Trip report: (hidden) gems of England

Excellent report; I love the way you write.

"Meeting a lorry on an incline was a special experience." This just cracked me up.

Looking forward to the rest of your report, particularly because - as you note - there haven't been that many trip reports on the area.

I suspect that if you picked up food at a gas station in the U.S., you would find the same kind of sandwiches. I like Boddington's, maybe I've built up a tolerance over the 20 some years I've been travelling to England. It's not my favourite beer, but I'd pick it over a watery Bud. It's quite common to use beer to combat slugs, even in North America.

Too bad you had to miss Stourhead. I think you would have loved it and there is a great little inn there, called the Spread Eagle, where you can get great food. Personally, I don't think you missed too much bypassing Wilton House.

traveller 1959 - are you by any chance related to Bill Bryson? Your humor reminds me of him, esp I am currently reading his book "Notes from a Small Island" and just done with the section of Stonehenge and Salisbury!

I have to respectfully disagree with rickmav regarding Wilton House. I visited it in May '08 and absolutely loved the place. So many treasures and lots of history too!

I haven't been to Stourhead, but I recently watched a show on it (National Trust Gardens). I don't think I'd enjoy it, considering it's a landscape garden rather than a formal garden (which I like, with lots of flowers etc).

Well, we missed Stourhead because we had to reach our destination.

But later on our trip, we visited some equally fine English gardens. Be a little patient - now dinner waits for us, in a Japanese restaurant: sashimi will be appropriate at the end of a hot day.

I also detect notes of Bill Bryson in your writing style, this is a good thing!

Brilliant trip report, traveller1959!

Lee Ann

In the style of Bill Bryson? Perhaps a little way to go.

If you expected anything beyond total crap from a service station, well, you've learnt a lesson. Real Cornish pasties are glorious beyond imagination but you need a native Cornish person to make them, they are not available commercially. And you also now know that Stonehenge is worth no more than a few minutes of your life. Please pass it on to your countryfolk who seem preoccupied with the place.

There's nothing wrong with Boddingtons, it's a pleasantly light lunchtime beer, wasted on slugs and snails.

Just one question - you did drink it chilled and in glasses didn't you? Otherwise anything might have happened. Canned Boddies is noteworthy for its "widget" which goes off when you open it and gives the beer texture. I almost said gives it a head but thought better of it.

Wonderful start! What do you mean "Be a little patient - " We are waiting here

Really enjoying reading about your trip, and glad I was able to help in some small way with your planning. More please!

Day Two: Natural Beauties

We got up early in the morning and started with a swim. In the pool, we met an amicable English gentleman of about 90 years. I liked him immediately, because he was a good breaststroke swimmer and wore a European-style swimsuit (what the Americans call “speedo”). We chatted a bit about seawater temperature, how to keep a lawn clear of daisies and the similarities and differences of the concepts of civilian duty in the works of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Dante Alighieri.

Later, for breakfast, I had smoked haddock with a poached egg and some vegetables. Smoked haddock, which is cooked in milk, is delicious, just slightly salty and with a delicate smokey flavour. The portion was big enough to prevent half Rwanda from starving.

Since it was a beautiful, sunny day, we decided to leave the car in the car park and to explore the coast on foot. I have seen many coastlines in my life, but North Devon is one of the most beautiful ones. North Devon coast is very diverse, with a little bit of everything - wide sandy beaches, high dunes, steep cliffs, bizarre rocks. The enormous tidal range, amplified by the funnel effect of Bristol Channel, makes the coast appear totally different at different times of the day.

A well-maintained coast path leads along the coastline, and the most beautiful sections, e.g. at Morte Point, are National Trust wilderness areas, with an abundance of wildflowers and lots of leisurely grazing sheep.

The coast is excellent for swimming, surfing, all kinds of beach activities, hiking, leisurely strolling along the beach through shallow water, sea-canoeing, paragliding… whatever. Woolacombe is a tiny resort town, with a few shops, ice cream parlours, restaurants, hotels etc., but without any ugly high-rise building or concrete structure. The Watersmeet hotel is a 1 km pleasant walk away from the village, and the Esplanade is lined with Victorian doll’s houses, with a few modern buildings which, however, blend in harmoniously. Traffic is no nuisance, and the loudest sounds are the cries of the seagulls and the baaing of the sheep.

How did we find this piece of Garden Eden?

Believe it or not: with Google Earth. Originally, we wanted to see the Cotswolds. Being in the area, we wanted to include a visit to Bath. Being in Bath, we thought about spending a few days on the beach. Where is the nearest beach? I flew with Google Earth over the coast, starting in Bristol and proceeding in western direction. The first nice beach I saw was Weston-super-Mare (whose wooden pier burnt to the ground during our stay in England). I proceeded further westwards and found a spectacular cliff line. Right in the middle of the steep coast, there is a tiny harbour named Lynmouth. We considered staying there, but the beach there is rocky and not good for swimming. Proceeding further westwards, the cliffs began alternating with sandy beaches, and the most beautiful of those beaches is Woolacombe, and from the aerial view I saw a beautifully located hotel and this was the Watersmeet.

In the afternoon, while we enjoyed ourselves sitting on the balcony and sipping a bottle of sparkling wine, there was some noise and excitement on the beach below us. A hawk darted out of the sun and caught a seagull, screwing with his prey in his claws high up into the sky. Eventually he dropped the seagull in order to catch it again. Do hawks toy with their prey like cats?

Anyway, we immediately got hungry and considered having poultry for dinner. But instead, we decided to honour the unfortunate seagull by eating seafood. The scallops, served on fennel mousse, were excellent, and so was the monkfish, prepared Mediterranean style with chorizo, tomatoes and olive oil. For dessert, we ordered, guess what, pudding with clotted cream.

After dinner, I went out for a stroll together with my 18-year-old sons. Since it was weekend, there was a small party having a barbecue in one of the secluded bays on the beach. In another bay, a young man tried to impress his girlfriend by undressing and diving into the waves within seconds. On the coast path, we met a young couple, he was carrying a bottle of vodka, she a bottle of tequila. After sharing some gulps with us, they happily continued. On the way back, we passed one of those Victorian beachhouses. In the windowframe, a young beauty was sitting, hardly dressed, and invited us (or at least, my sons) to party with her. England is a beautiful country.

To be continued.

I was in Woolacombe for a wedding four years ago - and, yes, you are right, it is a beautiful part of England. I am waiting to see if you went to Lynmouth or did any wandering through Dartmoor.

Meanwhile, you are making me laugh a lot. Thanks. Especially liked the comment about Magna Carta and written constiutions.

Great fun, thanks for sharing your impressions. Immediately got hungry and considered poultry, love it.

Traveller
You English is excellent are you German or Danish?

Petrol station food is famously avoided. Beer in a can called draught is merely marketing for the "Belgians are coming". Boddingtons with widget best avoided.

Keep going, by the way how did you find the fine weather for the rest of Britain it has rained since April

Thank you all for your comments.

bilboburgler:

I am German.

At the coast, you have often better weather, especially during high tide. Indeed, during our first days, it was raining in the hinterland, while we had blue skies at the coast.

When we left the coast, we had blue skies all over England. When we returned home, it started to rain in England.

traveller1959 - What a lovely read!
You are totally brilliant in the way in which you picked out your 'holiday spot'! Well done - I've got to give this a try.
I can see you are in the same frame of mind when it comes to clotted cream - I am busy writing my trip report and still to tell of our second delicious cream tea! Keep it comin......
Oh, about Cornish pasties: We went to Padstow one year and had the famous pasty - it was just awful, so you are not alone!

traveller1959- I started reading because our family had done a similar trip about 7 years ago. But I must say I'm continuing (and anxiously waiting fo the rest) because of your writing style. I love your discussion with the man at the pool - Please continue!

Day Three: England’s Most Beautiful Village Or: the Faustian Pact

English hotel breakfast is pretty much the same, wherever you stay. Usually, there is a buffet with croissants, Danish pastry, fruit, juices and cereals and a menu with cooked-to-order items like eggs, ham, sausage, black pudding, haddock, kippers, potatoes and vegetables. This morning, one of our sons took all his courage to take a special English item from the buffet which is called “Weetabix “. The wrapper looks pretty, but once you have unwrapped it, a thing appears which looks like dried sheep dung and which tastes like dried sheep dung. Well, we gave it to the birds, and I enjoyed my fried kippers.

This day, we visited Clovelly, a fishing village which could easily win every “England’s-Most-Beautiful-Village”-contest. The name “Clovelly” is celtic and developed from 'cloh' and 'Feli' (a personal name), meaning 'Feli's dyke’.

Clovelly is located within a narrow recess in the cliffs of North Devon Coast. It is a special place in many ways.

Firstly, it is completely free of traffic. The (almost) only access is an incredibly steep winding road of cobbled stones which can be managed only on foot, with donkeys or with sleds (to carry heavy good, e.g. the luggage of those tourists who choose to stay overnight in the village). Thank God, they offer a Landrover shuttle service over a back road for 2£ per person. Of course, you HAVE to walk one way in order to see the village. We chose to walk downhill and to take the shuttle service to bring us back uphill. Never invested 2£ so wisely.

Secondly, Clovelly is very picturesque, partly because it is nestled into the narrow canyon, partly because of the pretty cottages and the abundance of flowers in the gardens. The little harbour is the epitome of a romantic fishing port. You can visit a typical fisherman’s cottage (dating from 1930), a modest chapel, a small museum, devoted to a novelist who lived there, two pubs and several souvenir shops. The views of the coastline from the slope above the village as well as from the harbour are breathtaking. All in all, a very nice place to spend a lovely morning.

Thirdly, it is historic. I overheard an American lady who, full of awe and admiration, said to her travel companions, “This is medieval!” Actually, nothing is medieval in Clovelly. But the cottages are built in a traditional way and look indeed as if they were erected just shortly after the dawn of time.

Forthly, Clovelly is a slick business model. The whole village is privately owned by one family, the Hamlyns. This privatisation of a village was, however, not Margaret Thatcher’s achievement (as you would expect), but happened already in 1738. Amazing, that feudalism still exists in England. However, feudalism has been modernized. The Hamlyns opened their village to visitors, however charging an entrance fee of 5.50£ per adult and directing them through a highly commercialised visitor center including a giant gift shop. BBC writes: “It seems, however, that these villagers, or at least the owners, have made some sort of Faustian pact with the devil of tourism.” Well, we have seen worse pacts with the devil of tourism in the world and also during our trip through England. And certainly, the entrance fees help to conserve this gem.

The afternoon, we spent on the beach. Low tide revealed most bizarre, sharp-edged rock formations emerging from the sand. From a close angle, it looked like Mordor. My son even found Sauron’s whirlpool – a tidal pool in one of those rocks, filled with multicoloured algae.

At dinner, the hotel’s chef exceeded himself. The main course was fillet of Exmoor beef, prepared to our tastes (which is usually half alive), and garnished with onion marmalade and lukewarm foie gras on roasted blini.

Our after-dinner stroll led us in the other direction, towards Morte Point, where we wanted to watch the sunset. Right behind the hotel, we passed a gate and found ourselves, according to the restaurant’s dress code, with jacket, tie and leather soles, right in the middle of a herd of grazing sheep.

To be continued.

I love the Weetabix story.
Weetabix is a breakfast cereal.
You pour milk over it and sugar if required.
As yours went to the birds, I assume that your poor son tried to eat it dry like a biscuit.

BTW, Cornish pasties can vary enormously. You are better getting one from a small local baker.
The best I hove had was in a pub on one of the Scilly islands.
The landlady baked them herself and they were enormous. We had to share one.

I've had great Cornish Pasties. However, I've tried Weetabix even with the aforementioned milk and sugar - and it still tastes like sheep dung

Oh, about Cornish pasties: We went to Padstow one year and had the famous pasty - it was just awful, so you are not alone!>>>>

Proof positive, as if it were needed, that all foreigners are wrong 'uns.

Sorry the Weetabix wasn't a hit. I don't like soggy cereal, so I used to eat Weetabix a fair amount growing up - but with butter and marmite or jam. I can't imagine eating it on it's own!

My family used to visit this area back in the fifties and sixties - I loved Watersmeet. And do you know about the Lynmouth flood tragedy in 1952? (www.lyntonandlynmouth.org.uk/flood/index.htm)

I am loving this report!
Loved the "special" lorry-on-an-incline experience!

Day Four: The Best of Exmoor

For this day, we had planned not to have dinner in the hotel but in a Michelin-star-decorated restaurant in a tiny village south of Exmoor National Park. Naturally, we would do some sightseeing in the Park before going to dinner. However, weather was fine, waves were thundering so that our travelling companies expressed their wish to start the day with a hike in the area.

Indeed, we made a beautiful walk directly from the hotel over the coast path to Morte Point, then turning inlands and walking on elastic, mossy pathways through gently rolling hills, until we passed an ancient graveyard and reached Mortehoe, the picture-postcard village with a sturdy church, half-timbered houses and cozy pubs. Total walking distance was 5 km, a little more than an hour.

www.devon-holiday.com/information/mortehoe.htm

Around noon, we boarded our van and left for Exmoor. Our first destination was the Valley of the Rocks near Lynton. Did I tell already about the narrow roads in North Devon? These roads are so narrow that your exterior mirrors scratch the hedges on both sides. Furthermore, the roads are steep with inclines that reach 23%. And once you are past Hunter’s Inn und you are on the coast road towards Woody Bay, you find yourself on a steep, twisting single-track but two-way road with a cliffside on the right and a vertical abyss on the left and a convoy of vintage roadsters approaching from the front. Boy, forget the travelling time estimations of your navigation system! And better blindfold the ladies in your car (or wear earplugs).

I had driven tiny mountain roads in the Pyrenees, I had driven Titus Canyon Road in Death Valley, but the road to Woody Bay easily wins the scariest road contest!

Eventually, the road opens into a valley. You pay a toll of 1£ and proceed into the Valley of Rocks – the finest section of North Devon steep coast. The Valley of Rocks offers breathtaking vistas and beautiful walking trails.

www.lynton-lynmouth-tourism.co.uk

We continued our way towards Lynton and Lynmouth. Lynmouth is another picture postcard fishing village, a little larger than Clovelly and less museum-like. From Lynmouth, you can take a beautiful hiking trail to Watersmeet, a place where two rivers meet and which resembles a rain-forest with an abundance of river rapids and waterfalls.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-watersmeet/

Right after Lynmouth, the road rises again onto the plateau and you are right within Exmoor, a heather-clad upland moor with horses, sheep and cattle on open range. There we saw them grazing, our praised dinners! (In fact, we had eaten lamb and beef, but, unfortunately, nobody served us horsemeat.) A landscape of a barren beauty.

www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/index/visiting/gallery.htm

Again, driving is slow because you have to anticipate an animal of considerable mass standing on the road behind each curve or bluff. Eventually, we reached a major attraction of Exmoor National Park, the Tarr Steps. This is arguably the finest clapper bridge in England and a beautiful spot. Children are frolicking in the water, you can walk over the bridge and have a most civilised drink in the 5-star inn which is directly located at the Steps. The Tarr Steps are supposed to be built in Medieval ages, but look as if they were prehistoric.

www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/_T/Tarr_Steps.php

We proceeded to our main destination of this day: The Mason Arms in Knowstone. You don’t have to know Knowstone – it is a hamlet consisting of about a dozen houses including a 13 century pub, the Mason Arms. The Red Michelin Guide has rated Mason Arms in a very peculiar way – with one set of cutlery and with a star. We found the rating very appropriate. You enter a typical village pub – with locals in dirty dungarees sitting besides investment bankers in cashmere suits. Unusual for a Michelin-star decorated restaurant, here it is completely natural to have a bitter as an apéritif. The apéritifs are served in the historical kitchen, complete with baking oven, which has been converted into a lounge.

www.masonsarmsdevon.co.uk
And a beautiful review:
www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2005/07/30/edmoir30.xml

The food is not too sophisticated, but well-prepared. Most of us had Devon crab as a starter (the waitress was somewhat puzzled but we explained to her that we usually favour dishes with regional ingredients) which was served with crème fraîche and mango dressing. For main course, I ordered again fillet of Exmoor beef (always eat local), here garnished with courgette and carrot ribbons, potato fondant and tarragon jus. The day before, at Watersmeet Hotel, the Exmoor beef had been delicious, and here, it was even better: the best of Exmoor.

My son had a Mason Arms’ signature dish, roulade of pork belly, braised red cabbage and apple compote, which usually would be considered a very rustic dish but which was so masterly prepared as only a star-decorated chef could do it. For dessert, I took a chocolate and Cointreau mousse.

England is considered as an expensive country, especially when it comes to food. But the bill counted not more than 43£ per person, including three courses, beers, wines, waters and coffees. Okay, service was not included, and we probably overtipped (we gave 19%) but we found it worth for such a memorable culinary experience – and where else on the world can you enjoy a Michelin-star rated dinner for 43£?

BTW, if you go to a stand on the beach, have three beers, a portion of fish&chips (well-aged fat, solidified to lumps and sticks) and three scoops of ice-cream afterwards, you come close to pay half of that what we paid for our gourmet dinner. In contrast to common prejudice, British food can be amazingly good – and amazingly bad. We continued having the good.

To be continued.

Horse is considered unacceptable in Uk as is jockey and donkey. Unfortunatly it does not stop us sending old horses to the continent for the french to eat.. Jockeys get bribes and donkeys become salami in Italy.

Love the story

And I assume that was local mango you had with your crab at the Mason's Arms?

bilboburgler:

What do you do with those fine young race-horses which are so unfortunate to break a leg?

They make excellent fillet steaks.

Fish and Chips can be the food of the gods or otherwise,.
You do not experience it at its best at a grotty beach snack bar or even in a pub.
You have to go away from the beach into the village and look for a shop with steamed-up windows and a queue outside.
Inside, there should be a deep-fat fryer with assistants scooping out the beautifully fried fish, chips, sausages etc.
You sometimes have to wait while a new batch is cooking. You say "yes" to "salt and vinegar,love" and eat them piping hot.

Wheetabix is just shredded wheat - only flaked/formed instead of shredded/formed.

Not a taste sensation by any means, but I can't see how it could taste bad/offensive. Just a bland-ish cereal.

Loving the report!

Day Five: A Structural Engineering Problem Turned Into Beauty and: Splurging Like the Romans

Weather in England had been nice so far, warm and sunny. But on our fifth day, when we left the coast, it grew hot and humid. They day was mainly devoted to driving to Bath. Driving distance is just 213km, but given the narrow roads in Devon, you need almost 4 hours.

Fodorites advised us just before beginning our trip to visit Wells. We were extremely thankful for this tip indeed. Driving from M5 to Wells is already a lovely thing – through pretty villages and countryside. Wells is a quaint little town with a pretty market, old gates and bookshops everywhere. The cathedral is gorgeous and appears ridiculously oversized in such a small town but this gives a proper impression how proportions were in the old times.

www.wells-uk.com/wells_photos.php

Wells ranks among England’s most beautiful cathedrals. Like other English cathedrals, it has a central tower right over the crossing. This causes a structural engineering problem because the tower is over open space. In order to hold the load of the tower, the architect erected powerful pillars, but built them in the form of diagonal gothic arches which makes them appear like giant scissors. Very unique!

Just outside the cathedral, you find the world’s oldest neighbourhood of terraced houses. It is called Vicar’s Close and was originally built in 1363 for the choir members. The Close is tapered to make it look longer when viewed from the bottom. Although it has its original cobblestone surface, many visitors would estimate its age as being no older than 100 years.

After having a picnic in a picnic area out of town, we proceeded to Bath. The city did not welcome us well. The road into town led us through endless industrial suburbs which we could thoroughly examine, since congestion was so heavy that we would have been faster by walking.

Finally, we reached our hotel. We had prebooked hotels in the same price range (of about 150-160£ per double room. Usually we could afford a four-star hotel for that rate. But in Bath, our budget was sufficient for a 5-star-ultra-luxury hotel: The MacDonald Bath Spa Hotel (not to be confused with a popular restaurant chain of the same name).

www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/bathspa/index.htm

When our van entered the grounds, we felt like approaching an ambassador’s residence. Everything was opulent, both outside and inside (the hotel was designed by Rocco Forte). Here my review on tripadvisor:

http://tinyurl.com/69dnvk

Since the day had grown awfully hot, we especially enjoyed that this was the only hotel during our trip which had air condition. And we enjoyed the spa. Bath is an ancient Roman spa, and the Bath Spa Hotel is probably the way the Roman would be bathing nowadays. The hotel has several slightly saline thermal pools, including a large, moderately warm lap pool and a steaming hot outdoor pool. Exactly what we needed after a long drive and exhausting sightseeing!

Good hotels spoil their guests. Instead of walking into town, we let ourselves seduce by the prospect of al fresco dining in the hotel’s park. Most memorable was a smoked haddock fishcake and the chats with the waitstaff. The hotel manager is Italian and so are many waiters. Our waiter was obviously surprised that we knew his hometown, Udine, mainly because of the famous football club Udinese Calcio (the current German National Team manager Oliver Bierhoff was top goal scorer of the season in the Italian serie A with Udinese Calcio). Football indeed connects the world (except for the English, because their national team usually fails to qualify for international competitions – this one is for Cholmondley_Warner).

We chatted a bit about drinking habits. He asked us whether we preferred wine or beer. We answered, we usually start with a pint of beer and then switch to wine. He seemed to be pleased with our answer. Then he asked us whether we preferred white wine or red wine. We answered, we usually drink white wine with the first courses and red wine with the latter courses. He seemed to be pleased again. (Obviously, in England, waiters get a percentage of the sales.)

After dinner, we strolled through the hotel’s beautiful park which connected into an extensive public park which included a picturesque canal. The locals were walking their dogs and everything was peaceful.

The City of Bath waited for us to be visited the next day.

To be continued.

Very amusing and informative. Looking forward to more . . .

This is wonderful - looking forward to more

Hi traveller,

I've just caught up with you, having been away on my own travels.

It was exceptional because, within 10 days, we had not one drop on rain.>>

and lucky, because i gather that we had better weather in Iceland than our nieghbours here in Cornwall were "enjoying" while we were away. and the rain has been almost continous since we returned.

I enjoyed your description of north devon and the novel way you picked Woolacombe as your destination. I must try that.

but you have pasties all wrong; as others have pointed out you need to find a reliable local baker which makes their own. of course this requires quite a lot of research - indeed many cornish people seem to spend considerable amounts of time carrying out this research, testing pasties for breakfst, lunch and tea. which enables them to roll down the hills you describe without sustaining any damamge.

looking forward to more,

regards, ann

Hi Ann,

I am aware that a petrol station on A303 is not exactly the best spot to buy a Cornish pasty.

I am looking forward to visiting Cornwall on our next trip to the isles and to trying a real Cornish pasty there. You know, I always try to taste regional food - and I am rarely disappointed.

BTW, we are frequent visitors to Brittany and our Breton friends say that they can easily communicate with the Cornish people in their native (Celtic) language. We are eager to go there.

I'm not saying that horse is or is not good too eat, just that it is culturally unacceptable to eat it in the UK. Horse meat in UK would either go to those throwing off their inhabitions or as dog food

Many years ago, I lived in Aberystwyth.
Every year a Breton onion Johnny would visit the town, the real thing with strings of onions round his neck.
They were excellent onions too.

Anyway, when he went into his favourite local pub, he and the locals could understand one another very well. It seems as though Welsh and Breton are very similar.

Day Six: What Happens If You Take Your English Lessons Lightly And: Our Second World Heritage Site

The day began marvellously. Imagine a crisp summer morning – blue sky, the crescent moon high above, the sharp morning sunlight, and a steaming hot thermal spa.

It continued badly. The hotel concierge told me the way downtown. “Just go down to the museum, take Pulteney Street, go over the bridge and there you are.” Perfect. I led our small party down to the museum, saw the road sign “Pulteney Road” and marched on. We marched and marched and saw no bridge. Besides, the neighbourhood was anything but nice. Finally, I looked on the map. Yes, we had walked up Pulteney Road. But we should have walked up Pulteney Street.

I cursed myself because of taking English lessons lightly. Never really understanding the difference between “street” and “road”. Now I understand: A street is leading downtown, while a road is going into an industrial suburb. Lesson learned. We took a bypass and eventually crossed the river on North Parade Road. The good thing: Probably the best view of Bath from that bridge.

Bath is a number one tourist destination in England and with full right. Firstly, Bath is extremely compact. Within 100 meters, there are the three main attractions: the old town, the abbey and the Roman Baths. Secondly, the Roman Baths. There are many sites in Europe (and North Africa) where you can see the remnants of Roman thermal baths. But these are just ruins. In Bath, you can see the bubbling thermal water coming up from the spring. You can see the steaming hot water running through 2000-year-old pipes. You can touch the water (although they do not advise to do it). You can smell the water. The ancient swimming pools are filled with thermal water. This is unique, even for an expert who had visited hundred of Roman sites before.

The museum is state-of-the-art. Usually we do not like audioguides. But here these devices are excellent: You choose your language (the guides have native speakers), go to a point of interest, enter a code number and listen to a very interesting story. You can “do” the baths in 30 minutes (like son # 1) or in three hours (like son # 2).

If you are fast you go to the “Pump Room”. This is not an engineering facility but a quite elegant restaurant. A good place to wait for your travel companions who take their time to examine the archaeological site more thoroughly than yourself.

www.romanbaths.co.uk

When you emerge from the Roman Baths, you are practically entering Bath Abbey, one of the better English churches. And when you leave Bath Abbey, you are in the center of Old Town with shops, pubs, a covered market etc.

www.visitbath.co.uk

Now, you CAN make a big mistake. Right in the centre of Old Town, there is a large board with a schematic map of Bath tourist attractions. This map indicates that the Royal Circus and the Royal Crescent are just a stone’s throw away. Do NOT believe it, especially on a hot day.

Instead, we walked back over Pulteney Bridge and Pulteney Street (both are architectural gems) to our hotel. There, on the car park, did I change my trousers to shorts. Then we entered “Royal Circus” into the navigation system and started the car. Air-conditioned, the car drove up steep slopes to Royal Circus and Royal Crescent where we saw totally exhausted crowds of innocent tourists lying in the grass. To be sure, Royal Crescent is just 1km away from the Abbey, but the way goes uphill. Royal Circus and Royal Crescent are architectural masterpieces and must-sees. (I do not know if the Fashion Museum is a must-see, at least I did not tell our ladies about it.)

Surprisingly, a few hours were sufficient to see the highlights of Bath, and we proceeded towards our next destination, the Cotswolds. As always in English cities, we could not find a grocery store, neither in the city centre nor in the suburbs of Bath. So, again we bought our picnic supplies at a filling station. The difference was, however, it was a filling station in the Cotswolds and it was not operated by Spar but by Marks & Spencer and we got wonderful supplies for picnic.

On www.fodors.com the Cotswolds have a magical sound. This is the reason why we included this region into our itinerary. To understand the Cotswolds, imagine Beverly Hills, but spread across an area of, say, 20 by 20 km. Also realize that the Swiss Banks had their British headquarters removed from London to the Cotswolds (because most investment bankers had removed their homes from London to the Cotswolds). This explains why the snack shop of an average fillings station in the Cotswolds is operated by Marks & Spencer (maybe there are also petrol stations operated by Harrods).

Anyway, we had a very pleasant picnic on Fish Hill (which is a bluff between Broadway and Chipping Campden) before we approached our Cotswolds base, the Lygon Arms in Chipping Campden.

Fodors.com helped us much to pick a base in the Cotswolds. From many posts, and especially advised by an email by flanneruk, we thought Chipping Campden would be the best base for us. Indeed, Chipping Campden is something like an ideal town in the Cotswolds. In the 13th/14th century, the towns in the Cotswolds became quite prosperous because the Cotswolds became a centre of wool trading. The wealth, however, gradually diminished, thus preventing the historical towns from being subject to modernisation and demolition. This is the main reason why they survived as quaint towns until London Yuppies rediscovered and gentrified the area.

You understand easily why. Chipping Campden is a charming town, complete with a historical market hall, an oversized gothic church (a socalled “wool” church) and a row of townhouses from all historical and architectural periods which are perfectly matching because they are all built with the same honey-coloured regional limestone.

www.chippingcampden.co.uk

Besides, Chipping Campden is a proper town with a grocery store (important for our picnics), several pubs, cafés and an amazing number of (mostly trendy) restaurants. We had booked the Lygon Arms, a historic pub which had been extended to a fashionable, charming boutique hotel.

www.lygonarms.co.uk
Here my review:
http://tinyurl.com/65a5pj

So far for today. To be continued.

Still reading and still laughing. But on the subject of football. It is a disgrace that England fail to qualify for pretty much everything. But the words "Manchester United" remain a conversation opener (often wordless) all over the world from Istanbul to Hanoi.

For real sports-connectivity, though, you need to visit the sub-continent and talk CRICKET!!!

I remember a radio programme where a BBC correspondent was talking to people in Iraq.
A man took out a photograph of David Beckham and the BBC man said, "Ah, Manchester United".
A little voice piped up, "No, Real Madrid".
The BBC man said that he lived quite close to the Arsenal stadium and the little boy was able to name all the members of the current Arsenal team.

This is all very jolly, and WONDERFULLY well-written.

But I'm fascinated by these M&S filling stations. There isn't a single one in the Cotswolds: in fact there's scarcely an M&S of any sort anywhere in the Cotswolds - one of the few flies (till the Witney one opens) in an otherwise near-idyllic bottle of healing balm.

Now if you take the long way round from Bath to Chipping Campden, you'll hit M&Ss on the M4 at the Leigh Delamere service area. But that's hardly your run of the mill filling station - and it's not in the Cotswolds.

Sadly, the food available at Cotswold filling stations is always the same mud-coloured jello traveller found outside Salisbury. We do have our superior fast-food joints (Daylesford Organics, just off the road from Chipping Campden to Oxford, makes Horridds look dirt cheap). But none that I know of attached to petrol stations.

flanner:

The M&S filling station is off M5, if I remember correctly, at exit 9, must be on A46 near Ashchurch/Aston Cross.

You know that every single word of my report is very close to the truth.

Afterall and MissPrism:

I watched the Champions League game Schalke vs. Chelsea from a seat in row 4 just behind the goal. It was terrific to see the players from such a close angle (although Drogba and a bad day). Schalke was clearly better, but it ended with a draw. Anyway, I admire each team if it plays well. (Haven't seen the English national team playing well for quite a bit of time. Probably the cricket team is better, partly because hardly anybody else in the world is playing cricket.)

read: Drogba had a bad day.

Ah, the one outside Tewkesbury.

Also, I'm afraid, outside the Cotswolds. Someone actually persuaded some Government fund to cough up for markers defining where the Cotswold starts - thus, of course, inflating the value of houses inside the markers, and therefore a wholly laudable misuse of public money.

The Tewkesbury M&S/BP is outside the sacred zone. Only by a few miles - but those few miles add tens of percents to property prices.

Yes, it was Tewkesbury. I know that it is technically outside of the Cotswolds, but I assume that Cotswoldians do occasionally stop there on their way from Bristol Airport.

I've learnt something else today from this board - there are at least two Lygon Arms in the UK. I was completely thrown by "the Lygon Arms, a historic pub which had been extended to a fashionable, charming boutique hotel" in Chipping Camden.

For our overseas readers there is a Lygon Arms in Broadway in Worcestershire which is, in the modern vernacular, like, well posh. Haven't been there for almost 30 years so I won't offer an opinion.

As for football, traveller1959, you are fortunate to have seen Chelsea close-up, but they have barely any English players which is a characteristic of most of out top sides. Perhaps why our national side hasn't thrived of late.

Yes, there are two Lygon Arms. We chose to stay in the affordable one.

Isn't "Lygon" an old word for lion?

Re: Chelsea

At least I saw good ole Lamps playing, but he was kind of indisposed during that game, too. But it was a game at the group stages and after all not important, because they had already qualified for the next round.

As I said before, a great trip report!

For those now considering Woolacombe as a holiday destination, do not pass up as chance to visit this wonderful place in Mortehoe...

http://www.mortehoeshellfish.co.uk/

...see review in Telegraph...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2004/08/12/edmoir14.xml

When I first came across this place some years ago it was literally just Mrs H selling crab, lobster etc over her kitchen counter at the back door - the parrot was there though! Now they have turned the whole downstairs of the house into a very rustic 'restaurant' (take your own bread and booze!) but it still has loads of charm.

I was there again at the beginning of July and as always the shellfish and seafood is amazing. They also do takeaway.

"Isn't "Lygon" an old word for lion?"

No. The word's never been used in English (or French) as anything except a surname. Always possible, of course, that the Lygon family chose lions for their arms because they thought - or wanted people to think - their name meant "lion". But they'd have been wrong.

The Lygons were landowners in the area for about 500 years: by the 1920s they were the Earls Beauchamp and became the models for Lord Marchmain and his family in Brideshead Revisited: their house was the model for Brideshead. Both hotels were originally called the White Hart - a common name for pubs since the 14th century.

The Broadway one was then allegedly bought by a Lygon, a younger son of the then Earl, as part of a parcel of land around 1820: he's supposed to have sold the hotel to his steward on condition the name got changed to the Lygon Arms. His butler acquired the Chipping Campden one about 10 years later, and also obligingly changed ITS name to the Lygon Arms. The Lygon concerned died unmarried: I've always assumed he saw this as a way of having his name live on, but I've never seen a wholly convincing explanation of these two places' parallel histories.

Thank you, Flanner, for these insights.

This forum gives useful information even after a journey has ended. Thank you.

I had to smile reading the name Beauchamp. The name Beauchamp plays a certain role in Armistead Maupin's "Barbary Lane" novels which happen in San Francisco.

And Beauchamp is the maiden name of the main character in the Outlander series, set mostly in Scotland Claire uses the maiden name when she meets her husband's ancestor, and doesn't want to let on she's related by marriage.

GreenDragon - and also when she has to of necessity be vague about where she comes from and so the name implies French origins

Really enjoying this report and all the commentary accompanying it - as usual!

Day Seven: Agatha’s Garden and Honey-coloured Towns

This morning, my son ordered Full English Breakfast. Full English Breakfast is a platter with a fried egg, bacon, black pudding, baked beans, hash brown, fried bread, grilled tomato, mushrooms and, as the centrepiece, a British Sausage, also known, according to the BBC, as “Emulsified High-Fat Offal Tube”.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzeDZtx3wUw

You have to plough at least ten acres afterwards to burn the calories. DW wants to stay slim and ordered “just one egg and a half tomato”. She got three fried eggs and six tomatoes.

We started our sightseeing tour with a visit of Chipping Campden’s “wool” church. It is called this way because this oversized church was built around 1380 with the money of a wool merchant. It is a fine gothic church with a pretty graveyard which must be nice to visit in a foggy night. Inside, there is a splendid tomb. We overheard an elder gentleman explaining this monument at length to a lady. When they parted, the lady asked him for his name. He answered, let’s say, “Smith”. She asked, unbelievingly: “Just Mr Smith?” Then he: “In fact, I am doctor, but I am privately here.” Perfect English etiquette on both sides.

As soon as she was gone, he started talking to me. He told me that the unimpressive tomb slab in front of the altar was most significant, because it was the grave of Mr William Grevel who spoke of himself as “the flower of wool merchants” and who financed building the church. He also explained that “Chipping” means market and gave us directions to find William Grevel’s house, a distinct medieval house with gothic arches in the middle of High Street. He also said that the house was inhabited by the doctor’s widow and that the locals worried about what would happen to the house after when she would pass away some day. They would not like the idea that the house would be acquired by a London investment banker.

This was also the day visit an English garden. Just a few minutes from Chipping Campden, you find Hidcote Manor Gardens. These gardens are the epitome of a romantic English garden which is with utmost care kept in a way that it looks like a wilderness with an abundance of flowers. It popped into my mind that this was the perfect setting for an Agatha Christie story. Imagine a party of eight people, strolling after lunch through the garden, splitting up into smaller groups and vanishing between the plants. At teatime, the gardener’s dog would discover a corpse in one of the flowerbeds and Miss Marple would start having some chats.

Indeed, even with hundreds of visitors in the gardens, it would have been easy to knock off someone on one of those secluded pathways and hide the body under the giant spinach leaves which were growing abundantly along the brook. My mother-in-law must have sensed something, because she kept distance and said that she preferred the French gardens over the English gardens.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-hidcotemanorgarden

After visiting the gardens (we skipped the maize maze), we started our Cotswolds sightseeing tour which led us to Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Lower and Upper Slaughter and Broadway, besides a dozen of nameless hamlets. All these towns and villages have in common that they are picturesque with their honey-coloured houses. Bourton-on-the-Water has made the Faustian pact with the Devil of Tourism and is highly commercialised, others remain sleepy. We found that Chipping Campden was indeed the best place to stay but also liked Broadway.

In Lower Slaughter (one of the smaller villages), we made a little stroll until our fashion-addicted ladies felt that they must burn some British Pounds in the old watermill’s boutique. While waiting, I bought the most expensive ice cream of my lifetime for the boys. Two scoops were sold at over 4£ which is almost 10 (ten) times as much as you would pay for the same size and quality in Germany’s East. The flavour was “brown bread” and I thought: who else in this world is able to create an ice cream flavour out of the remains of paper recycling?

For lunch, we found a picnic place which was popular with bicyclists. There was a diner inside a real railway car but we chose to munch our own supplies al fresco. From the neighbouring table we heard something what sounded like a barking bullfrog, but from the facial expressions of the family sitting there I concluded it must have been the 10-year-old daughter belching. So much for English etiquette. Thank God, our boys are already 18.

Fabulous trip report!

Great report!!! I love the titles that you think of for each section! I was laughing about the belching at another table. I loved your thoughts of Agatha Christie at Hidcote. I loved that place.

One summer a college friend and I travelled in England and Scotland together and we were both murder mystery fans and used to make up murder mystery scenarios at various places we visited. We should all get together and collaborate on a book!

Day Eight: A Magical Place: Warwick Castle

This day was dedicated to a daytrip in northern direction. When we reached Stratford-on-Avon, we kind of praised the Tudor style there as a welcome alternative to the somewhat uniform honey-coloured stones of the Cotswolds. But our main destination was Warwick Castle.

www.warwick-castle.co.uk

Warwick Castle is one of those perfectly organised achievements of the entertainment industry. After paying the entrance fee for the car par (6£), you get a free 3km hike across nicely landscaped parking-lots until you reach the ticket booths of Warwick Castle. You pay 17.95 £ admission per adult (families are admitted at a discount price of 55£) which does not include visiting the authentic ghost tower (special entrance fee) or a 3-minute swordplay course (additional fee) or other activities.

BTW, the ghost show is named “Ghosts Alive” which I consider a most appropriate name. If you want to get an idea how scary it is click on the following link:

WARNING: The following link includes explicit material. It is not suitable for persons under the age of 21 or persons with a heart condition or persons who are especially sensible. I decline every responsibility for consequences which might be triggered by watching this material, e.g. heart attack, anxiety state or mental illness.

www.warwick-castle.co.uk/flash/ghosts_alive/ghosts_alive.asp

I told my travel companions the history of Warwick Castle: “The Castle was erected in 1994 by the Great and Powerful Earl of Disney who had moved the structure over the pond from Hollywood where it had served for several decades as a backdrop for knights’ tales movies. In 2003 it had been refurbished by Lady Tussaud.” In these days, however, reality surpasses irony: Warwick Castle indeed belongs to The Tussauds Group. It resembles Disneyland in every way. The only difference is that instead of Mickey Mouse and Goofy, a damsel and a witch are running across the yard.

During our visit, there was a jousting spectacle. If you really want to get the authentic impression how a jousting contest was in medieval times go to Warwick Castle. They have knights and horses and costumes and an anchorman using a high-tech PA system.

The highlight of each visit to Warwick Castle is a tour of the stateroom where you can get a picture of you and a waxen Queen Elizabeth II at 11.95£.

We enjoyed Warwick Castle very much. Of course, like every proper English castle, it is haunted and possesses a certain magical power. The magical power Warwick Castle is, it brings out the truth. Take MIL. When we were ready to descend into the dungeon, my mother-in-law said “I don’t want to go into the prison. I have already been so often in prison in my lifetime.” This is an aspect of MIL’s life which I had not known so far, and I am glad that the magical power of Warwick Castle made this clear.

Warwick Castle is great for small children and Japanese adults. A family can have a wonderful day and loose a fortune for admission, activities, snacks and drinks. We decided to save our fortune in order to spend it for more sensible expenses, especially beer and champagne at the Lygon Arms.

Did I tell you about food at Lygon Arms? The Lygon Arms is basically a pub with (very nice) rooms and so is the food. MIL made the mistake to order a sirloin steak and what she got was the worst steak I had ever tasted in my life. Rack of lamb, usually a sure bet in England, was overcooked, too. But the homemade steak and ale pie (at 7.95£) was brilliant and so was the bread pudding. You have to know what to order in a pub.

To our surprise, beyond the usual array of beers, the Lygon Arms has an extensive wine list, including excellent Champagne (Duval-Leroy) at 27£ per bottle and a mature 2002 Lamothe-Cissac Cru Bourgeois at 25£ per bottle. Eating and drinking in England remained a mystery for us: it can be so grotty bad or so brilliantly good (even in the same establishment!), it can be so expensive or amazingly reasonable!

Staggering, we went to bed.

Just gets better and better

(One hint that will help others - The Great British Heritage Pass covers entry to Warwick Castle, all the Shakespeare properties in Stratford, Hidcote Manor gardens, the Roman Baths, Stonehenge, etc - so it can be a HUGE money saver)

You don't like brown-bread ice cream?
It's my absolute favourite next to rum and raisin.

>>One hint that will help others<<

It would have helped us...

>>You don't like brown-bread ice cream?<<

Actually, it was not bad. But at 4.50lbs a scoop you become pretty critical...

I love your trip report so much, and wish I had read it before leaving for our own trip to London (July 31 - Aug 11). Just think of the tips that would have made our trip even more fabulous.

Can't tell if you loved or loathed Warwick Castle. Yes it's commercialized but it provided us one day of very good fun - and we're a bunch of cynics.

Lucky you too, as you had good weather - we had only cold rain except for our day at Warwick. A magical castle indeed.

Your writing style and wry humor is great - I've just finished my own trip report and wish I could go back, delete delete and borrow your flare.

>>Can't tell if you loved or loathed Warwick Castle.<<

Can't tell either - but that's typical for Faustian pacts. We surely enjoyed the day there. And if I had the opportunity to plan this trip again I would include a visit to Warwick Castle again - but I would give my travel companions proper warning beforehand.

It is often a matter of expectations.

If you expect a serious historic experience you will be deeply disappointed by this Disney Castle.

If you expect a romantic medieval experience you will also be disappointed.

My intention is to give you readers just some impressions what you can expect.

My next installment will be about Blenheim Palace.

I myself gained a lot from other Fodorites' comments here on the forum which I had been reading before I went there. So, I was properly forwarned.

Traveller's being a bit unfair about Warwick.

The castle IS disneyfied, and some of us find it pretty tacky as a result. But the town's parish church is just about the most spectacular surviving example of pre-Reformation religious art in Britain, and a glorious slab of real medievalism. It's surrounded by a small enclave of secular old buildings, such as the Lord Leycester hospital, which make for a jolly walkable historic area - and one which, unlike most other towns in the area, isn't crowded with crocodiles of young tourists who really wish they were somewhere else.

The town centre, while hardly competing with Florence or Venice, is still a pretty good antidote to the castle's horrors. Or a good way of offering a party a choice of activities.

>>We enjoyed Warwick Castle very much. Of course, like every proper English castle, it is haunted and possesses a certain magical power. The magical power Warwick Castle is, it brings out the truth. Take MIL. When we were ready to descend into the dungeon, my mother-in-law said “I don’t want to go into the prison. I have already been so often in prison in my lifetime.” This is an aspect of MIL’s life which I had not known so far, and I am glad that the magical power of Warwick Castle made this clear.<<

Lovely!

Lee Ann

Day Nine: Opulence! Opulence!! Opulence!!!

The day had come to leave the Cotswolds and to head for Oxford. On the way, we stopped in Woodstock, another charming town.

Woodstock is also famous for a family of militarists who is living there in a most controversial home. On www.fodors.com there is a grim controversy whether Blenheim Palace is a gorgeous architectural monument or just a great heap of kitsch.

www.blenheimpalace.com

Of course, I was eager to get an impression of my own.

Let’s put it this way. >Style< means using a limited number of patterns out of the infinite wealth of geometrical forms. Gothic architecture uses pointed arches only, renaissance architecture uses rounded arches only, classical architecture uses columns and portico. >Elegance< means using a minimum number of geometrical forms while respecting the golden cut. The world’s most elegant buildings are the simplest ones, like the pyramids, the Acropolis or the Chrysler Building.

Given these definitions, Blenheim Palace is neither elegant nor stylish. Instead, it is opulent. Period. Go there to get your own judgement.

Inside, there is a museum of Winston Churchill who was born there. I learned that it is a false belief that Winston Churchill was a politician (who, BTW, had some nasty habits like smoking cigars which had been dipped into Cognac). I learned instead that Winston Churchill was a god. Period again.

Around noon, we arrived at Oxford where son #1 was supposed to attend a summer school at Oriel College. After chatting a while with the college’s guesthouse’s warden (who also owned “Fatboy’s Pizza” which gives an impression how he looked) we left our son and his friend (who had just arrived with the bus from Heathrow) and drove to our hotel. The Cotswolds couldn’t let us go, so we landed at Cotswold Lodge Hotel which is a cozy place just north of Oxford Centre.

www.cotswoldlodgehotel.co.uk
And my review: http://tinyurl.com/6psp2g

We had booked half-board and invited our son and his friend for dinner into the hotel. By the time, I picked them up at the guesthouse they had already found the supermarket and bought the most urgent supplies, that was 16 cans of beer and a bottle of whisky. They also had taken revenge for the EURO 2008 final by having a football match against some students from Spain. I also met a figure in shorts and an ill-fitting t-shirt who turned out as their teacher. I saw that everything was going well with their summer school and took them for dinner.

The Cotswold Lodge Hotel has an AA rosette for good food. They serve a three-course dinner at 15£ which is more than fair, especially if compared with an ice cream cone in Lower Slaughter. I chose an iced melon and yoghurt soup, minted lamb skewers and rich chocolate dessert. The waiter was a little reserved, but after I had ordered a round of cocktails in the lounge, a bottle of champagne (again at a very good price), a bottle of white wine, a bottle of red wine and after he realised that my credit card had been approved he grew remarkably friendlier. (The Polish waitress, however, was a bit out of her depth with all the bottles).

As an after-dinner stroll, we accompanied the boys on their way back to the dorm. Oxford centre was charming at night, especially since the average age of the passers-by was about 21 and especially the girls were wearing almost nothing (it was one of the hottest days in England for a century). The boys got telescope eyes and bid us good-bye long before the dorm was in sight. Oxford appeared somewhat different from what they had expected.

This is the last but one installment.

fabulous report! I've just passed a pleasant hour of a quiet Friday afternoon at work! Thanks

I will be sorry whtn this Trip Report ends and I know I am not alone...if there was an all-time prize for great reports, you could compete for it!

Hi traveller,

I enjoyed your account of Blenheim, but I think you've missed the point. Whenever were stately homes meant to be stylish or tasteful? their purpose was to house the owner, his family, and servants in whatever way best showed off his wealth and power and he could afford. if that meant throwing up a new wing that clashed horribly with the existing one, or tearing down something beautiful, so be it. and furnishings are for comfort, definitely not style. these are homes, not show palaces.

as for the deification of Churchill, we used to live within walking distance of Chartwell, so experienced this at close quarters. those who have taken a tour of the house will have seen his [IMHO] appalling daubs next to materpieces by the great impressionists, and in the garden they will have admired the wall he built, which i had on good authority was tidied up considerably by professional builders who were doing some work at Chartwell at the time.

but again, to say these things is to miss the point about him, and why he is so revered by the British.

loving the report,

regards, ann

The Duval champagne marketing people must be hopping this summer. Almost everywhere I've been this year, Duval champagne has been the house champagne, at restaurants/pubs in the UK, Brussels, and even Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany.

Great report!

Day Ten (the Last Day): The Father of Human Rights And On Tolkien’s Footprints

Our last day in England. This evening, we were booked to fly home. This left us Oxford for the morning. Since we had learnt from Fodors.com that many colleges have erratic opening times, especially in the mornings, we were just lazy and restricted our tour to these colleges which have professionalized touristic visits.

Christ Church College is most professional in this respect. They have opening times like a museum and charge 4.90£ per adult. For this, you get a self guided tour through one of the most impressive colleges in Oxford, including a visit of the Cathedral and the Great Hall (which has already been set for lunch).

The Great Hall was crowded with visitor from all continents who kept on taking pictures with mobile phones. Most of them appeared to admire Christ Church primarily as the setting for the Harry Potter films. I was mostly impressed by the imposing, dignified way to build a student’s restaurants and by the oil paintings depicting the great alumni of this college. On the right wall, almost in the centre, there is the portrait of John Locke – the father of human rights and of most written constitutions (the U.S. constitution even contains whole sentences which have directly been taken from John Locke’s books). But this founding father of western civilisation is well balanced by portraits of Henry VIII., Elizabeth I. and Cardinal Wolsey who are more representative for the specific British tradition.

Christ Church is also worth a visit because of its cathedral where you still can detect some structures dating back to Norman times. A most rewarding tour!

www.chch.ox.ac.uk

Next, we peeped into Oriel College (where our son was supposed to study right now) and proceeded to Merton College, which was closed on Monday but, thanks to ElendilPickle, we looked at Tolkien’s study’s window and followed his footprints on Addison's Walk and under his favourite tree in the Botanical Garden (where he used to walk and sit and talk to his friend and colleague C.S. Lewis).

www.merton.ox.ac.uk/
www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/nature/walk_magdalen.shtml

Magdalen College opened for visitors at noon and also charged a nominal admission fee (4£ per adult). Unfortunately, the Hall was closed until 14:00, but it was nice enough strolling through the buildings (they have a nice cafeteria on the riverbank) and across the grounds where you find the most meticulous English lawn and grazing deer (not on the lawn).

www.magd.ox.ac.uk

Being at Magdalen, we thought about punting on the Thames but dismissed it because it was too hot. On our walk back to the hotel, we peeped into the Bodleian’s courtyard (impressive enough) and, through the windows, into Radcliffe Camera (no need to go inside).

From the hotel, we took the car to drive to Wolvercote Cemetery, where the Tolkiens are buried. The grave is well-marked and easy to find. Their stone is engraved with the names of Beren and Luthien, and visitors have left coins and cute Lord-of-the-Rings memorabilia on the grave. Otherwise, it was a quiet and solemn place and we were the only visitors.

On the way from Oxford to Heathrow, we stopped at a nice picnic area in the countryside to eliminate our last supplies and to empty our last bottles of wine (no liquids on the plane!).

The last hours in England we spent in Terminal 2. Did I say it was a hot day? This does not happen often in England. At least, Terminal 2 has no air condition. Inside, it was as hot as in a glasshouse. The woman at the security check happily confiscated bottles with cool water from the passengers and rubbed her (considerable) breast with the ice-cold bottles (and did not care about the peeping metal detector).

After two hours soaking in the terminal, we finally found a tiny, secluded spot which was air-conditioned. It belonged to a pub, and to our surprise, they served a bottle of wine at 11.95£ and a decent curry at 6.95£. England’s cuisine bid us farewell in a much better way than it had welcomed us – although, this time, it was Indian-British cuisine (BTW, the only time that we had ethnic cuisine in England).

The end.

Thanks to all who gave me good advice here on this forum before our trip and to all who made comments on this trip report.

I will be happy to answer further questions.

I loved reading your trip report! Know that it's helping travelers in 2011! Thank you from this traveler going to England from Hawaii!

I don't know how I missed this first time around. Thanks,camay, for bringing it back to the top. And many, many thanks to Traveller1959 for taking the time to write such a fun and informative report!