Hello fellow travelers,
I would appreciate any feedback or tips from those of you that have experience in these locations.
I am working on an itinerary for 4 days I have from flying into Heathrow until I meet up with my travel partner in London. I wanted to visit places outside of the London area (using public transport), but not stretch myself too thin either with planning too many activities or spending too much time on trains/buses in these 4 days. I enjoy outside spaces, gardens, villages, some history. Love visiting castles and historic places (loved Tower of London), but still finding that balance of just enough, but not too much. I really enjoyed walking between towns in the Cotswolds on a previous England trip (I visited Bath, too, on another visit). I also want to fit in a few training walks to stay ready for the next leg of our trip - walking the Camino de Santiago, Portuguese route. There are so many interesting places, and the possibilities are overwhelming (was looking at all the spots mentioned in RS video of southeast England, and various online articles about charming places away from big tourist crowds like Whitstable).
I fly into Heathrow from the US west coast, arriving 7 am on a Thursday. Since I've never been to Windsor and it's right there, I thought I'd start there first. My original idea was to see Windsor Castle in the morning/early afternoon (available entrance times for that day are between 11:30 and 3:00), then take a train to a hotel in a town along the South Downs Way. But it may be too much travel on the first day (jet lag), so it may be better to spend the first night in Windsor, and only spend one night somewhere along the South Downs Way.
I found this resource online that details how to get to sections of the walk by bus or train and used that to choose sections:
https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SDWay-by-bus-and-train-guide-revised-March-2019-WEB.pdf
And yet, on second thought, I guess, I could cut Windsor out and start in Canterbury for two days, then head to South Downs. The day in London is going to be quick/short/fast (hop on/off bus around central London, then an early morning flight out of Stansted the next day).
Day 1: Windsor Castle, stay Windsor
Day 2: travel to Lewes [original Day 1 overnight], then onto Housedean Farm for walking to Southease (8.5 mi walk), train to Eastbourne, overnight in Eastbourne
Day 3: walk from Seven Sisters back to Eastbourne (7.5 mi walk), train to Canterbury, overnight in Canterbury
Day 4: Canterbury, overnight in Canterbury
Day 5: to London to meet travel partner, overnight by Stansted Airport