Suggestions for 3-4 Week First Trip to England in 2019?

Near Bristol are two small towns I liked: Lewes and Arundel.

I don't know what part of the eastern coast is your target area, but I enjoyed Norwich a lot. It has a lot of historic architecture and seems not to get many foreign tourists. There's a good art museum on the university campus. I took a day-trip to the atmospheric Bury St Edmunds.

In the Bath area you have Wells (cathedral).

From a base in Chester one can see a good bit of north Wales.

I did all of the above via train and bus.

I enjoyed all the gardens I visited in August, even though I'd guess that is a bit past prime garden season in the southern part of Great Britain. I don't think you can go wrong with gardens in Great Britain.

I believe the age limit for renting a car is 75.

Planning a trip to England is not daunting but full of choices which one has to set priority preferences. I find it great going to England and London. The hard part is where/what to decide to visit. In London I stay at B&Bs, always at Kings Cross, which for me is very convenient, also with St Pancras Station adjacent to it. I like London in May and June, went back last Oct, the end half. I should gone during the first half since presumably it would have been a bit less chilly and windy for my summer clothes.

We have made several trips to England. I'd suggest dividing you trip into three segments. Land at Heathrow, pick up your rental car (no problem with rentals for people in their 60s), and drive west through Winchester, Salisbury (Stonehenge), Devon, Cornwall, return via Glastonbury, Wells, Bradford-on-Avon, and head back towards London, Return car, visit London.

Take a train to York. Visit York. Pick up another rental car, loop up through York, Whitby, Lindisfarne, Melrose (Borders area is in Scotland) Hadrian's Wall, maybe the Lakes district. Fly home from Manchester.

This route will let you avoid the Midlands part of England, which is not as interesting as many of the other regions, IMHO.

Many people on this site will try to talk you out of driving because Brits drive on the opposite side of the road. However, we got used to driving on the left side very quickly.

Charming inns are plentiful everywhere. If you enjoy wine with dinner, choose inns which also offer good food or choose inns in smaller towns where you can walk to the pubs.

If you want to see a lot of England, you will need to change locations probably every other night except when you visit London. If you want a relaxing vacation, then just visit one of the two areas, plus London. We are retired, so we don't need "relaxing" vacations!

Buy a couple of good guide books - Rough Guides and Lonely Planet are both excellent - and have fun planning your anniversary trip.

Arundel and Lewis are very locely towns, but are near Brighton not Bristol! Would not bother with Dover, the cliffs can only be properly seen from the sea. You are better off with the cliffs near Lewis, if i remember rightly they are called the Seven Sisters. In that area you can also see Charlston Farm House, home of the Bloomsbury Group, Virginia Wolf and Vanessa Bell. Also there is a village that i think is called Alfreston, very pretty and the pub there is were the Banoffee pie was invented! Lovely walking on the South Downs and of course stunning Canterbury and off course Vita Sackville Wests amazing and justifiably famous gardens at Sissinghurst!
So basically i think i am saying stay in the South East, more than enough to keep you busy for a couple of weeks!

Firstly, you need to decide exactly how many nights you are going to have in the UK, as what you can see in 4 weeks is very different to 3 weeks.

I wouldn’t do as a previous poster suggested and hire a car immediately upon arrival, as that can be dangerous if you are jet lagged. I would head to London and have your 5-7 nights there and try to do plenty of walking your first day there, not sat in a car. A week will pass easily here if you have that long. One of the smaller museums that you may like is the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square.

The list of places that you mention is quite geographically spread. Dover has an interesting castle, but the town is quite dreary and it takes quite a time to get there from London. As has already been stated, you can see more of the cliffs from Eastbourne along the coast to Brighton. Rottingdean is a pretty village that would make a good base, as would Alfriston or Jevington, as from here, you could cover Brighton, the cliffs, Rye and Lewes. There are plenty gardens, including Sissinghurst and look into overseas National Trust membership. Have a week in this area.

Where on the east coast do you want to visit? There’s a lot of it!

A drive north could take in Chatsworth, York (2 full days there won’t bore you) then see Whitby (Mary Shelley) on the coast and the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, Thirsk and Ripon and the ruined abbeys. I would stop for a couple of days en route near Rutland Water and visit Barnsdale Garden, Stamford where Middlemarch was filmed and Oakham Castle (see the horseshoe museum where kings and queens going back centuries have presented horseshoes).

Chester is a good base for north Wales, but I would prefer to have a week near the Llangollen Canal and take a day trip to Chester, as the scenery is good and there are several NT properties nearby.

Here's a rough suggestion based on personal experiences (we visited the UK more than 40 times over a 20+ year period). We prefer NOT to drive - 1 don't want to deal with 'opposite side' issues, 2 gas/petrol is very expensive, 3 parking is scarce and very expensive, 4 we actually ENJOY the train (and occasional bus).

Arrive London and spend 8+ nights with a day trip planned about every 3rd day-
possible day trips include- Windsor (castle and town- 1/2 to 1 full day), Canterbury (and possibly Dover), Bath, Stonehenge, Brighton, Winchester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cardiff Wales, Cotswolds, etc.

Train to York- spend 2-3 nights
Train to Edinburgh (to get a taste of Scotland)- spend 3 nights (or more if you want to do day trips)
Train to Inverness (to get a taste of Highlands)- spend 2-5 nights depending on day trips (cruise on Firth for dolphin and puffin watches), cruise up River Ness to Loch Ness- see Urquhart castle, town of Drumndrochit and Nessie, LONG day trip to see Orkney Islands, day trip to Isle of Skye and Eliean Doon castle, various gardens,etc.
Train to Snowdonia area of Wales- there are lots of tiny villages to choose from. Visit Mt. Snowdon, walk along lovely 'creeks/rivers and see LOTS of waterfalls. Spend 2-3 nights
Train to Cardiff Wales (if not done as day trip from London), spend 2-3 nights.
Train to Bath- if not done from London- spend 2-3 nights.
Train to London for 2-3 days to finish shopping, etc.

Fly home.

I didn't include all the places you mentioned, because we haven't visited them. Yes, I'm a bit 'heavy' on Scotland- we love it and I could easily add 5-10 additional days there, personally. You could stop at Aviemore in the Cairngorm Mountains for a few nights, etc.

In London, check out staying at apartments owned and run by the London School of Economics. They have locations all over central London. You can also rent unused dorm rooms at their various dorms. Facilities vary- some with ensuite, some with laundry, some with meals. Here is their website

[https://www.lsevacations.co.uk/Home.aspx][1].or this one [https://www.lsevacations.co.uk/Accommodation/TheGeorge/The-George.aspx][2]

I loved Salisbury-the cathedral, the museum. You can also go to Stonehenge from there, if that appeals to you. I really loved the castle at Dover. Royalty related-Windsor. Cambridge is enjoyable-the Eagle pub where Watson and Crick announced they had figured out the structure of DNA, Kings College Cathedral. Sorry I can't help with places to stay-we belong to the hotel points crowd. Hadrian's Wall in north England for Roman history-I haven't been but it's on my bucket list, as is Wells. You should plan more than one visit to British Museum-it's too much to absorb on a single visit. If interested in WW II-Churchill War Rooms, Imperial War Museum. Museum of London. Westminster Abbey for sure. Evensongs at Cathedrals-free and no ticket required, but get in line early in Cambridge. You should definitely consider taking the train, rather than driving, when possible-it's faster. If you decide to go to Cardiff, Wales, there are castles and a really enjoyable outdoor museum-St. Fagan's-that I really enjoyed, and it's an easier train trip from London or Bath.

I agree with others about taking the train if all you want to see are cities, but as you want to see gardens and stay on farms, it sounded as though your trip would suit car hire better. Plus you have longer than many trips that I see on this forum, where others would be trying to cover this much ground in 2 weeks.

We prefer NOT to drive - 1 don't want to deal with 'opposite side' issues, 2 gas/petrol is very expensive, 3 parking is scarce and very expensive, 4 we actually ENJOY the train (and occasional bus).

Yes, fuel is expensive but so are buses and trains. If you rent a small, economical car it will likely be cheaper overall than paying out for all those bus and train tickets. It's also more beneficial if you're travelling outside of cities and gives you more freedom to go where and when you want.

Forget about Dover, concentrate on the East Coast and work your way up to York and beyond. This stretch of the country will easily fill 4 weeks, in fact, it will be thoroughly insufficient to do anything more than scratch the surface.

Our only visit to England was last September for three weeks. Started in London for eight days and, frankly, after returning home to the states, in retrospect could have stayed longer. London is so energizing. I even had a street encounter with Ringo Starr and his wife while strolling on Kings Rd about 9AM one morning. Nice people. We spent a full day at the British Museum and my wife went two days to the V&A. Also Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, and much more to visit. So I would suggest staying your seven days in London at the outset of your trip. There is an incredible amount to absorb there.
We proceeded on to York, the Peak District and Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall, Bath, the Cotswolds and Oxford. All done via train. Get a "two together" rail card, our first class train tickets from London to York was $32 for the two of us.We traveled everywhere we wanted to go via train and taxi and it was much cheaper than renting a car. Also, I got to be a sightseer and not have to worry about map reading and missing a turn and having to turn around or find my way.
Outside of London, highlights were the Minster in York (just awe inspiring), and the town itself, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, touring the Cotswolds in a minivan and the Roman Baths in Bath. And my absolute must see is Chatsworth House and the estate.
September weather was fine although one must expect some rainy days in England any time. Enjoy your visit.