Itinerary Review - Too busy? Realistic?

I don’t understand why you’re going straight to Cardiff, back to the Cotswolds and then back up to North Wales.

Why not spend your first night in London, then pick the car up at Heathrow the next day, drive to the Cotswolds then make your way north via Tintern Abbey, Wye Valley, Herefordshire, Shropshire etc to North Wales.

Cardiff is okay but not a knockout top sight in my opinion.

Also I should add that almost every part of Britain has pretty villages and towns, not just the Cotswolds. Indeed the journey above through Herefordshire and Shropshire could give you all the quaintness you desire - in particular, Ludlow, once described as England’s loveliest town. It even has a fab castle.

We visited Cardiff, the Cotswolds, York and more on our four week drive tour of S. Wales and England.

1) Cardiff's main attraction is Cardiff Castle, which is worth a visit. Also, consider the Museum of Welsh Life a few miles west of downtown. Further Caerphilly Castle is highly recommended. You can take the train from Cardiff to Caerphilly and not worry about parking there. You need more than half a day in Cardiff. We spent two nights there.
2) South Wales is great, we visited Tenby, Wales and loved the small city that has much history. Also, went on to visit St. David's in the SW corner of Wales as well as Pembroke Castle.
3) We stopped to visit Tintern Abbey and Raglan Castle on our way from Bath to Cardiff. South Wales has much to offer. We did visit N. Wales a few years ago and saw Conwy Castle and town, which was great, but S. Wales has much to offer. The Wye Valle is great.
4) We stayed in Chipping Campden for six nights and used it as a base for visiting Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Stratford Upon Avon as well as the Cotswolds themselves. You do need about two days to see the Cotswolds. Make sure you visit Cirencester.
5) York is one of our favorite places in England. The Munster is wonderful, we spend half a day there. The Railway Museum is great as are walking the walls and visiting some of the museums in the city.

Here is my detailed review of our tour, which provides places to stay and tour. Remember when driving that traffic in the South of England is heavy and you will take longer to go from place to place, especially when using scenic back roads. Check out the guide book Backroads of Britain.
28 days in Britain and Celebrity Eclipse home
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

It makes no sense to land at Heathrow - train to Cardiff - where you only allocate half a day - and then head back east to The Cotswolds via Tintern & Chepstow. You also consider another day trip west from London to Bath. So, how can we see the various places and cut down on the travelling?

Consider - landing at Heathrow and travelling by bus or train to Oxford for your first night. Following day - pick up rental car & head a short distance NW to see Blenheim Palace before heading to The Cotswolds. The best villages in my opinion are Bourton-on-the-Water, Lower Slaughter, Broadway & Chipping Campden (which has Hidcote Gardens nearby). These villages are all in a tight cluster but other attractive villages can be found MANY miles away - such as Castle Combe - which is actually down towards Bath.

Now for getting to Wales. Firstly, you need to decide whether to go directly to NW Wales or south Wales. I would opt for south Wales and firstly head for the lower Wye Valley = Chepstow > Tintern area en route to the Cardiff area. Cardiff area has 4 castles = Castell Coch & Caerphilly Castle - which are just N of the city. St.Fagans Castle & Museum which is on the western side of the city and needs at least half a day. The site is vast with indoor museums about Wales as well as the Castle & Gardens plus all the historic buildings in the grounds. (A tunnel links the 2 halves). Then you have Cardiff Castle in the city centre and the Bay - 1 mile to the south is also worth a look. So, Cardiff needs 2 days ideally. (Don't choose a downtown hotel due to parking issues but would be OK if using public transport). From Cardiff to NW Wales, it is the best part of day’s journey using the A470 - which is scenic for most of the way and you will cross the first range of mountains about 45 minutes N of Cardiff = Brecon Beacons. NW Wales ideally needs 3 full days. 2 nights would surely mean only 1 full day? Consider other places besides Conwy. Conwy is OK if using public transport but as you have a car, you have more places to choose. Conwy is also all narrow streets within medieval walls. Porthmadog makes a good central base - though I would not rave about the town. Portmeirion is nearby and it also has 2 narrow gauge steam railways - which could give you a break from the driving. www.festrail.co.uk
Also consider:> https://snowdonrailway.co.uk

Bodnant Gardens near Conwy is worth a look but expensive. It is not a pleasant drive from Conwy to York. Consider going first to Chester - where you may wish to stay the night. You could then either drive to Edinburgh and perhaps make a detour via the Lake District - which also deserves at least 2 days - or - take the train from Chester to Edinburgh - likely to be cheaper if you split the ticket where you change trains en route. Edinburgh to York can be done by train on the East Coast mainline. Then you would have a final leg back to London. If you want to to do Bath - add a day at the beginning when in the south.

Trains > www.nationalrail.co.uk (For longer journeys - pre book ‘advance’ tickets for specific trains as pay on the day can be expensive).

Google the places mentioned and try and look at them on Streetview to see if you think it is right for you. Here for example is what the A470 road is like in the middle of Wales (just north of Rhayader) :>https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.3188407,-3.5348308,3a,90y,310.11h,84.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sPP1qGEP43T-EMHGMNTVIUg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DPP1qGEP43T-EMHGMNTVIUg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D0%26pitch%3D-20%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

Thanks for the replies, very helpful. I love the idea of going to Oxford the first night, that makes more sense and we do want to see the Tolkien and Lewis sites there.

I’m thinking the question is whether to do North or South Wales. Since we only have about sixteen days I don’t think we can do both without cutting either York or Bath.

Also if we do South Wales only, there will still be back tracking of some kind I think, in order to eventually get to Edinburgh. Unless we simply drive through North the without staying the night, and take the Lake District route and skip York

Unless you are planning walks in the area, I would give one of those days in the Cotswolds to South Wales and go to the Welsh Life Museum-it is a very enjoyable way to spend the morning and early afternoon. Otherwise, I really like your itinerary as it includes all my favorite places in England-I wasn't wild about Bath; there's so much to do in London.

Since you want to visit York, I would replace visiting Tintern Abbey with a visit to Fountains Abbey. We visited Tintern a few years ago and found the experience rather disappointing. The abbey was lovely, but a VERY busy road is right in front of it which we thought spoiled the atmosphere/ romance of the location. Fountains, on the other hand, is located in quiet countryside. You can imagine life there centuries ago. There are also several other lovely abbeys near York.

If you decide to visit Fountains, it is about 30 miles from York. Stop by there before you return your rental car at York train station.

Also, if you want to see Bath, drive there from Oxford (about 70 miles). Spend the day, then leave late afternoon for the Cotswolds (about 50 miles). Unless you are a big fan of Georgian England, several hours in Bath is enough time to visit the Roman Baths and check out the Royal Crescent.

You mention "fairy tale" castles. Castles come in three varieties: ruined, restored, and fake Victorian castles. Near the Cotswolds are a nice pair: Warwick is heavily restored and a bit of a tourist trap but you can definitely visualize what life was like back when Warwick, the kingmaker, was living there. Nearby is Kenilworth, a lovely larger ruined castle.

As to how busy your schedule is, it depends on you. Are you vacationing from a stressful job and want a relaxing vacation? Or are you in an unstressful situation (maybe retired) , already getting lots of calm time, and want to maximize what you see while visiting the UK?

We visited Warwick for one night and did the famous castle. We saw more children that day at the castle than we did at any time during our 28 days in Wales and England. The castle is worth a visit.
We liked the castles in South Wales.

Not sure, but many people that post itineraries here don't usually put Stratford Upon Avon on their list.

We loved it there, but I have always loved Shakespeare.

York was another of our favorite places in England.

I agree with the above., I’d get a second and a third guidebook. Rick covers the places he likes, and that’s fine, but a lot of the UK is left out. Also, while Rick really loves Bath and the Cotswolds, that opinion isn’t shared by all.

I’m always of the less is more opinion and even I planned too many cities on my trip earlier this month. That’s a lot of time spent driving and on trains which eat into valuable vacation time.

I’d suggest perhaps sticking to just England, Scotland, or Wales and move at a slower pace.

Thanks for all of the great feedback everybody.

Hi everyone, just wanted to update you all on our itinerary, we finalized it last night.

We’re now landing at Heathrow and taking the express bus to Bath. The next day we’re renting a car and driving to the Cotswolds where we will be for three nights. Then we’re driving to Conwy for three nights, then to York. We’ll drop the car in York and stay three nights, then train to Edinburgh and stay four nights. We’ll finish off the trip by taking the fast train down to London and staying three nights before flying home.

I feel much better having longer stays in each place. If you guys have good day trip recommendations I’ll take them!

We’ll have a car from Bath, Cotswolds and Conwy. And be by public transit in York, Edinburgh and London.