8 Days in Bath and London, UK

Thanks for posting about your trip. I look forward to hearing more.

I erred in my recap above. Between checking in and dinner, we actually visited the Abbey on our first day, taking the “Adjusted Public Tower Tour” which was great. I think I’ve noted in previous recaps that one of my rules for travel is to never skip a cathedral. While the Abbey is not currently a cathedral, it was before a Bishop decided he’d rather live in Wells. So, it still qualifies for my rule.

There were two guides with different interests, and there were two couples for the tour, which was an exceptional ratio of tourists per guide. Highly recommend the tower tour, especially if you’re into bells. I learned more about bell ringing from this hour tour than I had in my previous 53 years on earth.

This tour was incidentally the first place that I heard that Jane Austen hated Bath. We would hear two takes on this burning issue. I tend to believe the more nuanced take, that she was a country girl who didn’t enjoy city life, not just Bath. I suspect if she’d been a young Victorian, with their greening of Bath’s public spaces, she might’ve liked it better, but since society’s place for women hadn’t changed much, maybe not.

Friday, April 10

After passing out as though we were dead after our dinner at Clayton’s we were down to breakfast at the Brooks Guest House at the start of service. We had booked Brooks because of their claim to having an award winning breakfast. And they did not disappoint.

We both had fresh made Benedicts, with really nice British bacon, and a nice brown toast. And our own pots of coffee and tea. Yogurts, pastries, and cereals were also on offer, as well as full English, and full vegetarian English, and other made to order options.

As an aside, I dunno how a B&B gets an award for breakfast. Is there a rating body that samples all the contending options? Is it just based on reviews. I couldn’t say it was the best breakfast in a Bath B&B, but it was a great breakfast on all days, and we heard others praise it, with orders we never got, like the salmon and bagel option and the vegetarian English.

Down the strip towards the Roman Baths, we made a couple of stops, as we were running early. Wife needed some items from a drug store, and I had come without a jacket, because I thought I was well adapted to Chicago and wouldn’t get cold, but was not happy waiting for Clayton’s to open. Got a highly discounted jacket at Mountain Warehouse across the street from the Baths. Buying the jacket earned us nice weather for the rest of the trip. Not bad for £40. I did lug it around and use it on occasion, but never got more than an hour or so. But will get some nice use of it at home.

The Roman Baths. Rick rates them as a 3* and I judge that to be accurate. We had scheduled a tour, but followed instructions and arrived early, and toured the museum ahead of the tour jump off. On our first trip to England, I was impressed by nearly every single person we met working or volunteering at every site. So one goal for this trip was to maximize time spent with those employees and volunteers. Our tour guide was both highly knowledgeable and quite amusing. From the ancient history to the Georgians, Victorians, and 60’s swingers, we got the full tea, including on why they don’t let people go in the old baths (rats, brain eating bacteria, and lots of other microscopic devils). It’s a very interesting sight, and the reason for Bath’s existence and prosperity.

Done with the Baths, having exited through the Gift Shop, we headed over to the Walcott Artisan Quarter Shops, had a sandwich at Picnic Coffee. The addition of chutney and rocket to a ham and cheese sandwich on a decent sourdough was an elevation I wasn’t expecting. We explored the street afterwards and then worked our way back to the Bath for the Mayor of Bath’s Honorary Guide tour. As I’m running out of space, this will have to fit in another post.

Friday 10, continued:

As we descended upon the Abbey Churchyard for the Mayor of Bath’s Honorary Guide’s tour, we found that nearly one out of every three tourists in Bath had the same idea. Fortunately, there were four honorary guides, and they efficiently divided us up into more manageable groups, who then split up. Rick rates this as a 3* and I agree. More history of Bath, from that edge of the empire Roman town to the Georgian spa, the Victorian era, and to present. Our guide lived up to the standard set for British guides and volunteers, holding a wealth of information, a bounty of interesting opinions, and a really great manner of presenting it all. We had clear skies for most of the tour, unusual sunlight (£40 jacket doing its duty ;-) and the Bath stone that everything has for facing was positively sparkling. Time well spent and highly recommended.

Some research of mine suggested that The Raven pub had the best meat pies in Bath, so that was our destination. There was a huge crowd downstairs, but we were seated nearly immediately upstairs in the dining room. I had fallen in love with meat pies on our previous visit, being two of my favorite meals from that trip, which my wife hadn’t gotten. The Raven did not disappoint, and my wife was thrilled with her chicken pie. I had the steak and Stilton, which was great, but I probably should have done the steak and ale. We split the crumble of the day, as my wife has some dental work that she didn’t want to risk to the sticky toffee pudding (the third favorite thing I had on our first trip). Any rate, I’d recommend the Raven of Bath. Good service, plus plus atmosphere, good food, good value.

Hiked back to our B&B and out like lights.
On the 10th 17,861 steps for 8.3 miles.
Running total: 29,723 steps, 13.8 miles.

Saturday April 11th (or 11 April if you do it that way)

Up early, hit the breakfast as they opened, and hit the yogurts, granola, pastries and such, but then were told we could get portions of the full English within our timing, so we added half Englishes, and my wife tried to explain an over easy egg, which apparently doesn’t exist in England (I’ve seen a video from Fallow in London where the chef does over easy, but I hadn’t realized it was a foreign concept). Everything quite tasty, as billed.

We were up early for the madcap hacked adventure of the day. Booked with Scarper Tours to get to Stonehenge because the schedule worked better than taking the train to Salisbury and getting the bus up to Stonehenge. Our bus driver was an amusing guide who was formerly in law enforcement in Hong Kong, and then in England. Very dry humor, but lots of interesting tidbits about Stonehenge and its many American knockoffs, like Foamhenge, and Phonehenge. Scarper encourages you to download the official audio guide app ahead of the tour, and I’m sure it’s great, but I still haven’t really had a chance to use it. ;-)

Rick rates Stonehenge a 3*. Sure, I guess. I suppose it’s better to have gone and know than to have skipped and wonder, but while it’s quite amazing that some folks assembled at the site 5000 years ago, in the words of Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, “No one knows who they were or what they were doing.” Or as Samuel Pepys put it 300+ years earlier “God knows what their use was.” The museum is interesting, but doesn’t really answer many questions, which I guess absent the invention of a Time Machine will never be answered. The gift shop goes between amusing, tacky, and conspiracy profane. I did get some use out of my £40 coat while looking at the monoliths as it was cold, damp and windy. Overall, I don’t know that I’d recommend, but as Austin Powers said, “That’s not my bag, baby.” Your mileage will inevitably vary.

We ditched Scarper for the return to Bath in favor of the bus from Stonehenge to Salisbury. This worked brilliantly, despite the less direct route by Old Sarum.

We were early for our 15:15 Tower Tour of Salisbury Cathedral so we bopped around Salisbury, looking in various shops and eventually getting a bit hungry, so we settled at The Ox Row Inn, a nice enough pub. I had a burger and half pint of a sweet hard cider. Wife had the chicken schnitzel, largely because it came with a Caesar salad, and proclaimed it to be a better schnitzel than any we had in Vienna or Munich. Burger was fine. Cozy place.

We got to the cathedral at our appointed time, early as instructed. Rick rates the Salisbury Cathedral as a 2* and I guess that’s about right, though the tower tour was brilliant. I’d recommend arriving twenty to thirty minutes ahead of the appointed tour time, as the tour does not cover the ground level of the cathedral or their copy of the Magna Carta. We were the only folks for the tour, which does involve 332 steps from the floor to the base of the spire, which can only be ascended on a scary patchwork of ladders. The steps are nicely broken up, and fall into three categories: good wide stone, worn tight medieval, and claustrophobic wooden construction for where the medieval is too worn. We got a close up look at the stained glass over the main entrance, a good look at the unimpressive bells (big bells would shake the tower and cause it to fall), and an amazing view from three sides of the tower (one ledge is given to peregrine falcons). And a good look at church and the architecture. Our guide was an older gentleman, Nigel IIRC, who was a wealth of knowledge about all things church and tower. I’m in better shape now than when we were last in England, climbing cathedrals, and I was happy with the effort.

Saturday continued:

Forgot to mention above, the weather cleared after we were done looking at the living rocks of Stonehenge, and it was positively sunny for Salisbury and the Cathedral, though windy.

We got to look around the church in a rush after getting down from the tower, but no Magna Carta. Did get to hear some practice or warmups for the Evensong, which was nice. Got into the gift shop right before they started locking people out, but nothing that notable there.

Hoofed it a mile or so to the train station, got tickets back to Bath, and wife threatened hitting up Mr. D’s (a corner burger shop near the hotel), but I said we can get something near the train station. We settled on Franco Manco, which smelled good and looked nice. Very good Neapolitan style pizzas, which hit the spot and served the need. I figured they’re a chain, and have seen them on a list of chains to avoid in London (“quality drop”), but they can’t all be peak of peaks, and this was very good.

Steps: 17,760 for 8.3 miles
Running total: 47,483 steps for 22.1 miles

Sunday the 12th:
Transition day, so a looser schedule, with only a 15:00 reservation for Sunday Roast in London as a hard point to hit. So, a bit more casual timing to get up and get down to breakfast, more leisurely at breakfast, wife having the full English and me an abbreviated version, plus some of the pastry/yogurt bar. Chilled and sipped coffee for a bit, and then moseyed down to the station for our train to London. There were a couple of couples who were early arrivals for the Rick Steves Best of England or something, who were a bit more about this business (like us on other days).

Everywhere we went in England, there was talk from Americans and Britons about the current administration and the needless war in Iran. Every pub, every tour, every sight, everywhere, either circumspect or direct. The disapproval was pointed and concern about the bigger picture was plentiful. Travel is a political act, and the politics of it are grim right now, despite fascists taking a big L in Hungary.

Back to the trip. HOLY HELL! That train was crowded. Every seat reserved, and the aisles were jammed. We wound up standing most of the way. We got seats a stop or two ahead of London when whoever had the reservation for the seats didn’t show for their seats. Whew. Still, a bit nuts.

We had a bit of a dilemma, which was our reservation (the latest I could make), was at the same time as the earliest check in our hotel would allow. I solved it by paying for an early check in for our hotel which I got after snatching the seat on the train. Dislike the practice of paying for that, but it allowed a small amount of money to solve a dilemma, which is always a fair trade, imho.

Roll into Paddington, get Oyster Cards, load em up, and take the Tube to our hotel, the Travelodge in Marylebone. Hoof it about a mile to the hotel, check in, get our room, settle in, and mosey over to the Cavendish Marylebone.

I’d recommend it highly. I’m not one for carrots or parsnip puree, but these were done nicely, and my porchetta was everything. Wife had the sirloin. Good Yorkshire Pud, good cider with the roast. We split the chocolate tart, which maybe should have been warmed or something, but was an amazing combination of flavors.

Hoofed back to hotel, chilled and done.
Steps: 14,469 for 6.9 miles
Cumulative; 61,952 for 29 miles.

Regarding the overcrowded train on a Sunday: - on weekends, you can see the Train Manager (Guard) and if space exists in First Class, purchase an upgrade for relatively little cost - you may even have had the upgrade for free being as the train was rammed. Of course, it well have been too difficult to go through a train with people standing. (The First Class cars are normally at the London end of trains). https://www.gwr.com/your-tickets/ways-to-save/weekend-upgrades

Good tip, but moving in the train was impossible.

Monday, April 13.
This was the day for Aidan Turner in Les Liaisons Dangeroux, at 19:00. To fill the morning, we had tickets for the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. We had wanted to see them on our first trip, however the main attractions for us were closed then, mainly the Princess of Wales house with its cactus gardens. We canceled a day before, and had one of our best days, hitting the Leighton Museum and the Portobello market street.

This time, we proceeded undeterred. We struggled to make a choice about breakfast, and ate at a coffee shop/greasy spoon across the street from the Marylebone station. Nothing special.

We got our underground/overground routing and got out to Kew, which is really cute according to wife. I can see as a two train trip could trouble people not used to mass transit, and labyrinthine underground tunnels, but we figured the transfer out.

Rick gives Kew a 2* rating. Since my wife works with flowers and collects cacti, it got an extra * in our book.

We went straight for the cacti, and had a clear day to start (jacket continues to pay dividends). We hit the whole of the PoW structure, then meandered and saw the Rock Gardens, and both Victorian glass houses. And we climbed the tower to the sky walk, which was worth the steps.

We looked at the dining options at the Gardens, and opted to explore Kew a bit, settling for sandwiches/pastries at a coffee shop, and I had my first Sausage Roll. Been on the list since an episode of GBBO where Paul Hollywood told some frat bro baker “It’s not a sausage roll, mate” after the baker put an egg wash on some pastry that didn’t get one. I approve.

Trains back to the hotel, freshen up ahead of the show but want to eat a nice dinner before. I hadn’t booked anything, because I wasn’t feeling any of the restaurants with pre-theater menus near the theater. Went looking and found Briciole near our hotel. Booked a reserve, which was not remotely necessary, as they were dead. It was Monday night after all. We got fantastic service, and had a great dinner there. High recommendation if you’re in the neighborhood.

We were okay on time, but decided to take a cab to the show, which got us there with enough time to explore the National Theatre (aka getting lost on the grounds). In our seats with plenty of time, and treated to a great production of the show. Aidan Turner solves a problem that no one talks about with the film. Malkovich is a great actor, but it’s completely unbelievable that Michelle Pfeiffer’s is charmed by him. And charm is how a ladies’ man works. Turner is a more believable lothario. Lesley Mannville is amazing as well.

We hang out by the stage door, for Turner to come out and talk to his Stans. Got a nice picture of my wife with him, and while queuing for his time, we had a nice chat with some other patrons about the play, the Turner, London theater in general, and more. This all takes half an hour or so, and when we’ve completed the task, the area is a ghost town. We hike a bit, get a cab, and are impressed that our cabbie knows where our hotel is just by mentioning it. I read an article about The Knowledge, the test they take to prove they can cab, so I guess it shouldn’t have been that impressive, but passing the Knowledge is a feat in and of itself.

On the day: 16,892 steps for 8.1 miles
Cumulative Total: 78,844 for 37.1 miles

Tuesday, April 14.

I should add some words about the Travelodge Marylebone. It has a good location for a good price. It’s literally across the street from the Marylebone stop on the Bakerloo line, and a 5 minute walk from the Circle line. They had a restaurant/cafe attached but not affiliated that had an interesting Indian take on English breakfast and foods. Had a really nice light single serve cheesecake there on the second day.

The room was clean, the staff were pleasant, but there was some brokedickedness around the margins. One of the two elevators was “Down (and not coming back up” according to its sign. (If I had a Sharpie, I’d have advised therapy or Prozac for it). The knobs on the shower were put on incorrectly (water pressure on the temp, and temp handle on the pressure knob). There was a sign about keeping the door to the bathroom closed until the fan cleared the steam, lest you set off the fire alarm, but the fan was not in evidence.

And then the other elevator started to have issues. Its overhead light burned out, and so on day 2, it had a rechargeable flashlight hanging on the side. When we got back from the Gardens, I said it had lost the light a bit, and when we got back from the theatre, it was pitch black in the elevator and we navigated by cell phone flash. On day 3, it had a new light, something like a cyclist would wear at night, or a spelunker might use. Which would get dim as the day wore on, and eventually go out entirely.

All this is to say, 3/5 for the hotel. Location and price to the plus, brokedick to the minus.

Up timely to go to the Hard Rock Cafe at Piccadilly Circus, to meet Clive, our guide for our London Soho Music Tour next to the Horses of Helios statue. We were quite early for our time, so we walked around a bit, saw some of Chinatown, and back to the Horses. We were told to be there at 9:50, and by 9:55, I’m nervous, so I call the company to make sure I didn’t mess up or something… just as I start to talk to someone after navigating voicemail, Clive walks up and introduces himself.

Clive is a punk drummer who’s played gigs at the old Marquee, and seen a million shows back in the 70’s and 80’s. It’s just us two for the tour, so our ratio luck continues. We start walking and chatting about our musical taste, so Clive can customize, but I’m not sure how customized it was. We did see some places the Beatles, Stones, and Zeppelin had important moments, or the remnants, as well as places important to The Who, the Sex Pistols, and David Bowie. Clive had a binder of photos of the neighborhood and places from back in the day and had a lot of memories to share about shows and acts. We crossed paths with a couple of other tours up to the same stuff, and maybe the younger guides have a bit more polish or brio, but Clive was there when it all happened, and was less caught up in the art of telling the mythology than sharing how it really was. Two hours with Clive was time well spent for a rock music nerd.

We did a bit of shopping, walked into a pub, were promptly seated and then ignored despite them not being busy. We walked out and found the Market Place Food Hall in Leicester Square. I had the most American food item I’d eaten on the whole trip, a fried chicken sandwich with red Leicester cheese and buffalo sauce. Wife got a Greek shawarma thing that took forever (front of the hall, so guy was BUSY!). Lot of actual British people there, which was refreshing for the area.

We had to boogie, or more like mosey, over to the Courtauld Gallery for our 14:00 entry to see Seurat and the Sea. This is a really neat museum, not small but not large or megalithic, with a nice collection, if too many Peter Paul Reubens paintings on display. The Seurat and the Sea was an interesting exhibition, tracing the development of his technique by showing his work at the sea over a series of years.

To be continued

Loving this trip report. Thank you.

We did a bit of shopping, walked into a pub, were promptly seated and then ignored despite them not being busy.

You probably should have ordered at the bar if you wanted service in a pub? Very few offer table service.

“You probably should have ordered at the bar if you wanted service in a pub? Very few offer table service.”

We probably should have, but it was a Greene King (sp?) pub and not that interesting, so it was no loss. The food court was a lot more interesting, as we mentally rated things based on how much they reflected American cultural invasion, OG British, EU-ness, or reverse colonization.

I’m sure locals to Great Britain have written extensively about the corporatization of a lot of pubs, and the grossness of that, so I won’t go into it. Apparently the US is experiencing a British Pub boom currently, but I’m sure we’re probably doing it wrong.

That chicken sandwich was fantastic, and could easily sell big here. Normally comes with pickles, which I don’t tolerate at all, despite them currently having a moment here.

Continuing where I left off, in the Courtauld Gallery. On the other side of the special exhibit, they had their permanent collection of modern artists, and it was really interesting to compare what Seurat was doing in 1888 with what Monet and Van Gogh were doing at the same time. In some ways, three similar approaches, with Seurat the most mannered, Monet a bit less formal, and Van Gogh exploding the canvas in ways the other two couldn’t fathom. Old man Monet is in the sweet spot there, but they are all enjoyable painters.

Going down a floor, we get go back before Modernism, and they have a nice collection, but allow my rant on Reubens. They have a couple Van Dyck’s and note that he was part of Reubens studio before striking out on his own. PPR was prolific, and didn’t really paint most of his paintings, really just did faces and hands for a while and let his munchkins do the work. As a result, EVERY MUSEUM IN EUROPE AND MANY IN AMERICA have multiple Reubens. So, the Courtauld having as many as they do on display is a choice (one that I can’t support). Rant over. They have some nice stuff on this floor, other than the multitude of Reubens.

The bottom floor is their Renaissance and Medieval gallery, and that’s where the really good stuff is. All the Master of This and Master of The Other Place, nameless artists from the Medieval era, just fantastic. And they have a great collection of it. Overall, I think I’d rather Courtauld as a 2*, but maybe it would be in another city with less than London.

We got a soda and sat in the courtyard of the Sommerset House, where the Courtauld is located. They had a traveling exhibit the Museum of Edible Earth, which turns out to be an opportunity to eat dirt. We passed. They also had a sculpture in the fountain that was nice to stare at with the sodas and the light drizzle.

The effects of the late night at the theater the night before were starting to hit us, so we walked by the riverside to our tube stop and made our way back to the hotel. We were zonked and we’re pretty sure we went to bed without dinner. I remember eying the thick Kit Kat in the room, but was concerned it was a £10 candy bar, so just went to sleep to store up for another day.

Steps: Daily: 16,035 for 7.6 miles
cumulative: 94,879 for 44.7 miles.

Wednesday, April 15th.

The plan was to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum in the morning, then move to Mercato Mayfair for lunch, and then Alfie’s Antique Market in the afternoon.

We got out early, made our way to the Circle Line, and rode to the stop by the VnA. Greeted with several coffee and pastry joints, somehow we settled for Pret, when a couple hundred feet in any direction would have yielded something sexier. But Pret was fine for killing time until the museum opened.

We moseyed over, and spoke to a docent about what’s on and how to get to it, and after looking at the map, I bought the guidebook to the museum, because they have a LOT. Even with Fashion closed for work, we had sooo much to see. We hit the Medieval and Renaissance to start, which was all quite amazing, then found ourselves in the Cast Courts which were kind of mind boggling. It’s kind of a greatest hits of stuff from other countries that could be cast into molds and rebuilt in plaster and such back in England.

We were a bit thirsty, so we hit the garden cafe, were served by a woman from Chicago, who told us all about going home and enjoying a soda cup full of ice after being in England for six months for school, and then proceeded to give my wife and I half a cup of ice for our sodas. I gave my wife my ice, so she could have her full American style soda. I’m originally from NYC, and we were a lot more European about ice in beverages.

It was about noon, and when faced with the choice of leaving the VNA and going to Alfie’s Antique Market, we opted to stay at the VNA. So off to Theater, where I saw a jacket worn by JOHN ENTWISTLE, one of my top three favorite bassists of all time, with the bass being my favorite instrument. Then to Jewelry, and what an amazing exhibit, showing the evolution of jewelry and watches over the centuries.

Then to photography, which was having an exhibition of American photography. I joked about flying 4000 miles to England to see American stuff, but they had a great exhibit from across the spectrum of American photography (which I said is apparently 40% about racism, 35% about sexism, 10% about poverty, and the remainder is landscapes and New York City).

We then hit up the Stained Glass and Sacred Silver, which has some really brilliantly displayed stained glass, something I really enjoy. We were then, and only then, museumed out, so we found the main gift shop, where I bought myself a journal notebook (to plan the next trip in), and my wife bought a pair of earrings, a scarf, and a small chocolate bar.

We sat for a minute near the Chihuly glass piece that hangs over the main information desk, and wondered about what it’s like working under such a hanging, while we planned our next move. The Rick guide had some restaurant recommendations near the VNA, which led us to the Anglesea Arms, a “Classic English Pub,” for dinner.

I had the Scotch 35 day dry aged ribeye with confit garlic butter and my wife had the chicken and Parma ham schintzel with the loaded wedge salad. I think she had an additional salad to start, but I might be confusing it with the place in Salisbury. The food was all very good, nicely plated, and quite nice. I had a cider from the tap, which I tricked myself into ordering instead of a cloudy cider from a bottle. It was good, but not memorable. And we split (like 70-30) the sticky toffee pudding that had heretofore eluded me. And it was divine.

We asked our waiter if there was a place around to get a good English cheddar, and he directed us towards a street where we we bound to find it, and while navigating to a cheese shop, we found a wine shop that had a small cheese and canapé fridge, wherein two different Godminster cheeses were found, along with a cloth bound stinky cheddar. Easy peasy.

Back to our hotel by foot, tube, and more foot, and to bed.
Steps: 13,243 for 6.2 miles
Total: 75,195 for 50.9 miles

This is an outstanding trip report - loving your pace and your wordsmithing. Thank you for taking the time. Also, your travel priorities are very similar to ours, so thank you for creating the itinerary for our next trip to London. Carry on!

I'm glad you got to do the Tower tour in Salisbury. We had tickets for it in 2022, but it got cancelled because the Queen passed away the week before. They said it was cancelled out of respect for the Queen, however I noted at the time that the gift shop was still open where I could buy a QE2 bobblehead.

I love London and want to go back but my wife is tired of big cities and big crowds. Her TV boyfriend is Sam Heughen, so maybe I can convince her to go if he's ever in a London play.

Great TR, now I have to read your previous one.

I have enjoyed reading this, thanks for sharing! I have also enjoyed seeing John Entwistle's jacket at the V&A and want to know your other top bass players (I also love/play the bass).

My top three are, in no order, Entwistle, Chris Squire, and John Taylor (worth checking out the series of videos he did during the pandemic called Stone Love Bass Odyssey, where he broke down 8 big Duran Duran songs). Geddy Lee and Mark King probably round out the top 5, but I have like 70 or 80 guys and girls who’ve played stuff I love.

Thursday, April 16, last licks.

We had some morning time. On our first trip, we had a GAIL’s close to our hotel, and were in love with their stuff. We’d narrowly avoided a few of them on this trip, but decided to hit one for our final coffee and pastry in London. Did not disappoint. I realize it’s a chain, but that ham and cheese croissant haunted my good dreams since our first trip, so we hit it up and it didn’t disappoint. That croissant, with the mornay sauciness… chef kiss. The cherry chocolate scone was good (could use more cherry, or just leave it out entirely). The cinnamon roll was very nice and the coffees were proper.

Wife saw the Church Street market on the map close to the hotel, which she thought would be interesting, so we walked over and checked it out, and it wasn’t. Produce and clothing and household practicalities. Nothing worth taking home. Probably a right useful thing for folks who live there, though.

Back to the hotel, pack our stuff, police the room, take one last ride in the flashlight lit elevator, turned in our card keys, and over to the Marylebone station. Our cards didn’t have enough on them to get to Paddington Station, so had to reload, and my card was declined on the second transaction. Then wife’s card was declined. She tried a second card and it was fine. I had anxiety about having maxed out my card, which was simply not possible. Turned out it was just the machine being weird.

Any rate, one stop on the train, then to the Heathrow Express, which was no muss, no fuss, straight easy. On our last trip, we were forced into using it because the underground line out to Heathrow was down, and it was a very relaxed way to go, and uncrowded. This time, it was preplanned, and of course, a bit more crowded, but we had seats and space, so still easy peasy.

Got our boarding passes because the American Airlines app was being goofy, but we were pros after our difficulty getting them coming. Got to security, and both our bags needed a bit of extra scrutiny. Mine was due to the cloth bound cheddar slice in my bag. Wife’s was due to some cactus product she claims I forced her to buy at the botanic gardens, though my intent was just her awareness of it. But all of that was handled with efficiency and kindness by the airport officials.

We were early, and our flight was delayed, so we had some extended wait time. I got one last Euro Fanta. Fanta is better in Europe and it’s a kind of kooky story that goes back to WW2. And I got a box of Walker’s shortbread shaped like highland cows (one of our Bath Abbey tour guides had a tattoo of one, and confessed to an obsession, which apparently transferred).

As our flight got closer, we contemplated eating on the plane, and opted to get sandwiches at Caffe Nero. By the time they were heated and ready, our flight was boarding.

Flight had a lot of open seats and the woman who completed our row left to lay out in a fully empty row. Much more comfy flight, with no one in the seat in front of me. Less claustrophobic, even though we were in the same class of seats on the same flight.

Despite departing late, we arrived on time, which was nice. With our Global Entry cards, we still had to schlep the same steps as before, but in more efficient lines with less scrutiny. And given a pass, we were waved through customs.

Got a cab, and got home, loved on the cats and sacked out. And started the recovery from the jet lag.

Steps: 12,527 steps on the day, 87,722 for the trip.
Miles: 6 miles on the day, 57 for the trip.

Next, ratings and learnings.

Church Street market is very much a local market for local people mostly serving the needs of those living in the council housing in the area. One of the few in London that hasn’t been ‘tourisified’
Church Street itself has a few interesting antique shops at the Lisson Grove end of the street including Alfie’s Antique Market which is massive and has been going for years.

https://alfiesantiques.com/

There is also one of my favourite shops, Joel’s Fabrics. Selling seriously high end fabrics, I couldn’t even afford anything in the discount bins, but they were always very happy to let you wander around.
Where Queen Elizabeth’s dress makers bought their fabric from apparently.

It’s a real London street with all ‘stratas’ of society just muddling along.

Thanks for the information. We had intended to hit Alfie’s and that part of Church street after the VnA, but we opted into more museum and less shopping, so it will have to wait for next time.

Which brings us to the conclusion where I try and sum things up.

Lodging: I have a hard time rating lodging because I can’t compare to the rest of the market, only to my experience. But I would recommend [Brooks Guest House][1] in Bath. Quiet for a busy street, very good breakfast, not too far from the main stuff, but far enough to miss the crowds. And charmingly European.

Not sure if I recommend Travelodge Central London Marylebone. It’s a good location, interesting neighborhood, clean room. But there was a lot of jankiness that keeps me from a full endorsement.

Restaurants: heartily recommend Clayton’s Kitchen in Bath. That lemon dessert will be something I remember for a long time.

Also recommend The Raven of Bath. Great pub, good food, very popular with locals and conveniently located.

Recommend The Cavendish, particularly for Sunday Roast. Really nicely done, fresh take but traditional, and a nice bar as well.

Recommend Briciole Ristorante Gastronomia. The food was as good as what we got in Alba and Bra in Italy, places with Michelin stars and Bib Gourmands. Really reminded me of that, which was as well as I’ve ever eaten.

Recommend Anglesea Arms. Accommodating service, generous to tourists, delicious and inventive food.

Also enjoyed meals at GAIL’s and Franco Manca… sue me. ;-)

Sites: I think the Victoria and Albert might be my favorite museum ever. I will have to go back through our travels, but it was a top 5 minimum.

Salisbury Cathedral was maybe my second favorite site. Between the experience climbing the tower and the guide (and maybe the contrast with Stonehenge)…

Roman Baths were my favorite in Bath. No shade to the Abbey, but the Baths are a bit deeper. And no shade to the Mayor’s Honorary Guides, who have all of historic Bath as a site, which isn’t fair.

I have mixed feelings about Stonehenge and cannot decide if I think it is an amazing site or a bit of a sheep show. I’m glad we saw it, but I wonder if it was worthwhile.

Kew Gardens were fantastic. Courtauld was very good, but not my favorite smaller museum in London (so far… that’s The Leighton House).

Miscellaneous: Global Entry is amazing. Love it.

Air travel in 2026 is a game of first class and steerage, and being in the steerage class sucks.

Next: starting to plan the 20th Anniversary of our Honeymoon, which means back to Italy, where we went 2 years after our marriage and then 10 years after that. Florence, Bologna, and spaces between and around.

And starting a list of things to do and see for that time when Aiden Turner is in another play that my wife wants to see. London is a vast city with layers and layers of great stuff, and I am sure we will return within 5 years.

If you’ve read this far, congrats. Give yourself a pat on the head. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, which was a fraction of how much I enjoyed living it.

Safe travels,

Thanks so much for sharing all this, so glad you enjoyed your trip! Good luck with the Italy planning.

Thanks for this report, an interesting read.

The V & A has long been my favourite museum. I see you came across the Cast Courts - I really enjoy going in there and getting so close to Trajan's column etc. If you visit again, see if you can get on one of their tours, they can be so interesting and informative. And London walks also do a tour of the "highlights", I did this once, guided by a very knowledgeable art historian. www.walks.com

Enjoy Italy, I've just had a week there - it never disappoints. Got to a few places just north of Venice - Padua, Mantua, Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa, Castelfranco. Loved it all. Now planning my next Italian trip, Rome in October.

One last observation. I didn’t really know what to say about recommending the rock tour, and it came to me that it has the same problem for me as Stonehenge, just inverted. Stonehenge has the thing to see, and not much information. The rock tour was a ton of information with almost nothing to see.

Just a random thought.

I also just reread my first trip to London, and wanted to share that part of my problem on the last day was that delicious banana I had with breakfast. Turns out, they do me dirty now, and my guts cannot handle them. Weird.