Just returned from 5 days in Stratford upon Avon. Longest time I have been outside London in the UK and I found it very picturesque but far more stressful than being in London

[Desiringonlychild]

The main reason is that neither DH and I drive. Its usually fine for city breaks (1-2 days) because we just mosy around the town centre and visit all the museums/attractions within walking distance and its all really lovely. However with covid, a lot of the restaurants are booked out (due to reduced capacity), a lot of the attractions are closed, so the relaxing country holiday in the shires becomes really boring unless we venture outside the town (which is hard to do without a car). the town centre and museums in stratford upon avon were fun for the first 2 days but then after a while we ran out of things to do and reverted to shopping. We had a day trip to birmingham which we did not really enjoy (apologies to all brummies!) but the roads in birmingham seems mainly built for cars

I didn't grow up in the UK. DH grew up in London. Our usual holidays are to Asia to visit my parents or European cities which almost always have better public transport than London. However with covid, we are pretty stuck in the UK. Could anyone suggest nice destinations within the UK which are good for car free Londoners with plenty to do within walking distance (we don't mind walking for hours, but not five miles to the nearest village). We enjoy sightseeing, museums, walks in parks/woods that are easily accessible by foot, good restaurants, quaint old buildings.

Also this trip has convinced me that I can't live outside London despite property prices. Its just not possible without a car.

I’m not surprised you ran out of things to do.

Does your DH have a driving licence - if so rent a car. You could have done so for a day or so whilst in Warwickshire. But YABU if you expect Stratford to entertain you for 5 days when there’s a pandemic on and the primary reason to go there - theatre - will be shut.

You need to learn to drive,you are missing out on so much of life by limiting yourself to London

Train up to York. It's about two hours on the fast train from Kings Cross.

Loads to do, very touristy. Walls to walk, museums to visit, parks to picnic in, river to walk up/down, more cafes and bars than you can shake a stick at. River with boat trips.

Can get train to seaside towns quite easily too, for day trips. And other touristy places like Pickering.

We stayed overnight at Stratford a few years ago. I was expecting a quaint old fashioned town and was hugely disappointed.

I don't think you need to learn to drive or hire a car for a UK break - you just need to pick a good destination and make full use of public transport and Uber. Also possible to fly to some destinations I.e. Newquay airport or Exeter for Cornwall.

Could you not hire a car for a few days when you go away?

Our usual holidays are to Asia to visit my parents or European cities which almost always have better public transport than London

Really ? !

@Tfoot75

Actually Edinburgh is a good recommendation op - as its often a base for international visitors wanting to see Scotland, there are from there coach trips to lots of more rural settings eg loch Ness, whiskey distilleries etc - though again probably restricted at the minute.

There are. Lots.

Edinburgh Castle - book in advance, limited capacity, masks inside. National museum - book in advance, only the ground floor open, limited capacity. Holyrood Palace - limited entry, book in advance, wear a mask. No festival. Crap weather recently.

You get the picture. City breaks this year in the UK - and in many other European cities to be fair - are not your standard holiday. You can't just go with the flow. Everything has to be planned in advance and booked.

A coach trip from Edinburgh to Loch Ness is all day on a bus. Wearing a mask.

That's why seaside or rural breaks have been so much more popular. It's also where non-drivers struggle as buses are few and far between and trains practically non-existent.

I usually drive up to the lake district but last year I decided to give public transport a go and got the train up there and a weekly bus pass. It worked really well, the buses weren't that frequent as in a city but they were regular and there were good bus routes to the main towns and walking areas. It cut out all the stress (in my opinion) of driving on the narrow roads and finding parking spots - you also get to sit back and enjoy the scenery.

having a car is very impractical in London

Is it? I mean traffic is bad but once you have dc I think cars are incredibly practical in London.

Everywhere is shit just now though.

There is this as well, everything is closed or needs to be prebooked. Lots of agg

Liverpool. We always head there.

Public transport to numerous parks and beaches and of course you have plenty of museums, restaurants and shopping on your doorstep to choose from.

We went on holiday near SUA a couple of weeks ago. Booked a country house & just did walks, relaxed & recharged. Didn't eat out but had a few takeaways. Never had a holiday like that in the UK before, normally would do lots of exploring, eating out, etc but actually it was what we needed.

It's a provincial town, the public transport isn't going to be easy. Though there are buses to other local attractions. I live nearby and there's loads to do in the area but yes, you either need to drive or accept there may be transport issues like taxi bills without one.

Stratford is a weekend really but there's Warwick and Kenilworth castles, Warwick town centres is a nice day with historical attractions, then touristy type places too but they're not in Stratford. Stratford is only small..... definitely try York or Bath.

York - there's York Minster, the Viking museum, the city walls & the rail museum. You can also catch a train yo various nearby places to visit.
Chester - more city walls, the rows, the Roman museum, river, boat trips, take the train to Liverpool.
Edinburgh - castle, capital city, beach, take the train to other nearby places.
Bristol - loads to do
Cardiff - the docks, National Wales museum
Carlisle - you can get a bus to Hadrian's Wall, maybe combine with a trip to the Lake District.

Someone mentioned Center Parcs. Woburn has a shuttle bus service to the local railway station.

Our usual holidays are to Asia to visit my parents or European cities which almost always have better public transport than London.

This is slightly off topic but as someone who lives somewhere with extremely limited public transport, this has really intrigued me. London has so much public transport, so regularly, and covering all directors, that my brain can't handle the concept of other cities having even better transport!

@JellyfishandShells
My parents live a 12 hour flight away and I visit at least once a year and stay at least a week (once you get past the jet lag, its not much time at all). In Singapore, my parents do have a car but only 25% of singaporeans do as it cost ££, there was once a calculation that its cheaper to take taxis everywhere than actually drive. my dad would never let anyone else drive his baby anyway as a BMW is worth a 6 figure sum in Singapore. In the region, trips to Malaysia and Indonesia- its not advisable to drive anyway as there is a high chance you would end up mugged/robbed at knife point and if you are a tourist, you can afford your own chauffeur.

Our other holidays are to nuremberg (DH's grandparents) and the public transport is way better than in London.We have also been to Barcelona, (also the same and very walkable anyway), Brussels and Salzburg. I would also like to visit Israel more often as DH's sister lives there and we are jewish, and its also very walkable and the weather is very nice.

Liverpool! Two hours on the train from London, loads to do as pp have said, parks, the coast and Anthony Gormley at Crosby, plus you could get the train easily to Chester and Manchester for the day as well.

That should say all directions

Lots of places are currently closed. We've just had 2 short breaks in rural Scotland.

National Trust for Scotland - most places have only the gardens and grounds open.
Anything run by the local council? Shut. (often including public toilets).
Many cafes closed, or with shorter hours, eg close after lunchtime. Pubs not open till evening, or completely closed midweek.
Garden centres with a cafe - heaving.
Some visitor attractions (including some NTS) no longer open 7 days a week.

Luckily we enjoy walking and cycling and can amuse ourselves, but things sure ain't normal here just now.

Lake District. If you base yourself in one of the major tourist areas such as Windermere there are dedicated buses and boat trips that will take you from your doorstep to lots of other interesting places

And the Lake District is open.

Places that also have good transport links to other places.

Edinburgh, a great city, with local trans to lovely seaside North Berwick, or a day trip to Glasgow.

Brighton has a great summer bus service, The Downs, Devils Dyke etc. Lewes.

Learn to drive and get a hire car. I lived without a car in London for years, and got hire cars for weeks away, Lake District, Scotland, Northumberland.

But many people manage to get all over the place by public transport, all over the Lake District etc.

Of course its possible to live outside London without a car.
Clearly you need a car if you live rurally but most cities have good transport.
I don't drive, I live in the west midlands ( not Brum) and get around just fine. I take my son all over the UK by train, including north wales where there is a good train line going through all the main resorts on the Cambrian coast.
We are in Wales at the moment - it's not great because so much is still closed but we are grateful for the opportunity to get away.
York, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, Brighton all great places where you don't need a car