A trip that couldn’t happen in 2020 because of the Pandemic finally materialized in 2024.

We spent 21 days in Kingston, a suburb of London-bigger place, cheaper than London proper, quieter area and very easy to get into the city from here. There were grocery stores, shops, restaurants and pubs in the immediate area as well as a quaint town. We used public transportation while on this leg of the trip and found it very easy to navigate. Our place was about 10 minutes from the train station. Several buses were nearby too which we also utilized.

We rented a car for the next portion of our adventure. We picked it up at Heathrow (and got an automatic-worth Every extra penny) and headed out to the Cotswolds. We spent 10 days in this area. Our rental was exceptionally lovely and the weather was, I guess, rather typical.

Our last stop was Cornwall. We stayed in Mousehole and our place had a water view. It was quite easy to get around from this location.

Kingston Upon Thames/London area- Highlights

Our rental was convenient to the train and buses. It was a huge complex; the view wasn’t great. If you have ever seen “Rear Window” that would give you an idea of our “view” 😉 That said, it was clean, had laundry facilities, outdoor space, comfy bedroom (an additional bedroom we only used as a closet) 2 full bathrooms and a decent kitchen.

Kingston Upon Thames-lovely town, great restaurants, easy to navigate and we felt very comfortable in this area. Definitely do the guided walking tour here, very interesting with great animated guide.

Oyster card-we sent for these before we left the US and it was easy-peasy to use the public transportation system. Note however that it (the Oyster card) doesn’t get you to Windsor Castle …..

Victoria & Albert Museum-worthwhile, we enjoyed it.

Kew Palace-also worthwhile and enjoyable.

National Gallery-lovely collection, worth a visit.

Buckingham Palace-Duh, it’s the Palace! Very nice audio guide.

Hampton Court Palace-Another Duh, it’s a Palace!

Billingsgate Roman House & Baths-interesting if ruins are your thing.

London Bridge/Tower Bridge-Do the tour, it is interesting.

Tower of London-A must!

Windsor Castle-also a must do! The area around the castle, while quite commercial, was nice as well.

Churchill War Rooms-if you are a WWII nerd (as are we), this is a must do.

Changing of the guard-lucked on to this, was interesting, roadway leading up to Buckingham Palace is really lovely-lots of guards outside Clarence House….

Parliament Guided Tour-worthy of being on your to-see list.

Highgate Cemetery-if you are cemetery nerds (as we are) this is also a must do! The guide was fabulous.

We did many other things while in this area. The Zoo was a nice day out, walking the Tow Boat canal was interesting, searching out the Old Bell (300-year-old pub), The Eye, Selfridge’s, Chinatown, Camden Market, Abby Road and various interesting looking pubs/restaurants along the way, to name a few. We enjoyed all of these.

Lowlights-

Sincerely we were not disappointed in anything in London/Kingston Upon Thames! The guides, the transportation, the food, the pubs, etc. all exceeded our expectations.

Cotswolds Area- France Lynch-Highlights

Our cottage rental (Oxford Cottage) was storybook cozy and adorable. It had all the great amenities-full kitchen, washing machine, huge bathroom, comfy bed and a nice outdoor space which we sadly were never able to utilize.

All the pubs/restaurants in this area were quite good with friendly service.

Bibury-worth a stop.

Snowshill-quirky, interesting stop.

Sudley Castle & Gardens-interesting site, good guide.

We popped into a few antique stores, several churches, Broadway Tower, a model village and tried a walk on the footpaths….

Lowlights-

A Lot of rain! It hampered being able to walk the footpaths, they were a sloppy mess.

Rain also hampered our visit to Painswick, we loved our meal at a little place here but we really couldn't enjoy the town and the “fair” that was going on the day we visited.

Tried to stop at Lower Slaughter-jam packed, no parking to be found-ended up just going through. Amazing considering this was nearly off season for this area.

Cornwall-Mousehole, Penzance-Highlights

Our place was a stand alone rental with a sea view. Nice deck but it was quite chilly so we didn’t use it as we normally would. The place was clean, kitchen equipped and we found the location suitable for our travels.

St. Michaels Mount-interesting place, nice tour, lovely grounds-water covered the pathway as we dined across the sea after our tour.

Trengwainton Garden-lovely garden, still beautiful in mid-October! Very friendly staff.

Cruk Trengyffian-interesting prehistoric site.

Carn Euny-another interesting prehistoric site-fun to get to!

Land’s End-kitschy but glad we ventured here.

Botallack Mine-film location for Poldark.

We popped into churches and pulled off the road when we saw great doors to photograph or signs noting ancient sites.

Lowlights-

None that really come to mind. It was chilly, but it was October.

Overall, our trip to England surpassed our expectations. London was wonderful. Great food, wonderful guides, so much history and I mean Palaces!!! We were lucky enough to catch the changing of the guard. So very much to see here. We were very happy with our stay in Kingston for this part of the trip as it worked out wonderfully for us.

The Cotswolds were quite idyllic. While the rain kept us from doing some of the activities we might have enjoyed it really didn’t hamper our visit there. Our place was gorgeous and all the food/drink we had in this area was fabulous.

The Cornwall area was terrific as well. We loved the sea view and the opportunity to be near the sea for sites and restaurants. There is a lot of ancient history in the area and it is quite easy to navigate.

We spent our last night in England at Barton’s Mill in Old Basing, Basingstoke Hampshire, a stop on the way back to Heathrow from Cornwell. A converted mill, nice restaurant with outdoor beer garden as well as indoor dining. Attached motel was comfortable for our overnight stay. Approximately 40 minutes from the airport this was a nice stopover.

American Airlines got us to London and back to O’Hare with no glitches. This was a wonderful trip. Any questions on tours/guides/rentals/etc. email us at [email protected]

Thanks for a lovely trip report. You got to see some iconic areas in England. I was also in the Cotswolds at the beginning of October and they was some minor flooding back then. However, we stayed in Bourton on the Water so we got to see the area without tourists.... Lower Slaughter is gorgeous and quiet in the mornings but I can see it turning mayhem towards the afternoon. I really adore that area and would love to go back someday with bikes or a car. There are so many idyllic spots off the beaten path to discover.

Thanks for sharing your trip. I haven't been to Cornwall for years, would love to return.

nice report

Thanks for your TR, am particularly interested in the Cotswolds part. We too planned to visit in May 2020, which of course didn’t happen. It’s still on the anvil, hopefully in the next year or two…

would you be willing to share your Kingston flat/house details? always on the look out for a decent rental, thanks

It was a VRBO listing, #34464419, Host-Kevin Riggs.

Thanks - found it! nice and central within Kingston!!

Just curious. What were the dates of your trip? We want to visit England and Ireland in the near future. Maybe 2026 or 2027. Considering May, June, September or October. Would like to avoid rainy season if possible. My husband HATES the rain.

I’ve also made note of the apartment, for a future visit. Hopefully in 2026, it’s been on the anvil for eons..

Karen, May into early June would be my choice, we were supposed to go May 2020, but obviously that didn’t happen.

September is also probably good, but hard for me to get away.

Geetika, thanks for your response. So I assume you think May into early June would be less rainy? And October would be more rainy?

England and Ireland have been on our list for eons, too, and keep getting sent to the "back of the bus" for various reasons. Were seriously considering them for this September (I bought the guidebooks), but then we decided on Romania and Hungary aftering reading kja's and shelemm's awesome trip reports!

We traveled to England August 31 to October 13. October was quite rainy and there were rainy days in September as well. It began to get pretty chilly in September-I had to buy a winter hat and gloves while in Kingston, before we ventured to the countryside. These are the months we choose to travel to Europe though. Being retired midwesterners we spend a few months in Mexico in February and March to escape brutal cold and snow-so Spring travel to Europe hasn't been on our radar. And summer travel just always seems like there will be mobs of people-they call it high season for a reason. We traveled to Ireland in 2018 (just before we retired), dates August 24 to September 16. Rain wasn't a huge issue but it was long sleeve weather for the most part and there too I had to buy gloves and a hat for warmth.

Yes karen, I do feel it rains more in October, though I am not in any way an expert. Weather is so difficult to predict now, it can go from cold to hit, or vice versa in just a day or two.

We spent the second half of June in Ireland pee Covid, when rain was predicted. But had glorious sunshine and warm temperatures, going into the 80s in Dublin at the end!

Your Italian sojourn is coming up soon, have a fabulous vacation, will wait for your TR and pictures…

There is no specifically rainy or dry season. Weather will pass over us as the jet stream and high/low pressure areas dictate. But it's unusual for any one weather pattern to stay put for more than a couple of days

LuvToRoam, thank you so much for responding to my question. Interesting to note that September was chilly. We don't mind cool weather for sightseeing as long as we don't have rain all day every day. My husband really hates the rain. I know each year can be different but I try to plan our trips when we will have the best chance of good weather. So far I've been very lucky.

We have traveled to Europe quite a bit in September, too, but usually to southern Europe. We've visited France and Croatia in September, and we've been to Spain in both September and October. Those countries were always warm and dry, and often times felt like summer. We very rarely travel to Europe during the summer months because of the crowds. Spring has always worked well for us as well. And we visited Scotland in June one year, and we had the most perfect weather. I will definitely rule out October for England and Ireland. May into June, or September sounds like the best choices.

PatrickLondon, thanks for your encouraging words regarding the weather patterns!

Ha Ha The best way to avoid the rainy season is to not go

It can - and usually does -- rain in every month. That is why the gardens are so glorious. One simply cannot plan a trip based on possible weather. The only word that describes English weather is changeable. I've been in England/London almost every December for that last decade or so and have opened my Umbrella exactly twice, whereas one of my July trips was hotter than Hades and another was almost a wash out. Maybe you've viewed the Chelsea Flower Show, Trooping of the Colour, Wimbledon, the Open Championship, British Grand Prix (all in May through July) and they have had every sort of conditions from heat waves to heavy rain. Of your four months May/June/September/October -- all four can be glorious or OK-ish, or awful or all off the above . . . sometimes on the same day.

LuvToRoam -- not sure how I missed your report. Sounds like you had a lovely trip and really did fit in some wonderful destinations. Thanks for posting.

We always have "rainy day" sites on our itinerary 😉 We are in our mid to late 70's so we don't cram a lot in to each day. And there is always a pub or restaurant to duck in to. I have a deck of cards in my bag and that is a pleasant way to pass an afternoon-locals always stop to see what you're playing. We agree, scorching hot is worse than rain. Safe travels and have a blast! We are back to Rome in September.

janisj-We are from Wisconsin and it is commonly said, "if you don't like weather, wait an hour...." all 4 seasons can show up in one day here 😉