Introduction - 2 Day Tour - 3 Day Tour - 9.Day.Tour - 20.Day.Tour - 25.Day.Tour - 29.Day.Tour - 31.Day.Tour -  34.Day.Tour

This 29 day tour of England and Edinburgh began with seven days based in London that included day trips to Hampton Court Palace, Hever Castle and Chartwell.  Two days in Dover included a day trip to Folkestone.  Serendipitously, our stay in Dover coincided with a one-off ['one time'] exhibition of model railways at the Dover Museum.  (The Folkestone, Hythe and District Model Railway Club normally has their annual exhibition in Folkestone in the month of October.)  This was followed by a drive along the coast of Dorset and Devon.  A train ride on the route of the "Great Way 'Round" (aka Great Western Railway) ended in Swindon.  After a 'day trip' back into London for an outing on the Venice-Simplon Orient Express British Pullman train, we toured Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire.  Three days in York/North Yorkshire were followed by a visit to Sandringham in Norfolk 'on the way' to Edinburgh.  After two nights in Edinburgh (and the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) and a respite in the Lake District, the holiday ended in Manchester.

Getting the Dates Right:  The schedule for the VSOE British Pullman tour required a return to London as a 'day trip' out of Swindon.  Another hurdle was fitting in a visit to The Queen's home of Sandringham.  Every summer, The Queen takes up residence there for several weeks at which time Sandringham is closed to the public.  The only way for us to see it was to back-track from York to Peterborough 'on the way' to Edinburgh.  The BritRail pass made the economics of this feasible.

Hired ['rental'] Car Strategy:  With the ever-increasing cost of petrol ['gasoline'] we decided to hire cars on multiple occasions, each for short periods of time.  We used our BritRail passes to the maximum and rented cars for the absolute minimum number of days.  Some may find it a nuisance to organise ['make arrangements'] so many separate rental cars.  It worked out for us.  In some cases it minimised our travel time by avoiding areas known for significant traffic congestion/delays and in all cases we ended up saving the cost of petrol to get from one place to the next.  This strategy had the added benefit of avoiding the per diem ['per day'] charge only to have the car parked and not used on given days.

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=  Travel by Tube	BHP =	British Heritage Pass (alternate link)
= ...by Train	NT =	National Trust
= Bus/Bus Tour  = Taxi	EH =	English Heritage (alternate link)
= Self-drive Car	NTS =	National Trust for Scotland
=  Overnight in (city or town)		Hudson's 2000+ Links

DAY  1                     London
		Arrive London Heathrow Airport (another link).
		Airport Coach (Bus) to London
		Today we would use the Heathrow Express.
		Britain Visitor Centre at 1 Regent Street
		Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
		St James Park
		Sherlock Holmes Museum  See our Tourist's Sherlock Holmes page.
		Madame Tussauds  (alternate link)
		The Metropolitan Cathedral of Westminster
DAY  2                     London
		Spencer House (another link)
		Bus tour to...
BHP		Chartwell (NT) (another link)   The home of Sir Winston Churchill
BHP		Hever Castle  See also 'Best of the Best'.
DAY  3               London
		The Booking Hall (book store)
		The Building Centre
		Collectors Corner (The old British Rail's memorabilia store for railway enthusiasts is now, sadly, closed.)
		Beatties Hobby Shop ...believed to have ceased trading ['closed']
		Ian Allen Bookstore
DAY  4                     London
		SouthWest Trains from London Waterloo (alternate link) (another link) to Hampton Court Station.
BHP		Hampton Court Palace (alternate link) See also 'Best of the Best'.
		SouthWest Trains from Hampton Court to London Waterloo Station (alternate link)
		Leicester Square  (webcam) ...pronounced 'Lester'
DAY  5               London
BHP		Kensington Palace (alternate link)
		Science Museum
		Victoria & Albert Museum
		Harrods World's most famous department store.  See also 'Best of the Best'.
		Royal Air Force Museum Hendon
DAY  6               London
		Cabinet War Rooms  See also 'Best of the Best'.
		Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (map of Kew Gardens)
BHP		Kew Palace (alternate link) (another link)
DAY  7                     Dover
BHP		Docklands Light Railway (DLR) (great snaps) from Tower Gateway via West India Quay and Crossharbour to Island Gardens
		River Thames underground (and underwater!) foot tunnel (another link) (and another) from Island Gardens to Greenwich.  Note: The DLR now has a station nr ['near'] the Cutty Sark.
		Cutty Sark
		National Maritime Museum
		Greenwich Park
		Old Royal Observatory and Prime Meridian
		Queen's House (another link)
		Docklands Light Railway from Island Gardens to Tower Hill
		Tower Hill Pageant
		Connex train from London Charing Cross Station (alternate link) to Dover Priory Station
DAY  8              Dover
		Collect ['pick-up'] hired ['rental'] car.
BHP		Eurotunnel Exhibition Centre  ...now closed.
		Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway  See also 'Best of the Best'.
		Return hired car.
		Folkestone, Hythe and District Model Railway Club Exhibition
DAY  9               Dover
BHP		Dover Castle (EH) (alternate link)
BHP		'Hellfire Corner' Dover's Secret Tunnels (another link) (and another) (and one more) See also 'Best of the Best'.
		The White Cliffs Experience (...now closed) and Dover Museum
DAY  10             Weymouth
		Connex train from Dover Priory Station to London Waterloo East Station
		South West Trains from London Waterloo Station (alternate link) to Bournmouth
		Collect hired car.
		Bournmouth
		Weymouth
DAY  11            Babbacombe
BHP		Pecorama  See also 'Best of the Best'.
BHP		Babbacombe Model Village
DAY  12                   Swindon
		Dobwells Adventure Park (alternate link) (another link) and Miniature Railway (alternate link)
		Return hired car.
		Virgin Trains from Plymouth to Bristol Temple Meads Station
		First Great Western from Bristol to Swindon.
DAY  13                   Swindon
		First Great Western train from Swindon to Didcot Parkway
		Didcot Railway Centre
		First Great Western from Didcot Parkway to Swindon
		Museum of the Great Western Railway now called 'Steam' (another link) (and another)
DAY  14                   Swindon
		First Great Western train from Swindon to London Paddington Station (alternate link) (another link)
		Venice-Simplon Orient Express British Pullman (alternate link) (See our 'Best of the Best'.) from Victoria Station (alternate link) (another link) (and another) (and one more) to Salisbury Station
		Coach tour to...
		Salisbury Cathedral
BHP		Wilton House
BHP		Stonehenge (another link) (EH)  (another link)
		Venice-Simplon Orient Express British Pullman from Pewsey Station to London Victoria Station (alternate link)
		First Great Western from London Paddington Station (alternate link)  to Swindon Station
DAY  15             Stratford-upon-Avon
		Railway Village House
		Collect hired car.
		Oxford
BHP		Blenheim Palace  Birthplace of Winston Churchill.
		Blenheim Park Miniature Railway (alternate link)
DAY  16             Stratford-upon-Avon
		Church of St Gregory the Great
		Stratford-upon-Avon TIC (Tourist Information Centre)
		Guide Friday Tour Bus (alternate link) to the Shakespeare Properties.  See our 'Best of the Best'.
BHP		Shakespeare's Birthplace (alternate link)
BHP		New Place & Nash's House
		Guild Chapel
BHP		Halls Croft
BHP		Anne Hathway's Cottage
BHP		Mary Arden's House
		Holy Trinity Church
		Bancroft Gardens
		Cruise on the River Avon
DAY  17             Cheltenham
BHP		Warwick Castle  See also 'Best of the Best'.
		Warwick Doll Museum (another link)
		The Cathedral Church of St Michael, Coventry (another link)  See our 'Best of the Best'.
DAY  18             Cheltenham
BHP		Sudeley Castle & Gardens See also our 'The Pallisers' page.
		Winchcombe Railway Museum & Garden (another link) See also 'Best of the Best'.
DAY  19             Cheltenham
		Cheltenham Model Centre (hobby shop)
		Eastnor Castle  See our 'The Pallisers' page.
DAY  20             Shipton-by-Benningbrough
		Return hired car.
		Virgin Trains from Cheltenham Spa to York
		Collect hired car.
		The Sidings Hotel (another link)
DAY  21             York
BHP		Castle Howard
		Return hired car.
		Rail Riders World (now called 'York Model Railway")
DAY  22       York
		National Railway Museum (snaps) (more snaps)  See our entry in 'Best of the Best'.
DAY  23             York
		Jorvik Viking Centre
		Castle Museum  See also 'Best of the Best'.
		Guide Friday York Tour (another link)
		The Shambles
		York Story
BHP		Fairfax House (another link) (and another)
		The Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St Peter in York (another link)  See our entry in 'Best of the Best'.
DAY  24                         Edinburgh
		Great North Eastern Railway from York to Peterborough.
		Collect hired car.
		Sandringham (another link)
		Drop off hired car.
		Great North Eastern Railway from Peterborough to Edinburgh Waverly Station (another link)
DAY  25             Edinburgh
		Edinburgh TIC (Tourist Information Centre) on Princes Street
		James Pringle Woolen Mill ('Outlet' store - which we understand is now closed.)
		South Queensferry - Forth Railway Bridge  (another link) (and another)   See our 'Best of the Best'.
		Harburn Hobbies
		Romanes & Paterson Ltd, 62 Princes Street ('Tartan' souvenir - gift shop)
		Princes Street Gardens (another link)
		The Edinburgh Military Tattoo  See our entry in 'Best of the Best'.
DAY  26                   Bowness-on-Windermere
		Virgin Trains from Edinburgh Waverly Station  (alternate link) to Oxenholme
		First North Western train from Oxenholme to Windermere
		Bowness-on-Windermere TIC (Tourist Information Centre)
DAY  27                         Manchester
		Mountain Goat Bus Tour (alternate link) to...
BHP		Hilltop (NT)  The home of Beatrix Potter.
BHP		Dove Cottage  The home of William Wordsworth
		First North Western train from Windermere to Oxenholme
		Virgin Trains from Oxenholme to Preston
		First North Western from Preston to Manchester Piccadilly Station (alternate link) (another link)
DAY  28            Manchester
		Museum of Science and Industry
		Granada Television Studio Tour & The Sherlock Holmes Experience are now, sadly, closed.  See our 'Sherlock' page.
BHP		Dunham Massey Country Park
DAY  29             Home
		Manchester International Airport and Home!

Copyright © 1999 - 2005  J. C. Nash. All worldwide rights reserved.
Last modified:  Thursday, 27 October 2005.

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