Slow Travel Itinerary

Welcome to the forum!
You know how you enjoy spending your time better than anyone here.
Perhaps you could have a look at the AT A GLANCE section here and see what appeals to you.
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england

Have you been to London before? If not, give it more time!

The Visit England website (official tourist board) has lots of information on what to do/see in the different regions of England. They also have an "Inspire me" section which could help you narrow down where you may want to visit.

https://www.visitengland.com/

Here is an idea: Visit the Lake District in the northwest of England: https://www.visitlakedistrict.com/. It would be ideal in part because you could enjoy the natural beauty of it at a slow pace.

I've never been to the Lake District, but I was an English literature major with a penchant for the Romantic poets. The Lake District is associated with the Romantic poets, especially William Wordsworth.

Wordsworth published his Guide to the Lakes in 1810, and it was later called A Guide Through the District of the Lakes in the North of England. The book was particularly influential in popularizing the region. Wordsworth's favorite valley was Dunnerdale or the Duddon Valley in the southwest of the Lake District.

I believe Percy Shelley, John Keats, Sir Walter Scott and others visited there, too.

There are so many different possibilities that it is difficult to know where to begin... London deserves more than a couple of days.

Everyone heads to the Cotswolds and there are are so many other wonderful places you can visit that are just as good. Think about Dorset with its beaches, small villages, thatched cottages, lovely scenery and considerably fewer visitors! Alternatively there is East Anglia - Norfolk and Suffolk - again some superb coastline with lots of attractive small villages to discover as well as the Norfolk Broads. There are vibrant places like Norwich, as well as preserved steam railways, stately homes and ruined castles...

Or head north for the Peak District or Yorkshire for the Dales or North York Moors and if you are feeling really adventurous there is Northumberland ... The scenery knocks spots off the Cotswolds!

You might find this article from Lonely Planet helpful with lots of different ideas. However this isn't slow travel with only a night in each place.

Plan for no more than 4-5 stops with 3-4 nights in each place and don't forget to allow time to travel between them.

London and then only The Cotswolds? There are better places than The Cotswolds

That's the best answer? The OP said they're slow travelers with two weeks, want to do two days in London (I'd interpret that as atleast), and some days in the Cotswolds. That you think there are better places than the Cotswolds really doesn't matter, the OP wants to visit the Cotswolds and responses should cover that. But they're clearly open to other suggestions and you could've made suggestions.

It depends on what your interests are, and where you've already been. If it were me, I'd head for the southwest - Cornwall and Devonshire, because I've not been there, and I prioritize scenery over city attractions.

there's a lot of Cotswolds bashing here.

As somebody who grew up in the Cotswolds and lived for many years in and around the area, i beg to differ.

Sure, lots of people go to the area, and believe it or not it is possible to be in a smaller village and see very few if any tourists and seriously enjoy slowing down and chilling. And mosey around other off the radar villages in your car, and enjoy country pubs.

How many others here have spent a few days in Long Compton? Great Tew? Little Rollright?

Just as it is not mandatory to tramp the well trodden path to Bath then York and Edinburgh and end at Windsor, it is not mandatory to spend all the Cotswold times in Stow on the Wold, Broadway, Chipping Campden, despite how beautiful they are.

I'm happy to contribute other under the radar places upon request, but I don't want the Rick Steves effect to zap them.

We started a 7 week UK/Ireland trip (back in 2016) at a friend's in the Wiltshire village of Shrivenham.
Probably too small to find accommodation etc but a cute (and convenient) place.
From there we visited Bath, Oxford, Avebury, West Kennett Long Barrow, Uffington White Horse, Great Coxwell, Lacock, Castle Combe, Burford and a bunch of small villages. Also took a drive into Wales and camped near Crickhowell. Did a lovely little 13 km hike from there, wild ponies, iron age ruins, great views. On our way back we stopped at 15thC Raglan Castle which was brilliant.
So yeah that area around Wiltshire offers up endless options to explore, fast or slow.

From there we stayed with our friends friend in a small village in Yorkshire, Bentham.
Lots of great areas to explore there too. Probably not many shiny 5 star tourist hotspots but great countryside, classic Yorkshire stuff as I had imagined it.

Next was the Lake Districts. No friend's there so just us and our little van. Loved the drive over Hardknott Pass. We ended up at a great pub, the Woolpack Inn. Too many pints of cider so slept in carpark.
Nice area around there. We did a beautiful hike from a little railway station through the village of Boot over some easy fells then along the Esk River.
Lunch at another great pub Santon Bridge. Stopped a night in Wasdale, spectacular spot.
Early morning jog from Wasdale up England's highest peak Scafell Pike and back.
Plenty of beautiful scenic driving and hiking, nice villages.
We jumped on a boat on Ullswater hopped off half way and hiked back to Patterdale and camped by the lake there. A sweet spot, nice fells to jog and hike nearby.
After that it was off to Scotland.

Maybe none of that is your cup of tea but we had a ball.

The Lake District is a case in point. Away from the Central Lakes there are many other slower paced parts of the District.
The Duddon Valley being a classic case. You do need a car there but it is a love!y secluded valley for walking with several very nice pubs.
I can ful!y see why Wordsworth liked it.
I am writing this in Cockermouth, just on the edge of the Lake District. A really nice town full of independent shops. The birthplace of Wordsworth, his house is open to the public, a National Trust property.
At its peak the town had 16 watermilla, the earliest from Roman times, you can walk a trail of them.
Earlier today I was in Braithwaite, 2 miles outside Keswick. A quiet village centred around a stream with two country pubs, a 200 year old village store, a nice tea room and 2 churches- one Orthodox implausibly. There is a story about that and the late Fr Musther. A great place yet so close to the far busier Keswick.
But buses twice an hour, more in season.
Two days ago I was in A!lobby on the coast, in an AONB, beautiful views, great coastal walking and a brand new bus service.
It is known locally, but bare!y outside the area for its beaches and sand dunes and Roman sa!t pans.
Many other such examples in the area.

We have been to Britain several times and love it, especially the countryside.

In London, check out Premier Inn hotels there are several.
The Cotswolds can be done easily in 2-3 days. We did it in two and used Chipping Campden (Stayed at the Volunteer Inn) to do day trips to Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Stratford Upon Avon.
Also, loved Winchester, Salisbury, Avebury and Bath in SW England.
York is fantastic, probably our favorite in England.

Nigel-

I'm happy to contribute other under the radar places upon request, but I don't want the Rick Steves effect to zap them.

I am coming to you again, for your knowledge! I fear that I may have stepped in it again on my trip, but I booked us 2 nights in Cirencester this late June thinking I would rent a car for the Cotswolds. After watching hours of videos that say I would end up sitting in a queue to get INTO the public parking just outside of each of these towns that you are listing are yes, wonderful, but there are other options just as lovely, I was thinking I may want to avoid a car rental. My issue looks like Cirencester is out of the way of Stow on Wold, and any of the other towns and public transportation would put me in long drives on a bus between towns and still waste time. My main interest in the Cotswolds was Stow on Wold and Cirencester and the others looked like I would be there 2 hours max with crowds before hopping back in the rental car and traveling on to the next tourist overwhelmed area like Moreton , Bibury, Bourton, etc. and really wasn't that excited to do any of those with the crowds.

How do you let us know the "under the radar" spots? I am all about seeing them without it getting the little villages over run and ruined for the locals.

Reply to Wilde below

Being as you are going to the Cotswolds, I would suggest that you then head west into Wales. The A40 - which goes through the Cotswolds then goes west through the Brecon Beacons National Park in southern Wales and finally ends up in Pembrokeshire (the south western most county of Wales).
https://www.visitmonmouthshire.com
https://www.breconbeacons.org
https://www.visitpembrokeshire.com

2 days in London is not long - 4 or 5 days to see the main tourist sites..

You don't want a car in London. Parking is hard to find and very expensive and in the central area you may well be subject to the daily 'congestion charge'. Driving around London takes time as in many place traffic has been deliberately slowed down/

I would aim to do London as either your first or last location and pick up the car after you've been there (or just before you arrive if you make it the last). If you're going towards the Cotswolds, you might want to spend a day or two in Oxford. Again, not a place to have a car. An idea might be something like - arrive; visit London; train to Oxford; visit Oxford; pick up hire car in Oxford and then drive to nearby Cotswolds. On the way back, you can drop the car in Oxford and get the frequent bus service to Heathrow to return home.

To Wilde :-

often the etiquette of replying to a dormant thread, like this one which was asked and answered to the OP, Islandworld before Christmas, is to start your own thread - that way you can get notification of replies, and your replies don't fill the inbox of the OP who last posted in this thread before Christmas.

To your questions - I've never waited hours, in fact never more than minutes, maybe going around once or twice, in Stow on the Wold. My parents lived in the town and then in a nearby village, and except at Horse Fair (when I absolutely stay away as do many locals) have always had somewhere for my car. If you find the square too difficult, park over the road at the Tesco long stay car park - just a handful of minutes' walk back.

Bourton on the Water (I presume that's what you mean when you ask about Bourton, not Bourton on the Hill, also a nice village but without the river), can be difficult to park at, certainly next to the river, but you can use the long term car park near the aviary, or in Lower Slaughter and walk - cross the main road VERY carefully, big trucks and lots of cars and high speed.

Moreton, by which I think you mean Moreton in Marsh, has a busy market and on market day will be busy, not so much on other days, and really is only a crossroads with a station and some nice buildings. I hope you are good at parallel parking.

Bibury is absolutely tiny, a one trick pony with all the influencers doing selfies in front of Arlington Row. I don't go there anymore, not for over 20 years.

Yes, Cirencester is a bit far from the northern Cotswolds, but very nice in its own way, and has a fabulous Roman mosaic just outside the town, and there are many magical villages nearby. I never lived there so know it less well.

The other places I have in many posts mentioned are all in the northern Cotswolds and off the beaten path, best reached by car. Remember to be courteous to the local when you stop and park.

about piggybacking on the other poster's post - that's probably why the post just above discusses the car in London question implicitly asked in the OP, not Wilde's question

I did not realise that this was a dormant thread from around Christmas. I would not have wasted my time responding had I realised that.