How long in advance to book lodgings in England

fred, when I was planning my 6-week trip to England (late March through end of April 2024), I started booking in early October of the previous year, and didn't have any problem with lodgings being sold out. That said, it was earlier than May, so you might want to start at the 9-month mark, although I don't think you need to start any earlier than that. Really, for most of the places you're going, I would say 6-8 months ahead would be fine.

The only lodging suggestion I might have would be for the Peak District, but I didn't stay near Bakewell, although I wasn't that far away. I stayed in Castleton at the Bulls Head. Castleton is a lot smaller than Bakewell but has a number of decent hotels, and it is in a beautiful setting, with a lot of access to many hikes around there. There were lots of cyclists there as well. If you don't stay in Castleton, it's worth a visit. It's right near Winnats Pass, which is a limestone gorge with very steep cliffs and a narrow valley. As you drive through the pass, you are surrounded by towering limestone walls covered with green that rise dramatically on either side of you. It’s really awe-inspiring. I really liked my stay there. They have other hotels besides the Bulls Head, although I like the Bulls Head. It's above a pub, so I had dinner and/or lunch there several times and the food was good.

When we book domestic travel, we normally only book hotels a couple of months ahead. Of course if there's a very specific place you want to stay at, or you're going somewhere with sparse accommodation like parts of the Highlands you need to book further ahead than that.

Hello Fred, I don't have any suggestions for your questions (2) & (3). However, for (1), I agree with Mardee that so far the sweet spot for me has been 9 months. That's when I find the best deals and most availability. By 6 months out, it almost feels too late - accommodation is more expensive and in some cases my first choice was all booked up! Of course there are exceptions - for example, last year the Premier Inn I was staying at had a last minute deal which was cheaper than the rate I had, but I could cancel my original booking and rebook at a lower rate - so do keep an eye out for deals.

Have a wonderful trip!

The first weekday train from Tunbridge Wells is at 0531, arrive Charing Cross 0616, say Heathrow by tube 0730, add an hours bad luck factor, means a 12 noon flight.
That's an expensive peak hour train but it can be done. It'll probably be a busy train, and it's a short 4 car one (I used to commute in at 0430 from Essex, and the first two trains 6 minutes apart were both very busy).
Previously I worked at Tunbridge Wells, and it was a packed commuter station. I wouldn't voluntarily go in that early, with luggage. I was lucky to have a 400 yard commute!!
Tonbridge has an earlier 0445 train.
I'd probably opt for late the previous evening straight to Heathrow, and have a leisurely start on departure day.

Tunbridge Wells is a very nice town. Sure it's very outer suburbia, but attractively so, with a lot of history to explore and good easily accessible countryside. Sufficiently rural that my boss who lived about 5 miles away got snowed in once for several days.

There are a couple of bank holiday weekends in May and the last week of May is a national school holiday, so these will be your busiest times. Saying that, there is no really need to book very far in advance. I read this week that almost half of accommodation bookings in the U.K. are made within a month of travel as the market is predominantly domestic.

We are traveling the first 3 weeks of July this year. We booked most our lodging in January however I decided to change a few just this week to cheaper options as I had to increase our gas budget, and there is plenty of availability for all our stops. I'm not sure if bookings are down this summer, but I was surprised how much was available, especially in our Wales portion of the trip.

I booked most of our hotels for our current trip about 8-9 months out. Funny story though, we had cancelled our hotel in York to take a specific train ride. When it turned out that we were not able to take the train due to bridge damage, we changed our plans back to staying in York for 4 nights and were able to get a room (ground floor even) one week before our planned stay!