My husband and I will be traveling to London in late January and would welcome the assistance of all the experienced travelers out there with organizing part of our itinerary as to what makes sense to see on route to and from Somerset and Gloucestershire – what do you recommend?

Day 1 arrive at LHR 8:30 pm – overnight at Marriott LHR

Day 2 – 8:00 am - pick up rental from Hertz LHR - and here is where I require assistance: We have a three-night reservation at The Mount Somerset in Taunton as a base for exploring Exmoor followed by a two-night reservation at Thornbury Castle.

Ideally, we would like to visit Hampton Court Palace, Salisbury Cathedral, Wells Cathedral, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury Abbey and Warwick Castle before dropping the car off at an airport and transferring to our London Hotel. (if advisable, we are not averse to dropping the auto @ Gatwick)

As an aside – I have left notable highlights such as Bath, Stonehenge and Cotswold off the list as we have had the pleasure of visiting the aforementioned on prior trips.

Thank you again for taking the time to read and respond to this plea for assistance.

L. Christchurch

Not entirely sure what you want to know but a few comments:

1) You should re-post w/ a better title since "Please help w/itinerary" could be asking about anywhere in Europe

2) Hampton Court Palace is a much easier visit from London than from either of your hotels.

3) Does your Taunton booking the same day you pick up the rental? That is a long drive but you could stop at Wells/Glastonbury/Cheddar enroute. But it will be a long day

4) Warwick is doable from Thornbury - but it is a bit of a drive and you will not have any time for the area around Thornbury. (assuming you drive from Taunton directly to Thornbury you will only have that 1/2 a day for exploring the area if you spend teh whole of the next day going to Warwick) I'm not sure why you booked Thornbury Castle if you are not interested in the Cotswolds. It might have made more sense to stay nearer to warwick/Stratford.

Gatwick doesn't make any sense since Thornbury is not far from the M4 direct motorway to LHR. I suppose you could drop you car at Bristol airport and take the train into London - but otherwise just drive to LHR and drop it there.

sorry bout the typos . . .

and that should read "Is your Taunton booking the same day you pick up the rental?"

Janis,

Great advice, I will repost w/a more specific title.

Yes, we are booked in Taunton the same day that we pick up the auto from LHR.

I hope to garner recommendations on which destinations (Hampton Court Palace, Salisbury Cathedral, Wells Cathedral, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury Abbey and Warwick Castle) are doable considering time and distance while we are traveling:
1. from London to Taunton on Day 2

2. What detours/stops are within reason on Day 5 traveling from Taunton to Thornbury/Cotswolds

3. Day 7 traveling from Thornbury to London.

I have booked Thornbury for research purposes and we will limit our sightseeing on those days to the immediate castle area.

Thank you for your feedback. I have long admired your exemplary knowledge of English travel and your willingness to share it with others.

It would make for a long day but the Mendips (Glastonbury, Cheddar and Wells) are enroute to your Taunton destination. However, I would recommend stopping at Hampton Court and traveling on to Somerset. Upon leaving the MT Somerset, journey through the Gorge and onto Wells Cathedral. Visit Glastonbury Abbey while staying at Thornbury. Upon leaving Thornbury, travel to Warwick Castle.

I never write to this board but when I saw your screen name…I have to ask, are you THE L. Christchurch? I am very familiar with your pseudonym and a huge fan of your work. My wife and I have attended several of your readings stateside and across the pond. Just wanted to pass along our regards.

I don't see how one could visit HCP enroute to teh Southwest. The Palace itself takes a minimum of half a day. by the time you got out of the palace you would still be in greater London and have yet to drive all teh way to Taunton. Certainly there would not be enough time to also visit Salisbury or much of anything else enroute.

And from Thornbury up to Warwick and then back to LHR or anywhere for that matter will be another very long day. Warwick takes 1/2 a day not even counting the town/St Mary's church or anything in. Stratford.

Now, if you could rent from someone w/ a location in Stratford or Warwick, you could make it work. Drive to Warwick, spend the day, drop the car and then take a train into London. That would be doable - but still a very long day.

Thank you both for your feedback. It has put my lofty ideas into perspective.

I am inclined to follow Janisj’s recommendation on skipping the Palace until we are based in London and taking in Wells & Cheddar on the way to Taunton. Sadly, Warwick will not be in the cards on this trip as we wish to avoid “very long days” when traveling with luggage in tow. ~ L. Christchurch