question about a local tour to windsor/stonehedge and bath

Let me start off by saying it's your holiday, and you know your child. My advice would be that it is way too much to take in over too short a period.

Personally I'd say that unless your daughter is a big Bridgeton fan :) you could skip Bath, as I doubt it would be of that much interest to her. Ditto Stonehenge. But Windsor Castle make a great half-day trip from London that would appeal to a 11 year old. You can easily take a train from London- no need for a tour. You could also consider Hampton Court Palace as an alternative.

I'm being a bit flippant about Bath. I really like it, and it's popular for a reason. I just think if a 11 year old had to pick between Bath and Windsor, they'd pick Windsor. But if you did want to go there, pick it as a single stop, and take the train, thus avoiding tour of Britain's motorways.

I know that doesn't help with your desire to see countryside, but on a 12 hour bus tour I don't think you'd see much of it either.

My friends took a tour of just Windsor and Stonehenge with Golden Tours last September and they were very happy with it. It was a long day, but they felt they got enough time at both Stonehenge and the castle. At both those stops you're basically looking at only one thing, whereas Bath is a whole city and it would be hard to see much of anything in a day that also included the other two sites.

Perhaps ask your daughter whether she is interested in seeing Stonehenge. It was one of the 3 things my 12 year-old son wanted to see when we visited England and Paris (20 years ago--yikes!!!). If she's not particularly interested, then I would take Simon's advice and just take the train to Windsor to see the castle. It's an easy trip and much less time-consuming.

thank you both for your feedback.. so very helpful I really appreciate the perspectives.

that's pretty much what I would have recommended. The great thing about these Forums is with contributors around the world others can answer while we're asleep.

I was mostly drawn to open because you spelled Windsor as window, and it didn't immediately make sense to me. You could, of you wanted, edit the title. So glad that others worked it out...

I would say that Hampton Court Palace would be more interesting to an eleven year old than Windsor - Tudor Kitchens and great hall, Royal Apartments, maze etc. I think it would take best part of a full day.

I like Bath, and the mix of Roman remains and regency buildings etc are interesting to see.

All you will really get from a one day tour to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath will be an in depth understanding of Britain's road and especially motorway system as that's where you will spend most of your day.

I agree with what everyone's said above. + Discuss options with your daughter.

But for an 11 year old, my pick would be Hampton Court Palace. If you did this, you could take a boat along the Thames one way and come back on the train when you're done.

I’d definitely choose Hampton Court Palace above the other options. Really interesting for all ages. The tour you mention would be very hectic and I’d think boring for most kids. I should add I’m originally from Salisbury and lived very close to Stonehenge. We used to play around the stones before they were roped off.

very embarrassing about my misspelling thank you for pointing that out.
I really appreciate all of the guidance you've all given me here. this is is immensely helpful - thank you!

We just got back from London and did a Stonehenge/Windsor tour with Tours of Stonehenge ([email protected]). Great day with Johnny who was both the driver and guide. We highly recommend him! We did an early morning (up at 0430) sunrise tour which truly beat the crowds. We felt like we had Stonehenge essentially to ourselves. The day included Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, breakfast in Salisbury and then Windsor Castle (self-guided and you will need to buy your tickets in advance for Windsor). Yes, it is an early morning but my kids (teens) rallied and say it was their favorite experience during our time in London. We left at 0430 and were back at our London apartment by 2:30 PM.