England transport info needed

Firstly you can take the RailAir coach from Heathrow to Reading and pick up the train to Bath. Or I think there is National Express coach from Heathrow to Bath.

Yes, from Heathrow Airport you have the choice of either getting a bus to Reading railway station, which is on the line to Bath, or getting a coach direct from Heathrow all the way. For details of the Reading bus see www.railair.com. To check times and buy advance tickets from Reading to Bath see www.gwr.com. For buses all the way from Heathrow to Bath see www.nationalexpress.com. There are usually significant discounts for both rail and bus long-distance travel in the UK if you buy now, but the tickets will probably be limited to a specific journey and you will need to buy a new full-price ticket if you miss that.

Stratford-on-Avon to Liverpool is a fairly direct trip by train, changing in Birmingham. You may have to transfer between the Moor Street and New Street stations in Birmingham which is a short distance but may not be well sign-posted - print out something from a map site in advance. You can buy discount advance tickets for that route at www.virgintrains.co.uk. Liverpool to Manchester has very frequent rail services and it's a short enough distance that there's not much discount if you buy in advance.

We took the bus from Heathrow all the way to Bath, and found it to be very comfortable and stress-free way to travel. Upon arrival, we had about a 3-block walk to our hotel. While we did not go to Stratford-Upon-Avon or Liverpool, we did take the train from Bath to York, and really liked the train. It was easy to find the right train, and they were so efficient.

The best train prices are available 12 weeks before travel, so book ASAP to lock in prices. Fares are cheaper if you book for a certain time train, but are only valid for this, so if you miss it, you will have to buy again. Fares are usually cheaper if the journey starts after 9.30 midweek or at the weekend.

Use trains where possible as these are usually much quicker. Use rome2rio.com to plan routes.

Take the train back to London from Manchester rather than fly.

If you get online you can get tickets from Manchestet Piccadilly to London Kings Cross for £22.00. No need to fly.

When going from Stratford-upon-Avon to Liverpool by train, DO NOT buy a through ticket = expensive. Do this > buy a single from Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham (Moor Street) on the day for £7.70. Book in advance - for a specific train for the Birmingham (New Street) to Liverpool (Lime Street) leg with London Midland Trains.

It is worth spending a couple of hours or so wandering around Birmingham city centre.http://visitbirmingham.com

Manchester to London Kings Cross would be by a very indirect route. The trains from Manchester to London arrive at Euston.

Whether to travel from Manchester to London by air or train depends on what you intend to do when you get to London. If you are immediately flying out of Heathrow afterwards it would be worth flying there from Manchester. Otherwise it will be less hassle to travel by train.

Thank you everyone for your links to useful sights and your helpful information. I really appreciate it. Also, regarding getting back to London, I already have the flight booked from Manchester as we are flying on to Amsterdam.

"I already have the flight booked from Manchester as we are flying on to Amsterdam. "

this reads as you're flying from Manchester to London to Amsterdam - surely not? plenty of flights from MAN to AMS

Yes, ramblin' on, we are booked from Manchester to London to Amsterdam. I booked this last June with British Airways Avios. We're taking a full day to get to Amsterdam, but I didn't want to get involved with "low cost carriers" who might charge more for my suitcase than for me. I know this isn't ideal, but when you are trying to use airline miles or Avios, it seems that your choices are very restricted. I thought I made the best choice of what was available at the time I booked it. I just looked at the British Airways website and saw that they have direct flights available on Flybe. I've never heard of Flybe and didn't see those offered on their website last June.