Other than London...what?

The Lake District is nowhere near London, Gatwick or Heathrow.

How long are you considering going for and what time of the year? As an aside, I've not read the above mentioned blog but I have read one blog which included the statement "Baden-Baden is the best place to visit in Bavaria", and another blog referred to Miltenberg as "The Village of A Thousand Violins."

I love Bath and have spent up to 5 nights at a time there, but in my opinion it is not quiet. It's certainly smaller than London but it is busy. If you choose Bath I would make sure not to visit on a weekend. Quiet places there- Prior Park but it's an uphill walk to the entrance and then you are mostly downhill once you're inside. There is a really neat Palladian Bridge in the garden which is what I went specifically to see. Parade Gardens which are right in the center of Bath along he river but you pay a nominal entry fee and it's surprisingly quiet in there.

Do you have a Jane Austen interest? One year I timed my visit for the first weekend of the JA Festival in Sept which was such fun! I love that time period and got a huge laugh out of seeing all the participants dressed in costume. I did do some of the associated activities with the Festival.

Bath is easy by train from London and there is a National Express bus to Heathrow.

Have you considered Salisbury? I find it quieter than Bath. I love the Cathedral there ( has one of the Magna Cartas) as well as the Cathedral Close. The Wessex Museum on the Close is small but very interesting and has many Stonehenge artifacts. There is a public bus route from the City Center to Stonehenge and Old Sarum if that's of interest. You can also walk thru the water meadows where Constable did a number of his paintings. The B&B I stay in there is inexpensive and excellent. The last time the owner marked out a walking route for me thru the meadows. I really enjoy Evensong at the Salisbury Cathedral. It's very intimate and feels like a worship service (which of course it is) more than a tourist attraction which is the feeling I get at Westminster Abbey. I've sat and read at benches in the meadows. Not sure about bookshops.

I've taken the train from London to Salisbury. Not sure about transport to one of the airports but as I was walking around I did see a National Express coach stop.

I've been to the Lake District on a Rick Steves tour. I enjoyed Keswick but I felt it was very outdoors oriented. I did walk from the City Centre out to Castlerigg Stone circle (path no longer there that I walked on as part was destroyed by flood) and it was a pretty tedious uphill walk - similar to Prior Park in Bath. There was a nice path around Derwentwater but it was pouring rain. We also did a boat ride but again, pouring rain so did not get off at any of the optional stops.

I'll have to check out that blog as I'm not familiar with it so thanks for the tip.

There was a thread on Trip Advisor's London forum recently asking about quiet spots. One of the suggestions is The Wetlands Centre which I am going to try and work in next visit. I'll go for the birding!

That's my thread on TripAdvisor, actually. :) I like to get a lot of different opinions.

I plan to go around Memorial Day and stay around 10 days. That way I get a "free day" off from work.

I'm not a Jane Austen fan, but I do not dislike her. I've got a friend who keeps urging me to give her another try, since all I've read is "Pride & Prejudice." While in the Costwolds, I did see a house that "Mansfield Park" was based upon.

Salisbury does sound interesting. I have never seen a water meadow. Would you mind sharing the B&B you like with me? (PM me if you like).

One of my favorites is Grassington. It is a lovely Tudor village. Great walks you can do solo as compared to hiking the wilderness. You can walk from village to hamlet for the tavern or pub. I don't like to walk in the wilderness, and while I didn't walk here alone as I was with my family, I would feel fine walking village to hamlet, etc. on my own. My daughter's MIL walks to all these places alone. The village has little shops, some taverns/restaurant, and is just adorable. I swear I didn't see one ugly thing within 45 minutes of it! However, it's not the easiest to get to if by train, but my daughter would do it after work for the weekend so just a matter of some changes. There's a train, I think to Leeds, then a short train to Skipton, and then an easy bus. Confession: I flew from Heathrow to Leeds and then had their taxi pick me up. We did, however, take the bus to Skipton and to the beginning of one of our walks. MIL does not have a license and survives there fine. From your other posts, I think you might really like this little village, particularly in June...the flowers are lovely! This is the only trip I have taken in high season, in late June, to Europe, and I did not feel crowded in the least, even with the Tour de France passing by that year. IM me if you decide you like it and need any details as I'm going by memory. It is a peaceful and beautiful village.

Oh, that is hilarious! As I was linking it I was thinking - wouldn't this be funny if it was Sandra's??

I just had a quick look at the blog post for London, Lake District and Bath. I have to say her post doesn't read like she is actually posting about a personal visit to Bath. I have never seen anyone recommend the Jane Austen Centre who has actually visited it. It's expensive and a huge disappointment - she didn't live there and they have nothing of hers on display. I have heard good comments about the tea room but I have never eaten there. I stayed in Keswick with the RS tour and just had a few hours in Ambleside so can't eval that part of her post.

I'm not particularly a Jane fan but I do really love the Regency time period (and yes, trashy Regency Ro-mances).
The B&B in Salisbury is Cathedral View which yes, does have a view of the tower from the front 2 rooms. Steve and Wenda are excellent hosts. I am vegan and he bakes his own bread which is vegan.

PS, I read your Trip Advisor Question. One person mentioned Richmond (Richmond on the Thames?). We hung around there a bit with my SIL and daughter. That would be an easy solution, in fact, you might like to commute into London if you wanted to see more there. There is at least one nice bookstore there, or at least 4 years ago. It has pubs/restaurants and lovely walk along the river to get out of the town. It's a suburb of London so not really removed but perhaps removed enough, and Kew is worth seeing and you can go to Hampton Court by a quick bus ride (I think we actually hiked through the fields to almost get to Richmond on the Thames). Both this alternative and Grassington are away from mobs of tourists. I'm not sure I saw a single American tourist in Grassington.

We also really enjoyed the Salisbury area. It's a nice substantial small city/large town with a good urban core and easy mass transit, and then you go around the other side of the cathedral and it's parkland and sheep. For us, it was a good place to acclimate for a few days after getting off the plane to LHR.

Sandra

You might want to look at Lewes in Sussex.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lewes&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#dest_bgc=897536&dest_mid=/m/0ht8_&fpstate=trfpi&trifp=t%3De

It’s very close to London and Gatwick and a nice little town with a river, castle, bookshops and cafes. It also has good public transport connections. For example
a) glynde station is only 10 minutes by train and you can walk up onto the South Downs from there which gives spectacular views
b) if you go down to Newhaven you can pick up a bus to the Seven Sisters and walk along the cliffs
http://www.sevensisters.org.uk/
c) Brighton, a lively seaside town with good shops and restaurants, is only 15 minutes by train. ( Full disclosure, I live there! )

Cheers
Alan

Do you have to use Heathrow or Gatwick? Manchester airport is the third busiest in the UK after those two, and will put you closer to all kinds of smaller towns and "countryside." As a bonus, it's got its own train station with direct trains to some places and one-change connections to many more (unlike Heathrow, whose train is a spur line that only goes to London Paddington, meaning you often have to change stations to get elsewhere).

Nonstop flights to Manchester are available from Newark, JFK, and Philadelphia.

Dear Alan,

Ah, Lewes! I was there this past summer, for an all-too-brief visit to Charleston. I did not want to leave when my taxi arrived to take me back to the station. I took the train to Lewes station--how far is that from Glynde? I would love to see Berwick Church and Monk's House. It was so beautiful and peaceful in the countryside there.

I visited Brighton in 1984. Wanted to see it as I was and am a huge fan of "Quadrophenia." Went on the Palace Pier, stopped in at the Grand Hotel to have my photo taken, must have eaten somewhere but I can't recall as it was so long ago.

Thank you so much for the suggestion!

Dear Harold--I would consider Manchester airport if I'll be in that part of the country. Maybe I could get a good "open jaws" price?

b) if you go down to Newhaven you can pick up a bus to the Seven
Sisters and walk along the cliffs http://www.sevensisters.org.uk/

This intrigues me. Alan (or anyone else), how easy is this to do? I'd love to see the Seven Sisters and thought about going the 1st Saturday in October. But will it be a problem getting public transportation? I didn't think to look at Newhaven. So if I took a train from London to Newhaven, are there buses that run regularly between Newhaven and the Seven Sisters (maybe hourly both ways) that also wouldn't involve an hour's walk from a bus stop to the cliffs?

Salisbury would be a good choice in the south. The cathedral is in a lovely setting as Pam described. There's an easy bus to nearby Stonehenge if you haven't been there -- though it wouldn't be a place for the tranquility you're looking for. From Salisbury -- or any good-size town like it -- you'd probably find local buses to take you to nearby villages.

Manchester is a good airport suggestion, and yes I'm sure you can find open-jaw itineraries using it. A train to Conwy and north Wales opens up a lot of possibilities for you, again including local buses.

And consider parking yourself in one of the smaller Cotswold towns. The RS England guide has a lot of info about getting around the Cotswolds by bus. The most convenient train connection is probably Moreton-in-Marsh.

Whatever you choose, if you want proximity to London and its airports there will be tradeoffs. The best way to explore countryside is by car. If you rely on public transportation you're making it harder to get to and around small towns and rural areas.

Sandra, I don't know if you saw this thread, about Lake District towns good for walks, yet still convenient without a car. And, as I thought, some of them are directly accessible from Manchester airport: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/lake-district-one-location-many-walks-hikes

You have gotten great advice, but I can personally attest that Yorkshire would also meet your needs. We went by public transit to Pickering, Whitby, and York before heading back to London but you can fly direct to Manchester for a cheaper/shorter train ride.

We visited charming country villages, did some walking in the moors (nothing too strenuous - a few miles here and there), enjoyed the seaside in Whitby, amazing old pubs full of dogs, took some antique steam trains and rode double decker buses all around the countryside, and the only traffic jam we encountered was sheep! Seriously!

If you like the coast it's glorious. We wished we'd had more time to expore the region and plan on going back. We also had glorious weather in October (!!!) but that's probably unusual. I've been blessed with unseasonably sunny weather on all but my first trip to England.

I really liked York although it may be too big and bustling for you, it's nothing like London. The medevial architecture and Roman history were very cool, as were all the haunted pubs, and there's plenty of quiet areas, especially if you stay outside the city walls. We stayed in an amazingly cool BNB in a quiet neighborhood next to a very pleasant shopping/restaurant street about a 20 minute walk from the inner city/train station.

If that piques your interest, PM me for more details.

Another place to consider in addition to Salisbury is Canterbury. Both of them have numerous quite spots, cafes, and bookstores. In Salisbury we stayed at the Rose and Crown Hotel. It was in a very quiet part of town but was an easy walk to the center of town.

Sandra

Glynde is around 5 minutes from Lewes by train. There’s a nice pub there - The Trevor Arms - and you can walk up to Mount Caburn, a Roman Fort. Some walk details

http://www.sussexlife.co.uk/out-about/walks/sunday-stroll-glynde-1-1571120

A Quadrophenia fan eh? Then you’ll be jealous of me because I was an extra in the film! You can see me briefly as one of the rockers running on the beach. My other claim to fame is that Sting actually bought me a pint during the shooting. He and I had the same idea to nip into a pub during a boring lull in shooting.

Continental - going to Newhaven is possible but on reflection there’s a simpler way via Seaford. Details are here

http://www.sevensisters.org.uk/page4.html

Cheers
Alan

Last year, my wife and I traveled thru England via rental car for 10 days. Driving on the left side of the road is something I have done in other countries so it wasn't an "adventure". For the newbie who hasn't, one just needs to be vigilant and focused until it becomes a habit. Our objective was to see as much of the country as possible in that time frame, but also to do it in such a way that we were independent of the normal tourist agenda. Hence the independence of rental car mode of travel. We booked cottages, flats, bedrooms, and anything else that allowed us to interact with the owners of those lodging facilities. Everyone gets the tourist T-shirt in their own way, but doing it with the help of those who live in a country can't be beat. I agree with Sarah on her advise about the NW side of England and the Yorkshire Railroad is a super trip thru that area. I also agree with Pam on here remarks about Bath.

Continental - going to Newhaven is possible but on reflection there’s
a simpler way via Seaford. Details are here

Thanks, Alan. I'm considering a day trip to Canterbury or to Seven Sisters. It looks like in early October, it's easier to get to Canterbury than Seven Sisters.

One nice thing about Bath is that you can start there, taking the bus direct from Heathrow. With ten days you might want to focus on the north/south corridor or the east/west corridor from London though, especially on public transit. The transit lines radiate from London generally speaking, though bus travel might give you more flexibility. My wife and I have done two trips to England together, in 2000 and 2013. The latter trip we started with three days in Bath, having visited previously in 2000 with a rental car just for half a day. I liked Bath on a cerebral level and as a pleasant place but it did not grab me on an emotional level as much, although the Roman Baths are awesome. I think York has even greater appeal and would make more sense to combine with the Lake District (but the latter might be difficult on public transit). I wish we had more time in York than we did on our 2000 trip, I will want to go back there to experience it more fully. I think we had a day and a half, with the half being spent on a worthy trip to Castle Howard (more of a stately home). The cathedral in Salisbury is spectacular, in my top three of all time having seen dozens (the other two are Chartres and Strasbourg). The cathedral close and the city museum are also great, Salisbury beyond that I found kind of bland. Glastonbury was a nice stop as a day trip. The Chalice Well garden was very peaceful and might appeal to you, even though its legend almost certainly has no basis in history. Climbing the Glastonbury Tor was an amazing highlight with great views. The abbey was underwhelming. I think Canterbury/day trip to Dover for its castle/Rye are worth considering. If you do go to York , a day trip to Edinburgh on the train might even be possible, check the time on the train. The train station in Edinburgh is right in the middle of things. London is good for five nights minimum depending upon whether you have ever been there before and/or will ever go again. Most country destinations really require a car. We loved the Cotswalds and Devon on our 2013 trip, but a car is really required. Also we stayed in Wilcote near Straford-upon-Avon during our 2000 trip, right near Mary Arden's farm (some Shakespeare relative). You can technical walk there from Stratford, but in the rain it might be a challenge.

Hello again,

I'm sorry to say, there's no way I am going to attempt driving in England. I really hate driving in the United States, and I can't even imagine trying to do it in the UK! I do realize this will curtail a lot of possible itineraries, sadly. Perhaps if I were not traveling solo and had a brave friend...

I'm taking all you have written into consideration. If I went to Yorkshire, I'd definitely want to see Castle Howard, being a big fan of "Brideshead Revisited."

I also meant to say: I've considered the Cotswolds, but the public transportation thing seems to get in the way. I've looked at the bus schedules and I find them confusing. Also, it seems inexpensive places to stay the night are far and few between.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

I took a one-day van trip through the Cotswolds last week. I stayed in Oxford (which I much preferred to Bath) and took a train to Moreton-in-Marsh to connect with the tour. Obviously, there is no opportunity for town-to-town walking if you take such a tour, but it turned out to be the right move for me, because I developed a foot problem in St. Ives that makes walking on uneven ground painful.

Outside of peak season you might find affordable lodging options in Moreton. There is some bus service from Moreton to a few of the other Cotswold towns, and in some cases distances are short, so a taxi might not be cost-prohibitive.

Oxford wasn't too costly for me since I stayed in housing that is normally used for continuing-education students at the university. The only thing missing from my room was air conditioning, which I did not need last week.

There are van trips to the Cotswolds from Bath as well.

The thing about walking/hiking in the Cotswolds is that you need to commit (make some sort of lodging reservation) before it's clear what the weather will be like. I am not interested in slipping and sliding down wet trails. We're not talking flat terrain.

I found Norwich (East Anglia) to be attractive and not particularly touristy. It has decent rail connections to Bury St. Edmunds and Cambridge.

acraven--thanks for the reply! Ah, yes, the terrain. Hadn't thought of that.
I visited Oxford for a day this past summer. Did the "Morse, Lewis and Endeavour" tour and visited Hertford College to see where Evelyn Waugh had his rooms. Wish I could have spent more time there. Very nice city.

I did Stratford-upon-Avon by train and managed everything by bus and walking. Even took a bus to see Warwick Castle. Don't know about walking trails but I am sure there are plenty. The B&B I stayed in was reasonable.