Help with England/Wales tour

Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 02:10 PM
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Help with England/Wales tour

I'm helping friends plan a trip to England. They want to spend time in London and time outside the city -- no more than two weeks total. London they can do on their own. They especially want to include Stonehenge and Wales. I'm hoping they will include Scotland, but will depend on timing. They do not want to drive a car and will take a tour if they can find a tour that does not move around too much. Minimum two nights in places, and preferably three nights in some locations. My friends are in their 60s and are physically fit. Any ideas you'd care to share? Thanks.
Diane
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 02:12 PM
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What time of year are they planning to come?

Can you give us a bit more information. What sort of things are they wanting to do/see? Are they wanting to walk, visit stately homes or ruined castles? What about museums? Are they wanting big towns or small villages?
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 02:32 PM
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What they 'want' may not be possible.

Commercial/affordable tours typically don't stay three nights anywhere, and in small countries like Wales, seldom 2 nights in a place.

Or another option would be to say in a base city in the south (like Cardiff) and a base city in the north (maybe Conwy or Caernarfon) and do day tours from each base.

or -- If they can afford it - hiring a private driver/guide is another option.
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 04:27 PM
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We don't mind walking. Definitely ruined castles but no to stately homes. Some museums would be nice as well as gardens. We love charming villages. We prefer to stay in London as a base and do day trips. Just not sure if we should do a tour group after leaving London that does both Wales and Scotland or take a train and go to a base city as recommended above. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 05:13 PM
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you can easily do a day trip to Stonehenge from London. There are bus tours that combine Stonehenge with other places such as Bath.
or if you don't want to do a tour, you can take a train to Salisbury from London, and then a bus to Stonehenge. for more information look at this site: http://www.londontoolkit.com/blog/da...rom-salisbury/
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 05:29 PM
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Forget trying to do both Wales and Scotland as well as spending time in London in a two week period. It's simply not viable. Even day trips to either are unrealistic. In addition to London, one needs to select one spot to stay and do your touring from there.

Either Cardiff or Edinburgh would work as both offer a number of day tour possibilities via public transportation. Edinburgh is about a 4 1/2 hour train ride from London. Rabbies and Timberbush offer a variety of day trips at a reasonable price. In Cardiff, there are several castles ( Castell Coch and Caerphilly Castle) that are doable by bus. As is St. Fagens an open- air museum and one of the U.K.'s most visited sites. It really is amazing. Of course, Cardiff Castle is located in the city centre.

I don't know of any tour company that does 3 night stays. Rabbies does have a tour that includes bits of Wales, but time is also spent in England. It covers a lot of territory. I think their best bet is to decide on a city and do day trips from there.
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 05:35 PM
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Hi LOVETOTRAVEL,

As JANISJ said, there are very few escorted tours which feature 3 night stays.

After a five day stay in London in 2013, I joined this 7 night CIE tour which included Stonehenge and 3 nights in Wales. Also featured Bath, Straford on Avon, and Windsor if your friends have not visited these highlights in the past. I thought that the hotels were excellent for the price.

http://www.cietours.com/us/escorted_...nd_england_8d/

I would recommend this medium priced tour for variety.
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 05:47 PM
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OK - I was answering luvtotravel re her friends. So . . . Is yoyowynn luvtotravel's friend? Or is s/he just tagging along on the thread?

Are we talking about the same trip or two different ones?
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Old Oct 22nd, 2014, 09:43 PM
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I highly recommend using www.walks.com for day trips from london
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 03:43 AM
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My friend has jumped in to provide more information, so I will let her take it from here. Thanks for the advice. BTW, I also recommend www.walks.com. I've taken many of their short tours.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 06:34 AM
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If you are wanting to do ruined castles then North Wales is the place to head to with the great Edwardian Castles built by Edward I to subdue the Welsh. The best are Caernarfon, Conwy,
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/castle...nwy/index.html
and Beaumaris
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/castle...ris/index.html
which can easily be done using either Caernarfon or Conwy as a base. These are both attractive walled towns. I particularly like Conwy.
Bodnant Gardens
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ant/index.html
is close to Conwy and is one of the nicest of the Welsh gardens. Near to Conwy are Rhuddlan
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/castle...lan/index.html
and Denbigh Castles.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/castle...igh/index.html

A bit further away is Harlech, up there with the first three castles.

Criccieth also has a nice castle.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/castle...eth/index.html
This was originally built by the Welsh but later acquired by Edward. Cricieth is a lovely Victorian seaside town. Close by is Portmeirion which is brain wave of a quirky archirtect, Clough Williams-Ellis, who has built an 'Italianate village' there. Near to it is Plas Brondanw gardens also designed by Clough Williams-Ellis, who has used his architectural tricks to design a remarkable garden.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...anw/index.html
As far as museums are concerned there is the National Slate Mining Museum at Llanberis. North Wales produces some of teh best slate in teh world and slate from here roofed all the Victorian houses. Llechwedd Slae Caverns in Blaenau Ffestiniog let you explore some of teh old workings deep underground.

There are also the Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog Railways. The Welsh Highland Railway
http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/R...ProductReviews
has been rebuilt on a line that closed in the 1930s and runs between Porthmadog and Caernarfon. It is a superb run along the flanks of Snowdon. The Ffestiniog Railway
http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/R...ProductReviews
runs between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadoc and was built to carry slates from the mines at Blaenau to the ships in Porthmadog. It is a lovely run through the Vale of Ffestiniog. If you are lucky you may be pulled by one of the Ffestiniog's iconic double Fairlie locos (basically two engines sharing a single cab). The experience of being pulled by one of these powerful locos with a heavy trrain up the valley is exhillarating.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 07:37 AM
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ESW, wonderful suggestions of places to visit in North Wales but, apparently, they want to do public transportation, and I don't think any of those sites are easily accessible except with a car. That's why I mentioned Cardiff as a central place to stay with public transportation to several favorite tourist spots. Also, Cardiff is easier to get to from London.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 08:03 AM
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Actually the bus service is pretty good and it is possible to use the bus between Caernarfon and Conwy. Beaumaris is also accessible by bus. Llechwed Slate caverns can be reached by train along the Conwy Valley line and then either walk or bus from Blaenau. Alternatively if they decide to base themselves around Criccieth say, they can get a bus from Criccieth to Porthmadog and then another bus or the Ffestiniog Railway from Porthmadog to Blaenau.

Harlech can be done either by bus or train from Porthmadog, although it is quite a climb up from the railway station to the town. (That is assuming the rail line has been reopened as this section has been shut for quite a while while a bridge is being rebuilt.)

Portmerion can be done by bus (or Ffestiniog Railway) from Porthmadog. There is a lot of good walking which can be done from the Ffestiniog Railway.

From Porthmadog there is a bus to Caernarfon. Get off at Beddgelert, one of the popular places for visitors and do the short easy walk to Gelert's Grave and learn about the story of Gelert, the faithful hound of Prince Llewelyn.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356405536464/
http://www.beddgelerttourism.com/gelert/

From Cricieth it is possible to get a bus to Aberdaron at the end of the Peninsula and there is some lovely cliff walking there. Alternatively get a bus to Morfa Nefyn and at low tide walk across the beach to Porthdinllaen, a lovely short walk.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356404027308/

It's surprising where you can get to with a bit of ingenuity. Bus drivers are friendly and helpful and delighted to see tourists.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 09:03 AM
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HF Holidays is a UK company that has tours, staying in 1 location, most for 3 or 7 days, and I suspect they could be combined to give your friends what they're looking for, lots of options, some that target particular interests:

England (61):
http://www.hfholidays.co.uk/activiti...nation=england

Wales (5):
http://www.hfholidays.co.uk/activiti...nd-tours/wales
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 01:08 PM
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Thank you everyone for all your suggestions. There is a lot to digest but I will check out the cities and sites you have enclosed. I know that I'll have many more questions as time progresses since I have never been to the area. My grandparents were from London and my husband's grandparents were from Wales. Perhaps we would even consider staying longer.
I am considering doing a VRBO.com or some other rental in London. Perhaps a cottage on a website called holidaylettings. It all depends on how accessible we will be to trains or buses. We may even consider renting a car.
So much to think about.
Thank you
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 01:23 PM
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DH is about to go on a HF holiday walking in Shropshire. i will report back when he returns.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 01:30 PM
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It was the walking holidays which originally attracted me to the HF Holidays site, as I believe they were their specialty for a long time. The 2 links I posted above are not for walking tours but if walking for a few days is of interest, you can go to either of the links and find the walking tours heading at the top.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 02:02 PM
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Annhig, I hit submit, then realized I'd forgotten what I'd posted to say - I'll be very interested to hear how your DH likes the HF offering. I found the company was responsive when we corresponded by email regarding a walking tour in Italy, which I ended up not taking, because of the arrival of a friend on the same dates. I may be approaching the end of my days walking on my own with my full daypack, so something like what they offer may be the answer. I can't quite imagine yet giving up my English walks altogether.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 02:20 PM
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perhaps I will start a different thread about it, when he gets back. I've looked at the brochure and they have quite a few easy walks, and trips to gardens etc which would interest me more than the basic walking. They do seem to cater for more than the dedicated walker.
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Old Oct 23rd, 2014, 02:31 PM
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Oh, good, I'll look for your report. Maybe add a note here, too, when you do, so I, and other interested parties have the most chance to notice it.
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