Good places around London?

Hey guys,

I'm planning a 11 day trip in and around London in late September. So far I know I am spending 6 nights in London and I'm looking for 2 more places to check out. Preferably not too far from London. I've been reading up on the guide books and really can't decide where I should go.

I'd love to hear your experiences and recommendations.

Cheers :)

So how can we help you when you have not mentioned anything you would like to do or what you would like to see. And places from the guide book you might have found interesting.

In 4 hours from London you can pretty much reach anywhere in the rest of England.

Cambridge, Oxford, Blenheim, Cotswolds, Bath, Stratford, Avebury, Stonehenge, Winchester, and my favourite, Salisbury Cathedral.

But #1 is right ... do you prefer exemplar Mediaeval ecclesiastic architecture, or strip clubs and a Tuesday Night curry & beer special down at a Wetherspoons?

Yes,your interests are the most important thing here..its a small country and not that hard to get to any reasonable sized place by train.

Thanks guys. Sorry I wasn't being very clear. I'm very interested in history and architecture, perhaps to visit some castles and to recap on some of the histories.

My last trip to the Uk was almost 15 years ago and I spent most my time in London and in Scotland. Castles always fascinate me. Totally not flying all that way to party. Lol I could do that easily back home.

The things is. I can only pick two places with 2 nights each before I fly out. I'm still doing more research but so far Bath, Cambridge and oxford sounds interesting. Stonehenge I'm not so sure as I've heard polarised opinions about it. I guess ( I could be totally wrong) it's a bit like the waves rock back home. Do I wanna travel the miles to see those rocks. Lol

Thanks in advance. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers.

Bath and Cambridge are both wonderful, you'll have a great time in both cities. Wales has a fantastic array of fascinating and well-preserved castles, I love Conwy Castle and Beaumaris especially.

Stonehenge is not very interesting IMHO.....though I was there many years ago,when you could still walk among the stones.Now its all fenced off.Some rocks in the middle of a motorway intersection ;-)

As above,I think Bath is an interesting place,Cambridge too.Oxford is nothing special away from the university buildings,Cambridge is (for me) a much calmer and prettier town to wander around in.

None of these is great for castles.North Wales is certainly a good option,with Conwy and Caernarvon.

Stonehenge can be a little underwhelming I agree ... unless you're seriously devoted to the cosmic nature of Neolithic life in Ancient Britain ... in which case it's marvelous. We liked it.

There is a great circuit to be done - Oxford > Blenheim > Bath > Cotswolds > Avebury > Stonehenge > Salisbury > Winchester. One of the great four or five day journeys in Western Civilisation, I suggest.

You could head to Chester which has the best preserved roman walls in the UK and is a lovely city, from there head to north Wales, which has some great castles, Conway is very good.

This is a good suggestion! Chester is charming, you can walk along the Roman walls and the area by the river is lovely. It's not a big city and easily walkable, and you can get to it in just over two hours by train from London Euston. From Chester, you can access North Wales by train (although, if you can, I'd rent a car to explore North Wales). North Wales has a high concentration of castles, even a lot of small villages and towns have castle ruins but definitely recommend Conwy (well preserved, surrounds a charming town by the bay), Beaumaris (unusual design, charming town by the sea), Caernarfon and Harlech (stunningly located).

Hi Rhiannon thanks for your suggest. It looks like bath and Cambridge are the two places I wanna spend some time checking out after London. Northern whales sounds fantastic but seem to be a little further easy to get to. I literally only habe 2 days foe each place after London so I really don't want to pack too much.
The thing is tho. Bath and Cambridge are completely opposite direction from London. Is it possible to travel bwteeen the two directly?
And where do you guys usually get train tickets from? Is there a website you use?

Thanks heaps.

Go to Oxford rather than Cambridge - it's more complex and thus interesting.

Plus you can go directly from Oxford to Bath without returning to London. On your way back to London from Bath, Salisbury Cathedral is excellent - as good as it gets.

Google Maps Directions isn't perfect ... but it certainly tells you the transport providers between any two places, pretty much accurately.

You're very welcome, @WickedG! I usually use a site called Raileasy to book train tickets.

Third party ticket providers can be convenient, but need to be treated with caution ... they can be dearer than dealing direct!

Thanks guys. I'm thinking to shorten my Londonby one day (from 6 nights to 5 nights) and stay somewhere in Cotswolds for one night. English countryside villages seem like a good place to chill for a day. Where would you suggest? Is it feasible to add this between Bath and Oxford?
Cheers.

We stayed at the King and Queen Longcot in Shrivenham, just east of the Cotswolds. It was a truly genuine English country pub, and lovely. Nice food too.

What about any towns or cities that anyone would suggest in Cotswolds? I know it's such a large area and probably not possible to pick one place for one day. But I'd like to hear your thoughts then I can make an almost impossible choice.
Thanks guys.

It's not such a large area ... you can start in Chipping Campden in the north (lovely hotels), and visit Stow-on-the-Wold, the Slaughters, Burton-on-the-Water, and end around Burford or Cirencester. Great day.

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