Stonehenge/Bath/Windsor

[5lilfish]

My family (Me, DH, kids...22, 21, 19, 12, 12) are going to London in August. It's hard to not go see Stonehenge and I'm interested in Bath. The problem is, the tours are 12 hours long (most include Windsor). They don't really seem to include plans for how we are eating on the tour and I'm really pretty worried that most of our travel party won't be thrilled with the bulk of it. They'll probably enjoy seeing Stonehenge but not for long and I do think the Baths will be interesting for a bit. It just seems like a very long day with nothing else mixed in to break up the historical/tourist parts. Any thoughts?

What else would you say is 'don't miss' for a family while in London? We are going to do a day and 3/4 of a day of the hop on/hop off bus. I know we want to see the tower bridge, Covent Garden, spend a little time in the parks, the river cruise, changing of the guard. I'm thinking Tower of London, Harrods and British Museum.

Thanks,
Jess

 

[tinkerbell1991]

My family (Me, DH, kids...22, 21, 19, 12, 12) are going to London in August. It's hard to not go see Stonehenge and I'm interested in Bath. The problem is, the tours are 12 hours long (most include Windsor). They don't really seem to include plans for how we are eating on the tour and I'm really pretty worried that most of our travel party won't be thrilled with the bulk of it. They'll probably enjoy seeing Stonehenge but not for long and I do think the Baths will be interesting for a bit. It just seems like a very long day with nothing else mixed in to break up the historical/tourist parts. Any thoughts?

What else would you say is 'don't miss' for a family while in London? We are going to do a day and 3/4 of a day of the hop on/hop off bus. I know we want to see the tower bridge, Covent Garden, spend a little time in the parks, the river cruise, changing of the guard. I'm thinking Tower of London, Harrods and British Museum.

Thanks,
Jess

You probably are already aware so I apologise if this sounds patronising as it isn't meant to be but bath and Stonehenge about about a 1.5-2 hour drive from Windsor, London.
If it's only central London you want to stay within, I would suggest the London eye alongside the other sites you've mentioned. Depending on what you're interested in, there's a small museum in baker street dedicated to Sherlock Holmes, Trafalgar square, Buckingham palace just to name a few.

 

[gismo1554]

So we did Stongehenge from this side of London a few years ago and it really is in the middle of nowhere. Most of your trip is going to be in the bus as other poster suggested from the time it will take to get there from Windsor. London Eye is a good shout.

In terms of Bath, it isn't just the "baths" that are there. The city itself is very pretty and there is lots to see there. Again its a trek from London area (we live about 1 hour the other way from Bath and still don't visit often).

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

If you are visiting Stonehenge you should also think of visiting Salisbury Cathedral (it has an original of Magna Carta) and Salisbury itself. Bath is beautiful and as said above not just the baths. For the younger members of your group look at Longleat House and Safari Park. Part of the house was used for Downton Abbey and the safari park is amazing. You could combine Longleat, Stonehenge and Salisbury easily in a day or Stonehenge and Bath. You even pass the American Museum enroute to Bath! Windsor and Windsor Castle need a few hours to explore unless you are just walking through and if you are visiting the Tower of London, I would skip Windsor Castle. You can easily combine, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, then walk up the south side of the Thames and visit Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Borough Market and either cross back over the river to see St Paul’s and Inns of Court or the Houses of Parliament. It is a pleasant walk and well signposted.

 

[MichelinMan]

I wouldn't bother with Stonehenge (just a few stones to look at - very underwhelming) or Windsor. Bath is lovely, and the baths themselves are worth visiting, but too far away from London to do it justice in a day trip. I would stick to the London sights personally.

Must dos for me would be:

London open top bus tour
River Thames cruise (you can get this free with some bus tour companies)
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace (if open) - if not, just do the Royal Mews and changing of the guard
Houses of Parliament - need to book early to get the tours you want
London Eye
West End Show (The Lion King would be my choice if you haven't seen it)

Other stuff I have personally liked, and think a tourist would also like are:

Madame Tussauds
Harrods
Natural History and British Museums (both free!)
Jack the Ripper walking tour
Maritime Museum and Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich (could combine that with a Thames boat trip)
Covent Garden
Kensington Palace
Medieval Banquet
Westminster Abbey
St Pauls Cathedral
Globe Theatre (recreation of Shakespear's Globe Theatre on the South Bank) - you can combine that with a nice walk along the South Bank which has some interesting nooks and crannies (including the Tate Modern, Clink Museum, Golden Hinde and HMS Belfast).

One thing we are also doing this summer (we are doing our summer holiday in London this year) is the Faulty Towers Dining Experience - a 3 course meal with actors playing characters from Fawlty Towers hamming it up. We've never done it before, so can't vouch for how good it is, but it gets rave reviews.

Other stuff we are planning to do this year, which we have never done before but also gets good reviews, are the Churchill War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum. There are also some nice art galleries, but they aren't really my thing.

Finally, if you have anybody who is interested in football, they might be interested in one of the football club tours, or even Wembley Stadium.