LHR to Brecon, Wales
Jan 21st, 2014, 12:49 PM
#1
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LHR to Brecon, Wales
Question: How many days to travel from Heathrow to Brecon, Wales?
Background: We'd like to arrive in Brecon, Wales by 3pm on September 6th. We'll be flying into LHR, arriving 2pm and renting a car. So, to determine what day to fly into London (either the 3rd or 4th) we'd like suggestions on where to stop and what to see on our way west. My mom and I like gardens, stately homes, and countryside. Obviously our first night would be fairly close to LHR...
We spent 4 days in the Cotswolds a couple of years ago...
From the map I see: Cardiff, Tinturn Abbey, Forest of Dean, Bristol, Bath..? BTW, can anyone recommend an online map that shows Historical Homes/Castles/Places of Interest? The National Trust sight is overwhelming and Fodors has good info on areas, but I can't find maps...
Thanks.
Background: We'd like to arrive in Brecon, Wales by 3pm on September 6th. We'll be flying into LHR, arriving 2pm and renting a car. So, to determine what day to fly into London (either the 3rd or 4th) we'd like suggestions on where to stop and what to see on our way west. My mom and I like gardens, stately homes, and countryside. Obviously our first night would be fairly close to LHR...
We spent 4 days in the Cotswolds a couple of years ago...
From the map I see: Cardiff, Tinturn Abbey, Forest of Dean, Bristol, Bath..? BTW, can anyone recommend an online map that shows Historical Homes/Castles/Places of Interest? The National Trust sight is overwhelming and Fodors has good info on areas, but I can't find maps...
Thanks.
Jan 21st, 2014, 01:10 PM
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I can't find my UK road atlas, but I think you could visit Lacock Abbey and Stourhead on your way to Bath - assuming you want to visit Bath, since you mentioned it. We went to both in 2007 and had a great time. Lacock has been used in movies like Pride and Prejudice, and Stourhead Garden was seen in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice.
Lee Ann
Lee Ann
Jan 21st, 2014, 02:13 PM
#3
I would not rent a car on your arrival day . . . assuming you are flying in long haul. Spend that night maybe in Windsor. Pick up you rental car the next morning and you can easily drive to Brecon that day - it is only a 3 or 4 hour drive.
Jan 21st, 2014, 02:16 PM
#4
darn - didn't mean to click submit.
. . . so if you mainly want to get to Brecon - there is no reason to stop.
But if you want to 'artificially' build in stops/sightseeing along the way, you can take as much time as you want. To see Stourhead, Bath, Cardiff, Lacock, etc -- you'd want 3 or 4 days.
. . . so if you mainly want to get to Brecon - there is no reason to stop.
But if you want to 'artificially' build in stops/sightseeing along the way, you can take as much time as you want. To see Stourhead, Bath, Cardiff, Lacock, etc -- you'd want 3 or 4 days.
Jan 21st, 2014, 05:59 PM
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I think it might be easiest to rent a car from the airport. We've done this on our 3 previous trips and I haven't had any problem with jet lag; saying that, I wouldn't want to drive all the way to Wales that afternoon!
We've already been to Lacock and Stourhead
but those are just the kind of places I'm looking for. We'd like to stop 'artificially' for either 2 or 3 days. I did a bit more reading and thought Highclere & ?, staying ?; then on towards Bath and ? for 2nd night. Then over to Brecon for arrival day (We're spending a week hiking with HF Holidays).
We've already been to Lacock and Stourhead
but those are just the kind of places I'm looking for. We'd like to stop 'artificially' for either 2 or 3 days. I did a bit more reading and thought Highclere & ?, staying ?; then on towards Bath and ? for 2nd night. Then over to Brecon for arrival day (We're spending a week hiking with HF Holidays).
Jan 21st, 2014, 10:13 PM
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"can anyone recommend an online map that shows Historical Homes/Castles/Places of Interest?"
No. There's too much, and on top of that things like Multimap or Google Maps are swamped with pizza places and the like.
But it's exactly what just about every proper road atlas does as a matter of course. About £3.99 at every petrol station - but if you want one for preplanning, not very much more than that from Amazon, and it ought to be with you in a day or two, even if they've got to ship it in from the UK for delivery in your country.
For smallish areas, the maps generated by the Get A Map and Peronalised Map features of the Ordnance Survey site (http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ ) are at least decluttered of pizza parlours and petrol stations, though they feature a huge range of historical sites really only of interest to archaeologists.
But most of us, for cross country journeys, rely on paper atlases as prompts for possible diversions en route.
When the one in the car finally falls apart we just pick up whatever's on offer down the road. But the two you find in people's cars most often are those from the AA and from Collins.
Once bought, do invest ten minutes in understanding the legend: those micro-icons tell you as much in a nanosecond about the place mentioned as several minutes' googling
No. There's too much, and on top of that things like Multimap or Google Maps are swamped with pizza places and the like.
But it's exactly what just about every proper road atlas does as a matter of course. About £3.99 at every petrol station - but if you want one for preplanning, not very much more than that from Amazon, and it ought to be with you in a day or two, even if they've got to ship it in from the UK for delivery in your country.
For smallish areas, the maps generated by the Get A Map and Peronalised Map features of the Ordnance Survey site (http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ ) are at least decluttered of pizza parlours and petrol stations, though they feature a huge range of historical sites really only of interest to archaeologists.
But most of us, for cross country journeys, rely on paper atlases as prompts for possible diversions en route.
When the one in the car finally falls apart we just pick up whatever's on offer down the road. But the two you find in people's cars most often are those from the AA and from Collins.
Once bought, do invest ten minutes in understanding the legend: those micro-icons tell you as much in a nanosecond about the place mentioned as several minutes' googling
Jan 24th, 2014, 03:48 PM
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Thanks all. We have a road atlas 'book', but alas it (and all our UK guidebooks) are up in Canada while we are in California for the winter so I'm trying to do all my research via the internet. I have, however, purchased a very large map of Great Britain, over which I've taped Post-Its with the county names, to help keep me situated. Luckily when driving in the UK I always bring my GPS which it stunningly accurate.
I've looked into obtaining Highclere tickets but they do not go on sale until sometime in February, according to the website. I think we will plan to spend our first night in this neighborhood, (suggestions on a B&B, anyone?) then 2 more nights further west. I read that someone found a very nice B&B in Castle Combe which might be a good location.
I've looked into obtaining Highclere tickets but they do not go on sale until sometime in February, according to the website. I think we will plan to spend our first night in this neighborhood, (suggestions on a B&B, anyone?) then 2 more nights further west. I read that someone found a very nice B&B in Castle Combe which might be a good location.
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