Planning a night/weekend away to meet up with friends sometime this month. Will likely be a Saturday and possibly Friday too.
Firstly trying to consider where to stay as I expect LS itself will be too expensive plus I’ll be driving and want to avoid driving into LS as I expect it’s a nightmare. To that end are there any nice surrounding towns and villages you’d recommend which have easy access to LS by public transport or taxi?
Ideally somewhere good for running too so not entirely in the middle of nowhere.
Also looking at Warwick and Stratford Upon Avon so all ideas welcome.
I’ll be travelling up from Berkshire via the M40.
I’ve stayed in the Premier Inn there a couple of times for weddings, it’s fine and I doubt it would’ve been that expensive. Very central and there’s a multi-storey car park right behind it.
Could also try Kenilworth
I stayed in LS with friends a couple of years back and it really wasn’t too expensive. We found an Airbnb with parking about 15 mins walk from the town centre. I think it was a lot more convenient than staying in Warwick from what I remember. Plus there’s more going on in LS (relatively).
Born and raised in Warwickshire, so advice as follows.
If you have a car, you can drive into Leamington as per @nemrac’s suggestion - the Parade (main street in town) is criss-cross with no left/right turns and the bit around the railway station is a particular headache, but it’s not particularly difficult to get around compared to other towns. Some really good restaurants and pubs (too many cafés if anything); Jephson Gardens, Victoria Park and Newbold Common are great for walks. The Pump Rooms has a permanent exhibition and brings in other arts exhibits, as well as a fairly good café. (Don’t know if you can still drink the spa water, but it’s an acquired taste.) Local public transport for the villages around the town is dependent on Stagecoach’s punctuality, which is mostly non-existent on a fairly limited timetable. Getting a taxi from those places can be quite expensive too, unless you can split a fare between multiple people.
Warwick is probably a bit better for links as you’ll have trains back to Leamington, and has a nice (albeit expensive to enter) castle, but driving around town is pretty horrible. Town centre is small, but pretty - some good cafés, small museum in the town centre, a bunch of ye olde buildings that was the backdrop for the TV show Dangerfield (if that floats your boat). Please note that if you find anywhere near the University of Warwick, then you’re actually closer to (or even in) Coventry.
Stratford-upon-Avon becomes a real pain after a certain time because public transport to Leamington and/or Birmingham shuts down far earlier than you’d like. South Warwickshire is much more remote than the central villages as well. That said, it’s definitely a good choice for a day trip - there’s a lovely butterfly farm, more cafés than you can shake a teapot at, and all the Shakespeare you could ever want in your life.
Kenilworth is between Leamington and Coventry. The Tree House Bookshop is highly rated, and they have a smaller castle than Warwick, but not much else is happening there.
If you go the castle (Warwick) make sure you book online at least the day before, I think it’s at least half the price.
I think it’s worth a look, but there’s a lot of stuff aimed at kids there
I think there is even accomodation on the castle grounds actually
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Thank you, this detail is really helpful and very much appreciated. Great insider intel 
Good suggestion , thanks, am considering Kenilworth.