Starting to plan itinerary for southern England and london

How fun! Did you watch Rick's video on Southeast England? I just saw it on the home page...good stuff.

Cornwall is a long way off to the west. If it were me, I'd spend as much time as I could in London with a day trip to Brighton, and do a couple of days in York, all by train. If you really want to do Cornwall, there's an overnight train (from Paddington to Penzance) that will save you both a night in a hotel plus the awful drive, but it's not super restful.

My sister took her kids to Legoland and isn't sure she would do it again. Said it was a bit of a waste of a day....out of the way, very crowded, and she'd much rather have taken them to the one in California. There's a massive Lego store in Leicester Square - would that be an acceptable option?

Yes, I'd give a lot more thought to whether Cornwall is too far out of your way than whether York is. They're about the same distance from London as the crow flies, but the trains to York are a lot faster: London to York is around 2 hours, London to Penzance is more than 5. (Of course, just because you're going to Cornwall doesn't mean you have to go all the way to the end, but the beach towns further east, like Looe, don't save you that much time, because they're not on the main train line.)

You might want to look into staying in Devon, which is a lot less of a trek. I spent a couple days last year in the Torbay area (Torquay and Paignton) and liked it a lot - I think it may have most of what you're looking for. It's very possible to explore the area without a car, if you're so inclined.

Thanks for those perspectives! I'll have to do a bit more research but I think I would prefer to spend time in Cornwall or out on the peninsula rather than York, from what I've looked at so far. Cornwall seems charming!

Another question- are both exmoor and Dartmoor national parks worth visiting? Are they unique from one another?

I like to spend 2 nights in Salisbury and use the full day to take the local bus called the Stonehenge Tour out to Stonehenge and Old Sarum on the full day. On the partial day you can see the Cathedral, their Magna Carta, the Salisbury Museum (excellent collection of artifacts from Stonehenge and also has very good temporary exhibits sometimes) and just enjoy the atmosphere.

That, however, does not get you to the Cotswolds.

How about this? Land at Heathrow - bus link to Woking for train to Salisbury (3 nights). Take shuttle bus to Stonehenge & see Salisbury Cathedral. Day 2 - train to Bath (day return). After Salisbury - take train to Exeter Central and have quick look around - or just go straight on to Devon/ Cornwall. Then, train from Exeter (St.David’s) to Totnes (check into accommodation - 2 nights) . Visit Dartmouth (by boat on the estuary) and or Salcombe - though a bus would be needed or hire a *car and do both in one day. If you wish to see Dartmoor - hire a car and add a day. (I am not that keen and roads can be very narrow and winding up on the moors). Alternatively - continue straight from Exeter by train into Cornwall for maybe 3 or 4 nights. Truro makes a good central base - best to hire a car to get about.

• If you do hire a car in this area, on the coastal route between Dartmouth & Salcombe - A379 via Torcross - nearly 1000 Americans died during the war. (A memorial is by the road). Read about it here:> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torcross

Once done with Cornwall, train back east - either direct to London or you could go by direct train to Cheltenham and stay maybe 3 nights and use this as a base for the Cotswolds. (Direct trains go from Cornwall / Plymouth/Totnes to York via Cheltenham(for Cotswolds). No direct trains to York from Salisbury). Going to York maybe overdoing it. Do London last. I would forget about SE England - or cut out going to the SW.

If you were to drive from Truro (central Cornwall) to Bourton-on-the-Water (Cotswolds), it would be about 3hours 30 minutes driving time - most if it on expressways/motorways (interstates) 215 miles. It would be less from the Totnes area of you did not want to go all the way to Cornwall. http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp#fromNode=0%7CTruro,%20UK%7C%7C-5.051041%7C50.263195%7CtoNode=0%7CBourton-on-the-Water,%20Cheltenham%20GL54,%20UK%7C%7C-1.763191%7C51.886805

Another thing that you may like to consider that would reduce your travelling yet still have a coastal experience > Dorset. If you went to Salisbury, got over the plane trip, took a day trip by train to Bath, you may then like to hire a car and head SW into Dorset. Highlights include Lulworth Cove/Durdle Dor , Cerne Abbas Giant (women love this), Abbotsbury sub-tropical gardens, Charmouth (fossils on beach), Lyme Regis and just over the border, in Devon - the village of Beer. Back up in Wiltshire, Stourhead and Longleat Safari Park/Stately Home could be considered along with Montacute near Yeovil with a quick look at Sherborne. Google the places mentioned for more info! https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stourhead
https://www.visit-dorset.com
https://www.visitcornwall.com
http://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/explore-south-devon/south-hams
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/how-to-save-money-on-railfares-not-pre-book

Great ideas- thank you! Lots to think about. I hadn't considered doing London last. We fly into Gatwick on the airline I'm using, if that makes a difference? Perhaps we head out from there to Salisbury to begin?

Yes, you can go from Gatwick to Salisbury by train. 2 routes operate - one goes into London & back out & pay on the day would be around £39 for a trip of around 2 hours. However, a cheaper route exists that takes about 30 minutes longer and costs around £25 pay on the day. This route goes to Farnham (near Portsmouth) where you change trains for one heading for Cardiff via Salisbury.
www.nationalrail.co.uk

Of course, you did mention SE England and Gatwick is in SE England. So, you could consider landing and maybe just taking the short (30 minute) train ride down to Brighton for your first night. Another possibility is to take the 40 minute train ride down to Arundel for your first night - but the station is about a mile E of the town so try and get pre-arranged accommodation to give you a lift of choosing this option.http://www.visitsoutheastengland.com/places-to-visit/arundel-p352941 (Gatwick to Arundel fare is £13.50 pay on day).
https://www.visitbrighton.com

Another option would be to land at Gatwick & take the train on a 1 hour 24 minute trip (£15.50 pay on day) to Portsmouth Harbour for your first night. From here, direct hourly trains would take you to Salisbury on day 2.http://www.historicdockyard.co.uk

What does your 7 yr old like?
IMHO , you have too many places and too short time. I took my then 8 yr old son for 12 days and this is what worked well for us. ( my son was big into trains and transport , also harry potter)
We spend the night we arrived and one more night in London. This let us decompress from the flight and get used to the time. In these 2 days,we went to the Transport Museum and rode the Underground and a double decker bus. Riding the bus went past many of the sights. We also walked past Big Ben and Parliament.
Then we spent 3 days in York. easy train ride. Amazing train museum (even if you dont love trains) , walled city so walked on walls. Went to a couple of touristy but fun museums .and just enjoyed family time at the B&B which was on the water.
3 days Pickering - we took a bus but next time would rent a car. Wonderful steam engine thru the moors- one stop was in harry potter. did some hiking. There is a small ruin of a castle which was fun to explore. From there you can also drive to the coast.
Then we returned to London. Big hit was Tower of London which I had planned for 3 hours but we stayed the day as they had a lot of activities and demonstrations that Nick and I enjoyed. the Imperial War Museum was a big hit as well. London Eye - big hit. Prison museum near Shakespeares
One of the benefits of traveling with a child is allowing playground time. We did the playground in Kennsington park and several others. I got to chat with other moms and he got to play. We also saw a play - Mary Poppins.
Anyway - dont know what your son is like , but I found on multiple trips that we did much better staying longer in 2 places than adding additional places. one 'weird' thing we've done is to do an overnight and pay for a second hotel while our luggage slept in the hotel we return to. We did this in Italy, where we really needed a relaxed beach day in the middle of our Florence stay. I paid for a second hotel room in the beach town for one night. We took the train with a backpack with a beach towel, bathing suits and toothbrushes. Slept in an inexpensive hotel that night and then returned the next afternoon to our hotel in Florence. kept the checking in, luggage lugging to a minimum.
My son ( now 20) and I were just reminiscing about that London trip last night. Wonderful memories. PS - he told me the highlight was the day we just rode the trains and buses. LOL. also, he would suggest the Harry Potter studio tour- he went there with his senior class trip.