If you’re spending per week in London, you should have time to take no less than a number of day journeys to see extra of England. There are lots of vacation spot choices similar to Tub, the Cotswolds, Stonehenge, and Oxford. Some are simply accessible by prepare, similar to Tub or Oxford, however to mix locations, you possibly can both hire a automobile, take a coach bus tour, or rent a non-public driver information.
On this information, I’ll present you find out how to take a day journey to Stonehenge and Oxford from London, and what to do when you are there.
Since we had our hearts set on seeing each Stonehenge and Oxford on our day journey, a bus journey was out of the query. Not that I’d suggest a bus journey with a household anyway, however they’re cost-effective. Sadly all of the bus journeys normally add in one other spot like Windsor Citadel — nothing was precisely what we needed.
Additionally, after driving on the left in Eire, I wasn’t excited concerning the prospect of driving by the English countryside on this journey. And there was no means I needed to try to drive inside London.
I scoured the Web for hours searching for an possibility till we ultimately determined it might be value it to e book a non-public tour to supply us with precisely the journey we had been searching for. I needed to verify we included a Harry Potter tour on our Oxford day journey, since we had been planning the last word London journey for Harry Potter followers.
However I additionally needed somebody that would clarify Stonehenge’s wealthy historical past to us, versus simply exploring the world’s most well-known stone circle on our personal. I discovered simply what I used to be searching for with British Excursions.
StoneHenge and Oxford Day Journey from London
British Excursions supplied me a media fee for functions of this evaluate. All opinions are my very own. This publish incorporates affiliate hyperlinks. For those who click on a hyperlink and make a purchase order, I’ll obtain a small fee without charge to you.
Day Journey to Stonehenge Tour
Positioned about 1.5 hours from London, a Stonehenge day journey is without doubt one of the hottest for households. There may be simply one thing about these mysterious prehistoric stones that fascinates youngsters and adults alike — particularly households like ours which have a particular curiosity in sci-fi and fantasy. In spite of everything, isn’t it enjoyable to think about that these stones had been positioned there by aliens? (However don’t fear, they weren’t.)
If you’re visiting Stonehenge by yourself, it would be best to spend a while within the customer heart to grasp its historical past. You’ll park on the customer heart up the street after which take a shuttle over to the stone circle. You may now not stroll proper up and contact the stones, as boundaries have been erected to protect this historic website.
Our driver-guide Michael from British Excursions stuffed us in on the historical past of Stonehenge on the journey up from London. We don’t actually know the aim of the stones, since they’re 5100 years previous (constructed across the similar time because the pyramids) and pre-date written historical past.
We don’t know what’s particular concerning the space, however we’ve to imagine that the entire space was thought-about sacred as there may be additionally one other mini Stonehenge close by. The smaller stones are 5,000 lbs. they usually got here from Wales 125 miles away. It’s mind-boggling to contemplate how the traditional Druids crafted and moved these stones when the wheel hadn’t even been invented but and there was no metallic but to make use of to form the stones. The bigger stones got here from solely 25 miles away however they’re tens of hundreds of kilos!
They even rounded the stones barely to make them match the round form of Stonehenge (henge that means circle.) Within the center is what they name the Slaughter Stone. There is no such thing as a actual proof of formality sacrifice at Stonehenge but it surely does make for a superb story. You see, when it rains, the stone appears reddish. Nevertheless it isn’t blood, simply iron within the stone that causes the coloration.
Our Stonehenge non-public tour simply occurred to fall on probably the most well-liked days to go to — the Winter Solstice. The longest and shortest days of the yr are well-liked to go to and for those who get there early on the longest day of the yr, you possibly can see the solar rise above the Heel Stone (a stone that really predates Stonehenge that the Druids could have thought was put their by the Gods.) Although there have been loads of pagans and different guests tenting out to see the dawn and sundown over the stones, general it actually wasn’t very crowded for our Stonehenge tour.
Day Journey to Oxford Tour
Oxford is one other nice London day journey choose for households. There is sufficient to see that you possibly can spend a weekend in Oxford. This college city is each quaint and wealthy in historical past. In hotter climate, households can take pleasure in taking a punting boat out on the river.
However one of many most important attracts for us (and different households) is that it was the filming website for a lot of scenes within the Harry Potter films. For those who go to by yourself, you possibly can be part of a Harry Potter strolling tour. However since I advised British Excursions that this was vital to us, our driver information Michael was capable of focus a lot of our go to on seeing these websites.
Oxford was referred to as Oxenford (the place oxen crossed or forded the Thames to be dropped at market), but it surely turned a spot for research after college students had been thrown out of the Sorbonne in France due to a conflict within the 1200s. They got here to Oxford to check and it grew till it was granted standing as a College. In the present day, the College of Oxford has 38 particular person faculties.
There may be a lot to see in Oxford you possibly can actually spend no less than a full day however our Oxford tour began off at New School, the place Michael identified the Cloisters, which had been used for a lot of hallway scenes within the Harry Potter films. You may also see the tree the place Draco Malfoy was was a ferret.
After lunch on the Turf Tavern, which has fed any variety of well-known individuals from Invoice Clinton within the Sixties to Elizabeth Taylor, Ben Kingsley, and the solid and crew of the Harry Potter films, Â we moved on to Christchurch School.
The Nice Corridor at Christchurch School was the place they filmed scenes for the eating corridor at Hogwarts. And the staircase was the place McGonagall greeted all the primary yr college students within the first film. One thing about it simply makes you wish to placed on a gown, head into the library and begin finding out (magic or one thing else!)
Oxford is such an exquisite place to go to for these with a literary bent. Well-known authors like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, Lewis Carroll and others have frolicked in Oxford and it’s enjoyable to observe of their footsteps.
Visiting each locations was a full day, departing at 8am and returning to our central London resort by 6pm. In the summertime, it might be mild longer and sights would keep open later. If that was the case, we might have included a cease within the village of Lacock within the Cotswolds, one other Harry Potter filming website.
At the present time tour with British Excursions was precisely what we had hoped for with a heat and informative information that was as comfy explaining historic historical past as describing filming websites for Harry Potter films. Michael was capable of join with our teen and he or she was so enchanted with Oxford, that she needed to use to go to varsity in Oxford. We’d positively suggest working with British Excursions for a bunch journey or, even higher, hiring a non-public driver information on your personal customized journey from London.
British Excursions gives all varieties of day excursions from London together with non-public and group excursions to Windsor Citadel, Tub, Stratford Upon Avon, Blenheim Citadel, and Highclere Citadel (the actual Downton Abbey.)
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Tamara Gruber is the Founder and Writer of We3Travel. A former advertising and marketing government and journey advisor, Tamara is an award-winning journey author and acknowledged skilled in household journey, named the Media Member of the 12 months for 2023 by the Household Journey Affiliation. Tamara is a member of SATW, the Journey Journey Commerce Affiliation, and the Household Journey Affiliation. She can be the writer of YourTimetoFly and the co-host of the Trip Experts journey podcast.
