England Travel Guide

This travel agency planned an excellent London, Bath, and multiple side-trip vacation for me and my family. The logistics were well-designed and executed. The tour guides were well above average, and the hotel choices in London and Bath were perfect.

We spent five nights in London, three nights in Bath, and our final night in Oxford.

Our side-trips from London included a day visiting sites related to the life of Jane Austen (Steventon, Chawton, Winchester, and Lacock) and day traveling south to visit Leeds castle in Kent, the Canterbury Cathedral, and the Dover Cliffs.

Our final day side trip took us from Bath, through Bradford-on-Avon, to Stonehenge, Highclere Castle, and then ending the day in Oxford.

Our trip to England was fantastic!  We traveled with my parents and my two teenaged boys. We only had 10 days for the trip, so we decided to keep our destinations relatively close together.  Our travel planner did a great job of listening to our must do items and weaving together an itinerary that hit everything without exhausting us.  They were very prompt in responding to any questions or changes and we were never left hanging.  

We visited London, Stonehenge, The Cotswolds, Stratford, and Oxford.  During our four days in London, we went to Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, and The British Museum.  We saw two shows in London, one at the Globe and another right by Piccadilly Circus.  From there, we went to Hampton Court, Stonehenge, spent the night at a Castle in South Gloucestershire, took a tour of The Cotswolds, took in all things Shakespeare in Stratford, visited Blenheim Palace, Windsor Castle and had an owl evening at a falconry center where we got to handle and 'fly' several owls.  The trip was a perfect mix of city and country without having to drive hours on end.  

The travel planner sent us a binder a couple weeks out from the trip with each day mapped out with our itinerary for the day, then any tickets or directions we would need for that day.  It was extremely organized and made everything very easy to keep track of.  They had suggestions for activities and places to eat, which were very helpful.

The trip was wonderful and everyone in the family loved it!

Overall, this travel company provided a fantastic traveling experience. We were able to enjoy many of the iconic attractions in London, including the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, and the Tower of London, as well as explore on our own. We also enjoyed afternoon tea and wonderful play in the West End! In addition, they provided some wonderful dining recommendations that turned out to be a few of our favorite meals! 

Beyond London, we were able to explore numerous towns and villages in the southern England, including Thornbury, Cheddar, Bath, the Cotswolds, Winchester, and Windsor. 

Every hotel had beautiful grounds and views. We had asked for hotels that also had the ambiance of age and antiquity. One of our favorites was in Chelsea. The staff was especially warm and friendly. We felt very comfortable with everyone! We loved all of the rooms in the entry level. It was cozy and beautiful, even the patio.

The Broadway hotel really blew us away. It was built in 1300 or so. It has an outstanding courtyard and landscaping. The staff were flexible. Theye even helped me to find a secluded area for dinner the last evening. We were mesmerized by every sitting area. There were antiques everywhere; I should say ancient antiquities. The coastal hotel was nautical and charming. There were lovely staff there as well! The views of the estuary were stunning. At high tide, the river came right up to the outdoor patio. It was mesmerizing!

Another hotel was very pretty inside and had compelling views of gardens and sweeping lawns. It overlooked the Jurassic coast, as well as a very large beach and piers. It was very far to walk and straight downhill. We could not get any taxi or bus to get to the harbor for our boat ride, sadly. We tried walking, but it was too far. There was no taxi for the return trip either. We had to walk up steep steps and then along a winding garden path back to the top. It was very stressful for me because I have a damaged tendon in my ankle, which hurt me quite a lot. It was very disappointing. However, my husband was thrilled that I made it up the hill. So was I.

There was a mix-up at the hotel about our room. We had discussed with our agent that we needed rooms on the ground floors. They had us on the first floor and moved us at the last minute to a very small corner room with cheap furniture and no space for two people to maneuver. We were both appalled, but fortunately our agent was able to take our call and we ended up in an apartment instead. It had no view other than of parked cars, but it was spacious and modern. It was the best they could do. This hotel was located in Lyme Regis.

Our next stop was Henley on Thames. The hotel was very nice and the two was pretty, but we didn’t arrive until 4.30. There was no Sunday dinner, so went elsewhere. Then we left the next morning at 9.30. The river was lovely to view.

We had fantastic drivers and driver guides throughout London, the Cotswolds, Cornwall, and Dorset back to London.

We missed our tour of Westminster Abbey due to the time change and lack of sleep. Our concierge tried his best to arrange for us to visit it on our last day. I called our travel company and was given the ticket number by email. Westminster Abbey declined because the company it was purchased through refused to confirm it. We were again disappointed. I tried calling the travel company back, left a message for help, but never got a return call.

We may go back again, but I would arrange for someone to meet me at the airport with a wheelchair. I would have been less stressed. That airport was overwhelming and confusing.

I sincerely wished that we did not have the Chelsea Flower Show and Windsor Castle on the same day. I could hardly walk by the end. Our agents offered to change Windsor to a different day, but it was an additional £350 or so. That seemed very unfair.