UK Traveling in January

I'm assuming your neice is at a university is London itself, but has she done some traveling already? Presumably she may have an idea of what she wants to see - I know our kids do.

Our son was at university (Durham) in the UK and now works there, and on trips to see him (generally around Christmas time, so similar weather/daylight hours) we have taken him to Edinburgh a couple of times and York. Edinburgh would be a stretch coming from London for such a short trip, but York could work well. Closer to London, Bath is nice, ditto Oxford, Cambridge also.

All of these places work well by train from London and are cities, so the weather and limited daylight are not a big deal.

I think for you an easy train journey is the main thing, given your limited time. People do tend to warn about UK weather in winter, but it doesn't bother me, and we've quite often done countryside stays in winter - actually our first trip to visit our son at university was a week over Christmas and NY in the Cairngorms in Scotland. It was cold, dark and lovely. And we're planning next Christmas in Wales...

Have you asked the 19 and 21 year old where they might like to go - get them involved in research and the decision.

What sort of things might attract them? Are you thinking about another city - if so Simon's suggestions of Bath, York, Canbridge, Oxford would work well. You could also consider places like Norwich or Salisbury which are off the usual tourist itinerary. A bit further, you have places like Durham, Chester or Cardiff...

I’d suggest Oxford, warmer than Cambridge although damper. University towns are full of young people and I’d guess the there’d be things to do and see that will appeal to a 19 and 21 year old.

You don’t say exactly when in January you are coming and it might be worth checking term dates, but many students come up before term starts.

With a 19 and 21 year old I would suggest Bristol - a city they are likely to enjoy and close enough to Bath for an easy day trip.

If they are typical 19/21 year olds, how about Liverpool? Large city with a great nightlife scene for them. Things to look at during the day too, museums, Cathedrals, boat trips, towers, beautiful buildings and a compact shopping centre.
As a side trip from there, you could nip on the short train journey to Chester. A much smaller but very historic city. If you want to blow some cobwebs away, a short train ride takes you to beaches, forest and sand dunes. I've done it in winter and a walk followed by a meal in a warm pub is very relaxing.

Thank you for you the suggestions! I didn't mention that I'm surprising the younger neice with the trip, so she doesn't know she's going! We'll be there the first two weeks in January. Her sister that lives there has been to Edinburgh multiple times, and loves it, but with our time frame, I'm concerned about the distance and travel time. They aren't your typical youngsters who like the nightlife, so day trips and experiences are what we're looking for.

In that case I think either Oxford or Bath for a couple of nights night be nice, or Bristol, as has been suggested. Or you could do York and Durham - York Minster and Durham Cathedral are amazing, and Beamish (near Durham) is a fantastic 'outdoor museum' of Britain at different eras.

Update to original question: any suggestions where to stay for 4 nights in between Oxford & Bath? I think a centralized location would give us the opportunity to visit places based on the weather or give way to a cozy day in. I'm thinking village or small town atmosphere for 5-600 GBP for the duration.

I would recommend Salisbury as has been mentioned above. It's not a small village, but it is lovely and centrally located for day trips when the weather is good. In bad weather you can hunker down...lots of good amenities & things to see/do within the city too.

This may be a little different than other suggestions. We stayed at Beechfield House in Melksham. From there we drove to Bristol, Bath, Stratford -Upon-Avon, Stonehenge, Avebury and Glastonbury. You need to have a car. Melksham is not much; but, Beechfield House was a treat. It must have been Lord or Earl’s country house. We had “Tea” there. It looks like they have some special Christmas stuff.

Beechfield House looks amazing and is definitely the atmosphere I'm looking for! I'm going to look into transportation that's not a rental car. Update- unavailable for our days.