Just back from Britain!

May was a beautiful time of year to visit the UK and believe it or not we had 21 days of mostly sunny weather and never got wet! Our itinerary consisted of 5 major areas, The South West, including stops in Bath, Wells and Avebury. Devon, including Plymouth and Dartmoor. Cornwall, where we enjoyed the beauty of the rocky coastline on foot and by car, from our base in Penzance. From there we journeyed to the Cotswolds where we toured the area from our AirBNB spot in Chipping Campden. Next stop was the Country of Wales with its dramatic coastal towns and castles. We then ventured to the northern city of York and finally to London for a taste of the city life.

Cape Cornwall near Lands End

I know it sounds like a lot for 21 days, but remember the UK is not that large so the distances between locations was never more than a few hours by car or train. Also, we were home basing in a central place in each area for several nights at a time and venturing out during the day to see the sites we wanted to see. Accommodations varied from Hotel to AirBNB to traditional B and B's, we did drive a lot for 14 of the days in order to see the sites and even though I have a high level of experience successfully driving in Europe I will say that driving in Britain is difficult, not only the right hand driving but the fact that the roads in the countryside are quite narrow and nearly every small town will have cars parked on both sides of the road which means a lot of waiting and a high level of concentration at all times.

Other impressions for me were around the costs, 1 Pound = $1.20 and even with that exchange rate I found the cost to be reasonable compared to the inflated prices that have taken over the US economy. In the smaller towns meals were in the $40-$50 range for dinner, a pint of beer was around $4-$6 in most of the pubs we visited. So all in all I found it cheaper to be in Britain than at home in the US.

The Avon River

Overall, I would say Britain is a good value in 2023, the people are friendly, the accommodations are clean and the staff are attentive, its a very family friendly country with lots of great history and well presented sites that are numerous and easy to visit. All of our stops had a lot to offer but my favorite two were Cornwall and The Cotswolds. Wales would also rate high on my list and York is certainly worth a couple days.

If you are interested in traveling to the UK or any other place in Europe, I can help you pull together a fabulous itinerary to make your trip as enjoyable as possible!

More detailed views of the above mentioned locales can be found on My Favorite Places section of this web site. www.thetravelinbear.com #Cotswolds #Cornwall #York #CastlesofWales #drivingingreatbritain

The Travelin Bear meets a friend in York, England