debwhite

We are headed to a wedding near Yeovil in Somerset, and want to spend a few days in the countryside before the event. It will be late November, but we're hoping to be outdoors after time in London museums. Wondering about walking/biking on the coast at that time of year, and what might be a good base or two to use. We don't just want to be driving around to see sights. Also, wondering whether to rent a car as we leave London, or take a train south (Bournemouth?) and rent a car from there. Would it be a nice drive from London?

janisj

>>Wondering about walking/biking on the coast at that time of year,<<

I would not count on biking. Whether walking will be enjoyable mostly depends on he weather - which you won't know until you are there. So you should definitely have have some 'Plan B' day trip drives in mind. Also the days are starting to get short by late Nov. Sunrise around 8AM and sunset before 4PM

>>Also, wondering whether to rent a car as we leave London, or take a train south (Bournemouth?) and rent a car from there. Would it be a nice drive from London?<<

I'd pick up the car at Heathrow and not in central London.

Dorchester, Bridport or possibly Lyme Regis would all make good bases.

annhig

On the south coast in November you might get lovely weather [for the time of year] or you might get a week of wind and gales.

My choice would be to go somewhere where you could have a good Plan B - Exeter, Bath or Bristol would fill that bill for me. I wouldn't want to be stuck in Lyme Regis if the weather was bad.

debwhite

Thanks for those suggestions. We have been to Bath, but not elsewhere in the south, so we will check out those options. Guess we can base ourselves somewhere with options and make day trips along the coast weather permitting. Was afraid that the season wasn't great for our love of the outdoors!!
Does it make sense to take a train out of London to somewhere along the way, or head back to Heathrow, to pick up a car? WE will be dropping it back off at Heathrow.

annhig

Guess we can base ourselves somewhere with options and make day trips along the coast weather permitting. Was afraid that the season wasn't great for our love of the outdoors!!>>

if you want to explore the south coast, the best option would be Exeter which is less than a hour's drive from Lyme Regis but also has Dartmoor, Exmouth, Sidmouth, and lots of other places to explore. Bath and Bristol would be too far away to make that feasible, and Exeter has plenty of wet weather activities if you happen to be unlucky. I would suggest getting the train to Exeter which only takes about 2 ½ hours and hiring a car from the station [Exeter St David's] perhaps the morning after you arrive, though that might not work if that's a Sunday as quite a lot of hire car offices close on Sundays. Then you could drive back to Heathrow and return the car.