animated Union Jack flag The 29 Day Tour
England & Edinburgh  I I
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Introduction - 2 Day Tour - 3 Day Tour - 9.Day.Tour - 20.Day.Tour - 25.Day.Tour - 29.Day.Tour - 31.Day.Tour34.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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tube  =  Travel by Tube

BHP =

  British Heritage Pass (alternate link)

train  = ...by Train

NT =

  National Trust    

tour bus = Bus/Bus Tour  taxi = Taxi

EH =

  English Heritage (alternate link)

car  = Self-drive Car

NTS =

  National Trust for Scotland

   =  Overnight in (city or town)

    Hudson's 2000+ Linksa Wow website

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DAY  1       bus      tube        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 TussaudsLink opens in a new window.  (alternate link)Link opens in a new window.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of WestminsterLink opens in a new window.

 

DAY  2      tube      bus         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       tube        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       tube      train        London
    SouthWest Trains from London Waterloo (alternate link) (another link) to Hampton Court Station.

BHP

Hampton Court Palacea Wow website (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       tube        London
BHP Kensington Palacea Wow website (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       tube        London
    Cabinet War Roomsa Wow website  See also 'Best of the Best'.
    Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (map of Kew Gardens)
BHP Kew Palace (alternate link) (another link)

 

DAY  7       tube      train        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 Sarka Wow website
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      car        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       train        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     car        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    car        Babbacombe
BHP

Pecorama  See also 'Best of the Best'. 
BHP

Babbacombe Model Village

 

DAY  12     car      train        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     car      train        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           tour bus        Swindon
    First Great Western train from Swindon to London Paddington Station (alternate link) (another link)
Venice-Simplon Orient Expressa Wow website 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     car        Stratford-upon-Avon

Railway Village House

Collect hired car.
Oxford

BHP

Blenheim Palacea Wow website  Birthplace of Winston Churchill

Blenheim Park Miniature Railway (alternate link)

 

DAY  16     tour bus        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     car        Cheltenham
BHP Warwick Castlea Wow website  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     car        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     car        Cheltenham

Cheltenham Model Centre (hobby shop)
Eastnor Castle  See our 'The Pallisers' page.

 

DAY  20     car        Shipton-by-Benningbrough
Return hired car. 

Virgin Trains from Cheltenham Spa to York
Collect hired car.
The Sidings Hotel (another link)

 

DAY  21     car        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     tour bus        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 Yorka Wow website (another link)  See our entry in 'Best of the Best'.

 

DAY  24     train      car      taxi        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     taxi        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 Tattooa Wow website  See our entry in 'Best of the Best'.

 

DAY  26     train      taxi        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     tour bus      taxi      train        Manchester
Mountain Goat Bus Tour (alternate link) to...
BHP Hilltop (NT)  The home of Beatrix Potter.
BHP Dove Cottage  The home of William WordsworthLink opens in a new window.
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     car       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     taxi        Home
    Manchester International Airport and Home!

 

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Last modified:  Thursday, 27 October 2005.

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