# Where to stay in England



## Judy (Mar 7, 2015)

Some of you might remember that I asked a similar question almost 5 years ago.  I received lots of good suggestions but was unable to take advantage of them.  We ended up staying in a hotel in London for several nights before heading home. 
Now I have an even more difficult question:  We are planning a trip that will arrive in England on July 17, 2016 for 7-10 days.  This time we'd like to see the Cotswolds, Snowdonia in Wales, and Stonehenge.  Is there a timeshare located convenient to all of those places where we might actually be able to get an exchange in July?  I've checked RCI, II, and DAE and have not yet been able to identify anything promising.  Scotts Hill looks good, but RCI shows no availability anytime within the next 2 years.


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## NKN (Mar 7, 2015)

Don't know about the Wales spot.

The Cotswold and Stonehenge are regular stops on bus tours out of London.  Generally, they are all day trips.  We've had good luck with the Evan Evans company.   Over a period of years, we took tours to:

* Bath and Stonehenge
* Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury and Greenwich
* Cambridge and Oxford

Maybe other Anglophiles will come up with some other ideas.

nkn


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## Ken555 (Mar 7, 2015)

I'll be in Wales in May and posted a similar inquiry not long ago...I've decided on a 2-3 night visit to Wales en route to Dublin and will be renting a car to tour the area and likely stay in a different town each night. There are a number of reasonable hotels in the area though it's a bit difficult to decide on specifics as they are unique.


Sent from my iPad


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## SmithOp (Mar 7, 2015)

I gave up on a timeshare exchange and rented a flat in London, then a bungalow north of London.

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk


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## Pompey Family (Mar 8, 2015)

Judy said:


> This time we'd like to see the Cotswolds, Snowdonia in Wales, and Stonehenge.  Is there a timeshare located convenient to all of those places where we might actually be able to get an exchange in July?



It depends on what you consider convenient is. Salisbury to Snowdonia is a 4 1/2 hour drive so there's nowhere that could be considered, in my view, as being convenient to both places.

Is there a particular reason for wanting to visit Stonehenge? I know that it's a typical 'must see' for a lot of visitors to the UK but for many it's a bit of a let down. You have to pay to enter the site, you can't get close to the stones and it's very busy. If you're interested in neolithic sites and mysterious constructions then Avebury Circle may be of interest. Whilst it may lack the structural impressiveness of Stonehenge it's equally as interesting, it's free, it's a lot quieter and the whole area itself is more interesting. 

Nearby Glastonbury has a wealth of ancient sites and links to King Arthur and is close to the gorgeous Mendip Hills. It's only just over an hours drive from Salisbury and only 50 minutes to Bath. 

Bath itself would benefit from at least a couple of days of exploration to do it justice and then there's Bristol 12 miles away if you have any interest in the history of the slave trade. From here it's a short drive to The Cotswolds, The Forest of Dean and the gorgeous Wye Valley.

Personally I would spend a week in the South West and rent a holiday home somewhere within the areas above. The National Trust have some fantastic properties that are rented out one of which I found in Avebury for the dates you're going:

http://www.nationaltrustholidays.org.uk/holiday-cottage/fishlocks-cottage-003020/?currentTab=DETAILS

The cottage is sited within the stone circle itself (it's a large circle!) and some of the stones can be seen from the cottage itself. Where else can you stay in the middle of a neolithic henge!

If you're staying for 10 days then tacking on a trip to Snowdonia on the end would be a good idea. There are also plenty of castles and other historic ruins in Wales on the way if you're interested in that sort of stuff.

The National Trust site itself lists plenty of sites and areas of interest to visit and should give you plenty of ideas for the areas you plan on going to.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

Edit: If you do wish to visit several of the National Trust sites (there are hundreds), many of the castles, houses, estates etc have entrance fees but membership entitles members to free entry and free parking. You can join as a US resident:  http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/membership/joining-from-the-usa/


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## NKN (Mar 8, 2015)

Great suggestions !


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## Laurie (Mar 8, 2015)

Actually you can get access into the center of Stonehenge circle, at certain times. 

Within the past decade we have done that - as I recall, it was through the National Trust. I don't believe it was a special tour, just a time slot that had to be booked in advance. I just looked for that on their website and didn't find anything there, but came across this tour group instead:  http://www.stonehenge-tours.com/stonehenge-special-access-tours.html

Personally we thought it was very worth making this trip to Stonehenge, but then, I generally love iconic sites I've seen only in pictures all my life. We also liked Avebury a lot, as Pompey Family described.


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## Judy (Mar 8, 2015)

Thank you for the very useful information 



Pompey Family said:


> It depends on what you consider convenient is


 Reasonable distances for a series of day-trips.



> Is there a particular reason for wanting to visit Stonehenge?


 Only that it's been on my "bucket list" since well before that term was invented. 


> If you're interested in neolithic sites and mysterious constructions then Avebury Circle may be of interest. Whilst it may lack the structural impressiveness of Stonehenge it's equally as interesting, it's free, it's a lot quieter and the whole area itself is more interesting.


 This is the first I've heard of this one   It sounds well worth a visit. 



> The National Trust have some fantastic properties that are rented out one of which I found in Avebury for the dates you're going:
> 
> http://www.nationaltrustholidays.org.uk/holiday-cottage/fishlocks-cottage-003020/?currentTab=DETAILS
> 
> The cottage is sited within the stone circle itself (it's a large circle!) and some of the stones can be seen from the cottage itself. Where else can you stay in the middle of a neolithic henge!


 This sounds fascinating and also from a quick look at googlemaps, appears to be conveniently located.  



> If you're staying for 10 days then tacking on a trip to Snowdonia on the end would be a good idea. There are also plenty of castles and other historic ruins in Wales on the way if you're interested in that sort of stuff.
> 
> The National Trust site itself lists plenty of sites and areas of interest to visit and should give you plenty of ideas for the areas you plan on going to.


  We'll have to stay all summer!


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## Pompey Family (Mar 9, 2015)

Judy said:


> Thank you for the very useful information
> 
> Reasonable distances for a series of day-trips.
> 
> ...



If Stonehenge has been on your bucket list (excellent choice!) then by all means go. I only raised the question as many people seem to go simply because everyone else does. Staying in Avebury means that it's a short distance away and you can visit other places in the area before returning to the rental. I would love to stay at the cottage however it only sleeps two so may have to save it for a time when we can palm the kids off. Fortunately I live less than an hour from Stonehenge and as my mother in law lives in the Forest of Dean I've enjoyed a lot of the area including the Wye Valley and The Cotswolds and I can certainly recommend them as areas to visit.


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## MaryH (Apr 10, 2015)

Timeshare in London will now be a very long shot with Allen House out of the picture.  There is now only 2 TS I know of Sloane Garden Club? and that books via SFX but with only something like 10 units and Marriott TS on Park Lane, so good luck.


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## tmcasey (May 30, 2015)

*Short stays in London*

Hi -
I was in London earlier this month for nearly a week and stayed at Citadines Trafalgar Square - studio style apartments.  It was one large room with kitchenette that included  mini fridge, two burner stove, small dishwasher and microwave convection oven.  

It was reasonably priced for London, clean, friendly staff and a great central location.

Tami


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## Pompey Family (May 31, 2015)

In addition to the National Trust overseas membership you can also buy a 9 or 16 day guest pass from English Heritage for overseas visitors.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/overseas-visitors/

This will allow you free entry to all the English Heritage sites such as Stonehenge, Hadrian's Wall and pretty much every castle and historical ruins that you can think of. We used our membership in Cornwall last week and pretty much recouped the cost by visiting just a couple of sites.

We have both English Heritage and National Trust membership and between them both they cover almost every place of interest to visit in England however if I was to choose between one or the other than English Heritage covers the main sites that people tend to visit.


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