In September 2013, we stayed in a timeshare exchange at Barnsdale Country Club and Hall. It's a large country house with rooms in outbuildings overlooking Rutland Water (a large lake). The reception desk and some rooms are in the main, picturesque hall. Here, and in the restaurant, are the only places with internet access. There are also several A-frame cottages on the property overlooking the lake. The grounds were beautiful and well kept, our unit was clean as a whistle, and the reception folks were friendly and helpful.
We would definitely stay here again as it was a great location for seeing a spectacular part of England peppered with picturesque villages of golden stone and thatch roofs, countless historic homes, castles and palaces, wonderful pubs, and a large variety of scenery. A car is quite necessary (we rented from Avis at Heathrow) if you want to do any sightseeing. We had some excellent directions from those-who-shall-remain-unnamed faithful Helpline folks who took us to Barnsdale on a route past Lumbertubb road. We brought our own GPS preloaded it with addresses for all the sights we planned to see. As Americans, it definitely made driving on the left a tiny bit more carefree and we (well, the husband) were experts at negotiating roundabouts.
Since we were going to be in the English countryside for three weeks, before leaving the U.S., we purchased a Royal Oak U.S. membership ($95/couple) in the National Trust (NT). Thus, we focused extensively on seeing those properties since we didn’t have to pay further admission prices (be sure to check open dates/times). We also found that the Historic Houses Association membership really paid off ($95/couple). We found out about this too late to purchase it before our trip and bought it the first day at The Burghley House (the information packet and membership card was overnighted to us at Barnsdale).
There are charming villages with golden stone houses and thatched roofs everywhere making this as wonderful (or more so) an area to visit than the Cotswolds. In addition to driving through lots of villages and towns, we stopped in Stamford (near Burghley), Rockingham, Uppinham, Fotheringhay, Oundle, Peterborough, and Geddington. We really should have spent more time in Oakham as it seemed delightful when we drove to the Tesco grocery store.
Historic houses we saw besides Burghley House were Rockingham Castle and Grimsthorpe Castle (as well as others in different areas of England on the rest of the trip). We drove to Cambridge (about 90 minutes), parked at a park & ride to bus into the city, and took the city walking tour. In the afternoon, we went to Anglesey Abbey (NT). Another day we again drove about 90 minutes to take a tour at The National Stud in Newmarket, visit the Ely Cathedral in Ely, and took a walk around lovely Wicken Fen (NT). We really enjoyed the Foxton Locks (12 picturesque locks through which narrowboats travel up and down a hill), named after the village of Foxton and located a few miles west of Market Harborough. Another day we toured through Belton House (NT) about 45 minutes north in Grantham and combined that day with a tour of Grimsthorpe Castle. The Peterborough Cathedral was stunning. Another favorite was a trip to Lyveden New Bield (NT) which has a wonderful audio tour of the new-completed Victorian home and the partially completed Victorian-style gardens.
Restaurants we really enjoyed were the Fox & Hounds pub in Exton, Old White Hart in Lyddington, and The Olive Branch in Clipsham (the last two fall more into the “gastropub” or “bistro” category).
This trip was extremely successful thanks to the help and advice I received on the Travel Helpline and with Rick Steves' guidebooks.