I arrived back home on March 5 after 3 weeks plus in England. My husband and I started in Oxford. We landed at LHR and then took a bus direct and then walked to the Premium Inn Center City. We stayed 5 nights. It was a good location, we walked everywhere in the city easily. He ate their breakfast 3 times, I’m a lazy start, cup of tea in bed sort of gal so I never felt the need. He was pleased with it.
We did the usual Oxford sort of things, did the Rick Steves walking tour, went into the Divinity School, toured Christ College, went back there for Evensong, also checked out the Covered Market. We also went to the Ashmolean Museum and the Natural History Museum.
One day we went to the Blenheim Palace; that meant taking a bus about 30-45 minutes as I remember. It dropped off at the entrance of the palace grounds. It is a spectacular sort of place with lots of Churchill history associated with it. That was a full day and very worth it. I booked an extra Upstairs Tour as well as general admission. I have a lesser interest in the Big Fancy House touring than some. I’d rather see churches and art or history museums but this was one place I wanted to see and even though it’s pricey I’m glad we did it.
We could have done Oxford in 4 nights but I always err on the more time than you need than less, and actually it worked out better for us. We both came in tired as we had just gotten over something we picked up from staying with our grandkids in January. So we did less every day than usual but we were back up to full speed by the time we got to London.
We took the train, again direct, to London on Sunday the 16th. Took a bus to hotel. We stayed in the Washington Mayfair hotel. We were there for the RS Best of London tour. The hotel was very nice, nice people staffing it and the breakfast was good. Plus a good kettle, real porcelain cups and decent tea bags in the room. I love England! (I’m a big tea drinker.)
Reading Jane’s trip report 2+ years ago enticed me into signing up for this tour. I’m a confirmed off season traveler so this week in February really appealed to me. And my husband looked over the itinerary and signed on as well.
The tour was great, very nice people, great guide, Lisa, and we got a lot done! Lisa got our group of 24 here and there, on and off the tube or train and made it all look easy all while sharing information and history as we went. We had 2 families with preteen kids, single ladies and retired couples, from all over the US.
We saw: St. Paul’s, British museum, Tower of London with opening ceremony, Westminster Abbey, Globe Theatre, Churchill War Rooms, Windsor Castle plus walking tours here and there, afternoon tea, East End food tour. Plus we all got handed an Oyster Card with 50£ on it! Very nice. It was a fun tour and I think everyone on it was pleased with their experience
We extended an extra night in the hotel and took a 2 hour walking tour with London Walks on Shakespeare in London. It was excellent! The guide was wonderful, took us to places that Shakespeare lived in London giving us wonderful history along the way. Even brought his lute and played music from the time. The tour ended at the Globe. We are Shakespeare fans and can’t say enough how much we liked it.
The next morning my husband took the tube out to Heathrow for his flight back to DFW and I switched to a much cheaper hotel for 10 more nights.
I’ll continue this with further information on my solo time in the next post. But anyone with questions please ask!