London Day Trip Companies

It is very easy to do these trips on your own by train although more difficult if you want to see both in one day. If you do want to use a tour company there is Gray Line (just like here). All sorts of day tours from London. Have fun.

It is easy to them on your own, but if you want to use a tour company here are the names of three~~Evan Evans Tours, Golden Tours and Grayline Tours. They are very good. Your hotel or B&B should have information about these tours.

We have used Frames Rickards and Evans Evans in the past. Both are okay. Both also offer a day trip to Windsor/Bath/Stonehenge. You will only get a taste of each, but the guide will share lots of history and other info. Grey Line has an impecable reputation and we have used them in other countries.

I've taken a number of Explorer Days through London Walks. You don't prebook them. You show up on the day of the tour at the designated railway station and pay the guide. You take the train to your destination, do a walk in the morning, break for lunch on your own and then have a second walk in the afternoon. Their website is www.walks.com.

There was recently a complaint posted on tripadvisor about one of their Stonehenge walks in March which had 90some people who showed up. I think that was unusual; I don't think any of the explorer days that I took ever had more than 30 people. I was in London last week and ran into a woman who had just taken their April Explorer Day to Stonehenge and said she really enjoyed it. Their website is www.walks.com. I've taken their Stonehenge and Salisbury walk, Rye, Cotswolds, Oxford, Brighton and a couple others.

There are also a number of places that you could easily explore on your own. In particular, Bath is very easy on your own.

Laura, if you don't mind, one more detail about the walks. I've been looking at the day trips, and there's been one point of clarification that I'm after. For the various tariffs - train fee, entry fee, as the walker, you pay those on your own, rather than paying the guide for everything, and then they pay? Thanks! The London Walks look great, and I'm looking forward to trying them out.

JumpinBug,

On the London Walks Explorer Days, typically you pay the whole amount up front (tariff + the 12 GBP cost) to the guide. The guide then buys all the tickets at a group rate.

I think the main reason that the tariff is listed separately is that if you are eligible for any additional discounts or if you have a rail pass, the tariff is actually less and the guide will advise of the reduced amount.

There are 3 mainstream 'big coach' tour companies in London, Golden Tours, Premium Tours and Evan Evans.
These hardly have any difference, using almost identical coaches and independent tour guides that switch between the companies. All 3 offer almost identical itineraries, typically 3 attractions in a day and can be rushed.
International Friends are slightly different and run small group tours in 16 seat mininbuses.

If your main interest is Stonehenge and Bath, then for an organised tour I'd go for Anderson Tours. These visit Stonehenge mid morning and give you most of the afternoon in Bath daily and only cost 49GBP including admissions.

Personally I would recommend taking the train to Bath on a day return. In the morning there are free walking tours put on by the Bath Tourist Board that start outside the Roman Baths, these last 90-120 minutes and in my opinion are far superior to commercial companies offerings including London Walks, whats more they're free.
Two companies run minibus tours from Bath to Stonehenge very inexpensively, these are Scapa Tours and Mad Max Tours. You could go to Stonehenge on one of these afternoon tours and return to have a leisurely evening and meal in Georgian Bath after all the tour buses have left, getting a late train back to London.

Thanks Laura, that's exactly the info I was after!

Thank you!

I would( and have) done Bath on my own, and was very glad, as the Bath tours do not seem to include a visit to the Costume Museum ,, and that was wonderful!

Let me also put a good word in for London Walks. I don't know how many tours I've taken with them starting 18 years ago...never had a bad one. I've done a couple of explorer days. Never had more than a dozen. (But I never travel during "high season.")

If you'd rather a private guide than a big bus check out Vic's Taxi. We used Vic for Stonehenge/Bath and he is a fantastic guide. He met us at the train station in Salibury and took us to Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Bath, Kennet Long Barrow, saw the white chalk horses, Magna Carta in Salisbury, had lunch in Avebury and even saw 2 crop circles. He answers all e-mails promptly and is quite the gentleman. vicstaxi.com