Shropshire Hills

what a good choice - not one we see often here. Beautiful countryside and equally beautiful towns and villages.

Thanks! This leads me to believe that it will be less touristy than our first stop the Cotswolds.
Any suggestions on hotels or gardens to see? Favorite walks small towns?

Ludlow makes a lovely home base. A smallish town, once described by poet John Betjeman as the loveliest town in England. It has a very nice castle, an excellent food scene and good shopping generally, plus lots of beautiful architecture.

Nice riverside and woodland walks from the towns.

I’ve stayed at a nice hotel/B&B called The Charlton Arms, just across the river from the centre of Ludlow. In the town centre, The Feathers is in a wonderful half-timbered Tudor building, but I don’t know what the hotel itself is like.

There are bus services to a number of other local towns - see here: https://www.ludlow21.org.uk/bus-routes-and-timetables/

Of those towns, Church Stretton is a starting point for lovely walks around the Carding Valley and Long Mynd.

Knighton gives you access to walks along Offa’s Dyke.

I’m not sure how you’d get there by public transport, but Powis Castle is an amazing National Trust property with fantastic gardens.

Oh, just to add Stokesay Castle - which is just south of Craven Arms, on that same bus route between Ludlow and Shrewsbury via Church Stretton.

It’s just the most beautiful part of the world. I’d take it over the Cotswolds any day of the week.

Fantastic this is very helpful, thank you.

Ludlow is one of my favorites , be sure to visit St Laurence's Church ;look here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Laurence%27s_Church,_Ludlow and read some of " A Shropshire Lad " by A.E.Housman

We spent 5 nights in Ludlow earlier this year in a nice cottage with a garden where we could sit and listen to the church bells. Ludlow is lovely, and we found the people to be friendly. We didn’t have a car and the town is easily accessible by rail with everything within walking distance of the station.
St Laurence’s Church is indeed well worth a visit. We were immediately welcomed and offered a personal tour. It also has a very nice coffee shop. There is also Ludlow Castle, quite a few nice old pubs, restaurants, small shops and a very good market with local produce that was open a few days we were there. There are some nice walks from town along the river. We also did an easy day trip to Shrewsbury by rail.
We were very pleased with our choice of Ludlow to stay.

Ludlow is a good choice if you want somewhere relatively quiet with old buildings everywhere. Another bonus is that it is on the railway - called The Marches Line. The trains go from north Wales to south Wales and from south Wales to Manchester.

On arrival at the station, all you see is a couple of supermarkets. Go past the Tesco and turn left up a slight hill and you see the famous Feathers Hotel. Carry on and turn right for the middle of this historic town.
This YouTube video will give you an idea of what to expect - though it is a bit long winded.

You should also take the train to Shrewsbury (25 minutes north). (If you want to go to Powis Castle, you would change at Shrewsbury for Welshpool - but note that Powis Castle is a 2Km walk from the station).

Around 1 hour 30 minutes by train, you can reach Chester to the north or Cardiff to the south. You may also like to take the shorter journey south to see Hereford and then Leominster on the return.

As mentioned earlier, Stokesay Castle is not far away and well worth seeing.

Church Stretton to the north has footpaths going into the Shropshire Hills*. Note that it is on The Marches Line but fewer trains stop at this place but you always have bus alternatives. * Check out on Google Maps.

Thanks everyone for all the great info.
Anyone want to weight in on staying in Shrewsbury?
I found a great place to stay there,hence the attraction.

Shrewsbury is a very nice town with plenty going on. A fair bit bigger than Ludlow. Very historic centre although quite a lot of more modern shopping centre buildings too.

Ludlow is a little beautifully preserved gem whereas Shrewsbury is a largish town with a lot of nice historic stuff.

Good transport links (same bus and train routes as Ludlow, I think).

Shrewsbury is a historic town with many old buildings. Unfortunately, some newer stuff also exists but most buildings are old and quaint.

Shrewsbury is an excellent rail centre where several routes converge. Because of this, it opens up the option for you to do a day trip on the Cambrian Line going west across mid Wales to Machynlleth* and then up the Cambrian coast to Aberdovey (1 hour 45 minutes) or Barmouth (2 hours 30 minutes). * train will either split here or you have to swap trains. Also note that it is the same line that you would take west to the first stop at Welshpool - should you wish to visit Powis Castle.https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/powis-castle-and-garden

The Heart of Wales railway goes SW from Shrewsbury on a single track slow route to Swansea but I would be less inclined to use this line due to the old trains and the towns on this route are not up to much. If doing this line, I would be inclined to go as far as Llandovery and then return - but only 1 train every 4 hours!

I would suggest that going north to Chester should be a priority for a day out by train.

PS. Manchester is probably your best airport (for Shrewsbury) if wanting direct trans-Atlantic flights. Aer Lingus might be your best bet for prices.
https://www.skyscanner.net