I have elements of a 30 day trip to England planned for May 2027. (30 to 33 days of ideas and too many uncertainties for 7-10 days in the SW … should we cycle 5 days in the Cotswolds or skip the Cotswolds altogether to spend time in Cornwell, Bath and/or Devon, instead. I’ve pretty much decided on our time in London, less so for Cambridge/East Anglia and the Peak District, quite so for York and cycling in the Lake District, and I know we will finish in Sussex and Kent at the end.)
See https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/england-on-our-own-assistance-please-30-days-by-train-bus-e-bike. (We will likely rent a car for a few days from Oxford or Bath to Kent, via Salisbury [one or two nights] and Portsmouth, with stops at some - certainly not all - of the following: Stourhead, Stonehenge, Winchester, Hastings or Battle Abbey, Rye, Chartwell, Seven Sisters/Beachy Head, Arundel, Leed’s Castle, Bodiam Castle, Tonbridge Castle, Canterbury.)
My current questions for this post are
(1) how long do I have to let my ideas simmer on the back burner, i.e., when should I get real and start booking lodgings for May 2027?
(2) what lodging suggestions might you have for Cambridge or East Anglia, the Peak District (in or near Bakewell, perhaps), York, and Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells as a 3 night base for Sussex & Kent with the thought of then taking public transport more or less directly to LHR to avoid a final night in London, if that is possible?
(3) can we really avoid that last night in London and take trains/tube from Tonbridge or Tunbridge Wells to LHR in time for a late morning or early afternoon flight from LHR to SEA? Are those two towns pleasant bases or too suburban?
(Thanks again to so many of you who answered my prior post 8 weeks ago.)