Post tour options for 6 days in UK in May

Maybe move to a Premier Inn in London? You could see Westminster Abbey while you're in the area on your tour. So many things to see in London: British Museum, Windsor, Kew Gardens, V&A Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, British Museum(which for me, requires time on two different days to digest all the wonderful stuff there). I don't know if hotels are any cheaper there, but stay in Cambridge to see the sights there and do a day trip to London. You could also take an easy train trip from London to Cardiff, spend the night, and go to the wonderful Museum of Welsh Life the next day. It's backtracking, but I would consider taking the train back to York, see the things you missed while on tour, and take a day tour to the Dales. Or even take the train to Edinbourgh and see some of Scotland with your 6 days, It would probably be too expensive to change, but you could at least investigate what it would cost to change your ticket to fly home from Edinborough.

To be honest, whilst your list of likes could be fitted into a stay in or near London itsprobaly both easier to achieve and cheaper to go elsewhere. If you can let me know where your tour will have taken you I can probably suggest alternatives that will work.

Been traveling and staying in London for decades.

Each visit a different neighborhood.

See if the Richmond neighborhood is of interest. I stay at the Premier Inn as it’s close enough to enjoy the gorgeous Richmond Park. Its a 25 walk with luggage from the Richmond Quadrant. You can also hop on 190 or 371 bus and get off at the Manor Circus SA stop. It’s across the road 1/4 block up from the PI.

Walk out front door, turn left. Walk block to Sheendale Road and turn left. Walk till it dead ends and climb stairs onto the train tracks walk over bridge. Cross bridge. Road becomes St Mary’s Axe. Follow it a few more blocks passing “ my local “ the Mitre ( where the best pub dog Rudi dwells. Great pizzas and salads prepared by Edgar can be enjoyed there too). Keep walking to Sheen Road and turn right. Follow it to Manor Road and cross the road at the light. Large building on the right there looks like a pub but it’s not. Then cross Queens Road and follow it past the primary school and the Courtland Apartments to the Kings Ride gate path adjacent to the East Sheen Cemetary. Follow the path into the vast and lovely Richmond Park.

Look for and enjoy the red fallow deer. Loads of different walking paths to enjoy.

My favorite meander is to the lovely Isabella Plantation Gardens. About 2 and half mile stroll. You can also stay at The Richmond Hill hotel or the 4 star Petersham Hotel where you could easily stroll to the Ham House and Gardens on the out skirts of Richmond Park.

In Richmond proper is the wonderful Richmond theatre which faces the Little Green. The larger Richmond Green is nearby. Great spot to stroll and enjoy all the dog walkers.

There are lovely churches. The church walk past St Marys Magdelene is pleasant. It’s also a nice church to sit in repose. Anglican. Another Anglican Church St Matthias is quite interesting.

Here's a link to the tour:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/england/best-england-tour

Thanks everyone for suggestions and Liz for adding the link for our RS tour. We think that 5 more nights in London (we’re already paying for two at the end of our trip) is above our budget. Travel outside London is going to be our thing, something we will put together on our own. However also interested if anyone can recommend a good tour company based in the UK with whom we could investigate a small 4-6 day travel tour outside the city, not day trips as we hope to avoid London lodging. This is such a helpful forum!

Rabbie’s tours are a favorite of many forum members, including me.

https://www.rabbies.com/en/england-tours/from-london

Well, looking at your opening wish list the Rabbies 5 day trips to Devon/Cornwall or to Wales may well suit you.

But I also note that you take about being "with ourselves".

You could come back up to the Lake District. Rick only shows you a very carefully curated very small bit of the Lake District on tour. Cumbria can give you everything you wish- including formal gardens (but see below).

Even glorious seaside and beaches. There a number of great beaches out here on the west coast in parts of the county few overseas tourists ever get to, which you can combine with as much coastal walking as you might want on the King Charles Coastal Path.

Back to Gardens- as well as the public gardens there is also something called the National Open Garden Scheme where you get to visit people's private gardens in aid of Charity. I'm looking at the paper brochure now, and that has started by early May. Clearly having a car is very beneficial for that. You get to visit little corners of the County you would never even know existed.

By train and local bus from 23 March you will be able to leave London at 5.30pm and be in Keswick by just after 10pm, or leave London at 4.30pm and be at Ullswater by 9pm as for instances. If you have a railcard, then booked ahead, on those trains, you can get up to the Lake District for £25 each, each way.

Lots of interesting Churches and of course Carlisle Cathedral.

Going back to beaches few people know that 1 1/4 hours by bus (a service much improving from March) is the port town of Barrow in Furness. Barrow itself is, well, a bit meh. But hop a local bus 15 minutes over the bridge you reach Walney Island. 6 or 7 miles of some of the best beaches and sand dunes you will find. Known for its bird spotting also two wildlife reserves on the island. The bus only takes you so far on the island. The best bits are a good walk or are best with the car.

If you wanted somewhere away from the hustle bustle of the Lake District you could try Grange over Sands, Ulverston or Cartmel as an away from it destination in Furness. Somewhere really very nice for access to Windermere might be the Swan Inn at Newby Bridge. The 5.30pm train from London would get you there by just after 10pm, via bus from Grange over Sands. Cartmel is best with a car.

In the west the coastal villages of St Bees or Ravenglass could be good fits- both on the coastal railway.

We love Rabbies but be aware that the tour price does not include accommodations.

I understand your possible desire to add on another tour but I would bear in mind that you will just have finished a tour described as pretty full on. No doubt with early starts and definitely with long periods in coaches, you’re likely to feel like a break even if you are fit.

We are just coming to the end.of a trip to South America that included a two week tour from Santiago to Buenos Aires but mostly in Patagonia which was preceded by 4 nights in the Atacama and afterwards by 2 nights at Iguazú and 4 in Rio. By the time we got to Rio on Monday we were ready to really slow down and take it easy. And we’re a bit younger than you.

So I think I’d recommend somewhere to base yourselves for the whole extra period. Stuart makes an excellent case for his home county as one alternative. I think I would suggest a base in Cornwall. Firstly you will have been nowhere near it on your tour. Secondly it’s a wonderful place to visit gardens in May - they are at their best there in Spring. Thirdly there are endless beaches to explore and there’s a path all round the coast that can provide wonderful walking, although you do need to watch that you don’t choose strenuous parts of which there are many.

You could easily pick a base for 5 days, taking the train there and back. There’s lots of choice. If you stay in one of the bigger centres you should be able to manage without a car with judicious use of buses and trains or maybe odd organised day trips.

Thanks everyone. So many good ideas here and I am saving them for next time around. In the end, we have decided that an Airbnb in north Oxford with a private garden, well stocked kitchen and a king bed with - as one reviewer reported “luxury linens” - was calling our names. On a bus route with access into and out of town, we will still be able to do day trips into London as no doubt there’s more we want to see there. I really should follow this forum even when I’m not traveling as it’s so full of ideas and inspiration. Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.

I really should follow this forum even when I’m not traveling as it’s so full of ideas and inspiration.

Ha ha, you should! Join the rest of us who are here on a daily basis. 😊 But seriously, I like your idea of heading to Oxford. I'm planning one night there at the end of a 5 1/2 week trip to England next month, and I'm literally kicking myself for not spending more time there. Oxford looks wonderful to me and I think you will really enjoy. You might want to start off reading this article to get an idea of the many pleasures of the city. https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/oxford

And if you enjoy watching British shows, you might want to check out Endeavor on PBS, which was filmed (and located) in Oxford. Wonderful show in its own right, but good for research, too. Just be aware that some of the college tours require that you book in advance and tickets are limited for some of the tours (eg, the Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera tour) , so it pays to do your research. Enjoy!

Thank you Mardee! Great link and yes Endeavor fan present and accounted for. Perhaps now I will be able to encourage my spouse to watch.

You're welcome! Here's something that might help you sway your spouse. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/endeavour-filming-locations-in-oxford/

Enjoy your trip!

Enjoying how much Mardee likes to share locations intel for PBS series.

After nearly 30 years a film and Tv location manger and scout it’s always nice to have “ our “ contributions recognized.

99% of the time it’s the Production Designer who gets the credit but I can tell you the film and TV locations departments are the ones who find the locations, pay for them, secure them and return them to their proper state….NOT the Production Designers and Art Department. In other words the Location Department provides the canvasses for the other production crew to create their “ magic.”

You think the Production Designer had anything to do with the demise of Johnny Tran motorcycle chase sequence in the first Fast and Furious. Nope. The location department secured the permits, went door to door with notifications and hired and paid for the retired LAPD who kept peace.

And as an FYI the motorcycle stuntman in that scene broke his femur in the crash. Thankfully we had 5 cameras filming so what was captured on film was enough.

With Vera and so many of the British cop/detective shows the locations are what make them intriguing.

I will enjoy knowing this and thinking about it. Thank you. Reminds me of my fellow Department of State’s administrative specialists whom Secretary Colin Powell referred to as “the backbone of the Foreign Service.”