First time in England 14 days

It looks very ambitious to me. Day 3, for example, we did a day in Avebury, a day in Wells and a day in Glastonbury. That may be slower than you like, but I think if you try to do all three, you will mostly drive around. I also think Day 6 is impossible. Stonehenge and Blenheim are at least half days, and Oxford is a day.

You can't see it all. You will have to choose. Check out how long it will take to go from place to place, add 50% to the time, then decide if you really want to spend that much time in the car. I think if you limit yourself geographically, you'll have a much more satisfying trip.

We just returned from the 13 day RS Village of South England tour. This tour covered the area Canterbury to Land's End. Included on the tour were Stonehenge and Tintagel. We added three more nights in Bath, and included a day trip to Oxford. We decided to visit London and northern England on another trip. Put another way, it would take three RS tours totaling 34 days to cover England fully (Villages of South England, Best of England and London city tour).

If you look at Rick's suggested England itinerary, you'll see where it differs from yours: two nights each in Penzance, Salisbury, and Liverpool, not one. You don't have to make all the stops but I don't recommend trying the same stops faster than Rick does them. You can also reduce driving distance by cutting at least two from the list of Penzance, Liverpool, and York.

That looks brutal. Lose half of it.

Day 3 - Delete Avebury - you would be going in the wrong direction before having to flip around & head SW.

Day 5 - Forget about Dartmoor but try and add Dartmouth going from Salcombe via the coast road A379 (Torcross). Totnes has some interesting buildings in the main street.

I agree with the others that you're trying to cram too many destinations into too many days. For example: Stonehenge, Oxford, Blenheim (sleep in Chipping Campden) all on one day? It is humanly possible to drive to those locations in one day, but you'll barely have time to step out of the car and stretch your legs, much less actually experience what each of these sights have to offer.

14 days is a nice amount of time to enjoy England, but if enjoyment is to be a key feature of your trip then you need to decide which places are most important to you and eliminate those that are less essential. For example, if you really want to see Cornwall, then eliminate the Cotswolds, Liverpool, and York. If you don't care too much about seeing anything in London, then only stay there the night before you fly home.

Last year we drove to Sheffield, spent 3 days in the Peak District and visited Bakewell and Chatsworth House. Then drove down to Blenheim Palace. After that is where we bit off too much. We went on to Portsmouth and visited the harbor area. Missed Winchester all together. Then on to London for two nights. What I would have done better is to skip Portsmouth that trip altogether(8 days total). We are returning to England in September for 7 days, even less time. Its going to be limited to Bath, South Wales and a day trip to London. We are still thinking about the Cotswolds and Winchester. Less is more! Your itinerary is really packed.

Thank you all for your feedback - Please see my revised my Itinerary. I am not sure about Day 6, Weymouth or Torquay or Bournemouth or_______?

8-5 DAY 1: Saturday - Arrive 8:00 London's Heathrow Airport, Train to BATH (2 nights in Bath)

8-6 Day 2: Sunday - Bath (sleep in Bath) 8-6

8-7 Day 3: Monday - Pick up car, -Wells, (sleep 1 night in Bude at the Beach House,)

8-8 Day 4: Tuesday – Penzance (2 nights)

8-9 Day 5: Wednesday- Penzance

8-10 Day 6: Thursday - Torquay or Weymouth (1 night)

8-11 Day 7: Friday- Salisbury - On the way stop in Dartmouth for lunch? (sleep 2 nights in Salisbury)

8-12 Day 8: Saturday – Salisbury - (Stonehenge – Highclere Castle)

8-13 Day 9: Sunday – Oxford Drop off car Sunday if possible if not Monday AM

8-14 Day 10: Monday - train to London- (sleep 4 nights in London)

8-15 Day 11: Tuesday - (sleep in London)

8-16 Day 12: Wednesday – London (sleep in London)

8-17 Day 13: Thursday - London (sleep in London)

8-18 Day 14: Friday - FLY out of Heathrow Airport

I’m a little concerned about August Traffic so I am trying keep Cornwall travel on the weekdays. I am not a fan of crowds, but August is the best time of year for me to travel. I cut out the Cotswold’s, York and Liverpool. Any suggestions for a Beatles, Stones and Kinks fan for sites in London other than Abbey Road?
What are your thoughts on where to stay between Penzance and Salisbury (or should drive straight to Salisbury?) Please feel free to critique and any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you

On day 6 of your revised plan, you say you may go to Dartmouth - having already been to Torquay or Weymouth - which are further east. You would not double back westward in order to fit in Dartmouth. I would certainly forget about Torquay as there are better places and the roads in that area can be very congested in summer.

I don’t think that Glastonbury is worth seeing.

Getting from Bath to Bude - you have about 3 route options. Firstly, getting out of Bath to reach the M5 for the south-west can be a bit awkward. Take a look at this map of the area - which you can zoom and move to see other areas. Look at the roads on street view by bringing on the yellow man. The colours on the roads indicate traffic flows with red indicating jams. (This information will be live at the time you click it - so allow for time difference).https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2777637,-2.7018379,32492m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

When you leave Wells, you will be on the A39 to Bridgewater where you can join the M5 (3 lanes each way). Now you could travel down the M5 to come off at J27 near Tiverton and then take the A361 westwards. This is a good road - by Brit standards. At Barnstaple - join A39 and a few miles after Bideford, you will see a road (Right) for CLOVELLY. Well worth the detour to see this village - which you must pay to enter. Then continue to Bude. https://www.devonguide.com/clovelly

If you want a slower but scenic twisting route with some steep hills - go to Bridgewater and follow A39 all the way as this takes you through the EXMOOR NATIONAL PARK. Detour into DUNSTER. (Probably best not to use this route in bad weather). Just after Minehead - look out for country lane on R for SELWORTHY = a village of thatched cottages. Nearby ALLERFORD has a lovely old bridge. Eventually you reach LYNMOUTH - well worth a stop. Then it is on to Barnstaple to join the route mentioned in previous paragraph. http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/selworthy

When heading back east, POLPERRO & LOOE are worth a look if you can fit them in. When you do the Salcombe - Dartmouth area - return to A38 via Totnes and A384. You might wish to spend a night in the Kingsbridge to Totnes area which is known as ’The South Hams’. Avoid Torquay is my advice = congestion.https://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/explore-south-devon/south-hams

Weymouth can be congested.