Base in England for early August 2012

A city base or a rural base? The Bath area or Cheltenham area is a good locale since Wales is nearby and its not too far to the coast etc.

Yes, Bath would be a good choice. Or how about somewhere round Southampton? It's about an hour and a half out of London, but has good rail links, is a good starting point for the south coast and you could easily get to places like the Isle of Wight.

It might be a good idea to avoid going into London, even for onward travel. If you start in Bath, it is not difficult to travel south or west. Trains leave regularly to Bristol and Cornwall, or directly to Salisbury and Southhampton. From there you can travel to other places as others have suggested.

We'd like to go by train to a town within 2 hours of London. We'd explore that area and take day trips (by train or bus) to other towns. We'd love to go back into London for the day, but we're concerned about all the warnings about the Olympics hoopla...

I would opt for Cambridge or Oxford as a base w/ still alot to see w/ great transport options. book your lodging fast.

Brighton is about an hour out of London by train. Nice beach town. But you'd probably have to travel back to London to connect to other places. York also makes a good base- the Yorkshire dales, Hardrian's wall, etc. but you might want a car to see some of it. Bath is good for the Cotswolds, Stonehenge and parts of Wales. Cardiff Wales is a great city and you could possibly see some of the Welsh countryside and it's many castles.

I'll offer four - Cambridge or Oxford York
Bath In any of those cities, you have sites to see and good rail connections. If you wanted to nip into London for a day, you could (zoo or no zoo). Enjoy your trip!