Ideas for Midlands to London Tour (American tourists)

[planesick]

We are visiting friends in the Midlands. We will be staying 4 nights near Chesterfield. We have a sample itinerary, but would like suggestions to help us maximise our time. Here goes;
day 1 hardwick hall,
day 2 celebration,
day 3 chatsworth
Day 4 Warwick castle
Day 5 Stratford upon Avon
Day 6 Stonehenge
Day 7 Leeds castle
Day 8 Windsor castle/london
Day 9 fly home at mid day.

All suggestions are gratefully received. What should we see, what should we avoid?
Apologies for lack of capitals, I am on a small phone with fat fingers
Thank you

Wow - that is one busy, mile-eating schedule!
I have a few suggestions but just wanted to check what interests you most about the castles/halls - is it just seeing them or all the stuff that happens..bird of prey displays etc as well?
And what time of year are you coming and where does the weekend fall in that schedule?

Have you visited London before? If not, I would devote more time to it. Also, Stonehenge is quite out of the way so you could lose time by travelling there.

Althorpe - the Americans loved Princess Di and this is her home and final resting place. There’s a fab pub nearby too called the Althorpe Arms which would go down very well.

Hatfield house

St albans

That sounds knackering. It will take you 3 hours to get from Stonehenge to Leeds Castle on a good day.

Warwick Castle is very commercialised and feels more akin to a theme park - obviously go for it if that’s what you’re going for, but it has a very different feel to other places on your list.

Is Windsor castle and London do’able in one day? What do you want to see in London? I would miss Stonehenge because you can’t even go up to the stones. I’d maybe also miss Leeds castle if you’re already doing Warwick Castle and Windsor just because of the distance. English roads are a bit rubbish compared to American ones so time to get to places may be longer than you expect for the miles.

Skip Stonehenge and do Windsor one day, London the next. You can't do London in a day though. You could see a fair few of the main tourist attractions from the outside but nothing in any detail.

You could possibly do Warwick castle/ Stratford in a day if you got your skates on.

thank you everyone. We knew it would be tight and are prepared for super long days. We come over in may, with the celebration weekend at the beginning. This leaves mon-fri for sight seeing. We really went by UNESCO lists and other places that had historical value. I think we acknowledge that everything will be done superficially. I don't know when/if we will be over again. Thanks again

You could easily skip Warwick, Stratford (small and disappointing) and Leeds. What about more time in London or a day in Bath or Oxford?

Leave out Leeds Castle it is huge detour and not that exciting. Maybe a stately home,
Hampton Court or somewhere like Portsmouth or Winchester instead

I agree that Warwick and SonA could be one day.
I think that Leeds castle and Stonehenge are outliers, geographically speaking, and are too far to travel. A lot of people are disappointed by Stonehenge anyway; could you do the Rollright stones instead on your Warwick/Stratford day.

What about Warwick/SonA -> Oxford -> Windsor -> London

I’d skip Stratford...and Leeds castle and spend longer in London. And go to avebury rather than Stonehenge.

Three castles is a lot!

Going against the grain, I like Stratford and think it could easily be combined with a trip to Warwick castle.

You have to do Stratford. For a lot of Americans, Britain = London and Stratford.

I'd bin Warwick castle. It isn't that great if you want history. Stratford is lovely, but only in nice weather in my view, a picnic by the river is nice. To gain some time you could lose Leeds castle, and instead do Kenilworth castle (in place of warwick) and keep Stratford as a more chilled day.

That would free some time for London. On the first day of do an afternoon tea (Ritz or fortnum and mason) and then a wander to Buckingham palace. Use the second London day for a museum or similar. From your other interests the Tower of London would be of interest.

Hardwick Hall isnt an all day thing, 2 - 3 hours would be enough. Unless Tudor houses is specifically your thing then Id skip it and head straight for Chatsworth or do Hardwick first thing in the morning then head to Chatsworth after lunch. (Don't eat there, find a local pub for better food and less busy)

However Chatsworth is easily an all day visit but only because of the sheer number of visitors which will slow you down going through the house.

If you are after the 'movie experience' and you're a fan of the film 'The Duchess' do Chatsworth then Kedleston Hall in Derby where they filmed a large proportion of the movie.

Stratford upon Avon will provide you the tudor house experience if you miss out Hardwick Hall.

I would skip Stonehenge completely and Leeds castle. Spend a day in Oxford instead then head towards London and do Hampton court palace. This really is a must see imho.

I think London really needs 2 or 3 days itself.

Have you been to the UK before? It looks tiny but its really not that small. It can take hours getting across the country because of the traffic. Chesterfield down to Warwick is easily 2 hours driving and often longer if the motorway is slow. Lots of the properties you have listed dont open until 10 or 11am and then close at 5pm because theyre run by volunteers. This means you may need to race round and not see everything before closing.

Lots of great information and I am very grateful

Skip Stratford, Warwick, Stone Henge and Leeds castle. You'll spend all your time traveling. Since you are near Chesterfield, go to York. I

I had wanted to see Hardwick for years, disappointed when we went last year but loved Haddon Hall. Agree Chatsworth lovely but will take much longer.

Bolsover Castle also interesting.

You could also do Lincoln for the day from Chesterfield. Best cathedral in the country, nice castle with Victorian prison and a copy of the Magna Carta. Some Roman gates within walking distance of the cathedral/castle.

Are you aware of the National Trust who own many historical properties? You can either pay entry on a property-by-property basis or you can buy a pass which will give you access to all properties.
The pass can be useful if you are in a hurry. You don't want to pay £15 for a quick one hour look-see, but if you have pre-paid (with the pass) then you can justify popping your head round the door. They can also be great stop-offs to stretch your legs (they usually have at least a garden, if not acres of parkland), get refreshments and use the loo.
Be aware that some properties are very popular so the NT try to manage numbers by having a booking system so you can't always 'pop in'.

For some reason I can't make clicky-links. Try:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/overseas-visitors and
www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/overseas-visitors/