Loughborough and vicinity- where to stay and what to see

Loughborough has a station on the East Midlands Railway route between St Pancras and Sheffield/Nottingham.
Frequent service.
From Loughborough to Glasgow there are various rail routes-
to Leicester, then Leicester to Nuneaton, Nuneaton to Crewe, Crewe to Glasgow,
OR
to Sheffield, Sheffield to Manchester, Manchester to Glasgow.
OR
to Sheffield, Sheffield to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Glasgow
OR
to Sheffield, Sheffield to Leeds, Leeds to Carlisle via the scenic Settle/Carlisle line, Carlisle to Glasgow
and likely others.
OR
back to St Pancras, Euston to Glasgow.

So your daughter must be at the University there - a specialist Sports University, which includes an NFL Academy.

There are three great Cathedrals in easy reach, for instance- Leicester, Lincoln (hourly train) and Southwell (bus via Nottingham, very very frequent bus to Nottingham, then half hourly bus).

Loughborough is one of those great places (and there are many) which never make the guidebooks as people rush between the honey pot locations.
Among other things to do there are the chance to visit the UK's only surviving Bell Foundry -Taylor's of Loughborough, and also the Grand Central Steam Railway- a different route to Loughborough.

Depending how late in the month this is Chatsworth House is an easy trip to see their festive displays. Train to Chesterfield, then bus.
Change trains at Derby for Matlock and Matlock Bath (and Peak Rail- another steam railway).

The 24 hour a day Skylink bus (via East Midlands Airport) gets you to Derby in an hour, for the scenic Trans Peak route across the Peak District- 90 minutes to Bakewell via Matlock for instance.

https://visitleicester.info/point-of-interest/loughborough-a-market-town/

Thanks for this! Moreton on Marsh was not on my radar so that’s a nice bit of info. Thanks also for the idea of Chatsworth House. So much to do and so little time!

I'm sorry but "Longborough" is not Loughborough (pronounced luff-brugh) .

Longborough is a small place near Sezincote with which it shares a cricket club in the triangle between Stow on the Wold, Moreton in Marsh and Bourton on the Hill (not Bourton on the Water), in the north Cotswolds of Gloucestershire.

Loughborough - which is what we are talking about - is where East Midlands Airport and Loughborough University are on the Midland Mainline with its own station is in Leicestershire between Leicester and Nottingham, 2 hours by car northeast of Longborough in the Cotswolds.

I removed my posts about the wrong area.

I’m confused by your reply. I don’t see anyone referring to Longborough and all of the advice has been helpful.

I actually thought, and still do, that Katie (who has unfortunately deleted her posts) had made a spelling error, with Longborough vs Loughborough, as she has a pretty good grasp of English geography.
In any event I'm not sure I would go to the Cotswolds first in November, partly on account of the weather and partly on account of it being well out of your way.

It's hard to suggest anywhere to stay in Loughborough as we don't have any idea either of your preferences or your budget.

You want to book your train tickets as far ahead as you can as Advance (Train specific) fares on that route are normally very cheap.
If you were coming from the Cotswolds you would book that as Moreton to London, and London to Loughborough (ie 2 tickets) allowing 1 hour to cross London.
Likewise if you decide on a route to Glasgow the best money saving ideas can be provided, without paying commission to a website to do it for you.
Where are you going after Glasgow?

Thanks for clarifying. I am not necessarily interested in staying Loughborough- just want to be located in an interesting and convenient (under 2 hours) location nearby. To elaborate- I’m
travelling this visit with my sister who has seen little except London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. We are only planning to be in Loughborough in an afternoon to watch a varsity game. Weather is not an issue for us- and the Cotswolds are on the list. I’ve no problem finding accommodation but asking about areas to visit while in that general area of England.

To me the answer is Matlock/Matlock Bath.

It's a very scenic part of the Peak District with lots to do, and is at the end of a branch line from Derby, so is just under the hour to Loughborough by train.
Bus #160 goes from Matlock straight to Chatsworth. I have checked and the house is open seasonally from 8 November with their Christmas market on until 14 December.
You also have the benefit of being on the Trans Peak bus route across the Peak District to Buxton, via Bakewell.
From Buxton you take an hourly train to Manchester for the train to Glasgow.

The other all rail route is Matlock to Derby, Derby to Crewe, Crewe to Glasgow.

In the Cotswolds Moreton in Marsh isn't the only rail served town.

Pershore and Evesham also have stations on the same line. Evesham in particular is a very nice town, and has much better connections.
It has hourly buses to Stratford on Avon, and Worcester (every 30 minutes), lovely historic Tewkesbury (hourly) and Redditch for commuter trains to Birmingham.
And of course the hourly train to Moreton in Marsh and Oxford.
At a time of the year when the weather could be iffy, a very good base.

You also want to buy a two together railcard to save 1/3 off rail fares.

Blenheim is also open seasonally from 14 November, with the added attractions of a skating rink and an illuminated trail. Coming from the Cotswolds line you don't have to go to Oxford for the bus but can walk in on the carriage drive from Hanborough Station.

Thank you so much!

The heritage railway is the Great Central not the Grand Central (which is a main line railway company running between London and NE England). It's one of the most notable in the country as it's an attempt to preserve an actual double-track main line. (Part of the old Great Central Railway between London and Sheffield, which was closed as literally every major place on it was also served by the older and more established Midland Railway route.)