Looking for Suggestions For My First Trip To England

Do you have 10 full days in the UK and Ireland or does that include transatlantic travel? Even with 10 days, that’s not a lot of time to cover so much ground. I would be tempted to drop Dublin, as you will lose half a day getting from there to England.

Your best option would be to fly into Bristol from Dublin if you go down this route, as the ferry drops you in north Wales, which is nowhere near where you want to visit. Hiring a car will give you the most flexibility, so long as you are happy driving on the left. I don’t care for Stratford upon Avon, as it’s tourist tacky, but this is at least a half day visit, particularly if you want to take in a theatre performance.

The Cotswolds will be more colourful in May than April and you can easily spend 3 days here. A car is a disadvantage in Bath, so return it upon arrival, have a couple of days here, then head to London by train. As you haven’t been to London before, you won’t begin to scratch the surface with 4-5 full days there. At that time of year, as the weather maybe inclement, I would be tempted to condense the Cotswolds into 1 day and spend more time in London.

Thanks for the advice, Jennifer! It is very tempting to drop Dublin from the trip and just spend the entire time in England. If we go that route which airport would you recommend that we fly into?

"If we go that route which airport would you recommend that we fly into?"

Delta's got non-stop flights from MSP in to London Heathrow. I'd go with any non-stop route over one that changes planes!

Good idea to omit Dublin, fly nonstop to London, and spend your entire 10 days in England.

If the Oxhill Parish you're referring to is Oxhill in Warwickshire, you will be near the other destinations you've listed, as well as Warwick Castle. I have not visited the latter, but I understand it is operated by a theme park company so it has more activities than some other castles -- which may or may not be to your taste. See https://www.warwick-castle.com/

I did visit Stratford-upon-Avon in 2015 and it was radically changed from the charming Cotswold-like village I remembered from a visit decades earlier. There were traffic jams, big-box stores, car dealerships, everything you'd expect in a workaday town. The attitude of staff in the hotel and the TI centre seemed to be "ho-hum, we know the entire English-speaking world wants to come here because of Shakespeare, so we don't need to make an effort." Not that it's not worth a visit, just keep your expectations down to earth. The HoHo bus was a lovely ride with a knowledgeable and articulate guide; wish we'd had more time to really explore the various stops along the route. We booked tickets to see a play in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and learned the hard way that the cheaper seats have very little leg room -- ouch! The Pen & Parchment pub around the corner from the TI is a great location, but the food is nothing special. It was fun watching people glide by in canal boats on the Avon Canal.

To experience this part of England you'd do well to rent a car, so perhaps plan to use public transport for the first 3-4 days while you see the sights of London, then get a rental car and enjoy the Oxhill - Stratford - Cotswolds region. See the other section of these forums for info about renting a car in the U.K. For your last night, turn in the car at the airport, sleep in an airport hotel (there are many to choose from) and have a safe flight home!

I did visit Stratford-upon-Avon in 2015 and it was radically changed from the charming Cotswold-like village I remembered from a visit decades earlier. There were traffic jams, big-box stores, car dealerships, everything you'd expect in a workaday town.

But why shouldn't it be? People live there and they have every right to enjoy the same amenities as everyone else. You can't preserve it just so tourists can experience an "authentic" visit else you just end up with another Venice or similar.

Some basic tools:

Www.seat61.com

www.nationalexpress.com

www.nationalrail.com

www.skyscanner.com

Since you are already on this site, check out the Destinations section which will answer some questions and help you pose more specific questions. Remember, DIY needs more effort than simply asking generalities. The research will make you more capable of taking yourself on the road. All cities these days have abundant web info; most airports do so too.

Dublin is worth a few days and you may well have found a cheap trans-Atlantic flight. Your time is short so check the many cheap air fares out of Dublin to the UK. Car rental is more expensive unless you have several companions to share the costs. Buy tickets as far ahead as possible.

Fly home from the UK using a multi-destination search function, if possible

I take it the village you wish to see is Oxhill - centre of map:>https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.109613,-1.5449364,5795m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

That being so, I would consider landing at Heathrow and then travelling by coach/train to Oxford for your first night - using the day to explore Oxford by foot. I would try and book somewhere in the Cotswolds - west of Oxford - to stay for maybe 4 nights. Pick up a rental car in Oxford and make sure any place you plan to stay has free easy parking. Visit Blenheim Palace, Oxhill, Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cotswold villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water, Lower Slaughter, Chipping Campden, Broadway, etc.. You may also like to take a day trip down to Bath - if doing this, I would use the Park & Ride on the outskirts of the City. (A P&R is an out of town car park from which shuttle buses take you to the centre).

If going to Dublin, I would fly into Birmingham Airport and pick up a rental car. www.skyscanner.net will find the flights.

Turn in rental car back in Oxford and then take a train into London for the rest of your holiday - unless you wish to add on other areas of England.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I think flying into Heathrow, staying in Oxford, then the Cotswolds might be our best bet. I really appreciate all the knowledge here.

A good plan would be to fly into Heathrow.
Follow the signs within the terminal to the Central Bus Station at Heathrow airport.
Buy a bus ticket to Oxford at the ticket window. Comfortable bus to Oxford.
Stay in Oxford a couple of nights.
This helps you get over jet lag and explore.
Someone mentioned Blenheim Palace as a place to see. You can get there by bus or taxi from Oxford.

Blenheim is impressive. We were on the Rick Steves Best of England in 14 Days tour in April, and the tour went there. But it was not my favorite place on the tour. I don't think I would go way out of my way to see it if I went again to Oxford; but that's just my personal preference. Decide for yourself, of course, whether it's worth it for you.

Take the train to Stratford-Upon-Avon from Oxford. (Warwick Castle is a stop along this route. Hop off; see the castle.)
Stay two to three nights in Stratford-Upon-Avon
I disagree with those who say it's too tacky to visit. There's still a lot to see from Shakespeare's day. The theatre there is great. Walk around town after the tourist crowds have gone for the day. Really nice. Lots of good restaurants and pubs.

From Stratford-Upon-Avon, you could take a tour of the Cotswolds with this company: Go Cotswolds.

My husband and I did this in spring of 2016 and enjoyed the Go Cotswolds tour very much.
It is an all day tour, leaves from Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Tom will pick you up at your hotel and return you in the evening.
Transportation is in a new Mercedes mini van.
https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/

Villages on the tour include Chipping Campden, Stow-On-The-Wold, Bibury, and Bourton-On-The-Water, to name just a few of the stops. You stop in these villages, are given a map and time to walk around there.
https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/tour-details/
About the Cotswolds. There are many beautiful villages there, but there are similarities to all of them. A sampling is enough to have an enjoyable day out, and that is what you will get on the mini-van tour we took. We enjoyed not having the hassle of a rental car there. Don't have to worry about returning it with scratches on it, or getting lost.

If you were staying in the Cotswolds for a long time (2 or 3 days, or a week or longer) I'd say, yes, rent a car. But for a short one day visit, I'd say no, a car is not necessary.

My husband and I have been to England many times, but do not enjoy driving when we are there. We enjoy riding the trains and buses. You can get to many places in England just by riding the train. Most train stations have taxis there waiting for you. This is helpful if you need to get to your hotel with a lot of luggage.

You can take a train from Stratford-Upon-Avon to Bath or to London.

If you only have 10 days, you will have used up a chunk of time by the time you get on the train in Stratford-Upon-Avon and head to London. I might save Bath for next trip. (But I do love Bath) There's a lot to see in London, and you will soon run short of time there.

Just wanted to say that even in a few hours, you can see quite a bit of this charming town and enjoy it. I wouldn't leave it out if you are really interested in seeing it, even if you are only there for a day.

Christie

I agree with others-if this is your first trip to England(and you're not Irish), omit Dublin. I've been to London 6 times, Dublin once. There are still sights I haven't seen in London and I will return there in the future. Although I really enjoyed the archeological museum in Dublin and the Irish people are very friendly, I have no plans to ever return there. I found the Book of Kells underwhelming.

All of these suggestions are amazingly helpful, thank you all! I'm going to just stick with England this time around and just do a separate trip to Ireland at some later date.

Imo Dublin was the least interesting part of Ireland.

Beware that Delta can and does change flights after booking. I've booked direct MSP to LHR and I've had them change non-stop to 1-stop and have also had them change from 10:10PM to 5:30PM. My upcoming trip has a combination of these changes. It's super annoying. I've booked four trips over to London - three of those through Delta. 2 of the 3 had significant itinerary changes.

Note: Oxhill is some distance outside of Oxford. The nearest railway station to Oxhill is Banbury, where you can take a taxi the rest of the way. Banbury is large enough that you could rent a car there, drive to Oxhill to research the Oxhill Parish records, then return the car to Banbury before continuing on your trip. That way, you do not deal with the traffic driving a car in and out of Oxford. Or you could take a taxi from Banbury to Oxhill. There are lots of hotels in Banbury, in case you decide to stay there for a couple of nights.

Banbury is a short train ride north of Oxford, 23 miles to be exact.

Are you aware that many of the Oxhill Parish records are now online? A Google search turns up lots of websites for these records.

Thanks for the info Rebecca! I just checked out the Oxhill Parish archival records and found my ancestor's baptismal record from 1604 (http://www.oxhill.org.uk/ChurchRegisters/Baptism/B-1600-1604.htm). Amazing! I appreciate you mentioning that.

You're welcome. Glad to have helped.