Heading to England - can't decide where in England though

A simple plan -- a week or so in London at one hotel, then train to York for several days, then back to London for the rest of the time at another hotel in a different part of the city. Easy train connection to York. From London you could also do day trips to places like Windsor, Oxford, Salisbury, Canterbury, Cambridge, even Bath.

Edit -- If you're willing to drive you could spend more time in York and do day trips in the surrounding countryside.

I would base in London, York, and Bath(for Salisbury and maybe a bus tour that includes Cotswolds and Avebury) . The last 2 should also be somewhat less expensive for lodging than London.

Base in London.

Consider two different Premier Inns in vastly different neighborhoods.

Try the Richmond Premier Inn. Richmond is a very nice neighborhood and there’s the gorgeous Richmond Park.

Then maybe the Premier Inn Southwark. Close to The Shard and Waterloo Station.

I'd really recommend nailing down a list of most of the places you'd want to day trip to before you decide where to spend all your nights. I wouldn't want to pay high London hotel rates just to keep taking trips out of town. That is doubly true if you are taking repeated trips in the same direction. I prefer to find a cheaper place to spend something like four nights and visit several surrounding towns from there. For example, I used Bristol as a base for seeing Wells, Cardiff and Bath. I stayed in Oxford and took a one-day van tour of the Cotswolds. I stayed in Brighton and sidetripped to Arundel and Lewes.

While taking spur-of-the-moment day trips allows one to take weather into consideration (and I am all for that!), UK rail fares are often painfully high if you buy your ticket on the day of travel, so spontaneity can come at a high price.

Dick - Thank you. I like the simplicity of your plan. I keep coming back to York as a possible destination.

Claudia - Thank you for the Premier Inn suggestions. The rooms look a little too small for two people who will be working for 8 hours a day on occasion. I think I need to find something like a small apartment with a table at a minimum. I would definitely stay at Premier Inns if I was vacationing only.

acraven - I don’t think we’ll take too many day trips because we’ll probably work 9 out of the 21 days. The one must do for us is Bletchley Park (total math and WWII geek here). Not sure what else.

Cala - I can’t wait to visit the Cotswolds someday. Would I have to worry about wifi connection in that part of England? I’m intrigued by Bath.

I wish we could stay for 3 months. So many places we want to see and visit!

Look at Trip Advisor rentals and Booking.com. Airbnb is usually far more expensive (even for the same place if they are listed on multiple platforms).

The second most expensive place for accommodation outside of London is Bath.

Most places you will rent should have good WiFi. What you may not get, particularly in rural areas such as the Cotswolds or the Lake District is a good /any mobile phone signal.

Had you considered staying in a bigger city such as Manchester or Leeds? There will be a greater choice of accommodation and travel options are better plus they have museums, theatres etc.

I would opt for a week in London, a week in York/Manchester/Leeds and a week in Edinburgh. These link easily by train, whereas Bath is west and doesn’t link as well. You can easily get out into the countryside by train from these bases.

Splitting your time between Edinburgh, York and London might be an option. Three significant UK cities all connected on the East Coast Mainline and served by LNER.

Probably a little out of the way for most but, Ironbridge and the Ironbridge Gorge with its many museums, the Ironbridge and its importance to the Industrial Revolution, is one of my favorite areas of England -- especially if you are interested in history and technology.

I know that many folk seem to like Premier Inn, but another option that I have thoroughly enjoyed is Locke Hotels -- https://www.lockeliving.com/en . I've stayed at Eden Locke in Edinburgh and Locke at Broken Wharf in London and loved both of them.