Our driving holiday in the UK, 28 days in May. Lots of wonderful B&B;s, Sheep great pubs & lots of adventures.
 

I will try and make this as interesting as I can. But first a brief background.
We are a 45 year old, fairly well travelled (probably not compared with some people on this site) couple, from Australia. We have two lovely daughters, 21 & 19. (DD #1 is as we speak on a plane on her way to Stockholm).
This trip was the least planned we have ever done. The basic plan was, fly to London with Emirates, (we went business class which was amazing, I won’t go on too much about it, unless anyone wants to know, but suffice to say Oh My God, I don’t’ know how we will ever go back to Economy???) stay one night in an airport Hotel (the first time I have ever booked through Priceline) to recover from the long haul flight and then pick up a hire car the next day. We were then just going to drive for the next 28 days. We booked a B&B in Salisbury for the first two nights and that was it. Nothing else booked or planned. We really wanted to try B&B’s, but weren’t very hopeful. We had a feeling knowing us that we would not be ‘comfortable’ with the whole B&B experience and end up staying in Hotels. Could not have been more wrong. We loved it, and in fact the few times we couldn’t stay in B&B’s we really missed it. If nothing else if I can convince anyone who is having doubts about staying in B&B’s to give it a go, I’ll be happy. I read a lot of trip reports in the months leading up to the trip, and got some great ideas on which direction to go, and jotted down some B&B’s that seemed popular. In the end it seemed we used the AA website, tripadvisor and tourist information centres. We took our laptop with a great roaming card, which proved invaluable for us, in planning each evening where we would go the next day and ideas of accommodation. We also took a Navman (Satellite Navigation), which after an initial problem ‘finding’ the UK we also found to be a must have. What I learned mostly is, that is great to research as the more knowledge the better but not be swayed by other people’s opinions. I was worried that we hadn’t booked accommodation and didn’t really know where we were going as I got a fair bit of ‘advice’ that 4 weeks in May would prove to be difficult with no firm plans. Except for a ‘bit’ of trouble at home with an attempted break in at the house, and a break down in Dartmoor National Park everything was perfect.

Looking forward to your actual report! It sounds as though you were extremely flexible, which is probably part of why you had such a good experience. I wouldn't have gone without any reservations at all, but I am probably more risk-averse than you are. Keep going!

Hi aussiedreamer,

Can't wait to hear the rest of your trip. I totally agree with you on B&Bs. I have not stayed at a B&B for over 15 years and was a bit concerned if I would like the experience. On my recent trip, I ended up staying at a B&B in Salisbury and really enjoyed it. I felt like I was staying at someone's home and the hospitality I received is nothing like anything I've experienced at any hotels.

Can we have some paragraphs please, it makes it much easier to read!

Good start, aussie. Looking forward to more and lots of details . . . :)

Will look forward to hearing more. A friend is going first class on Emirates to Dubai & I'm really jealous of both of you. :)

Firstly, sorry for the lack of paragraphs. I did have them when I typed it up in another program, but they disappeared on copying and pasting.

I also "think" I posted our list of B&B's by mistake, but its only showing in my editing screen not on the site.....who knows, but I will just list them as I go.

The day we left was filled with much anxiety and tears. Saying goodbye to our girls was a lot harder than I imagined. As our travle agent (grrrrr) had booked us out of Sydney we had to take a domestic flight from Brisbane. But as we live quite close to the airport, it wasn't too bad. But we did 'ask' her very nicely (grrr) to change our flight back direct into Brisbane.

On arriving in Sydney, we could not work out how to get to the international termimal, in the end we gave up and got a cab. After a delay leaving Brisbane and 'fluffing' around at Sydney domestic, our 3 hour wait in Sydney turned out to be less than an hour.

Fortunately our tickets also gave us entry to the Emirate lounge. which is just lovely. Had a light meal and a couple of drinks. checked in with the girls, and our flight was called.

Boarding is much easier in Business Class, no lines. So in no time we were on our way. 9 hours to Bangkok went quite fast. By the time you have dinner, watch a movie and have a nap. we didn't actually have to get off the plane in Bangkok, but we thought we should stretch our legs. Bad idea, really busy airport and just wasn't worth it as we had to come back through security etc.

On departing Bangkok the pilot announced we would be taking a 'small' detour around the Bay of Bengal. Apparently there was a 'small' cyclone brewing. On landing we found out it was the Burma Cyclone and was very devasting. Glad we didn't know that at the time!!

About a 7 hour flight to Dubai. On arriving we disembarked on the tarmac and were bussed to the terminal. Basically only had about 30 minutes to wait 'till our next flight. Getting pretty tired by now.

Another 7 hour flight to London. But no complaints as on this flight we had flat beds ;-). Smooth passage through customs, but as we were approaching the carosels we heard our names being called! Ya gotta know that its not gonna be good news....................

A cliff hanger ending! Goodie, this is going to be a great report: my favorite country and great writing. Keep it coming! :-)

Good start to your report, aussiedreamer! I'm looking forward to following the rest. btw, my two daughters are just a year older than yours (although I have, ahem, just a few years on you...)

Oh my, I can't wait to hear the rest.

I will no longer complain (much) about my 9-hour overnight flights to London. Wow, 3 flights, 23 hours in the air. I knew it was a long flight from Australia, but.... No wonder when Australians make the trip, they stay a while.

So, aussiedreamer, how long does it take you to get over jetlag?

aussiedreamer:

We love B&B's. However we prefer to book ahead. I do spend a fair amount of time deciding on which B&B due to the huge difference in quality between B&B's - www.smoothhound.co.uk is a good site for the U.K. I rule out any B&B that does not have photos posted on their website - probably miss a few good ones with this method but I want to see photos. The breakfast is a great way to start the day

Lovely start and looking forward to more and hearing about how you handle jet lag.

Sandy

We, too, love B&Bs - especially those in the UK. And we love staying in rural areas and farmstays. I do not know what I would do if I actually had to stay in a hotel! ;) We also often use Smoothhound in addition to:

http://www.sawdays.co.uk/accommodation/britain/

http://www.goodaccessfarmstays.co.uk...d%7ESouth+West

http://www.rampantscotland.com/stay/...stay_index.htm (for Scotland)

And for self catering...http://www.cottageguide.co.uk/

I cannot wait to hear more about your adventures!!

Thanks for writing this report! I'm looking forward to the rest...

Great fun so far; looking forward to more.

Hi again. Thanks for the great feedback, it really does keep you inspired to keep going. Need to get to work now but wanted to answer some questions and comments.

Carrybean; has your friend been to Dubai before, and has she flown business class with Emirates? If no to both, she is in for a treat. We have not stopped raving about both (especially Dubai)since we got home. A truely amazing wonderful place......but I wont get ahead of my self.

Noe847, I'm not sure it matters how old the 'kids' are its still hard to leave them. Mine are still at home (well, mostly!!!) DD#2 has arrived safetly in Stockholm and is having a ball.

As for the Jetlag question.......arriving in Europe isn't too bad. I guess cause your so excited and theres so much to do. Although as I will say in my report, there were some funny sleep and meal times. But on the way home its SHOCKING. And it seems the older I get the worse it is. Although we slept a good part of the way home I can't tell you how many movies I watched in the middle of the night, while the rest of the house was asleep. It took a week to get our sleep pattern back. Yuck, but its worth it.

As for the cliff hanger ending.............sorry gotta go to work.........:-)

Yikes! I have no patience - please hurry back!

Hi Aussiedreamer from another Aussie
Can't wait for more! I agree about the jetlag. When I arrive in Europe (usually London) I take a long walk and have no problems with the time but on the return (which seems to take twice as long!) I can feel the earth move under my feet for days.
Looking forward to your travels, I salute you for your flexibility, I am the anxious type who has to have a destination for the night already booked. Love B and Bs too!
Rosemary

I, too can't wait for more. The friend is attending a meeting in Dubai & I think he's actually going first class. Business alone would ruin me forever but you have a terribly long amount of flying time so I'm glad for you that you got to do it.

Hope you get back here & continue your report soon!

Ok, so we are walking out of immigration to get our bags and we hear our names being called. And could we make ourselves known to the Emirates counter. Must’ve been tired, ‘cause I had no idea what it could be for. Sure enough, one of our bags did not make the connection from Dubai. Yep, and it had to be mine.

So DH collected ‘HIS” bag while I filled out the forms, they indicated that my bag would be on the next flight from Dubai........fingers crossed. Quite funny really because there was probably a dozen passengers in the same boat and I’ve never seen such rudeness. They were really vocal and some were quite aggressive. Didn’t see the point, nothing you can do about it. So we went through customs with ‘HIS’ bag and were met at the Emirates counter by our chauffer driver (Thanks to our Business Class tickets.) who took us to our airport hotel.


We stayed at the Marriot Heathrow, which I purchased off priceline.co.uk Very proud of myself as its the first time I’ve used it. £40 which some fellow fodorites thought was a little high, but we were really happy with it. A great hotel for what we wanted, nice big room c/w King size bed and a great shower. (you will see throughout this report that showers seemed to be the way i judged accommodation.......hate bad showers)

Of course for that price breakfast was not included and was way too expensive, £16ea in the American Grill, but we by the time we woke we were hungry and it was just convienient. I guess thats why they can charge those prices.


So we showered, I rummaged through ‘HIS’ bag for the few things of mine that I packed in ‘HIS’ bag and the things that I always pack in my carry on and worked out I could manage at least a day or two without my bag. We had make a reservation at The Devonshire (a Gordan Ramsay pub in London) for that night. And we thought we would be ok..............but alas we fell asleep at about 6pm and apart from a phone call from reception to say my bag had showed up (about 7pm) we slept through the night.


After our breakfast we decided on a cab to the Hertz depot, I’m sure there are cheaper ways but it seemed the most convenient. Picking up our car was quick and easy, I love watching ‘big’ planes take off and I’ve gotta say the Hertz depot would be a great place to plane spot.....its on the runway (well beside it ;-) ). So while DH got the feel of the car (booked a medium size – Ford Focus or similar – and got a Saab wagon) I turned on the Navman.


Ok, I didn’t panic...........but black screen with an arrow............nothing else. Didn’t matter how many times I hit “Find Location” I kept getting the same thing. So we just decided to ‘find’ our way to Salisbury, where we had booked our first two night. I kinda get now why you Americans must find it all a bit much, driving in the UK. Its a fairly busy area (LHR in general) and some pretty quick decisions need to be made. At least we were driving on the side of the car and the side of the road that is familiar. and we are very used to round abouts, which seem to be a common problem written about on this site.One less thing to worry about.

Apart from one fairly ‘abrupt’ turn off the M25 we found our way to Salisbury without too much bother.

It was a lovely drive, really exciting to finally be ‘doing it’.
Drove into Salisbury without any trouble and parked at the first of many pay and display stations. (DH guesstimates that we spent over £400 on parking for the month).

Had a lovely walk around Salisbury and the Cathedral while waiting for the tourist information centre (which prove to be invaluable on this trip) to open.
Got direction to Stonehenge and our B&B for the night and off we went.
B&B in Salisbury 2Parklane. (2parklane.co.uk) £ We were really nervous as we approached, weren’t sure at all. But it was great. Lovely house, our room was upstairs, our very friendly landlady showed us to our room, asked us what time we would like breakfast, suggested a couple of local pubs and left us to it. Very clean, small but not tiny room. Great bed BUT..............terrible shower. Hardly any hot water and next to no pressure.