England
London | Bath | Oxford | The Cotswolds | Yorkshire
A country that’s steeped in tradition, culture and history and yet so modern
You can see why millions embark on England travel every year, a country that once ruled an Empire around the globe, so steeped in tradition, culture and history and yet with cities so modern it offers so much to visitors. England travel is not just about visiting London, although one must not miss the capital, a country that is so compact in size makes travel to other regions so accessible.
Visit Stonehenge one of Europe’s most ancient sites, the quaint Cornish fishing villages, the rolling green hills of the Lake District or admire the Tudor style architecture of the Cotswolds, England has so much to offer the traveller.
England travel is like a maze: You can't hurry your way through. Around nearly every bend in the road you'll find stately homes, crumbling castles, magnificent gardens, thatch-roofed cottages, cosy pubs and beautiful churches to explore. Travel to England and it's easy to while away hours admiring the details — a painting here, an architectural detail there. From Shakespeare and royalty to Stonehenge and thousands of years of history, England is simply a wonderful place to travel time and time again.
Concierge Traveller can organise your England travel with a range of tours, packages, Manor stays, iconic hotels or a smart London Apartment to base yourself in.
London
Vast, vibrant and truly multicultural, London is one of the world's great destinations
Despite its size, travelling around London is surprisingly easy, with the comprehensive and easily navigated London Underground (or Tube). Most of the London’s attractions like Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Piccadilly Circus lie in the centre of London including the busiest, liveliest different entertainment areas, such as Knightsbridge and Soho. Other attractions include some of the greatest museums and art galleries around the world like the Tate Gallery and London’s Science and History Museum. London’s vivacity and charm also stretches far beyond the centre. Residential areas outside the city centre, such as leafy Richmond (southwest) or Hampstead (north), trendy Hoxton (east) or Notting Hill (west), each have their own attractions as a destination.
Travellers come for London’s attractions of history or royal pageantry although they return for all the charms of the modern London, not least the extraordinary breadth of London's cultural life, with world-class art galleries and other attractions including theatres, buzzing nightlife, film, music, culinary and fashion scenes.
WHEN TO TRAVEL to London
London travel has no off-season. Best time to travel is during spring (April-June) or autumn (September-November). Summer (July/August) is the busiest time for tourists. During winter, the grey skies and rain can be forgotten for a while in numerous cosy pubs.
Special Package - Seven Wonders of London Tour
Bath
The Romans established the City of Bath in AD 43 and this city, awash with architecture, history and culture has made Bath travel a priority when visiting England. Many of this city's great buildings date back from its renaissance in the 18th century when it again became a fashionable spa town and played host to royalty and the cream of aristocracy, who travelled to Bath to 'take the waters'.
Today Bath travel attractions include a walk around the old Roman Baths, to enjoy the splendour of Bath Abbey or simply take in the breathtaking Georgian architecture of this beautiful city. For an authentic feel of life gone by, period decorations and furniture have been reinstated in No1 Royal Crescent, so that the house appears as it might have been as a fine 18th-century townhouse.
Though most travel to Bath for its architecture as its seen as something of a period piece, it is also a very modern city; its restaurants and pavement cafés packed full of local businessmen and artisans making it a destination not to be missed.
The International Music Festival marks the beginning of summer and adds to Bath's lively, festive atmosphere and its Theatre Royal is one of the country's leading provincial theatres, attracting big names and pre-West End runs.
WHEN TO TRAVEL to Bath
Anytime is a good time to visit Bath. Summer July-September is the busiest and prices can be higher. The best time to travel to Bath is late spring May and June with English gardens in full bloom. Winter is probably the least busy.
Oxford
Experience Oxford travel with a walk down the long sweep of The High, one of the most striking streets in England; enjoy a mug of cider in one of the old student pubs; the sound of May Day dawn when choristers sing in Latin from Magdalen Tower; students in traditional gowns whizzing past on rickety bikes; towers and spires rising majestically; nude swimming at Parson's Pleasure; the roar of a cannon launching the bumping races; a tiny, dusty bookstall where you can pick up a valuable first edition – Oxford, the city of spires, home of one of the greatest universities in the world.
Romantic Oxford is still here, but to get to it, you have to experience the bustling and crowded city that is also Oxford. Travel at any time of the year and you can enjoy a tour of the colleges, many of which represent a peak in England's architectural history, as well as Victorian contributions. The Oxford Tourist Information Centre offers guided walking tours daily throughout the year at this great destination. Oxford colleges like visiting Eton is much more restricted during term time (generally September to late March and late April to mid-July.
WHEN TO TRAVEL to Oxford
The busiest time in Oxford is in June and July with Henley’s Royal Regatta and Ascot's Royal Meeting. Most stately homes are open March through September or October only. Winter is considered to be low season and the quietest for tourists although one can enjoy Oxford travel at any time of year.
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The Cotswolds
This beautiful area is one Concierge Traveller’s favorites. With its small villages of thatch-roofed stone cottages, rolling meadows, grazing sheep and stately manor homes, it looks like what England is supposed to look like. Bordered roughly by Oxford to the southeast, Bath to the southwest, Stratford-upon-Avon to the north and Gloucester to the west, the Cotswolds have an atmosphere unchanged since medieval times—except, that is, by large numbers of tourists. At least two days are needed to visit its charming hamlets: Upper and Lower Slaughter, Stanton, Stanway, Stow-on-the-Wold, Northleach, Burford and Painswick are among the most popular villages.
Broadway is known for antiques stores and lots of tourists. Cheltenham, a former spa town, retains its fine Regency and Greek Revival buildings. The town of Cirencester has an immense, richly carved parish church and a notable Roman museum. If you're up for some outdoor activity, take to the 160-km Cotswold Way, a well-travelled footpath (or at least a portion of it). Or find the source of the Thames, just north of the village of Kemble. Lots of other, shorter walking trails are dotted across the region.
WHEN TO TRAVEL to The Cotswolds
The weather in The Cotswolds region is fairly mild year round due to the warm Gulf Stream off England's west coast. The Cotswolds gets most of its rain in the autumn and winter months, with its driest season being between April and July. Most visitors tend to come during the spring and autumn months when the weather is at its best.
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Yorkshire
The walled medieval city of York, 90 kms northeast of Manchester, is a great place to explore, with narrow streets, lovely shops and timbered homes with gabled roofs.
Don't miss the 14th-century York Minster) and York Castle Museum. Take a walk along the city wall and visit Clifford's Tower, the Yorkshire Museum Jorvik Viking Centre (tour the reconstructed Viking-era town on the exact site where archaeologists found streets, shops, dwellings and other remains—get there early to avoid crowds), the award-winning National Railway Museum and 18th-century Castle Howard, a gold-domed baroque mansion. York is reputed to be the most haunted city in England (tours of spooked locales are given after dark).
The surrounding countryside features the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. 55 kms north of Manchester, the Yorkshire Dales are a world apart. Kilometres of unspoiled countryside, country lanes and stonewalls surround lively market towns, isolated farmhouses, ancient lead mines and great limestone caverns.
This is the middle stretch of the Pennines and is great hiking country for the hale and hearty. The small village of Malham makes a good base if you want to explore this unique limestone countryside, but the market town of Richmond has more of interest, with an 11th-century castle, walking tours and traditional shops..
WHEN TO TRAVEL to Yorkshire
The fabulous scenery of Yorkshire attracts plenty of four-wheeled visitors, making the roads very crowded, especially during the summer. If you can’t avoid busy summer weekends, try to come by bus or train, and even then it’s well worth getting off the beaten track.
