I'll be travelling with my wife to London this weekend and the plan is to drive to the west from Heathrow in a rented convertible. Any recommendations on where to go?

We are in our mid 30s and are in particular looking for charming/lively city/town centers, romantic roads to drive through, good restaurants, beaches, etc.

Oxford? Bournemouth? Bath? Winchester? Anything else?

All recommendations would be very much appreciated.

South Wales. Base in Cardiff, see the sights there by open top bus, take trips out to the Gower peninsula for outstanding natural beauty including beaches, Laugharne for the Dylan Thomas boathouse, Blaenavon for the Big Pit.

I'd like to suggest Cheltenham. It's a charming and lively town, with elegant Georgian architecture.

From Cheltenham you can visit Broadway, Stratford, Moreton in Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold, and other typical Cotswold delights, together with Sudeley Castle, Hailes Abbey, maybe Tewkesbury, Gloucester Cathedral, further south along the River Severn to Berkeley Castle, and you also have the lovely south Cotswold towns of Tetbury and Cirencester, and quaint villages like Bibury. There are lovely houses and garden to visit in this area. Bath is only just over an hour away down the A46.

If you travel between some of these places on the minor roads, you will see some of the most attractive countryside in the UK, with stunning houses and views.

I have heard very good reports of the 4* Hotel Kandinsky, and I was very impressed when I visited it for afternoon tea one day. They are offering 2 nights for 2 for 249 GBP, including breakfast, £40 restaurant voucher.

http://www.aliashotels.com/alias_htm...ction=pleasure


But just a short walk away tucked away beside the Queens Hotel (more stately and old-fashioned) is Le Petit Blanc, a restaurant run by the famed chef Raymond Blanc of le Manoir au Quat' Saisons near Oxford. Also further down the Promenade is one of my favourite restaurant, Goffs, which is remarkably good value for very good food.

If you would like to know any more about this area, or possible routes, let me know.

Bath and Winchester are both worth your visit, and may I also add recs. for Windsor, Warwick and Salisbury/Stonehenge. There's a plethora of fascinating places to visit west of London!

Thanks everyone.

I'd like to second the suggestion for Cardiff. My husband and I really loved the town. Cardiff castle was interesting. The Museum of Welsh Life is St. Fagans was really nice. Here is their website:
http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/www.php/mwl/

There is also a pub, the Plymouth Arms, near the museum. The food was excellent and my husband enjoyed the beer.