My husband & I stayed in Stansted and travelled outward via bus and train to nearby cities and went to Colchester and Cambridge.
Are there other cities that are in reasonable bus or train proximity to other major sites in England:, Italy, Germany or Switzerland? we like history, castles, museums, countryside towns, and some major cities. We are looking to stay in one place and do day trips out from the base of operations.
It's a good plan - for the UK (not only England) in addition to London, I would recommend York, Newcastle or Durham for the north of England, and Edinburgh for Scotland. Possibly Bristol as well for the southwest,
We've stayed in Chester, a couple of times. We flew into Manchester and rented a car from there. We stayed in a Townhouse B&B just outside of Town. The next time we stayed in a Pub on the road to Conwy, Wales. We went on to visit most of Prince Edward's Castles. There are several Hotels inside Chester's Walls. You are also easy access to Liverpool, we drove under the Mersey River. Blackpool is on the way north to the Lake District. If you go south you go through where the "Potteries" factories are located. you can go on to the Cotswolds. I have to suggest that if you can; don't sleep in one place the whole time as you will soon get tired of backtracking. We stayed on a few farm B & Bs in Wales and the Lake District. There are Train and Bus Routes so you can stay in Chester.
I've used Windsor as a hub and day tripped to London, Stonehenge, Avebury, etc.
For Italy, Germany and Switzerland you probably want to post in those forums.
We loved staying in Rome and Florence for the incredible art and architecture there. I don’t know how you feel about big cities.
In England we have stayed in Bath and York, and have found lots to do via trains including going to Durham to see its wonderful cathedral and to Castle Howard and on an All Creatures Great and Small day-long tour from York. In Switzerland we plan to stay in Lucerne for a few days and in the Lauterbrunen valley for a week for outdoor activities.
Nuremberg in Germany would be considered a hub city, I think. You can stay there as a base and and take day trips to many other towns that come out of the "spokes" like Regensburg, Bamberg, Würzburg; even Rothenburg ob der Tauber. And Nuremberg itself is wonderful with so much history and interesting places to see.
