England/France?

Thank you for your response. We do love the countryside and history. We love museums but typically only go if the weather is bad. I do know that I do not want to bite off more than I can chew. I don’t want to try to fit in something extra and go at too fast a pace and come back exhausted!

The British Museum is a must-see. Will you travel by public transportation or rent a car? Either way you could do Bath, Salisbury(nice little town with wonderful cathedral), Cotswolds(for countryside).

Thank you!I am definitely open to renting a car when I head out into the countryside. I have been reading through Ricks England book and do want to go to the countryside area as you have mentioned. If I were to spend 11 nights in England, how would you recommend those nights get split up?

Bruce, just to make sure, you do understand the differences in driving in the UK?

We just did London-York-Stratford upon Avon - Bath in 14 days. We heard that itinerary referred to, as the standard American circuit. But we did it all by rail - glad we didn't have a car to deal with. There is always a temptation to add Scotland and/or Ireland to the itinerary, but that was enough. England is worth as much time as you can spend there.

That really helps! Thank you so much!

Think about visiting just the U.K this time. I don't know how much of France you've seen though. Do you plan to continue visiting Europe? If so, focus on the UK, England and Scotland for this trip.

If you have been to France before than I would suggest just spending 1 of your 3 weeks there and the other 2 in England. You could split it between London, Bath, and the Cotswolds seeing those places plus the surrounding areas like Salisbury, Neolithic Britain, Wells and Glastonbury, the Cheddar Gorge etc...

Hello Bruce. My plan for next spring is to fly into
London, train to Edinburgh, fly to Paris, and then fly
home from Paris. I will never rent a car so train/plane
travel for me. My three favorite cities in one trip!

Have a great time no matter what you decide!

For English history it is hard to beat York - Romans, Vikings, Normans, medieval period. From York a car out to the Dales or the Moors is doable if you take your time. There is lots of walking available.

Bath, Cotswolds and area also has lots (Stratford upon Avon, Salisbury, Oxford, Winchester). There are numerous day tours available or a car since distances are not large.

From London there are also lots of day trips - Windsor, Hampton Court, Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Dover.

You need to decide what you are interested in.

We have visited the UK many times. IMHO the two most interesting parts of England are the West Country and the northeast (Counties York and Northumberland). If you fly into LHR, it is easy to pick up a car there and head west to Winchester or Salisbury for a first night, then continue west to make a loop through Devon and Cornwall, returning through Wells. Then head up towards Bath, Oxford, Stratford (if you must!), Warwick, Kenilworth, then return the car to LHR and finish with a few nights in London before taking the Eurostar to Paris.

If the northeast sounds more appealing, then take a train from London to York, spend a day exploring there, then rent a car at the train station and head out to explore lovely coastline, pretty rolling hills, and many castles and abbeys. You haven't mentioned Scotland, but if it appeals, continue your drive into Scotland for the second week. I can give you information about Scotland if you are interested. You could fly Edinburgh to Paris.

We did 10 days in England a few years ago...
Stayed in London for 4 nights... Train to York (2 nights).... picked up rental car and made our way south (a day in Wales) then down to Bath and Stonehedge. Taking in whatever we thought was of interest.
Be aware that rental cars in Europe are mostly manual transmission and you will be driving on the opposite side of car and road. It is an interesting experience. We found that picking up a rental car in a small city is easier than trying to navigate out of a large city.

(deleted comment in which I mistakenly stated that OP had mentioned Scotland in one of his entries.)

I think you have missread! I never have mentioned Scotland!

Several others mentioned Scotland after Suki did, but not the OP.

Your question is really impossible to answer. One trip is not enough. If you don't want to rush around, my advice would be to avoid the temptation to follow the RS whirlwind tour. Pick one part of England and stick with that. I would not try to see Bath and York on the same 11 day (or 14 day) trip. They're too far apart.

You will need a chunk of time for London, say 3-4 days or even a week. Figure out if you want to rent a car. If you do, consider Winchester, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Avebury, possibly Portsmouth, or Bath. Or if you want to go north, consider York, Durham, Hadrian's Wall or Northumberland. Also, if you head north, I would consider flying from the north to France for the 2nd part of your trip (Going back through London to Paris would take extra time.)

I would actually skip Bath and York, but many would consider that heresy.

I like Eef's strategy -- London plus one "countryside" area (using the term loosely). Could be York-Durham-Hadrian's Wall-Lake District, could be Salisbury-Stonehenge-Bath-Cotswolds-Oxford, could be southeast of London and then west into, say, Dorset. I'd give London a week and the non-London part another week, leaving your third week for France. And if your "country" area is up Yorkshire-Northumbria way you might look for a flight from somewhere up there to wherever you go in France, to save time.

Driving is tricky but the best way to see rural areas and give you the flexibility you may need. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it. (I have, and I prefer UK trains if possible.)

I'd be tempted to suggest spending the whole time in England, or the UK, but if your flight home is from Paris you might as well go to France (duh....). If you don't want to spend that last week in or near Paris, pick another region that appeals to you and try to get straight there, whether by train connecting with the Eurostar (which most likely means at least a ride through Paris to another station) or by air from England.

Lots of great day trips from London too-Cambridge, Windsor, Dover-all doable by train if you don't want to drive. We have been to England(sometimes as overnight layover on way to continent) 6 times, only rented a car once and returned it quickly, love the trains, find them low stress! Of course, we've never been there during a train strike.

My apologies, Bruce, you certainly did NOT mention Scotland. It was indeed someone else.

I wasn't paying enough attention! Sorry.