Rambling through England
 

From Aug. 13th to the 17th, my wife and son and I will be rambling around England in a rental car. We will fly into Manchester and then intend to visit Nottingham for a half day or so (teenage son has a particular spot there he *has* to see), then to a small town north of Leicester (Woodhouse) to visit Beaumanor, an ancestral 'castle' of sorts. From there we want to eventually make it to Plymouth to see the HMS Victory, etc., perhaps passing through Cambridge and/or Avebury (just some great places we've heard about) on the way, before ending up in London for the Eurostar on the 17th. Is this do-able or is it too much driving? Are there interesting things we shouldn't miss (esp. festivals, history, ruins, cute little villages and countrysides, natural sites) that are off the beaten track? Oh, and is it very difficult to find lodging on the spur of the moment in the English countryside? Thanks so much.

JB

Yes, too much driving, IMO.

Try to stick to the area between Leicester and London (Oxford, Cotswolds, etc) - there's plenty to see and do within this relatively small area...

It's certainly too much driving: you don't want to go to Plymouth to see HMS VICTORY because the ship is actually in Portsmouth. If you're staying in London, Portsmouth is an easy day trip by train.

OK - look at a map. Manchester to Nottingham (your son owes you big time) to Leicester to Cambridge to Avebury to Portsmouth (I'll assume that's what you meant) and then across London to Waterloo for the Eurostar zigzags all across central and southern England. The "drive" is certainly possible - but do you want to see anything enroute?

Substituting Oxford for Cambridge would help a little bit. But all in all it is a crazy itinerary.

Geoffhamer: I don't think they are staying in London -- see the "catch the Eurostar on the 17th bit".

Which only makes this harder . . . . .

Sorry, I meant Portsmouth, not Plymouth.

Anyway, the supposed must-dos are Nottingham, Leicester, Portsmouth. Still too far? We like to drive... But we also like to explore.

I think it's do-able with around 1-4 hours driving a day if you skip the west country (Avebury).Ok if there are two of you driving so you can take turns and not get overtired. I get the impression you don't care about the order you see everything in.
So arrive Manchester on 13th and go to the Leicester site (around 2 hours drive) and stay nearby. 14th: go to Nottingham (around 30 miles away)for the morning and lunch then drive down to Cambridge (60 miles) to arrive mid afternoon and stay there. 15th: explore Cambridge for most of the day then drive to Portsmouth. This is 150 miles though so is the worst driving day. (but realistically most of us can cope with that if it's not everyday and I assume you have 2 drivers)to arrive in the evening. Stay the night. 16th: enjoy Portsmouth for the day either stay overnight or drive halfway to London and stay there. If the train is late on the 17th you could stay overnight in Windsor and spend some time there before going to London. 17th: drive up to London (Portsmouth to London is about 75 miles).

Even the biggest fans of the Midlands would not view either Nottingham or Leicester as must sees. If you are flying into Manchester and then not going to the Lake district or north wales, you are missing a big opportunity.
From Manchester, I would make for the lakes [book ahead in wndermere or ambleside for example] and then, if you really have to, call at Nottingham and Leicester on the way to London.
Forget about Portsmouth on this trip. It is far out of your way and will mean that you spend much too long travelling just to get there.
alternatively, from Manchester travel to Nottingham, and thence to somewhere in the Warwickshire countryside, or Cambridge. Enjoy "wandering".
Have a great time, but don't kill yourselves travelling!

Just a comment - if your teenage son is going to Nottingham because of Sherwood Forest/Robin Hood - it really isn't worth it. Nottingham itself we found to be depressing and hard to get around in, with very little to connect it to Robin Hood. Sherwood Forest requires all of your imagination, even then it would be hard to find it charming, to experience anything worthwhile.

My son is interested in Nottingham because it is the headquarters for Games Workshop. They produce the Warhammer series of miniatures and gaming, which is his big hobby. We promised him we'd take him there for at least a few hours. We've been in Europe all summer as part of my job and his dearest wish was to visit Venice, which we couldn't do (poor boy! We just visited about a dozen other countries instead!). So this is our attempt to throw him a bone on our last trip.

By the way, one thing I don't understand is why 150 miles is considered a long trip. That just seems like a drop in the bucket to me, but maybe that's because I'm from the western U.S., where driving distances are long. Perhaps it's hard to get around on English roads?

Anyway, thanks for the great ideas and for all your help. Fodors has been the greatest help during our travels in Europe this summer.

150 miles driving is long, in terms of the time spent in the car in relation to the total amount of time you've got available. You're talking something like 5 hours out of 48 or so.

I made the same mistake of thinking 150 miles - no big deal. However, 150 miles is 2 hours on a US interstate, vs 5 hours driving smaller roads in the UK. Although it seemed eminently do-able based on maps and logic, I knew by day 2 of my first fly and drive that I would never get all the way to Cornwall, while stopping to see everything else I wanted, in my one week. I quickly rethought all my well-laid plans and consoled myself with the knowledge that I'd just have to come back to see the rest. (And I have!!)

Goodness, take the dear boy to Venice instead!

I agree with janisj that Oxford makes more sense than Cambridge.

And if cute villages and natural sights are of interest to you, go to the Lakes District and Yorkshire instead. You're driving an awfully long way to see things that, in my opinion at least, are less interesting than things within a couple of hours of Manchester.

I'll top my recent trip report for England, in case you're interested...

P.S. I used to be Guy18...

>>>>
My son is interested in Nottingham because it is the headquarters for Games Workshop. They produce the Warhammer series of miniatures and gaming, which is his big hobby
>>>>

you can also go to chertsey and visit electronic arts...sir norman foster's masterpiece european headquarters for the company. lots of major gaming dorks. right off the m25. probably won't get past security though.

forgot to add..."rambling" means walking, not driving. just to help you to avoid confusion when you come here and tell everyone that you are "rambling" to all of these places in five days!!

Thanks, all. I will try to cut this back a bit. It's probably obvious to you by now that this is not a typical tourist trip, as we have some things to do that are personal (e.g. a trip to Beaumanor, my ancestral home in Leicestershire, as well as to Nottingham) with some exploring built in. But I appreciate your input on nice areas to see. I'll definitely look into "the lakes district and Yorkshire" that were mentioned. We'll probably drop Cambridge.

Oh, and "rambling" doesn't just refer to walking, at least according to Dictionary.com:

ram·ble
intr.v. ram·bled, ram·bling, ram·bles

1. To move about aimlessly. See Synonyms at wander.
2. To walk about casually or for pleasure.
3. To follow an irregularly winding course of motion or growth.
4. To speak or write at length and with many digressions.

I guess the latter might refer to some of our threads on Fodors! But not this one, of course...

Thanks again, all. I do love Fodors Talk... what a help it's been during our summer in Europe.

Just so you know, in England, Rambling in fact will almost always be associated with walking. Rambling is a major pastime there, and the countryside is crisscrossed with walking trails for the many who like to Ramble. There are Rambling Associations throughout the country, and, on weekends and holidays, you will encounter Ramblers all over the place enroute to their next ramble, sometimes in a rather distinctive tweedy, yet sporty, outfit. Dictionary aside, words sometimes have distinct connotations in different countries. I don't mean to sound priggish. Just wanted you to know...

james, i was referring to how the word is used in england, not the US. in the UK "rambling" refers to the leisure activity of walking in the countryside. (eg the Ramblers' Association). somewhat similar to how the word "hiking" is used in north america...although there really is no north american equivalent to the british notion of rambling.

anyway, i was just pointing out the different use of the word over here and not trying to be pedantic about your english.

cimbrone....crossed posts. you explain better anyway :-)

Thanks for the clarification.

Some thoughts...

Leicester to Oxford is a very easy drive, even off the motorways, and you'd see some pleasant countryside on the way, you could even cut across from Banbury to Chipping Norton, Stow-on-the-Wold and Burford if you wanted to see a bit of the north Cotswolds.

If you choose Oxford instead of Cambridge, then Avebury is not that far - about 30 miles if you go via Wantage, Hungerford and Marlborough, all nice enough typical English towns. Marlborough would be the most attractive. It's a nice drive too, through the Berkshire downs.

If you then travel back along the A4 to Newbury it is a very easy run down the dual carriageway A34 and M3/M27 to Portsmouth. Probably only an hour from Newbury.

I suggest you get hold of a good road map of Britain and you will be able to plan a bit better.

Have a good trip though!

Avebury.

Since everyone else has mentioned distances, I thought I would just throw in about town driving and parking. Once you determine which towns you will be visiting, you need to check out how they handle traffic. Don't expect to be able to drive through a town just because a map shows the road and don't expect to find parking easily. Sometimes the available parking can be a bit of hike from where you want to go.

Thanks, julia_t, that sounds like a good itinerary. And thanks to everyone for your advice.

Hey, speaking of advice, do you think it will be hard to find places to stay on the fly? We'll be there on a Thursday to Wednesday so I was thinking we could do it.

&quot;<i>We'll be there on a Thursday to Wednesday</i> Are you sure? You originally mentioned Aug 13 - 17, which is Sunday to Thursday.

If you ARE there Thurs to Wed it includes a weekend -- in <u>August</u> plus you're going to need family rooms. I would defnitely book ahead for at minimum Fri/Sat/Sun

Sorry, I meant Sunday to Thursday (4 nights). Thanks for catching that. Do you think it would be hard to find, say, a B&amp;B on those nights? I found in traveling around Austria and Germany that it didn't seem to be a problem to find a room, especially in some of the less well known towns. And I like the flexibility.

Thanks.

If you do leave it to chance you may not find anything particularly special as it will already be booked up.

However if you are not too choosy there are always the following which are all over the place nowadays, and you shouldn't have any trouble getting a room in one of these. For locations see the websites...

www.travelodge.co.uk

www.premiertravelinn.com

You may also see B&amp;B's along the road with signs out 'Vacancy' or 'No Vacancy', particularly in the smaller towns and villages.

Most towns have a Tourist Information office which will have lots of details of places to stay in the area, and in small villages ask in the Post Office, village shop or pub.

Personally I would think you would be OK finding accommodations as you are not near the coast or in particularly 'touristy' areas, and I would do it, just don't have too high expectations. I would try to find something in advance if aiming to stay in Oxford or Portsmouth though.

If you google the words 'tourist information' followed by the name of the town, you get links to lots of potentially helpful sites.