Itinerary suggestions: 10 nights in England w/ teens - London and ??

I'm taking two of my grandkids to London in late March/early April (ages 11 and 15). We will have 10 nights altogether there, but I would suggest you give it 5 nights rather than 4. That gives you 4 full days (plus a little extra) to enjoy the wonders of London. Here are a few places I have lined up for my grandkids in London.

Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour: If you decide to visit, book your tickets as early as possible as they sell out quickly. It's a quick train from London and everyone that's ever been there has loved it.
Hampton Court Palace is another must see for older kids, in my opinion. There is so much to do and see there.
Richmond if they love Ted Lasso. I'm a big fan myself, and was there earlier this year, so I went to Richmond to visit the pub they went to, a few other sights that were noteworthy in the show, and really enjoyed it there. It's a lovely town and I wound up having lunch at the Prince's Head (aka The Crown & Anchor).

In addition, my 15 year old grandson has also told me he wants to visit the Science Museum, and my 11 year old granddaughter wants to shop. :-) Of course we will visit the main attractions like the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul, and so on. We also plan to have at least one afternoon tea. Here are a couple of threads that discuss that, and there are plenty more.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/five-of-london-s-finest-afternoon-teas
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/afternoon-teas

You could potentially do Hampton Court Palace and Richmond in the same day, although it would be a long day. But they're both in the same direction from the city.

Seeing and/ or staying in a Castle would be a nice touch if possible.

You can’t stay there but the mother of all castles is in the middle of the city. Just outside is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world.

An additional suggestion, if they love football, is to visit/tour one of the stadiums (there won't be any matches on that time of year)- do you know what team they support?

...Seeing Stonehenge would be of interest...potential stays are Salisbury and Bath.

Getting to Stonehenge from Salisbury is very easy. It also has a cathedral and one of the few copies of the Magna Carta. Bath is also interesting, but is a bit farther away from Stonehenge.

Regardless, you should be able to go everywhere you want using the train system.

i think they would enjoy York or even Edinburgh more than Bath and Salisbury. Or do 1 overnight in Bath to see Stonehenge, but I think it's also possible to do a day tour from London to Stonehenge.

You could easily base yourself in London and do day trips as well. York is very easy as is Windsor. You could also fly multi city say into Edinburgh for four days then train to London and home from there or London, Eurostar to Paris for four days and home from there. So many possibilities. Don't forget to look into London Walks for ideas. Good luck.

Salisbury would be an excellent base. It is an attractive town with a superb Cathedral (go and see the one of the originalk copies of the Magna Carta there). It is easy to do a trip to Stonehenge.

If you wanted soemwhere smaller to stop, then think about Dorchester, Bridport or possibly Wemouth if you want to be on the coast.

The ruined Corfe Castle is one of the best to explore. It can also be combined with a trip on the Swanage Heritage Steam Railway

If there are history buffs they may enjoy a visit to Castletown D-Day Centre in Portland. (This was a major hit with the family who could easily have spent all day there.) This is very much a hands on experience where you can hold and pretend to fire guns etc, climb into tanks get on motor cycles. It is great fun for kids of all ages (and Dad can relive his youth and embarrass the kids!) Allow plenty of time here. The Bovington Tank Museum is close by too.

There is also Abbotsford Swannery too - a very different experience or visit the new Forest with its ponies (don't try and feed them- they bite!) .

You also have the Jurassic coast to explore with places like Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. Don't miss the Cerne Abbas Giant either! There are cruises in Poole Harbour...

There's loads to do and see in the area and it will be very different to London.

We have never been to England as a family but are planning a similar trip in late June that I've been researching for a long time. Here's our itinerary. The thing to book soon if you decide to do it, is the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I noticed some early time slots are already full for my date in June.

arrival day Kew Gardens

day 1 Spitalfields Market, Rick Steves Westminster walk, Westminster Abbey, West End play

day 2 Victoria and Albert museum, afternoon tea at Candella, Rick Steves Bankside walk

day 3 Tower of London, St Pauls, Leadenhall or Borough market

day 4 Harry Potter Studio Tour

day 5 Train to Bath, Roman Baths

day 6 rest, see other Bath highlights

day 7 Mad Max Cotswolds tour from Bath

day 8 Train to Oxford (Bodlieian library tour, Christ Church tour)

day 9-16 Paris

Other things I'd like to do but probably won't have time... I could have made a whole separate itinerary with these. Maybe I can squeeze in one or two. :-)

Churchill War Rooms

British Museum

Camden Market

London Walk guided tour

Boat ride on the Thames

Shakespeare's Globe Theater

Changing of the Guard

Liberty department store

Tate Modern museum

London Eye

Hampton Court Palace

Stonehenge

Consider visiting:
Windsor Castle
Stonehenge
Salisbury
Bath
Oxford
Stratford Upon Avon
Warwick Castle

Brian, I love your idea of Kew Gardens on your arrival day. The boat from Westminster Pier would be a really enjoyable way to get there.

All of the replies are so helpful! Thank you! I did consider Edinburgh - London OR London - Paris, but have decided to not go that route. Our family loves renting a car and driving ourselves in foreign countries (some of our best memories) and we like to have a balance to city time. If we went to Edinburgh the Highlands would be too tempting. Suddenly, it's no longer an England trip. So saving those for another time! After running some ideas past the kids, Stonehenge is of interest and surprisingly they are VERY excited about walks, bike rides, etc... in the country and staying in quaint villages. Stopping on drives to explore ruins, castles, and just absorb the scenery.
Does this sound doable? :
- Land early am and rent a car at Heathrow, drive to Salisbury and 1 overnight in this area to see Stonehenge
- 1 night Bath (or go straight to the Cotswolds, add a 4th night there and drive back to Bath for a day visit? )
- 3 nights somewhere in the Cotswolds. Any suggestions? Central location for walks?
- 4 nights London (tickets are readily available for the HP tours on our dates, but booking asap! )

I may be able to add an extra night, but not sure where to add it. Considering a 5th night London.
If we had an early morning start, it seems like we could do a day visit in Oxford on the way back to London to drop the car at Heathrow.

Also, thank you for the Ted Lasso tour suggestions. :) As well as the football stadium visit. Definitely on the list. As well as all of the other sites mentioned here. All sounds fantastic! I think London will need a 5th night.

I took my niece to England in August of 2023. She was a very young 18 at the time! We are both big Harry Potter fans, so we did lots of HP themed activities throughout the trip. In London this included the WB studio tour, which we loved. It easily takes up an entire day. We also did a HP walking tour that began at Leadenhall Market. This was lots of fun because we were sorted into houses and there was a bit of competition based on HP trivia. We also saw the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre, had tea at Fortnum and Mason and hit the main sights (Westminster Abbey, Tower, etc). From London we went to Bath, Chipping Campden, York, Alnwick and Edinburgh, but London was by far her favorite! I recommend you allow enough time to really explore and enjoy this amazing city.

Have a wonderful trip!

Random Thoughts......... all provided from recent experiences.
Forget the car and enhance your journey by using trains, buses, Underground and Uber. Enjoy having a train drop you in the hub of a destination in lieu of seeking, and paying for, parking on the fringe of a destination. Driving adds a bit of stress to the journey. We drive when planning destinations beyond train service, Castle Combe for example. However, we don't rent cars in and around London. Instead we train to our main destination (example, York) rent a car and then take day trips from that point.
In London your best mode of transport is walking. There are so many sights to experience by walking. Example, visit Borough Market and then walk to the Thames and head East to the bridge. On the south east side of the bridge is ez access down to sandy areas to do a bit of mudlarking (dependent upon tides). Great experience and wonderful photo ops. Take your time and stroll across the bridge to the Tower of London. Wait! Harry Potter fans! Ah, On the south side of the Thames is Tate Modern Museum with wonderful free rooftop views of London and you can cross the Thames via the Millennium bridge which connects to St Pauls area. The M bridge is in the opening scene of one of the movies. Inside St Pauls and to the right of the main entrance is a stairwell utilized in most of the movies, You have to see it to understand the significance.
BTW: the Harry Potter Studio is a must do for all HP fans. Incredible experience.
London theater offers a wide array of plays for everyones tastes. A great way to spend an evening and tickets are cheaper compared to USA pricing. Pick a play and purchase tickets the morning of to enjoy the experience. Same goes for music, lots of live venues worthy of your attention for evening activities. https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/calendar#month-2025-06

Hotel prices are up 6% this year and taxes are expected to raise these rates. With a family in tow highly recommend finding an apartment to rent for a number of reasons: kitchen to save a bit of money and feed the horde and stash the food goods you may collect visiting markets, room to spread out and create some space for self, washer/dryer aids in reducing luggage needs and being in a neighborhood provides a different perspective. We prefer the Pimlico neighborhood by Victoria Station.

There are a good number of day trip opportunities from London which can bring enjoyment without needing to fully uproot and move. True, there are destinations where spending the night offers additional enjoyment. However, in 2018 we stayed in an Apartment Hotel in London for 10 nights and throughly enjoyed three day trips. Examples of day trips we have made:
Windsor Castle by train
Hampton Court via train out and returning via Thames water taxi, great experience.
Salisbury by train with bus trip to the Stones (long day, well worth it)
Watford via Underground and train for HP
Do drill down on the day trip opportunities for every time you relocate comes at the expense of your most valuable vacation commodity.......time.

An easy trio of same day experiences........Victoria & Albert Museum, then Natural History Museum followed by a walk over and through Hyde Park. There is something for everyone to enjoy in these places.

Assign your teenagers to finding the best apps to utilize for using during the journey.
Allow the opportunity to create wonderful travel memories by resisting temptation to plan to many destinations.

I may be able to add an extra night, but not sure where to add it. Considering a 5th night London. If we had an early morning start, it seems like we could do a day visit in Oxford on the way back to London to drop the car at Heathrow.

I would highly recommend seeing Oxford if you have the chance. I stopped there for one night on my way to Heathrow and loved it so much. It's such an incredible city and with so much to see and do. You will almost undoubtedly want to come back in the future, but you could see a lot in a single day. Or if you have an extra night, stop and spend the night there. You could park your car or turn it in then take the Airline Bus that goes directly to Heathrow from Oxford.

You could easily spend the day just wandering around the city and checking out some of the gorgeous architecture, gardens and historic places that Tolkien and CS Lewis used to frequent. There are some Harry Potter filming locations there as well, like the Bodleian Library, New College and Christ Church College. I would also recommend visiting the Ashmolean Museum, which is one of the most unusual and wonderful museums I've been to.

Late to the party here, but if you can I highly recommend a street art tour by Alternative London. The kids would dig it I’m sure, but they do such a great job even if it’s not quite your thing.

...Land early am and rent a car at Heathrow, drive to Salisbury..,

Please reconsider driving upon arrival. The driver will be sleepy, jet lagged, driving on unfamilar ground, and driving on the left side of the road. Most people (myself included) should not be allowed behind the wheel under those conditions as it amounts to driving impared. Even a small fender bender at the start of the trip will put a damper on the entire trip.

On the other hand, using the train will be much safer, and perhaps a new experience. With four people, the cost of a private car / driver might not be that much more than the train.

Really don't mean to rain on your parade, just offering food for thought.

We definitely have no interest in renting a car in London. However, it seemed necessary if we were to visit the Cotswolds / Bath area. Is that accurate? Perhaps we will train out of London to start, then pick up a car.

I also noticed that lodging prices are very high in London. If we are going to be more than 2-3 nights in a location we generally always book an apartment or Airbnb. An extra bathroom and the space is a must with teenagers!

I appreciate all of the suggestions!

...it seemed necessary...to visit the Cotswolds / Bath area. Is that accurate?...train out of London to start, then pick up a car.

Bath is definately accessable by train from the airport. We had one change when we did it, but there might be a direct one -- just not sure.

There is some train service to the Cotswolds, but it depends on where you want to go. There are some tours of the Cotswolds from Bath if that works for you.

If you do rent a car, doing it after a good night of sleep in a place other than London is a good idea.

We definitely have no interest in renting a car in London. However, it seemed necessary if we were to visit the Cotswolds / Bath area. Is that accurate? Perhaps we will train out of London to start, then pick up a car.

Personally, I prefer to rent a car once beyond London. My niece and I trained from London to Bath, spent a couple of nights there, and then had Enterprise deliver our car to our B&B on the last day. We did a day trip to Stonehenge and the next day headed to the Cotswolds. It was all very easy.