Ten nights in southern England - east, south and west (Cornwall)

Hi, John. For resources on this web site, you might start with the route of Rick's Southern England tour, but you'll have to cut a couple of days. Bath need not be part of that plan - it would be easy to visit by train on another trip. Part of the reason it's included here is because it's easy for tour members to stay longer and then connect back to London and others could connect to our other England/Wales tour, which starts there. If you end your drive in Corwall, you can avoid a long drive back by taking a direct train from Penzance to London (5 - 5.5 hours). You can also see Rick's related TV shows on the region.

For me, the most important places to visit in the south & west would be, in order of importance:

Stonehenge and (very) nearby Woodhenge & Durrington Walls. You could stay 2 nights in Salisbury and use the bus that goes to Stonehenge as well as Old Sarum.

Bath. My interest would be the Roman baths, not so much the modern city though the latter certainly draws many visitors.

St. Michael's Mount on the southern Cornwall coast. Magical.

Decades ago Glastonbury was lovely but I understand it's become a victim of its own popularity unless you're very much into crystals, psychic readings, etc.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Places we visited and enjoyed over 2 trips include: Churchill's house at Chartwell, Igtham Mote, Leeds Castle, Canterbury, Dover (cliffs, castle), Rye, battle of Hastings, Portsmouth dockyards (HMS Victory is there), Bodium Castle, Bath, Glastonbury, Wells, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Tintagel​, port Isaac, St. Ives, Land's End, Plymouth. A little further north is the Cotswolds if you had time.

Not sure if this is the ground you want to cover. Ten days is rushed. Two weeks would be preferable.
-Canterbury (2 nights)
with a day to Dover
-Brighton (1 night)
-Salisbury (2 nights)
with a day to Stonehenge & Bath
-Exeter (1 night)
-Polperro/Mevagissey (2 nights)
with a day to Padstow
-St Ives (1 night)
-Penzance to Paddington sleeper train (1 night)

The itinerary above sounds ok, except, I'd visit Padstow and Port Isaac on the way through between Exeter and Mevagissey. I'd stay in Mevagissey (lovely little fishing village) for 3 nights and then do a day trip to St Ives. This would also leave time to visit Lands End, the Minack Theatre, Mousehole, Lizard etc, before catching the train back to London from Penzance.