One month to take off! We leave on May 11th for our 2016 UK/Ireland adventure.
Here’s a map followed by a description of the trip:
Day 1: We land at Heathrow, pick up our brand new 2016 Renault Megane Estate, and stay overnight at the Oakwood B&B in West Drayton near Heathrow Airport. Since we arrive in the UK to early to check in, we will visit Hampton Court Palace, a short drive away.
Days 2 through 8: We will be staying in a self catering cottage (Campden Mews) in the town of Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds. That will be our base for exploring the Cotswolds, an area that we have not visited before. We will also be taking a performance of Shakespeare’s rarely performed Cymbeline at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, just a short ride from Chipping Campden..
Day 9: This will be a driving day. It’s about 3.5 hours from Chipping Campden to Pembroke Dock in Wales. We’ll have to leave early because we have reservations on the 1:45 PM Isle of Inishmere ferry from Pembroke to Rosslare in the Republic of Ireland. We have been to Rosslare several times, usually as a stopover prior to taking the ferry the other way. We will stay at Archways, one of our favorite B&B’s, and enjoy a meal cooked by the owner/chef.
Days 10 through 15: We’ll leave Archways after breakfast for the four hour drive to Dingle in County Kerry, our Irish home where once again we will stay in Greenmount Cottage. Dingle is our Irish “home”, so there won’t be a lot new here. We will walk the beaches, enjoy our favorite restaurants (especially the Chart House – no connection or resemblance to the US chain), drink some Guinness with Tom Geaney at his Dingle Pub, and listen to Mr. O’Flaherty belt out some Irish tunes at O’Flaherty’s.
Days 16 through 19: A 3.5 hour drive from Dingle will take us to Galway, a spot we visited only briefly back when we were both working stiffs.. We’ll be staying just steps from Galway Bay at the Marless House B&B in the Salthill section of Galway. No specific plans are on tap, but a day trip to the Aran Islands is a distinct possibility. Despite many visits to the Emerald Isle we have never made it to the Arans.
Day 20: It’s just about a two hour drive from Galway to Dublin where we will spend the night at the oft-frequented Croke Park Hotel. Before checking in we will check out the new Epic Ireland exhibition that opens for the first time this month.
Day 21: We’ll be up early to catch Irish Ferries’ Dublin Swift to Holyhead (Wales) at 8:45. After two hours on the ferry and two hours in the car, we will briefly revisit Liverpool and stay the night at the Nadler Liverpool. Dinner, perhaps, at Lunya for tapas and wine.
Days 22 through 28: A four drive from Liverpool will get us to Craster in the Northumberland area of the UK. This will be virgin ground for us, and I think we’ll enjoy our seven nights in the self-catering Craster Rocks overlooking the North Sea. We’ll explore the area, perhaps seeing Hadrian’s Wall, and definitely taking a bird watching boat trip to the Farne Islands.
Days 29-30: After a rather boring five hour drive on the motorway we will arrive in Cambridge for our first ever visit. We should have the afternoon and the next day explore this university town while staying at Sayle House B&B.
Day 31: It’s about 2.5 hours from Cambridge to Windsor, our final stop in the UK, where we will stay with Julia at her 76 Duke Street B&B.
Day 32: Turn in the car and catch Virgin Atlantic’s flight to Boston where we will change to American Airlines for the onward flight to Phoenix.