Ideas needed!! Visiting England....

When leaving Bath get on A4 to A46 to A420 and watch signs for Castle Combe (it's been called the prettiest village in England) when leaving Castle Combe get back on A420 go east to A429 and that will take you right into Bourton-on-the-Water (Cotswolds) which would make a great base to tour the Cotwolds. Other villages Broadway, Stow-on-thw-Wold, Chipping Campden, Woodstock then there is Blenheim Palace and close by is Sudeley Castle. When leaving the Cotswolds take A4 to A49, A9 will take you thr some beautiful little villages and Shrewsbury which is so pretty, then in Shrewsbury you can get onto A5 which will take you into Wales. After touring Wales you could go to Chester from Chester A51 to A54 to A49 north to A6 which take you to the Lake District. Then to go back down towards London I would take A684 to Yorkshire to A1 and head south this way you could see different area of England. But of course it all depends how much time you have to drive.

You mentioned that you had a tour book, but not which one. Rick's books always give a selective guide to the most interesting places and then provide suggested itineraries for detailed planning. If you don't have his England 2010, you should get it ASAP. It is difficult to know how to advise you because you provided so few details. You will get better feedback if you tell us:
Which airport you are landing at, and what hour of day on July 17.
Which airport you are departing from and which day.
Whether you plan to drive a rental car or use all public transport, or some combination of both.

In general, a car makes visits to the Cotswolds, the Lake District, and other rural destinations far easier and quicker. On the other hand, a car is a nuisance if not a nightmare in cities such as London or Edinburgh.
My favorite 14 day itinerary--which I hasten to add may not be yours at all-- would go as follows:
1 July 17. Land at Heathrow(??) Train to Bath. Bath overnight
2 July 18. Mad Max tour of Stonehenge and lower Cotswolds. Bath overnight
3 July 19 Mad Max tour of northern Cotswolds. Bath overnight.
4 July 20: rail to Crewe. overnight Crewe.
5. July 21 rail to York. Overnight York.
6. July 22 rail to Edinburgh. Overnight Edinburgh.
7. July 23 Edinburgh, overnight Edinburgh.
8. July 24 rail to London. rest of time in London, with day trips to Windsor, Greenwich, Canterbury, and Cambridge.
day 14 fly home.

But this may not suit your purposes at all--I have left out the Lake District because I wouldn't drive in England under any circumstances. Other people feel quite differently, and you might have no problem at all. In that case, you could rent a car in Bath and return it in Edinburgh, thus avoiding driving in London.
I do hope that you plan to do more in London than a bus tour?? Unless you have already done London on earlier trips, it really deserves several days.

Hi, we land at Heathrow, pick up our rental car and head to the B&B outside of Bath that night. My husband will be doing the driving, he figures he drove in Germany he should be ok in England! HA, we'll see!!
I have Rick's book, 2010 UK as the England one was sold out. We're spending our last 4 days in London (and Portsmouth for a day to visit another great-aunt).

Thanks, the additional detail helps. Your husband may indeed have no trouble driving in England...but hopefully he is aware that driving on the left also means shifting gears with the left hand, and sitting on the "other" side of the car while driving...it is a very different experience than driving in Germany, but again, some people have no issues.
OK, so arriving in Bath on Day 1, you can see the Roman Baths and the Abbey. The next morning, take the free walking tour of the city conducted by long-time residents who love Bath and its history. That afternoon, you can drive to Stonehenge and through some of the villages mentioned in Rick's book.
On Day 3 you could drive through the Cotswolds, seeing places like the Slaughters, Chipping Camden, and so forth, overnighting in the Cotswolds. On Day 4 you could drive to Stratford on Avon...yes, its touristy as hell, but its also a fun and lovely little town. On Day 5 you could do Warwick Castle and perhaps park the car at Warwick station to take the train for a very short ride into the center of Coventry to see Coventry cathedral--a moving sight, the bombed-out ruins of the old cathedral next to the ultra-modern new cathedral.
Then drive to crewe for the night. All I know about Crewe is that it is a major rail junction and used to be a major center for locomotive construction...but Liverpool is nearby if you are a Beatles fan as I am.
Day 7, drive to your base in the Lake District...say Windemere or Keswick and spend at least that day and the next there.
On Day 9, you could drive up to see Hadrian's Wall---a memorable experience for anyone interested in History. You'd have to spend the night in a small town near the wall somewhere...someone else could make a recommendation on this site, Im sure.
Day 10 & 11 York. Then on Day 12 turn in the rental car in York and train to London (2 hrs). In London, do not miss the Tower of London, the British Museum, Rick's "Whitehall Walk" & Trafalgar Square.

Maybe some out of the way little villages or something? Something that is off the beaten track but yet very worth seeing? This is something we did in Germany and saw some of the most beautiful little towns that we would've missed otherwise.

An alternative to Warwick Castle is Blenheim Palace. We pulled up to Warwick Castle in the middle of the afternoon but were turned away because of a private event. Luckily, Blenheim Palace is close by so we spent a lovely afternoon there.

If you head up the A429 towards Cirencester you can take the B4425 to Bibury as you leave Cirencester and when you get into Bibury go left at the "T" intersection towards Ablington and follow signs for Northleach. Northleach is an amazing little village, very old looking. After seeing the village you can pop right back out onto the A429 as Northleach is at the intersection of the A40/A429.