London is three days. England is the other ten.
Which Stonehenge trip actually stops in Bath. What a Cotswolds coach day costs. Whether the Crown Jewels are worth a timed ticket. Reviews of every tour you can book in England.
The Tower, a stone circle, four old pubs, and Liverpool.
The four bookings a first England trip usually hangs on. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The first morningTower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition TicketThe Crown Jewels queue is shortest in the first hour after opening. Go straight there, then pick up a Beefeater on the way back out.
02The big day outStonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath from LondonStone circle, royal castle and Georgian Bath in one coach day. The most booked thing in the country, and it leaves early.
03The eveningLondon Small Group Tour of Historical PubsFour or five pubs that were pouring long before the Underground, with the stories that go with each room. Small groups, so weekends go first.
04North for a dayBeatles Magical Mystery TourPenny Lane, Strawberry Field and both childhood homes, from a bus with the songs playing. Liverpool is two hours out of Euston.
Stonehenge, the Cotswolds and Bath are all a morning from London.
Four shapes of day trip, what it costs to get on the coach, and how far each one goes. Take the early departures: the afternoon ones spend the good light on the M4.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath from London
Stonehenge and BathThe stone circle at opening, Georgian Bath after lunch.
Cotswolds villagesBibury, Bourton and a pub lunch between honey-stone walls.
Windsor CastleState Apartments, St George’s Chapel and the Long Walk.
Warner Bros. StudiosThe Great Hall and Diagon Alley, coach transfer included.
All 1,366 tours and day trips out of London →
London rewards an early start at the Tower and a late one in the pubs.
Everything in London →
Reach the Crown Jewels before the coach parties, walk the South Bank while the light holds, then let somebody else tell you which Fleet Street pub Dickens drank in. These three carry more travellers than anything else in the city.
Crown Jewels, and how early to go
One ticket covers the White Tower, the armouries and the jewel house. The walkway past the crowns keeps moving, so the closer you are to opening the more times you can go round.
Historic pubs, with the history attached
A guided run through rooms that were serving beer before the railways arrived, told properly rather than shouted over. Friday and Saturday slots book out first.
Westminster to Greenwich by boat
The cheapest sightseeing in London and still the best angle on it. Board by Big Ben, step off under the Cutty Sark, and walk back up the hill for the view.
A stone circle, a red bus and a Beatles tour: what England books most.
Every England review →These carry more travellers than anything else in the country. What each one is, what it costs, and who it actually suits.
1
Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath from London
Leave Victoria Coach Station at 8:00 a.m. for Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath on an 11-hour Evan Evans coach tour. You’ll get guided context, free time at each stop, Stonehenge admission, and optional entry to the castle and Roman Baths. Guides such as Pablo, Simon, and Rita have earned praise for lively storytelling.
From · $111
Read our review →
2
London Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour with Optional River Cruise
from $39
3
London Small Group Tour of Historical Pubs
from $40
4
Beatles Magical Mystery Tour
from $30
5
“Blue Route” – City & Beatles Tour
from $27
6
Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Bath with Pub Lunch in Lacock
from $123
7
Oxford University Walking Tour With University Alumni Guide
from $41
8
Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Ticket
from $49
London first, then the trains west and north.
A capital you could give a fortnight, two university towns on either side of it, a Roman spa under a Georgian crescent, the Beatles city on the Mersey and a walled cathedral town in Yorkshire. Six places, and the best day out in each.
The Thames is still the best road through London.
Westminster to Greenwich on a scheduled boat, a speedboat that opens the throttle past Wapping, dinner sailing under Tower Bridge after dark. The river costs less than a bus tour and shows you more of the city.
The Tower, the Abbey and the Palace all run on timed entry.
London’s big buildings sell hours rather than days. Book the earliest slot you can face, walk in at the start of it, and leave the queueing to people who turned up on spec.
From a two-hour London walk to a private black cab: what England costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by what it costs. A surprising number of the best English days come in under the price of a West End ticket.
Walking tours, museum entries, river hops and the pub crawls that make an evening out of a wet one.
The full-day standards: Stonehenge and Bath by coach, the Warner Bros studios, the Cotswolds villages run.
Private guides, black-cab days and the small-group tours that keep the party under eight people.
The Cotswolds is a coach day, unless you stay the night.
Bibury, Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow-on-the-Wold are the three that every tour stops at, and all three are busiest between eleven and three. The small-group runs leave early enough to be ahead of the car parks.
Every Cotswolds day out →
Nowhere else has Stonehenge, the Crown Jewels and Platform 9¾.
Old cities and good museums exist all over Europe. A five-thousand-year-old stone circle you can book a coach to, a jewel house with a moving walkway, and a working film studio with the Great Hall still standing do not.
The Stone Circle
The stones went up in stages from about 3000 BC and nobody has ever settled what for. An ordinary ticket keeps you on the path around the outside, which is closer than photographs suggest. Inner-circle access runs before opening and after closing, in very small groups, and sells out months ahead. The site itself takes about ninety minutes, which is why almost every London tour bolts Bath or Windsor onto the afternoon.
- 1Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath from London★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 18,662 reviews
- 2Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Bath with Pub Lunch in Lacock★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 7,402 reviews
- 3Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Bath Full Day Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 5,346 reviews
The Warner Bros. Studio Tour
The sets were kept rather than struck, so the Great Hall, Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express are the actual builds. Entry is by timed slot only and the studios sit twenty miles out of London off the M1, which is why nearly every ticket arrives bundled with a coach. Allow three hours inside, longer if you stop for butterbeer, and take the earlier slots in school holidays.
- 1Tour for Muggles The Ultimate Harry Potter Walking Tour in London★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 4,684 reviews
- 2Original Harry Potter Locations Tour – Guided Tour of London★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 4,117 reviews
- 3Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour with Transport from London★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,821 reviews
The Crown Jewels
The regalia has been kept behind these walls since the 1600s, guarded by Yeoman Warders who still live inside the fortress with their families. The jewel house runs on a moving walkway, so the trick is going round twice rather than standing still. The free Beefeater tours leave every half hour from the main gate and are worth more than most paid guides. Seven ravens are on the payroll.
- 1Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 6,677 reviews
- 2London Sightseeing Tour: Guard Change with Tower of London Option★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,672 reviews
- 3Tower of London: Crown Jewels & Beefeater Opening Ceremony★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 969 reviews
Stonehenge, Leavesden and Highclere sell slots, not seats.
Most of this country can be arranged over breakfast. These four run on timed entry, studio capacity and a private castle calendar that takes no interest in when your flight lands.
- 01Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath from LondonEntry is timed and the inner-circle slots are capped at a handful of people. The early and late ones go first, and they are the only quiet hours.
- 02Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour with Transport from LondonLeavesden sells timed studio entry and nothing else. Over school holidays whole weeks disappear a month out.
- 03Downton Abbey & Highclere Castle Tour from London, with OxfordHighclere is a family home that opens on a published set of dates. Outside them there is simply no tour to buy.
- 04Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition TicketThe jewel house queue builds from the moment the gates open. A timed morning ticket is the difference between ten minutes and an hour.
Liverpool, Manchester and York are a morning apart on the same line.
The northern cities do not need a car and barely need a plan. Beatles bus in the morning, a stadium tour in the afternoon, and York for the walls, the minster and a ghost walk that starts at dusk.
- 1Beatles Magical Mystery Tourfrom $30
- 2“Blue Route” – City & Beatles Tourfrom $27
- 3The Manchester City Stadium Tourfrom $35
It will rain. England has had centuries to plan for that.
A wet afternoon is not a lost one here. The big museums are free, the pubs have fires, the covered markets carry on regardless and the tea rooms are at their best when the windows steam up. Put the walking tour in the morning and keep something with a roof in reserve.
By place, London and beyond
By kind of day, a walk, a coach, a boat or a ticket
London, Windsor, Bath, the Cotswolds, Oxford, York: the run most people do first.
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