London and southern england

When we did southeast England, we visited Churchill’s house at Chartwell, Ightam Mote, Tonbridge, Leeds Castle, Canterbury, Margate, Ramsgate, Walmer Castle, Dover (cliffs, castle, WWII tunnels), Rye, Hastings and Battle, Bodium Castle, Portsmouth navy yard, and then we turned north to go to Bletchley Park. We passed through Brighton, but didn’t stop. If you have more time, once past Southampton you could go to Salisbury, Amesbury/Stonehenge, and then start heading back towards London. Further west are Glastonbury and Wells and further north are Bath and the Cotswolds.

Beginning at the south London city limit, my personal favorites favorites are Leeds Castle, Dover Castle, Canterbury, The isle of Wight, Portsmouth Navy Yard. Deal Castle and Ramsgate are ok. Incidentally, all these are easily done by train.

Personally if I had the choice I'd do a real in-depth visit to Stonehenge with a walking tour like one of these http://www.stonehenge-tours.com/walks.html

Then I'd head for Cornwall (St. Michael's Mount would be a must). On the way back, a couple of days in Bath, and then after Bath, Avebury would be a stop. But there really are so, so many places to visit, it really depends what you're most excited about!

Back in 2002, with my parents and my 10yo daughter, we really enjoyed Bodiam Castle, the Hastings battle site, Brighton, and the Weald and Downland Living Museum (not far from Chichester). More recently daughter and I had a great few days in Bath after a weeklong walking tour in Dorset that included stops in
Cerne Abbas and Abbotsbury, our favorites of the villages we stayed in. Have fun with your planning - so many great choices!

If you decide to head South West, I'd recommend Oxford, Bath and The Cotswolds. Driving between these locations is easy and you'd see beautiful architecture and experience both city and countryside.

If you decide to head directly South, head to Canterbury, Rye, Brighton, Chichester and Winchester. Offers 3 cathedrals and a mixture of countryside and seaside.

Have you been to London before? If not, you could easily spend a week there.

What do you like seeing? Gardens, historic houses, museums, hills, coast etc?

I would opt for the area between Brighton and Dover, as this would give you plenty of National Trust houses and gardens such as Chartwell, Sissinghurst and Dover war tunnels plus other castles such as Leeds, Bodiam or Chiddingstone and interesting towns including Canterbury, Rye, Whitstable and Brighton.

Alternatively, I would head up through Suffolk, where there are some olde worlde thatched villages such as Lavenham and Long Melford and head towards the north Norfolk coast, visiting Norwich including its cathedral and some of the National Trust properties such as Felbrigg Hall. Take a boat trip from Blakeney to see the seals.

I find Devon and Dorset to be more appealing than Cornwall and a shorter drive from London, but there is a higher chance of rain in September in westerly counties.

Why fly into and out of London? It is more efficient to use a multi-destination flight search function to fly into one city and home from another.

Thank you all for your great input thus far!!!

Well, one hidden and not much known (outside the UK anyway) is Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Just over an hour by car up the M11 from London, or a similar time from London Liverpool St by train.

Beautiful medium sized town (it does have a Cathedral, but isn't a city because there is no Bishop).

Lovely Abbey Gardens in grounds of ruined abbey (had second highest tower in Christendom before the dissolution).

Medieval grid of streets and town centre. Traditional market on Wednesday and Saturday every week.

In the unlikely event you don't like it - it's just 26 miles east of Cambridge, so pop along there instead.

But, it's a lovely place, and you'll love it! Oh, and they're about to start digging up an old tennis court in the search for St Edmund himself - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/01/saint-edmund-saxon-king-may-buried-towns-tennis-courts-experts/

Some say St Edmund should be the patron saint of England, rather than St George, who never actually visited the country. http://whitedragonflagofengland.com/englands-patron-saint.php

https://youtu.be/6sLBIBp9638

https://www.visit-burystedmunds.co.uk/