Itinerary Help! Girls Trip

Oxford is not a bad place to start your trip, there are direct buses from Gatwick to Oxford, so no need to go in to London if you're spending a few days there at the end of the trip. While not a small village, I'd say the town is both charming and scenic. And with a lot of history as well as couple of Harry Potter filming sites.

I can strongly recommend Kew Gardens! It is huge, but there are trams that can help with mobility issues. There are several greenhouses, a small aquarium, and LOTS of different 'theme' gardens (oh- and one greenhouse is the Princess Diana house, featuring low water usage plants). The rose garden is lovely, too. Their shop is one of our favorite, with very nice things - not really a lot of kitch.

Windsor makes a great day trip by train and the castle is great (also one of our very favorites). Several tea rooms there, too. And you can watch the Changing of the Guard there without dealing with the crowds at Buckingham Palace. I'm not certain they will be operating in April, but check at the bridge over to Eaton as there are river cruises that take you behind the castle and out into the countryside for about an hour's trip.

https://highclerecastleshop.co.uk/categories/spring-2019-admission-tickets It does not appear that Highclere Castle will be open for touring when you'll be there--people actually live there so there are very specific dates. I did a full day tour from London last Sept that included time in Bampton (church where everyone gets married, subs as Downton Village), Cogges Manor (Yew Tree farm in the show) and finally 4 hours at Highclere. These areas are spread out about 1 hour from each other, so if you don't end up driving you might find a tour that includes the villages and other sites, and at least see the Castle from the grounds.

Visiting Windsor Castle was one of my favorite things, also a day in Oxford.

The difficulty with gardens in bloom when you are there is that when you are there is April. Just about be getting out the daffodils and roadside narcissus. Maybe a few Crocus left. Not much else started. Maybe a few early tulips here and there. Certainly no wisteria until May.

This is from somebody who is all around National Trust and National Garden Scheme gardens all year.

There may be something worthwhile - well there certainly will be something worthwhile - at Anglesey Abbey and Nymans, but it may not be what you are looking for. Anglesey Abbey's Winter Garden is world famous but not much of it involves flowers.

June is when roses are out, not April unfortunately.

Remember when planning activities and clothes the April Showers Bring May Flowers. If you are lucky.

Thank you for the suggestions! I’m checking out Oxford, the gardens, and Windsor now.

Oh no, bummer about the wisteria. I seemed to have been steered wrong then, a travel blog I found said to aim for mid-April, but it does seem that May would have been better (unfortunately not do-able for my travel mates). Thank you all for the suggestions!

I checked Highclere Castle site and they’re open between April 7 and 18, but closed for Easter.

We plan to bring rain coats!

hey coreyandkyla
here's some info to keep your mind swimming. is the "girls trip" april 10 to 16? bedandbreakfast.com/london, lots of listings there. i thought this way because of 2 in a room and a bathroom instead crowding and 1 bathroom for 4.
walks.com has different walks different days, scroll down to taxi tours and they list a driver/guide you can contact with an email to her (claire: londonukguide.com [email protected])
another driver/guide: robinabrown.com it will cost more, arrange your places to go and split the cost, we did this in florence and amsterdam, freetoursbyfoot.com
b-bakery.com does an afternoon tea bus tour around central london or sit at their bakery in covent garden for tea, girlsafternoontea.co.uk
londonwaterbus.com or jasons.co.uk a cruise down the canal. we took the tube to little venice (canal with people living on houseboats)
after london take the train to cotswolds (moreton-in-marsh). look at secret cottage tours (cotswoldtourismtours.co.uk) this has been mentioned on this forum. they also have hotel/bnb recommendations on website, looks like something you're looking for to enjoy and relax.
hope this helps you out, with the short time you have and lots to do, you'll have to plan another trip haha was looking at mobility issues with some of your group, i had a knee issue when we went but still enjoyed, just very slowly and taxis were our best friend. it's a large busy city, you'll hear every language in the world, sit people watch have a cup of tea or glass of vino. picadilly circus and trafalgar square will have "free" and fun entertainment, stroll thru harrods, changing of the guard will be so packed and you''ll stand a looooong time and not see much with people in front of you. we happened up it woth the horses galloping down the street, it's was gorgeous. don't forget your picture in a telephone booth.
aloha

Just looking over your list of interests here are some things that came to mine!
Harry Potter / Tea - The Potion Room
Regular Tea - The Wolseley - don't pay ridiculous prices at one of the big hotels. This place is 12.95 GBP for cream tea and it's absolutely beautiful!
Tea on a Double Decker Bus - Yep...on a bus driving around London.
Manor Houses - Hatfield House in St. Albans - stunningly gorgeous with gardens that are better than most IMHO. Highclere is really nice too expecially if you're a DA fan!
If you go to the Lake District there are a number of cottages that might fit the bill for being similar the one in The Holiday. One is owned by a farmer and his family...The Cottage in the Clouds. Next to a beautiful tarn in the hills with sheep, etc. It's incredibly picturesque.
This farm, also in the Lake District, was owned by Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit, etc.). Yew Tree Farm...not sure how many are on your girls trip but it would be a lovely place to stay!
For gardens I would highly recommend spending time in Oxford...the colleges plant gardens, the meadows around Christchurch College are gorgeous, and if you head out to Blenheim Palace they also do a fabulous job. Hopefully you'll be there as everything starts to bloom!
Have a great time with all your friends - sounds like a great trip!

By my calculations you just have 5 days and some odd hours. At least some of you will probably be severely sleep-deprived and jetlagged on your arrival day. As I'm sure you know, you could easily spend 4 weeks in southern England, targeting places aligned with your interests and you'd miss a lot of great places. You'll maximize your sightseeing opportunities if you really rein in the miles covered. Your interests seem rather heavily tilted toward the rural, so I won't tell you to spend all your time in London--which is what I would do in April.

Oxford, already suggested, hits a lot of your interests. There are a couple of very good museums, and there are van-tours of the Cotswolds departing from the Moreton-in-Marsh train station. M-i-M is a quick train ride from Oxford. (There are other van tours of the Cotswolds from Bath.) I am not sure how likely you are to have good weather for visiting small villages in April, however.

Since you mentioned stained glass, I can recommend Canterbury. It is not a village, but it has a very picturesque historic center and a great cathedral. There is a stained-glass museum upstairs at the cathedral which allows you to see some historic glass at eye level, which is not usually possible in cathedrals. Unfortunately, I think the only access to the museum is via stairs. I also enjoyed the walking tour of the historic district offered by the tourist office, but I don't know whether or how frequently it runs in April.