BMWMOT

The Misses and I will be heading to LHR in March from the US. It will be our second trip. In our first visit, we stayed strictly in London. On this trip we'd like to stay away from London and see some of the country.
We only have 4 days so here's my thinking-
Sat- arrive early from US. Pick up rental car. Drive to Bath. In route, stop at Windsor Castle. Stay in Bath Sat and Sun nights.
Mon- LV Bath and stop to see Stonehenge. Stay at a 'castle' for a night. I was thinking Hever Castle, or Amberley or Leeds
Tue- LV the castle. Spend the night near LHR
Wed- Fly home

I've checked google maps for distances. Seems like the longest drive would be about 2 hrs (traffic not included). We don't mind the driving as we'd like to see the country side.

Appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks

MAN Pax

My "enhancements" would be to taxi to Windsor, spend the night there, then collect a rental car the next morning and head to Bath. I think there's enough to keep you busy in Windsor for a day and an evening, especially after a long flight.

I also don't get the obsession with Americans and Stonehenge. The consensus of the Brits on this forum is not to bother.

Castle stays - I can't offer any opinion as I've not been to either.

lwildernorva

A couple of years ago, your post would have puzzled me. When I first saw a wider angle view of Stonehenge about a year ago, including the nearby highway and the essentially nondescript area around it, I began to understand your point of view. Nevertheless, it has a fascination for us--and maybe more so now that new information seems to suggest that there is more to the site than originally thought.

As with a lot of tourist attractions, familiarity (or proximity) breeds contempt.

Swiss Tony

Just going to offer an alternative take on this...

Swap Bath for Leamington Spa/Stratford upon Avon

Swap Stonehenge for Rollright

Instead of staying in a castle, stay in a country house in the Cotswolds...

BMWMOT

Thank you all for the input and suggestions. I'll review them and adjust our plan, if needed, accordingly.

I would say that I'm not obsessed with Stonehenge. It just seems a shame to not visit it if I'm within a hour or so drive, knowing I'll most likely never be back there. I do agree that proximity can breed contempt or at least in difference. I live in BOS which has a lot of history and tourists. I often think the same way, why would they do that or go there.....

Swiss Tony

Do check out Rollright on the internet though. It's an hour from Heathrow by car (and potentially gives far better bragging rights than Stonehenge)

Oxon Flyer

Bath/Stonehenge to any of these castles means driving back past Heathrow to the 'far' side of London, and will be significantly more than 2 hours. The scenery along most of the route isn't that particularly attractive either.

+1 for the suggestion that instead, you find a nice place to stay around Bath, or in the Cotswolds, or perhaps Oxford (which is well worth a visit in itself)

IMHO, unless you're really deep into historical significance, the Rollrights are just a modest circle of lumps of rock and unlikely to hold the attention of the average visitor for more than a few minutes. And they're rather more than an hour from Heathrow too. I would stick with Stonehenge.

Swanhunter

Do also look at Avebury. The pub inside the stones has rooms if your really want to push the Neolithic theme.

Would second picking up your hire car in Windsor after an overnight there. Driving 2-3 hours off a red eye seems a receipe for stress.

ajGoes

More than stress. Depending where OP is coming from, this plan could be a recipe for a fatal accident. Driving when fatigued is always dangerous. It's much more so if you're driving in busy traffic on the other side of the road.

BMWMOT

Oxford is a good suggestion. It would be nice to see the famous University. I am not familiar with Cotswold so that would take some research.
I was also looking at Amberley Castle which is south of LHR but not really on the 'far side'.

I appreciate the concern with driving. We'll be coming from BOS on a 9 pm flight arriving about 7:30 am. We'll be in business class (BA CW) so I plan to sleep as soon as the plan takes off which should give me a good 4 hrs sleep.
We've done this many times to Europe, arrive and go right into being a tourist. I do admit though this will be the first time driving. We usually take a bus, train, taxi to our hotel then start touring.

JohnnyColombia

What does LV mean?

I think your plan is reasonable but if you are going to visit Stonehenge then I would plan on staying at one of the country house type hotels down in the New Forest then come back up to Heathrow from there. You then get Salisbury as a bonus destination.

I have stayed at Leeds Castle and it is stunning, but I was not aware it is available to just book like a regular hotel.

Gagravarr

There are 2-3 coaches an hour from Heathrow to Oxford, complete with wifi and power sockets. Bus stop at T5 is basically right outside the exit from baggage claim, which is also near the BA arrivals lounge. So, you could come off your flight, grab a shower and breakfast in the lounge, outside and onto the coach to whisk you into Oxford. Do some sightseeing, stay over, then collect a hire car and drive west the next morning. That'll avoid any need to drive on arrival.

The drive from Oxford towards Bath/Bristol can easily be done with a small detour to see some of the Cotswolds

Swing by Windsor on the drive back to Heathrow on your last day.

stut

"Leave", I assume. Or buy Louis Vuitton. But I suspect the former.

Avebury is worth a stop if you're headed to Stonehenge. Puts the place into context a little.

JohnnyColombia

I was thinking this

HIDDY

We've picked up a hire car a couple of times after arriving from EZE and survived....although we didn't venture too far on the first day. I'd suggest you book to pick up the hired car several hours after arrival time so you can use the T5 BA arrivals lounge. My wife who was doing the driving appreciated being able to freshen up, have a bite to eat and gather her thoughts before hitting the road.

When we were last in the area we tended to avoid the tourist sights as much as possible much preferring to stop and explore the less well known towns and villages instead. Many of which are just as attractive than the more touristy ones.
We did spend some time in Windsor which was much too crowded for our liking. Oxford was busy as well but was more relaxed so I would also recommend you go there. We arrived in Stratford late in the day after most of the day trippers had left so walking around was quite pleasant although most of the attractions were closed.
It was raining heavily when we arrived at Stonehenge so I told the wife I wasn't paying to walk around some big stones just to get wet. As you can probably tell I had no interest in them whatsoever so for me the rain was a welcome sight. She still blames me for her not seeing them.