I will be travelling by car and ferry from Belfast to England (not sure of route as yet) to meet up with my Sister and Mother in possibly Oxford.

My 83 yr old Mum lives in Hove, my sister Belfast and we want to spend a week together touring southern England, visiting Churches, Cathedrals, historical places and nice villages.

My sister will fly to Gatwick where she will meet my mum and they will travel from there to Oxford? where I will meet them.

I have thought of the following itinerary and would appreciate advice:

1. Sis and Mum arrive in Oxford midday and we spend a few hours there.
2. Drive to a Cotswold village for 3 nights and spend the time walking (my mum walks from Hove to Brighton every day) and visiting the villages in the area.
3. Drive to Somerset for 2 nights and visit Bath, Wells , Glastonbury and Lacock.
For the next two nights I have 2 options

Option 1
From Somerset drive to somewhere in Dorset and spend 2 nights there. Then drive to Southampton, my mum can get a train direct to Brighton and my sister a flight to Belfast.

Option 2

This is a long drive from Somerset to North Cornwall for 2 nights. My mum can get a flight from Newquay to Gatwick and my sister a flight to Belfast.

My sister works so she is restricted to the number of days we have, I, on the other hand am retired so can spend as many days as I like getting to Oxford and home again from our final destination.

A couple of questions:

Is there parking close to Oxford railway station and how far from the station are the colleges?

Would it be better if they travelled to a Cotswold village and I pick them up there?

I will be travelling with my dog (Cavalier King Charles). My mother's brother in law ,who lives in Tewkesbury, informs me that his dog is permitted in the Abbey.

She travels with me everywhere so is used to waiting for me in the car or outside a shop etc. I do have a backpack carrier for her (essential for NI railways) so I can use this but will dogs be admitted into Cathedrals etc?

I will be travelling 1st week of June so it could be cold and rainy - no problem she would be happy in the car but if it was hot and sunny I wouldn't leave her alone.

Thank you

If you want to tour any of the beautiful colleges or cathedrals in Oxford you'll probably need more than a few hours--especially if you want to stop for lunch or tea.

Bath requires most of a day as well. We spent several hours just touring in the Roman Baths. It was much more extensive than I'd imagined. Both of these cities are wonderful and are the kind of places where you could easily spend all day browsing and walking.

I think you could lose one night in a Cotswold village--unless you're using it as a base for Bath or Oxford.

Don't know about taking a dog inside an Abbey--but I was shocked to see an enormous dog in a pub/restaurant in Bisley. That would never be permitted in the U.S.

Don't have other answers for you--but you might want to check out my recent trip report. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Dogs:
Anglican churches generally have a sensible attitude to dogs: mine regularly attends services. Major CofE cathedrals, however, often don't like them: the flannerpooch usually stays outside. As a general rule: if there's an entrance desk (which you sometimes find in non-cathedrals, like Tewkesbury), the person behind will tell you they don't want dogs.

Oxford colleges don't have standard rules. If you look as if you belong, no-one will turn a hair if you walk into a quad with a dog: if you don't, you might be told not to bring it in. Oxford seems to have an awful lot of dogs walking with owners without a lead, and more dogs in shops than anywhere else in Britain. I'd take the dog with me, then tie it up outside if anyone cavils: most colleges have a bootscraper or the like near the front door that's handy for tethering.

Meeting point.
My head's hurting trying to understand your collective logistics. Rather than trying any more, some facts:

It's difficult to use the long-stay car park near Oxford station under your circumstances: you need to be travelling on a train, and the only way you can activate your ticket is by going through the ticket barriers to record the code number that's not visible fromn the street. Fail to do this and you risk being clamped. There's an elaborate (and technically illegal)way of getting round this when you're meeting arrivals, but you have to be sure the arriving passengers know where to look. I really wouldn't risk it unless you and your fellow-criminals are used to the system.

The alternative is to use the (free and VERY convenient, but limited to 30 mins) short stay, put your passengers into the car then drive to a public car park. The least difficult to get to is Westgate (OX1 1PY), which is handy for Christ Church and the Tourist Information Centre: about £2/hr weekdays, £3/hr Sat. No time limit between 0800 and 2000.

HOWEVER:

Oxford has a train (change Reading) from Gatwick, direct trains from Birmingham and Southampton airports and buses from the other three major London airports (as well as from Gatwick). The buses DON'T stop at the railway station, but at the bus station,about half-3/4 mile from the station. For many people without a car, Bham and Soton are actually more convenient airports than the London ones for getting to Oxford.

Getting to anywhere else in the area from London's airports is messier, though doable by train from Gatwick, Bham and Soton, and by railbus to Reading, then train, from Heathrow, if they stay at Charlbury, Kingham or Moreton in Marsh. One obvious answer is for the rest to get to Charlbury, you to meet them there, then get the hourly train into Oxford.

Does this help?

hi cambe,

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but my experience of travelling with "older" people, is that as with children, everything takes longer. unless you mum is very adventurous, I'd drop the Cornwall idea, even though I live here - it just isn't worth coming all this way for the sake of two days, which will be less than two days because of all the travelling.

I would give yourselves longer in the places you've got, head for Dorset and make for Southampton.

regards, ann

Question: have you considered flying w/ your sister and hiring a car at Gatwick, going to Hove to collect your mother and then starting out a sensible driving tour all together?

As it is, your logistics of trains, planes, automobiles and ferries is giving me a real headache . . . .

(I thought the only ferries from Belfast and Larne go to NW England or SW Scotland -- a looooong way from the other places you want to visit)

I can't help with most of your questions, but you could visit Lacock on the way to Bath from the Cotswolds. We toured Berkeley Castle one morning, spent the afternoon in Lacock (walked around the town, visited the Fox Talbot Museum and the Abbey), then drove on to Bath.

Lee Ann

Thank you all for your help.

Janisj the reason for this rather complicated journey was because I was taking my dog with me and only guide dogs are permitted on planes so it had to be ferry.

However all that has changed. My dog has a heart condition and is on medication. When I go on holiday my sister looks after her but as she was part of the party that was not possible and I don't trust a lot of people about making sure she gets her medication. I was talking to a very good friend today and she will take her for the week and I know she will be well cared for.

My sister and I will be flying to Gatwick and we will use my Mum's car for the trip.

Annhig, I agree with you, Cornwall will have to wait - Doc Martin has a lot to answer!!!

Flanneruk you were most helpful but I think we will skip Oxford this trip.

Thanks again

Shame, Cambe.

I will give your love to Port Isaac [the actual name of the location where Doc Martin is filmed] if we go there.

enjoy your trip,

regards, ann

cambe: I do hope your dog is OK -- but in the long run she'll probably be happier at home w/o the looooong car travel.

And for sure, your new plan will be easier to work out the logistics.

May be useful for finding more obscure things to do in Oxford: http://www.cherwell-local.org.uk/
It's a community site and anyone with a connection to the area can put information on it. If you like walking it may be worth contacting the Hooky Walkers who I found on the site.