’ve been visiting London since 1972. Never fails to impress. I’m also one to include a few days elsewhere in the U.K. on each sojourn. Cotswolds, Durham, Lyme Regis, Stonehenge, Lincoln, York, Bath are few other areas I’ve explored by car and by train.

That said you’ve stated it this is your first visit to London so why not concentrate on enjoying London for London. There are the iconic sites but there is so MUCH more than those well known spots.

I love the fact that what Stonehenge is remains a debatable mystery. However I agree it seems one of those sites too often included on an itinerary simply because...
Rather like the Grand Canyon when visiting the SW.

What is your visit about? Are you interested in archaeology? History? Architecture? Theatre? WW2?
Art? Music? Take a moment to truly define why you are going and what you MUST see. If Stonehenge remains atop the list then by all means go. It’s your trip. Make it reflect your interests.

Not pushing for Stonehenge (it would bore me to tears, so I've never gone) or Bath (where I loved the Asian Art Museum but found the town's architecture dull), but the Cotswolds can be visited from Bath (MadMax day-trips leave from Bath, and there may be some others), so you could base yourself in Bath for two or three nights and kill a lot of birds from there with much less traveling back and forth. I think you'd be able to see more of the Cotswolds without having to travel there all the way from London. I believe hotels in Bath are rather expensive, but surely not more so than in London.

I don't know how much time you have in London, but 10 days was nowhere near enough time for me. A lot of the museums are so large that you can spend a day or longer in each one. Then you have walking tours, the theatre, and markets.

I went to Salisbury from London mid-morning and spent the night in Salisbury then went to Bath the next morning and spent the day there before going to Cardiff. I enjoyed the walk from the Salisbury train station to the cathedral-it didn't seem long at all. I did not go to Stonehenge or the Roman Baths(since I'd been to Pompeii). I cannot imagine trying to do Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath in a single day from London-I think the idea to spend some nights in Bath and do a tour to Cotswolds from there is a good one. We are planning to do the half-day Mad Max tour of Avebury and Lacock this summer. I think Avebury will be more enjoyable than Stonehenge would be.

I did not go to Stonehenge or the Roman Baths(since I'd been to Pompeii).

Pompeii and the Roman Baths in Bath are worlds apart. They are so different that I would never consider not visiting one of them because I'd been to the other.

Thanks JC. I'll keep that in mind.

I always say it’s a mistake to do long day trips from London, which is expensive and holds no more than 30% of England’s historic sites. Spend at least half your nights outside London.

Thank you to everyone for these comments. To answer some of the questions, this is my first trip and I am a solo traveler. I am spending 7 of 10 days in London. I have set aside one day for Windsor and have two additional days left for day trips from London. I am spending all of my nights in London. It is clear to me that Stonehenge and Bath in a day is too much - which was my fear. The question still remains for me what are two other good day trips from London. I do not have an agenda, bur rather I just enjoy seeing something other than a big city, so would enjoy visiting someplace smaller, with a different feel and perhaps a slightly varied history.

It’s not what I recommend but if you’re set on all your nights in London choose a London location good for your day trips like say Near Victoria Station.

There are expensive bus tours for Bath and Stonehenge that allow ‘doing it all’ in one long day without needing all the piecemeal tickets and logistics of going alone.

If you have 2 full days for day trips you could consider staying overnight in Salisbury. So...take an early train to Salisbury, get the first Stonehenge Tour coach from the station which is usually around 930 in the summer. The coach is run by the local transport company called Salisbury Reds. They call the bus out to Stonehenge a tour but it's really just transportation.

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/timetable

Head back to Salisbury after your time at the stones, have some lunch and spend the rest of the afternoon at Salisbury Cathedral seeing the building and the Magna Carta and perhaps a walk around the Cathedral Close. There is a nice tea room/cafe facing the cloister area in the Cathedral. I also enjoy the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum which is on the Close as well. Enjoy Evensong at 530, then spend the night at a B&B in Salisbury. I've stayed at Cathedral View a couple of times. It's inexpensive and the owners are so very nice. The coach stops at Old Sarum on the way back so if you have an interest in Iron Age Hill forts you could do a quick stop there as well. Walking from the bus stop to the hill fort, doing a quick circuit, then back to the bus stop to wait will probably be an hour.

The next morning head for Bath for the day, then back home to your London hotel. I would keep my London hotel for the night I was away. I would just take the bare minimum in my purse or small backpack to get me thru the night away and leave my suitcase in London.

I'm one that loves Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. I've stayed in each city multiple days on multiple trips and still love to return.

I have also contemplated doing one of the London Walks day trips. They do Oxford, Cambridge plus many others. You can of course do them on your own...just a suggestion.

www.walks.com

Love what Pam said. When I went to Bath in summer of 2016, I used a left luggage place near the train station that is mentioned in rick's book.

Thanks all. I have clearly scrapped my original idea. I am not sure I am willing to pay the price of my London hotel for two nights and then pay for a hotel outside of London so I think I will stick with a small group tour to the Cotswolds one day and then take a separate day trip by train to Bath on another day. I really appreciate all of the help!