My wife and I will be flying to <BR>Britain shortly. We will be renting<BR>a car and touring the south of England.<BR>We would very much appreciate any tips<BR>on good B&B's, restaurants and memorable<BR>towns, or villages.<BR>Thanks in advance,<BR>Tom <BR>

Tom: What part of Southern England? Devon/Cornwall, Kent/Sussex, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset/Somerset, Oxfordshire & the Cotswolds or???<BR><BR>"the south of England" is a very big place - can't give you any useful suggestions w/o more details.

Do a search on the board first to get some sort of idea of what interests you. Then ask a more focused question.

Hello Janis,<BR>Sorry for such a general question. I need some travel info. on the extreme<BR>southern areas of Devon,Cornwall,Kent,<BR>Sussex and possibly Dorset/Somerset.<BR>We have very limited time (approx.7 days). Obviously this is a big area with<BR>lots to see and we can't see everything this trip. But, we only want to hit<BR>some of the highlights from Fodor's posters travels.<BR> I'm sure that some areas will be quite<BR>touristy. We don't mind visiting them,<BR>but it would be great to visit some<BR>beautiful less travelled areas.<BR>Any suggestions on places you've especially enjoyed, B&B's that were<BR>memorable, and good restaurants, would<BR>be MUCH appreciated!<BR>Tom

Front Street Guest House in Bovey Tracey, Devon is a perfect place to stay and take day trips from there. I loved Mountbatten's home in Romsey and in the Portsmouth area, see the Mary Rose and D-Day Tapestries, just fabulous! The south is my favorite part of England...oh, in Bovey Tracey is one of our favorite all time restaurants, The Rumblin' Tum.

The Isle of Wight.

Tom, <BR><BR>Last month I spend a three days in Kent. We stayed at the Ersham Lodge Hotel in Canterbury, a 5 minute walk to the city center and cathedral. We found that Canterbury was a great place for a base. There is a lot to see Canterbury besides the cathedral, don't miss St. Augustine's Abbey and just walking around the old city walls and the small narrow streets. <BR><BR>I also highly recommend going to St. Margaret's at Cliffe for beautiful views of the white cliffs of Dover. Dover Castle was one of my favorite places that I've ever been. The past meets the present at Dover Castle with the World War II, Napoleonic, and medievel tunnels, along with the 12th century castle walls and keep, plus the Saxon church and Roman lighthouse. You can easily spend several hours at Dover castle. <BR><BR>I also recommend a visit to Chartwell, the home of Winston Churchill. Chartwell has lovely gardens, and the tour of the house allows you to see Churchill not only as the great stateman but also as a family man. Hever Castle is also very near to Chartwell, and both can be done easily in one day. <BR><BR>Depending on what your interests are, in might be financially worth it to purchase the 7-day Great British Heritage Pass. We saved a ton of money with this pass, plus when we bought it at the Canterbury welcome center there had been a special mentioned on the internet site for a 2 for 1. It was a great deal. <BR><BR>I'll have to go back to my notes for the exact names and address of the restaurants we dined at, they were mainly in Canterbury. <BR><BR>Hope this helps. If you have further questions, please feel free to email me. <BR><BR>Tammy

Tom: the suggestions you have gotten so far are fine. But with only 7 days you probably should scale back your expectations. Devon/Cornwall and Kent are a difficult duo especiall if you try to add Dorset/Somerset.<BR><BR>Travel in Cornwall and Devon is very slow especially in the summer. It is a fabulous area but because of that the narrow roads can be VERY congested especially on weekends.<BR><BR>kent/Sussex has more than enough to fill a week, same goes for Devon/Cornwall/Dorset.<BR><BR>I would try to bite the bullet and pick either the southwest (Cornwall/Devon) or the southeast (Kent/EW Sussex).<BR><BR>Both areas are fabulous but in general Cornwall, Devon and Dorset has more dramatic scenery and seaside resorts, Kent has more Castles, Stately homes and gardens

Thats the kind of info. I was looking<BR>for! Helps to put things into perspective. I guess I should scale back<BR>my expectations a little, and not concentrate on too big an area. It looks<BR>so small compared to travelling in the USA and Canada. I know theres so much<BR>history packed in such a small region.<BR>Any other suggestions on GREAT B&B's,<BR>Restaurants or Pubs would be appreciated.<BR>Thanks for the great info. and replies!<BR>Tom

Tom: To give you a little more perspective re distances/travel times. Off the motorways (of which there are few in the SW and SE and they aren't the scenic routes anyway) you will be lucky to average 35 miles per hour. And in Cornwall and particulayly in Devon, a lot of the scenic areas are served by single track roads. These are roads that are one lane wide but for 2-way travel. On these roads in places lice South devon and Dartmoor you will probably average 25 miles per hour.<BR><BR>Even in Kent where there are few single track roads, the roads are narrow, winding and crowded near the main sights.<BR><BR>So instead of 300 miles for a days touring think more like 75 miles or less.

Thanks Janis,<BR>I really didn't think it would<BR>take that LONG to get around in<BR>the south! I guess we'd better<BR>prepare to be realistic in what<BR>we can and cannot cover in a day.<BR>I think that this time we'll<BR>concentrate our efforts in the SW.<BR>Devon, Dorset and Cornwall look<BR>interesting. Just one more question <BR>on travel times. How long of a drive<BR>would it be from Weymouth to London,<BR>without stops (approx.)?<BR>Thanks,<BR>Tom<BR>

London is a BIG place - where are you driving to? It is approximately 120 miiles and pretty fast once you get to Bournemouth since it is dual carriageway or motorway all the way from there.<BR><BR>But when you near London all bets are off - the day of the week, time of day, area of London etc will make a huge difference how long it takes. <BR><BR>Are you really sure you want to drive in London? If possible - try to drop off your car at LHR and take public transport into the city. That will save a lot of grief.

Janis,<BR>We do plan on dropping our rental off<BR>outside of London. We need to get to<BR>Victoria Station. I know there is an express to both Paddington Station and<BR>Victoria depending on which airport<BR>you're at. We can drop off our car at<BR>either one. Taking into account the<BR>time and hassle factor for each airport<BR>drop off, which one is more convenient<BR>with Victoria station being our goal?<BR>Thanks again!<BR>Tom<BR>PS. So Weymouth is probably within 21/2 <BR>to 3 hours of Gatwick or Heathrow?

If Victoria is you final destination then definitely go to LGW. The Gatwick Express runs from the terminal right into Victoria Station and is very fast - about 30 minutes. (If you went to LHR then you would take the Heathrow Express to Paddington and either the tube or a taxi to Victoria).<BR><BR>Depending on the time of day it would probably be about 2.5 hours from Weymouth to LGW assuming you drive near the speed limit on the motorway. <BR><BR>Then turning in your car (easier at LGW than at LHR because the rental agencies are closer to the terminals) completing the paperwork and catching the Express should get you into Victoria in a total of about 3.5 to 4 hours from Weymouth.

Just recently discovered Fodors.com.<BR>This is a truly outstanding travel resource! Up-to-date, timely advice!<BR>All sorts of travel questions can be<BR>answered here.<BR>Thanks Janis for the time saving tips!!!<BR>Tom

When are you going? And have you finalized where you are staying? My husband and I have rented a two bedroom, full kitchen cottage at Woodford Bridge Resort at Holsworthy, Devon from July 7 - 14. The couple we were travelling with had to cancel, so we would be willing to share the space. Your cost for the week would be 240 GBP. We're Canadian too, and easy to get along with,(I think).

Lana,<BR>Thanks for the invite, and although we're easy to get along with as well,<BR>we won't be arriving til July 12th.<BR>Hope you have a great vacation!<BR>Tom

We just spent 10 days in London and Devon and Cornwall. Listen to the previous posters. don't underestimate the extremely slow pace of travel in those areas. Average is 25-35 miles an hour, off the M 4. We were staying near Plymouth and never made it to St. Ives, our primary objective, because it simply took too long.<BR><BR>I would urge you to consider a day in Salisbury as well. We stayed at the Red Lion Inn there, very old and charming, right downtown, near the Cathedral.<BR><BR>the lesson I learned from our trip was to find a place you like and plan short trips around it. This is not an area where you can travel 100 miles on a day and enjoy it.<BR><BR>by the way, the trip from Plymouth to London was easy. All on major highways. We drove directly to Gatwick with no problems.<BR><BR>

Linda,<BR>Great to hear about your trip.<BR>Were you impressed with Salisbury?<BR>Any other cities, towns or sights<BR>that you were also impressive?<BR>Any restaurant or suggestions?<BR>Thanks in advance,<BR>Tom

Hi there Tom,<BR><BR>Check out the Automobile Assn's listed hotels at<BR><BR>http://www.theaa.com/getaway/hotels/hotels_home.jsp<BR><BR>Their reviews are pretty good - I used them for pub accommodation in the Cotswolds, and their opinions were on the money.<BR><BR>And, with the twisty lanes and roundabouts everywhere, yes - it will take longer than you think to get anywhere! Even driving in the middle of the night, making the best time as I could, getting to Cornwall was a joke . . . . I was with my mother (who's originally English) & even she said 'I don't remember it taking THIS long!'<BR><BR>Have a fun trip and enjoy your planning =)