Post cruise trip through England report

[mina]

Thanks to all that provided input on our June 2016 post cruise road trip through England. I wanted to report back on our activities and resources. Below is a short summary of what we did and where we stayed.

 

Southampton arrival: wow, we did self disembark off our Princess Norway cruise. We were shocked that there were absolutely NO immigration or customs officers in sight! We just walked off the ship. Locals that were exiting were shocked as well. We do not know if the officers showed up later, but it was very strange to have the whole place empty and just walk through. It did allow us quick exit though!

 

Day one: Salisbury. After some thought, we decided to hire a driver instead of renting a car. So glad we did. We were picked up early from the port by John, our driver from Smith for Airports. We had hired him for four hours to take us to Salisbury and stops on the way. THANK YOU, john bull for the great route through the New Forest. Seeing the wild horses and donkeys was a real highlight of the trip. We loved this. Our driver was fantastic. We drove through the new forest to Old Wardour castle which is about 20 miles west of Salisbury. Another WOW. We had the place to ourselves and it was wonderful to walk through the castle ruins and learn its history. From there we headed to Salisbury to check into our hotel, Mercure white hart in Salisbury. The hotel was wonderful and had great breakfasts. After checking in we wandered around and had a Cornish pasty, a real treat! A short trip to the Salisbury cathedral to see the Magna Carta ended out of our first afternoon.

 

Day one: Stonehenge. We were lucky enough to book a night tour of the inner circle with Pat Shelley. He did a thorough tour that took us to wood henge, Durington wall, Stonehenge visitors center followed by a walk through the fields up the avenue taken by the ancient people to reach Stonehenge at sunset and entry to the inner circle. The group was small, about ten people and Pat has extensive knowledge and experience. Very academic tour that taught us what is known about the area so far. Very much worth it.

 

Day two: Thornbury Castle stay. The next morning, Steve from Smith for Airports picked us up for another four hour drive to Gloustershire and our booked stay in Thornbury castle. Another superb driver and trip. We stopped at west Kennett long barrow. This is an ancient burial barrow located in the middle of a farmer's field. Another less known site that was amazing. From there, we went to Avebury Circle and enjoyed being directly in the stones and being able to touch them (a no no at Stonehenge). Very expensive for the night, but we stayed in a true Tudor castle and slept in a bedchamber that Henry the eighth and Ann Boleyn stayed in when they waited out the plague in London. It has the largest Tudor garden in England and a church next door with a fascinating old cemetery. We had afternoon tea and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at their two rosette restaurant. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and the stay was wonderful. I was worried about falling asleep as parts of the castle are said to be haunted, but we had no visitors in the night.

 

Day three: Tintern Abbey and train to London. The castle arranged a car service for us and we went to Tintern Abbey in Wales in the morning. What a magical place. Another less known ruin and so worth it to be there first thing in the am and wander on the Monks footsteps with no one else around. We then went to temple meads train station and took the gwr to London. Since we booked so far in advance, we got first class tickets for real cheap. But we could only ride on the specific off peak train we booked. It was very nice, but since we were off peak, the train was pretty empty. I think regular class tickets would have been fine. We arrived in London at Paddington station and took a taxi to our hotel, Amba hotel at charing cross. If you need a hotel in London, book this one! Outstanding service, excellent location and nothing was too much trouble for the staff at this hotel. In 30 years of travel, this is the BEST hotel we ever stayed at.

 

Days four and five: London. We preordered our Tower of London tickets and they were sent post to us in the states. We were there right a 9:30 am for opening and it was not crowded. We walked straight to the Crown Jewels and were one of the first to go through. We had a good two and a half hours before it got so crowded it was crazy. We saw the Ravens first thing in the am. They only come out for feeding in the morning and late afternoon. This visit was a highlight of the trip. We then went to the British museum in the afternoon and it was crazy crowded. Lots of school groups everywhere. Did see Lindow man (body mummified in a peat bog in England that was found in the 1980s, said to have been put there in the Roman era and died a violent death). That was super kewl. Could hardly get near the mummies or other popular displays like the Rosetta Stone. Glad we went, but should have gone first thing in the am the next day. Following day we did Westminster Abbey and the obligatory tourist sights and ended with a matinee of wicked to close out our stay. We rode the tube as well as took taxis. London was extremely crowded, but we tried to stay off hours and enjoyed ourselves.

 

Day six: heathrow to home. We reserved blackberry cars from the states for our trip to heathrow. The price was good, about 40 pounds. However, the driver showed up in old sweat pants, was clearly very sick with the flu or a cold and drove crazy by not staying in his lane at all. This was the only less than perfect vendor we had hired. We did get there in one piece, but it was not an enjoyable way to leave England!

 

Thank you all who answered my questions about routes, tube, etc. it was a wonderful trip.

Edited June 12, 2016 by mina

[Bob++]

Thanks for the report. I am sure that anyone contemplating something similar will benefit. Clearly the key is to be early.

[4774Papa]

Thanks to all that provided input on our June 2016 post cruise road trip through England. I wanted to report back on our activities and resources. Below is a short summary of what we did and where we stayed.

 

Southampton arrival: wow, we did self disembark off our Princess Norway cruise. We were shocked that there were absolutely NO immigration or customs officers in sight! We just walked off the ship. Locals that were exiting were shocked as well. We do not know if the officers showed up later, but it was very strange to have the whole place empty and just walk through. It did allow us quick exit though!

 

Day one: Salisbury. After some thought, we decided to hire a driver instead of renting a car. So glad we did. We were picked up early from the port by John, our driver from Smith for Airports. We had hired him for four hours to take us to Salisbury and stops on the way. THANK YOU, john bull for the great route through the New Forest. Seeing the wild horses and donkeys was a real highlight of the trip. We loved this. Our driver was fantastic. We drove through the new forest to Old Wardour castle which is about 20 miles west of Salisbury. Another WOW. We had the place to ourselves and it was wonderful to walk through the castle ruins and learn its history. From there we headed to Salisbury to check into our hotel, Mercure white hart in Salisbury. The hotel was wonderful and had great breakfasts. After checking in we wandered around and had a Cornish pasty, a real treat! A short trip to the Salisbury cathedral to see the Magna Carta ended out of our first afternoon.

 

Day one: Stonehenge. We were lucky enough to book a night tour of the inner circle with Pat Shelley. He did a thorough tour that took us to wood henge, Durington wall, Stonehenge visitors center followed by a walk through the fields up the avenue taken by the ancient people to reach Stonehenge at sunset and entry to the inner circle. The group was small, about ten people and Pat has extensive knowledge and experience. Very academic tour that taught us what is known about the area so far. Very much worth it.

 

Day two: Thornbury Castle stay. The next morning, Steve from Smith for Airports picked us up for another four hour drive to Gloustershire and our booked stay in Thornbury castle. Another superb driver and trip. We stopped at west Kennett long barrow. This is an ancient burial barrow located in the middle of a farmer's field. Another less known site that was amazing. From there, we went to Avebury Circle and enjoyed being directly in the stones and being able to touch them (a no no at Stonehenge). Very expensive for the night, but we stayed in a true Tudor castle and slept in a bedchamber that Henry the eighth and Ann Boleyn stayed in when they waited out the plague in London. It has the largest Tudor garden in England and a church next door with a fascinating old cemetery. We had afternoon tea and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at their two rosette restaurant. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience and the stay was wonderful. I was worried about falling asleep as parts of the castle are said to be haunted, but we had no visitors in the night.

 

Day three: Tintern Abbey and train to London. The castle arranged a car service for us and we went to Tintern Abbey in Wales in the morning. What a magical place. Another less known ruin and so worth it to be there first thing in the am and wander on the Monks footsteps with no one else around. We then went to temple meads train station and took the gwr to London. Since we booked so far in advance, we got first class tickets for real cheap. But we could only ride on the specific off peak train we booked. It was very nice, but since we were off peak, the train was pretty empty. I think regular class tickets would have been fine. We arrived in London at Paddington station and took a taxi to our hotel, Amba hotel at charing cross. If you need a hotel in London, book this one! Outstanding service, excellent location and nothing was too much trouble for the staff at this hotel. In 30 years of travel, this is the BEST hotel we ever stayed at.

 

Days four and five: London. We preordered our Tower of London tickets and they were sent post to us in the states. We were there right a 9:30 am for opening and it was not crowded. We walked straight to the Crown Jewels and were one of the first to go through. We had a good two and a half hours before it got so crowded it was crazy. We saw the Ravens first thing in the am. They only come out for feeding in the morning and late afternoon. This visit was a highlight of the trip. We then went to the British museum in the afternoon and it was crazy crowded. Lots of school groups everywhere. Did see Lindow man (body mummified in a peat bog in England that was found in the 1980s, said to have been put there in the Roman era and died a violent death). That was super kewl. Could hardly get near the mummies or other popular displays like the Rosetta Stone. Glad we went, but should have gone first thing in the am the next day. Following day we did Westminster Abbey and the obligatory tourist sights and ended with a matinee of wicked to close out our stay. We rode the tube as well as took taxis. London was extremely crowded, but we tried to stay off hours and enjoyed ourselves.

 

Day six: heathrow to home. We reserved blackberry cars from the states for our trip to heathrow. The price was good, about 40 pounds. However, the driver showed up in old sweat pants, was clearly very sick with the flu or a cold and drove crazy by not staying in his lane at all. This was the only less than perfect vendor we had hired. We did get there in one piece, but it was not an enjoyable way to leave England!

 

Thank you all who answered my questions about routes, tube, etc. it was a wonderful trip.

 

Can I ask what you paid for the car services between sites?

[mina]

Can I ask what you paid for the car services between sites?[

 

210 lbs for the four hours on first day and 285 for the five hours on the second day. It was expensive, but we would have had a one way rental drop off charge had we rented a car, so it was not all that much more.

[4774Papa]

Can I ask what you paid for the car services between sites?[

 

210 lbs for the four hours on first day and 285 for the five hours on the second day. It was expensive, but we would have had a one way rental drop off charge had we rented a car, so it was not all that much more.

 

I researched renting a car at Heathrow APT and dropping at Southampton port and did not find a significant difference in returning the car to Heathrow.

[mina]

 

I researched renting a car at Heathrow APT and dropping at Southampton port and did not find a significant difference in returning the car to Heathrow.

 

We were returning in Bristol as we would NOT drive near London.

[Host Bonjour]

So happy everything went well and you enjoyed every part of your trip, especially some things that are less common - for me and many others, these are often exciting to learn about!

 

We hope you'll soon be planning another journey somewhere again soon!

Thanks for your great report :)

[Darcy15]

 

We were returning in Bristol as we would NOT drive near London.

 

Good evening from Bristol :)

 

....oh, and I wouldn't drive in London either! :eek:

[John Bull]

Thanks for reporting back, always good to hear from satisfied customers :).

Had never heard of Thornbury Castle, sounds great though my bank manager probably wouldn't agree - but hey it's a once-in-a-while treat.

 

JB :)