Hey Pete, take no notice of doom’n gloom Andy. June is the best time in UK to avoid traffic jams, the schools are still running so there are no locals on family holidays & there are no bank holiday (long weekends) in June. Weather is liable to be at its best, not too hot (in UK terms) the longest days 5am sunrise 9:30pm sunset. Spring has just turned to summer & everything is green-green, wild flowers at their best. Give me a choice of any one month in UK & I would pick June every time
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Yes, guilty as charged. I’m not sure what you know about Sydney traffic but if I can put up with it I’m sure I could cope with English traffic for a few days. Anyway we’d be travelling off peak (if it makes any difference) so hopefully it won’t be that bad. Thanks for the warning though.
I’m not really he obviously isn’t aware of just how bad traffic is in Sydney. It’s a big country we’re use to driving big distances.
Assuming you fancy doing things rather than just admiring our lovely countryside, there are a few smaller cities & towns that are worth visiting: Oxford & Cambridge for a start. Peterborough is surprisingly interesting and has a superb cathedral, and not far from there is a town called Ely which wins on the Best Cathedral In The Reachable East Of England stakes.
Rye and its neighbour Winchelsea in Sussex is a lovely place to visit. If it’s bigger centres you’re after Nottingham & Leicester are easily reached up the M1, and Leicester has a tremendous hifi shop plus a decent football team - go and gaze at what was the centre of the world’s media only 3 years ago. 
There’s a Space Centre in Leicester too (really) and a Victorian Sewage Museum that’s great, if you’re into Victorian engineering.
To see the countryside at its best, hop off the motorway and amble between towns & cities. Most of it is tremendous, Buckinghamshire & N Yorks offer the best scenery (inmho obvs).
Enjoy. It’s a fabulous country,
ETA: York. It’s great.
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Adding to pev999 journey, just a short trip north of Bristol - Westonbirt National Arboretum, a couple of hours peaceful winding down amongst the trees. Across to Bath for the Roman Baths, then Bristol for the Clifton Suspension Bridge, SS Great Britain.
North Devon, Lynton and Lynmouth for the Rock Railway, Watersmeet and Valley of the Rocks. Woolacombe or Saunton for a beach walk.
Then missing Cornwall for no other reason than you mention the south coast, down to Exeter, across to Budleigh Salterton, Lyme Regis, Bournemouth (not my favourite place, but the beach was recently voted amongst the top ten in Europe).
Then, to top it off, north to Salisbury.
There are so many places missed, but perhaps you can return.
The totally southern bias is fascinating. Cars can go other directions!
But it’s uphill to go north and anyway it’s colder up there isn’t it?
Best
David
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Absolutely! I have been on holiday to England many times and for me the best places were Yorkshire and the Lake District.
Pete’s opening post clearly says “The south coast is somewhere that’s interests us as both of us.”
Yes yes yes other regions are all good, but 3 or 4 days, distance & time has to be a consideration.
Heathrow to Lands End is further than Heathrow to, say, Windermere, so I don’t think travel time is an issue, just choose where you want to go, avoid busy times where possible, and go.
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By south coast I had in mind no further than Hampshire & Dorset, no more than 2 or 3 hours from the OP’s starting point of London
Pete, clearly no shortage of suggestions here. You are going to be busy if you take it all.
It reminds me of a travel agent friend who was based in central London. Some years ago a tourist couple from a certain country (which I will not divulge) asked if they could book a coach tour of the island as they had a free day on Thursday…bless them !
Have a lovely visit 
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Thanks for all the great suggestions, and yes I know there’s a north but given the fact that we’ll only have 3/4 days it would be impossible to see it all. The Lakes district looks and sounds interesting, especially after seeing The Trip several years ago.
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