I am planning a trip to England, and would like to see the Cotswolds, Stonehenge, Bath, York, the Seven Sisters and of course London. I have about 10 days to travel in those areas and was wondering what would be best either day trips from Bath to Stonehenge and the Cotswolds or from London? Then possibly fit York in.
My plan is to go to the Seven sisters in Eastbourne for 2 days, then coordinate the rest of the time in the remaining areas. Any suggestions would be great.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8204 posts
I think it will be very difficult to fit in all those places in 10 days. If it were me, I would probably concentrate on the Seven Sisters, since that seems important to you, but then limit your destinations to London, Bath, Stonehenge and the Cotswolds.
You can easily spend 2-3 nights in Bath and take some day trips to Stonehenge and the Cotswolds (Mad Max has good recommended tours there from Bath). Then spend the remaining 3 nights in London (I'm assuming you are flying in and out of London?).
It would take a full day of travel to get to and from York from London, and you just don't have the time for that. Save it for another visit. :-)
Posted by
OP
45 posts
Thank you!
Posted by
8350 posts
10 days is not enough.
Bath, you need one full day to see the important sites. Stay at least two nights. The Brooks Guesthouse is a great place to stay.
We did the Cotswolds thoroughly in two full days, not on a day trip.
You can do Windsor Castle and Stonehenge in one day.
York is fantastic, but you need at least two full days for it. Don't miss the National Railway Museum, walk the ancient walls and especially the Minster Cathedral. I don't think you have time for all this and London.
Posted by
Freedonia
16440 posts
Do the 10 days include your travel days in and out of England?
Will you rent a car or rely on public transport?
Seeing everything you want to see will be difficult and if you try to fit it all in, it will be done very fast.
Try to keep travel in one direction so you don't waste a lot of time backtracking.
My suggestion would be to travel to Bath and explore and Cotswolds or Stonehenge from there. Mardee had a good idea in using tour companies like Mad Max as this will save you time. (MadMax tours are done in smaller vans with a max of 16 passengers.) Just make sure your travel days coincide with their tour schedule.
From Bath head down to the Seven Sisters.
London can be done either in the beginning or end of your trip but don't try to travel to London on the day of your flight home as any problems could cause you to miss your flight.
As for York, well, it's the outlier. If you insist on seeing it, you could do it in a day trip. My first time there over 30 years ago was a day trip from London. It means a very early start and a late return but could at least see most of the highlights. The train journey is just under 2 hours each way, but, as an example, if you were traveling today there would be delays on that route.
You'd have to play it by ear.
Posted by
OP
45 posts
I am not including my travel days. I have learned from my recent trip to Germany when our flight was canceled and we had to leave the next day, which meant I lost the money on the hotel the first night, BUT thankfully I did not plan anything the first day figuring I would be too tired, we just meandered around historic Germany, grabbed a bite then called it a day.
On the plus side, we added a day and that was a huge deal because my daughter had bought tickets to see Adele on our original last night, but since we added a day there was no push since we had extra time and visited Dachau the last day, then took a taxi to the airport in the morning and everything went smoothly!!
Posted by
Quilcene, WA, USA
197 posts
Save York for another trip. I just spent three nights there, and it wasn't enough.
Posted by
Winchester, UK
142 posts
Mardees suggestion fits well with what you have planned. Here's my proposal for your trip:
Day 0: Arrive in London
Day 1: London
Day 2: Bath
Day 3: Tour of Stonehenge and the Cotswolds (should also leave you some time to explore Bath after/before your tour)
Day 4: Bath to York (via Bristol)
Day 5: York
Day 6: York
Day 7: York to London OR York
Day 8: York to London
Day 9: London
Day 10: Travel
You could ostensibly do your trip to Seven Sisters on day 8 if you decide to leave York day 7. But i do think York is feasible with your itinerary. Obviously this itinerary depends when you are going, as that determines crowds; it also depends on how much you can put up with in terms of being among other tourists since these places are usually quite busy in summertime if that's when you're going.
EDIT: I apologise for overlooking your wanting to go to SS for 2 days. Unfortunately that does feel a bit rushed to me. If I was to remove anything to make space for it, I'd say skip Stonehenge and the Cotswolds and leave Bath one day early, then leave York day 6 and go to Seven Sisters at the end of your trip.
Posted by
Granite Bay, CA
96 posts
Just got home after 3 weeks in England. Spent 3 of the days in Bath and 3 in the Cotswolds. I know you won't have a car, so Bath wouldn't be a problem, but the Cotswolds might, depending on where you stay. Highly recommend the Bathen House in Bath and Lords of the Manor in Upper Slaughter.