Salisbury, Oxford, Bletchley Park, London - Seeking comments and recommendations

I’ll leave others to comment about arriving and driving the same day. Only you can say you are comfortable driving on the opposite side of the road and not jet lagged from your flight.

Second never assume especially when landing at Heathrow. Immigration can take forever, then waiting for the shuttle to the rental car area, getting adjusted to the vehicle and then tackling directions to Salisbury. Have you researched what traffic and parking in Salisbury will be like?

Then you stay only one night in Salisbury and 1 in Oxford and want to drive to London.

Are u renting the car because you like the freedom you believe it offers you?

Please Reconsider.

Locating parking, negotiating traffic combined with driving on the opposite side of the road will give you nothing but headaches.

Oxford, Salisbury and Bletchley are ALL easily reachable by train and/or bus from London.

As far as theatre there’s so much to choose from. Beside Waitress, there’s Wicked, Mama Mia and the Tina Turner musical which Prince Harry and Megan Markle just went to.

Thanks Claudia,

I should have added that I am flying in a few days earlier as I have work in Kent. So I will be returning to the airport to pick up my husband, daughter and mother-in-law. Appreciate your comments about time to clear customs, etc. and trials of driving in England. I've driven in England previously and not worried about the driving bit.
We don't want to stay in London the entire trip and want to see Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bletchley Park, so this is why I've planned the trip this way...

Have you made arrangements with a particular college in Oxford for a special early morning entry?

Most colleges don't open until the afternoon, either 12 or 2.

Which one are you heading for?

Does your Oxford hotel provide parking? Driving a car in Oxford requires the patience of a saint - the City Council doesn't like cars and does everything it can to get rid of them and for those which remain it makes life a misery. They take yellow lines very seriously, expect plenty of times when the road you are on goes straight into a no-entry sign and you need to make a plan. Parking in the car parks is expensive, parking on the street is rare and very expensive. Limits are strictly enforced by a little army of wardens.

Driving between Oxford and Bletchley, expect slow traffic in Bicester and Buckingham.

Several years ago we enjoyed our stay at Newton Farmhouse near Salisbury. We had a car and will have one again when we return in April for another two nights. Nice people. Safe travels.

Bletchely Park should fascinate anyone interested in WW2, wartime espionage, or (less obviously) the history of computers. The public facility is relatively new because historians had trouble extracting information from the code-breakers. A lot of the staff were non-military and took their vow of 50 years of silence very seriously. The centrepiece is the massive machine developed to sort out the daily codes for the Germans' Enigma code machine. Sometimes the rebuilt Bombe machine is demonstrated, all whirring gears and ratcheting wheels. Modern computer geeks have adopted it as their founder although it was mechanical rather than transistorized. Some Silicon Valley companies have made donations to the museum. There's also a functioning short-wave station. Allow at least half a day for a good look-around. A tea room for lunch is in operation or take the easy walk back to the train station and the village to find a couple of pubs.
https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/visit-us

There's a photo of Bombe here, if you scroll down to Hut 11A https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/whats-on

We drove from Salisbury to Stonehenge. One small problem. our nav system didn't recognize Stonehenge. It is not a town or city and fortunately, we had a map as backup.

Avebury is nice and you can touch the stones, we went there after visiting Stonehenge.

Oxford is worth a day. You don't seem to have much time there. We did a Walking Tour that was excellent and free, but we tipped nicely.

Parking in Oxford is nonexistent unless you park in a suburban lot and take the bus in. We took the train to Oxford.

Nigel, thank you for the tip about parking in Oxford and visiting times are the colleges. Looks like we may have to forego seeing a college as we probably need to be on the road by 11 am to have adequate time at Bletchley Park.

Denny, thank you for the suggestion about the Newton Farmhouse, I will look at it.

Southam, looking forward to visiting Bletchley Park - I will check out the tea room.

Our two priorities for this part of the trip are Salisbury Cathedral/Stonehenge and Bletchley Park; I thought we could stay in Oxford and wonder around a bit as it is on the way to Bletchley. However, it sounds like this may not be worthwhile as the opening times of the colleges won't work.

Is there another area, town, village where we could stay up that way? Somewhere around Bletchley perhaps?

Thank you all for your suggestions and help!

I've stayed at Cathedral View B & B, Rose and Crown Hotel and the Mercure White Hart hotel in Salisbury.

http://www.cathedral-viewbandb.co.uk/
http://www.legacy-hotels.co.uk/hotels/rose-crown-hotel-salisbury-wiltshire
https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-6616-mercure-salisbury-white-hart-hotel/index.shtml

Cathedral View is only 4 rooms so they may be booked. They do have a room with twin beds so your daughter and Mom could stay in that room if it's available. There is no elevator so you'd walk up the stairs. The hosts are wonderful, Steve makes his own bread and marmalade.

Rose and Crown I stayed in on a Rick Steves tour. It was in a great riverside location. Not sure about parking altho there might have been some on one side? This had the most sumptuous breakfast buffet I've seen in UK. Really awesome and the breakfast room is on the river side making for lovely views.

Mercure White Hart was my least favorite. I stayed here in 2016 on a Road Scholar tour and it was a bit run-down at that time. The location is terrific. No idea about parking.

Instead of backtracking to Old Sarum, I'd either go there first OR I'd head for Woodhenge/Durrington Walls (they are across the lane from each other) which are near Stonehenge. I've not driven it in many, many, many years and the road system has changed but I did walk it in 2016 and it's close.

Stonehenge actually has fairly nice food in it's cafe. Avebury has a number of cafes in the small town but also has a fairly nice National Trust cafe near the Visitor Center.

Karen, since you will already be on the ground, would it be possible for you to pick up the rental car before you family arrives, then park at the terminal and meet your family? We usually count on an hour to get a rental car. That would save you some time in Salisbury and I think you are a little short. If at all possible, I would schedule the Tower Tour at the cathedral and don't miss the Magna Carta. There are only a few cathedrals where you can get up in the "attic" and Salisbury is one.

Old Sarum was very nice, but we visited in the summer. In March, it might not be so great. You will be very exposed to the weather. It's all outside and you are on the top of a hill. Your Sunday is already quite full. We did do Stonehenge and Old Sarum the same day, but this was before the new visitor center opened. We also spent a full day at Avebury. Again, we were there is the summer and did a 7 mile hike to see a number of prehistoric sites. If you're short of time, I would skip Old Sarum and Avebury. I would backtrack to see the Magna Carta or do the Tower Tour if you missed these (check Sunday hours!). For a short stop, I would not backtrack to Old Sarum in March, but I think Avebury is worth even a short stop. Marlborough is a nice market town near Avebury where you could pick up some lunch. There was a grocery right on the main square.

I have not been to Oxford in many years or to Bletchley at all, so can't help you there. Hope you have a nice trip.

Thank you Eef. Yes, I am flying in a few days earlier, will already have the rental car and will pick up the rest of our party at the airport to save time. I'll check out Marlborough. All is weather dependent!
I've decided to skip Oxford and instead find a nice village (somewhere in the eastern part of Cotdwolds?) to stay the night before we visit Bletchley. Open to suggestions! Many thanks everyone for your help.