The best places to visit in England depend on how much time you have to explore the country! If you have a week or less, we suggest staying close to London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, and one of the most important cities in the world. You could spend weeks and weeks in London and not see absolutely everything it has to offer, but three or four days at least will be sufficient in experiencing the best of the best. In the Thames River Valley, you can visit such towns as Windsor, home to the eponymous castle that is also a royal residence; and the epicenter of English-language higher education, Oxford. Speaking of higher education, Cambridge, home to another storied institution, is less than an hour away by train from London, as is surrounding East Anglia.
If you have more than a week to explore the country, you can pick and choose a little more when it comes to how many places you can visit and for how long. The Land of Shakespeare is the area where The Bard himself spent his most formative years, mostly in Stratford-upon-Avon. Less than an hour to the south and southwest you will find perhaps England`s most charming countryside escape: The Cotswolds, and the nearby cities of Cheltenham and Gloucester. South West England has even more beautiful cities and sights to explore, ranging from its largest city, Bristol, to the iconic prehistoric Stonehenge monument, to the legendary seaside resort of Bath and the coastal cities of Plymouth and Exeter. Another seaside resort on the southern coast that is very popular is Brighton, located to the east of Southampton.
Heading north into The Midlands, you have Birmingham, the largest city, and the smaller cities of Coventry and Nottingham are featured prominently in legends that have endured for centuries. The North, part industrial and part agricultural, is one of the most bustling and diverse parts of England. You can find one of an assortment of vacation experiences in the distinctive Yorkshire region, as well as in North West England, where such unforgettable cities as Manchester and Liverpool are just a skip and a jump from the Lake District and the country`s largest lake, Windermere. After a lake getaway, head 45 minutes north to Hadrian`s Wall and follow the path all the way from Cumbria to Tyne and Wear in North East England.