Help- contingency plans needed for Cotswolds & N. Wales
 

Message: We will be leaving for the UK exactly one month from today. I received a reply from the Cotswolds TIC that all footpaths, etc. and National Trust sites are currently closed (except Warwick). I don't know if he meant just in the Cotswolds or the entire country. We've also read that the NT sites are closed throughout most of the UK. If the Foot&Mouth disease situation remains the same or gets worse, the closures will wipe out 2/3 of our trip plans (we will also be in Bath for 2-3 days and London for 5 days). We will have a car, except in London. Any suggestions, please, for alternative plans! We would like to be able to do some walking and exploring, and if possible, avoid long drives in the car. Wow! This has really taken the wind out of our sails!! Many thanks.

I think the Cotswolds are one of those perfect areas for leisurely long drives...it is extremely stress-free with bazillions of byways to wander along, adorable sigths and scenery with picture-postcard towns and hamlets conveniently placed for getting out to stretch your legs and have a cup of tea or browse a shop or two. We're not talking white-knuckle driving, more like putt-putt pace!

Hi Bobbe and Ken.. <BR>I know it seems like a real downer, but maybe we can help you salvage this thing. First of all Warwick is a terrific place to wander and explore, hopefully you can still do so.Also you may want to add Portsmouth to your plans. I am not even remotely interested in navel history, but I ended up really enjoying the historic ships and docks and all that stuff... no livestock or hillsides nearby. Penzance is another great town in Cornwall that is outstanding to visit all on it's own, you take a boat to Mt. St. Michael which is privately owned and again, no livestock or pastures, just stones. York is another terrific town full of history just the town itself. Personally I don't see what all the fuss is about walking through the countryside, everytime I've done that in the UK it has rained, and I've gotten lost and stepped through a bunch of sheep dung :). Towns are where the history is... even if some sights are closed, I could spend my whole trip in different towns along the way, my suggestion to you is to simply adjust your itenerary away from open spaces and enjoy the history and people of the UK instead...next trip do the sheep dropping thing :).

As an alternative for those frustrated at being unable to walk in the countryside, the Ramblers Association has put together a list of urban walks, see: http://www.ramblers.org.uk/info/urbanwalks.html <BR> <BR>Some of these walks are pretty unurban, e.g. The Thames Path west from Kew Bridge, with a nice ferry ride across to Isleworth - if it runs in April? So you could add a few days to London and get away from the centre.

Bobbe and Ken, <BR> <BR>I understand your frustration. In my many past trips to the UK, I've dodged terrorist security threats, air traffic controller slowdowns, tube/bus strikes, mad-cow scares, and airline strikes. <BR> <BR>Yes, most of the NT sites are closed throughout the whole country. For info: <BR> <BR> http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk <BR> <BR>Is it too late to drop the car rental and consider taking to the rails? With London as a base, you can reach some great locations. Bath is already on your list. I would add York as another very good possibility. The is a very walkable, walled medieval city. Like Bath, York is worth a couple of days to explore. Also from London, you can take trains to reach places like Rye (an old port town), Oxford, Cambridge...any number of very interesting sights. No, you won't be walking rural pathways, but you will be walking. <BR> <BR>Nearer to London, you can find terrific sights in Windsor/Eton, Hampton Court, Greenwich, and Kew. The latter features Kew Botanic Gardens, an expansive landscape that, while not rural, provides ample opportunity to walk and explore in a park-like setting. <BR> <BR>I hope gives you some ideas that can help "salvage" your trip. <BR> <BR>Regards, <BR> <BR> <BR>David White <BR> <BR>

I feel your pain! We leave in 2 1/2 weeks. We planned to spend our first week going through Northern Wales and the Cotswolds via car. We will leave our car in Bath at the end of that week and then move on to London. We simply decided to go through with out trip and adjust our itineray as needed for things that may be closed. Our travel agent called us Tuesday night and terrorized us with the information she said she received from London that we would not be able to cross the border into Wales. We meet with her again this evening but absolutely NOTHING I can find supports her information. I called the Wales Tourist Board (in Wales, not the US) myself on Wednesday morning. I was told that we certainly were able to cross the borders between England and Wales. Snowdonia is closed, as I knew. Some castles and destinations in rural areas are closed but those in towns remain open--Castles in Caenarfon and Conwy are open. She suggested the "visitwales.com" website for updates. I am very interested to hear from anyone else who is planning similar trips in the next few weeks. What have you decided to do. One other question, is there a place to find out exactly which sites are national trust properties?

Bobbe and Ken and all, <BR> <BR>The disruption to your holiday should not be TOO bad, if you were not planning too much walking in the countryside (frankly it would be pretty muddy anyway!). There are still plenty of opportunities to walk round villages, visit gardens, churches and most other usual sights etc in the Cotswolds and elsewhere. I know that Dartmoor, Exmoor and the New Forest are "closed" but I assume that vehicle access might be still allowed as people have to get from town to town. Perhaps someone else can report on this. All the usual towns (eg York, Bath etc) and villages you might drive around should be accessible. It is NOT correct that the "border" is closed between England and Wales - there aren't any checkpoints and you can drive through anyway. <BR> <BR>National Trust sights (per the link above) are listed at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/places.htm. There is also a list of those OPEN in the press release there. The only sure way of checking which are NT sights is by checking the website, though usually they are listed in guidebooks with an "NT" also. In any case, many would not open till April even so. English Heritage has closed many sights, including Stonehenge <BR>- see www.english-heritage.org.uk/. <BR> <BR>The best advice is to make a plan but don't feel that you have to avoid anywhere out of London! Although the number of cases is still going up and the disease spreading, I think you should still be able to enjoy most of the things you wanted to if you stick to villages etc which should be enough to give you a good idea of the character of a place. <BR>

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We travelled through Cotswolds and Wales this past summer and thoroughly loved the areas. The small towns in the Cotswolds are picturesque and are geared for shopping and just walking around. We loved Bourton-on-the-Water-sunny afternoon, families out, kiddies in the river wading, early morning tea and reading the paper while the locals walked the dogs. We drove through southeastern Wales, didn't go the northern route. However, Abergavenny is a nice small town that has a weekday market and a small Chinese Restaurant on the High Street that has the best food I've ever had. The drive from there to Tintern Abbey is fantastic with overhanging trees you drive through and just great scenery. Caerphilly Castle is also an experience. We went to Cardiff as well without room reservations and stopped in at the Tourist Information(TI) center and were able to get a room at the Jury's Cardiff for 50 pounds a night.Cardiff is made for shopping with a pedestrian area in downtown, not easy to drive through though. Just observations, hope this helps.

This won't help you, but just wanted to empathize--since friend and I are booked on a 2-week tour of Cornwall & Cotswolds starting May l7th. Further away than your date, but maybe foot-and-mouth situation will still be a problem. I guess you are traveling "on your own," so I can see that you need contingency plans. Ours is a Saga tour, so I'm assuming that they will either take care of contingencies or even cancel (with our mioney back, but still a disappointment). Let's hope <BR>the emergency is over soon. Good luck.