Help...where to stay in England!

I don't know but maybe someone here will. You'll want to consider whether the train fare for the two of you to get into London every day offsets the lower lodging cost of staying 30 to 40 minutes out of London. Train tickets can be expensive in England.

For what its worth,I'd always take York over Bath.And you must go to evensong at the Minster, sounds an unlikely tourist thing, but its awesomely atmospheric.There also the walls to walk round, acouple of miles, serveral museumns, and plenty tiny pedestrain streets.I'm very taken with, Whip-ma-whop ma gate.Prebooked train tickets are the way to go. try singles as well as doubles, often cheaper

In January I stayed at the 3 star tourist hotel Bayswater Inn. It was extremely reasonable. Only two blocks from the Bayswater metro stop. I am sure they have a web site. I used Gotoday.com for the arrangements.

Go to this link for tons of great recommendations for affordable hotels in London - they may not be romantic or "English style", but most are centrally located and decent.

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?topic=6479

Unfortunately, 30-40 minutes from central London is still London. Just the suburbs. Taking the commuter train in each day would be a waste of your time and money. My advice is to stay in central London for a few days, then get out and find something more romantic in the country or smaller towns. (York is wonderful and very romantic, especially around Christmas. Give it two days.) You'll save money traveling back and forth between London and save money on hotels since most are cheaper outside of London.

I love the charm of preserved medieval allies and Gothic architecture, so I think I would love York! But from what I hear Bath is a do not miss? I love Roman ruins as well. I also love Tudor Historic castles so maybe we should just explore the York region and all the castles near there?

Jessica, what budget are you considering for lodgings in London? There's lots of good budget suggestions in Rick's Guidebooks. Unfortunately, anything in the U.K. is going to be expensive due to the exchange rate.

The Hotel / B&B that I stayed in when I was in London in September, charges £90 per night for a double, which converts to about US$185 (my rate was less, as I was staying in a single - the breakfasts were great!). While you might be able to find slightly less expensive accomodations outside the city, the time and cost for travel has to be considered also. For comparison purposes, a typical B&B in Bath charges about £65 per night for a double or about US$135.

One other suggestion - you might consider staying in a Hostel, as they often have double rooms. For example, the HI London Oxford Street has double/twin rooms listed for £50 per night. They have several properties in London, so this might be one solution for you?

Good luck and hope you find something in your price range.

My husband and I were recently in York and Bath for the first time, and while we enjoyed them both, we just ADORED York. My hunch is that if you simply day-trip there, you'll leave wishing you had planned an overnight stay.
I think Bath, on the other hand, could be done in a day, if that's all the time you had for it. A full, busy day, though.
Others here will have different opinions, of course, but do some research on both towns to get a feel for how to best spend your time.

Check out what is available in Windsor. It is close enough by train (appx. 20 min). But the daily train fare into and back out of London might just about equal teh difference in hotel costs. Check out your options in London- I bet you can find something in your price range in a convient area. We enjoy staying in the Victoria Station area. There are many, many posts on this site about places to stay in that area. The Tube is great and you are positioned for day trips to the south like Canturbury and Dover. You take the Tube to Paddington for Bath and Cardiff and to Kings Cross for York and places north.

Windsor is quite expensive to stay in and the travel times to London anywhere from around 30 mins (if lucky) to closer to 1 hour. You can either go to Paddington station via Slough which involves a change of train or direct to Waterloo which takes 50-55 mins. And it is quite expensive.

I would second the suggestion to stay a couple of nights only in London and then stay out of it the rest of the time.

I agree with Toni, Windsor would be a great place to stay. You can get a great B&B at a good price and the train fare round trip to London isn't expensive. Even if you have to change trains in Slough the trip would be 35 minutes, and it is 7.70BP.

There are inexpensive places aroung Gatwick, which is near Brighton, they offer bed and breakfasts with a hearty cooked breakfast of sausage, eggs, tomotoes, beans, toast, tea, etc, that will fill you up well enough . Then, you can have a light lunch, maybe even sandwiches at JUST FOODS or Tesco.

The train {Gatwick express] RUNS FREQUENTLY.

Another way is to stay in the Paddington area, there are cheap places to stay B@Bs, all very reasonably priced and in a good walking distance to the tube station. MOst places there will cost no more than 100 us dollars a day to stay there [single room] and that includes the extras like meals away from the hotel. BUy a tube pass, they will save you a lot of money, and go to the attractions that are fre, like museums [BRITISH MUSEUM, V@A, National Portrait gallery, etc.]...as well as lovely parks, gardens, libraries, and churches.

There is a website devoted to free evens through London. http://www.londonforfree.net/

Good luck and enjoy !

During university holidays the London School of Economics lets out student rooms at cheap rates- from Dec 15- Jan 5. Their web site is www.lsevacations.co.uk
If you can't find anything in your budget, then maybe stay in London for a couple of days and then go to Bath or York and stay there.
Hope you have a great vacation!