Trip Summary:

 

Dates:    December 7th to 15th

Year: 2019

Main Language of Country:   English

Transportation Used:   Plane, Bus, Tube, Car

Currency: British Pound Sterling

Accommodation: Friends homes and AirBnb

Number of Photos Taken: 1852

Favorite Place: Bath

Average Cost of a Full Meal: 15 to 20 Canadian Dollars

Number of Pubs Visited: 9

Best Foods Eaten: Pasties, Pie and Mash

 

England: (December 7 – 15)

After a long stretch of not travelling to a new country, Hilary and I decided to make a last minute trip to England. Hilary had just taken a new job in Fernie, which we are calling home at the time of writing, and had just over a week off before starting.

Apart from always wanting to travel to England, our choice was made easy because we have several good friends in the country that we had gotten to know well while living in New Zealand. It had been almost exactly two years since we had seen them, so we thought that we were overdue for a visit.

Our first stop, after a long overnight flight, was busy London. We landed in Gatwick airport, 

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TIP: We bought Oyster cards when leaving the airport. These let you load the cards with funds (we bought the cards for 30 pounds, so the card cost 5 pounds and it was loaded with 25 pounds). We realized after that you can just use your credit card to tap in and out of the train terminals which would have been even simpler. We did this once we had used all of the funds on the cards with our Canadian RBC credit cards.

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London: (December 7 – 10)

For our time in London, we stayed with our friend Sophie at her flat in Hammersmith. Therefore, I don’t have any recommendations on where to stay during your visit, but it does seem that nowhere is very far from a tube station, so getting around London is never more difficult than managing the tube.

One of our first stops in London was, of course, Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards:

 

• Buckingham Palace:

By the time that we left Hammersmith in the morning and tried to figure out which train we needed to catch to go to…wait, where are we going again…which line did we say we need to be on…okay, now which direction…right, and what’s the station at the end of that line that we need to be on…which platform does that mean…do you think these people are catching the same train…did we miss something…wait, where are we going again…you get the point.

We finally made our way to Westminster station where we got out to start our walk to Buckingham Palace. There are closer stations than Westminster, I believe, but we thought a little walking tour would be nice.

We finally arrived at Buckingham at around 10:20AM to find it completely crowded in front. We found a place to watch from the back of the crowd. I have to admit, I was completely confused by what the changing of the guard actually entails. There we police officers closing off the street, then mounted guards with long red capes rode by in front of the palace. Then at 10:45AM started the changing of the guards with bands playing, and several groups of guards marching to the front of the palace and standing in lines. We couldn’t see much and it was all very confusing so we ended up leaving after about 25 minutes to move on to the next stop.

 

• Trafalgar Square:

After watching the changing of the guards, we headed over to Trafalgar square. There was a Christmas market that we wandered through quickly, and a great view down one of the streets leading out of the square with the Big Ben clock tower in the background.

Just around the corner from Trafalgar Square is the narrowest alleyway in London called Brydges Place. This is worth a quick look as well.

 

• Covent Garden Market:

We walked through quite a few markets in London, and Covent Garden was one worth taking a look through. We didn’t spend long, but you could easily browse around for hours here.

 

• Walk Along the South Bank:

There is so much to see along the South Bank of River Thames that it’s worth just walking along it to see what you find. I would recommend stopping by PieMinster for a great pie and mash, Borough Market, the Old Operating Theatre Museum (it was past closing when we arrived so we weren’t able to visit), Hays Galleria, and anything else that strikes your fancy.

 

• The Bridges:

There are lots of beautiful and famous bridges crossing River Thames in London, including the London Bridge of course. These are all great places to take photos from and to take photos of. My favourite bridge of all was the Tower Bridge. 

 

• The Natural History Museum:

On our second day in London, we started off by checking out the Natural History Museum in the morning. It is free to enter, but because we were meeting our friend Sophie for lunch we had to keep our visit brief. There is lots to see and learn about, however, as well as two other museums that would be worth a look called the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

 

• Kensington Palace and Hyde Park:

We took a quick walk through Hyde Park after leaving the Natural History Museum, and had a look at the Kensington Palace, where Prince William and Kate live (our favourite royals obviously). 

The park is quite large so it’s a great place to walk and get a little bit of peace and quiet after wandering around London’s streets.

 

• The Victoria Pub:

Close to Hyde Park is the Victoria Pub where we met up with our friend Sophie. This was our first pub experience in England, and it was not a let down. With a classic pub interior, a tight winding staircase to the second floor, and a fireplace in the corner, it met all of our expectations. We had a great meal, a half pint of Guinness each, and learned that the Victoria has a lot of history (just like everything in England apparently).

 

• Paddington Train Station:

After lunch at the Victoria Pub, we did a walking tour through London with the goal of eventually ending up at the Camden Town Market for dinner (more on that later). Shortly after we left the pub, we walked past the Paddington Train Station. I had heard that the station was a good spot for photos, however, so we decided to walk through it. Being from Canada, where passenger trains aren’t a big thing, I thought that it was really interesting and beautiful inside.

Because of that, I would recommend checking out even more train stations when visiting London, as I’m sure that it’s not the only beautiful station.

 

• Marylebone Daunt Books:

I love book stores and Daunt Books in Marylebone was especially cool. I took a bunch of photos inside of the store and we also ended up buying a poster for a friend’s Christmas present. Double win.

 

• Primrose Hill:

For a great view of London, there is a small hill that offers panoramic views called Primrose Hill. Our friend Sophie claims that it is the highest point in London, but she didn’t deliver the fact with any sort of confidence, so let’s just play along and pretend to believe that.

 

• Camden Town Market:

One of my favourite areas of London was Camden Town Market after dark. We walked from Primrose Hill and arrived walking along a really cool section of canals. It felt like we were entering through the back door.

There were beautiful buildings and lights hung everywhere. We had some delicious Mac ‘n Cheese from a food vendor and wandered around the shops and stalls for quite some time.

 

• Watch a Show in the West End:

The main event of our evening was catching a show in the West End. We saw Come From Away, a show about a small town in Newfoundland that accepted a bunch of grounded planes during the events of 9-11. It was a great show!

 

• Big Ben and Parliament:

After the show, I headed back the Westminster to take some photos along the River Thames after dark. Because Big Ben was undergoing construction, it was a disappointment, but still fun to get photos of the area.

The London Eye is also in the area and makes for some great photos. I was too late to get long exposure shots of it in action, but that’s for next time.

There is also a statue of a Sphinx and Obelisk along the river that has some neat history behind it to check out if you’re in the area.

 

• Other things to see:

London is a big place and with only a few days in the city there were lots of things that we weren’t able to see. Here are a few for your own research:

1. The seven dials
2. The lobby of the Shard
3. St Pauls Cathedral
4. Leadenhall Market
5. Greenwich Foot Tunnel for photos

 

Castle Coombe: (December 10)

One of my favourite places of the trip was the small town of Castle Coombe in the Cotswolds. It’s a small quintessential English town with amazing old buildings with wreaths on the doors and slate shingles on the roofs.

We drove from London with our friend Sophie on the way to Bath where we were heading to spend a few days and meet up with our other friends, Tom and Claire. Being England, it was rainy when we arrived at Castle Coombe, which made for the perfect weather to have a quick walk, followed by some cream tea, which we had at the Castle Inn.

There is a bridge in Castle Coombe that makes for some fantastic photos, and apparently the town and bridge are absolutely crowded during the summer months. In December, however, we had the place to ourselves.

 

Bath: (December 10 – 12)

Bath was where we (Hilary and I and Sophie) met up with our friends Tom and Claire. Because of this alone, Bath was an amazing and special place. We hadn’t seen any of our friends for 2 years, so it was an awesome reunion. We rented a large Victorian house for all of us which was walking distance from downtown Bath.

• The Roman Baths:

First things first, you should probably check out the roman baths that give Bath its name. While we didn’t go inside to see the baths themselves, the building that they are in is quite cool itself and there are lots of photos of the baths to give you an idea of what they look like.

 

• Bath Circus and Royal Crescent:

The royal crescent is a row of townhouses built in a crescent shape that is quite famous in Bath. I have to admit, I wasn’t overly excited by them, but it was quite impressive architecture and is apparently one of the best examples of Georgian architecture.

 

• Skyline Walk:

One of our highlights during our time in Bath was the Skyline Walk. It leaves just from outside of the central downtown of Bath and there are several signs along the way. We did find a brochure with a map and info on it, however, which was helpful.

The walk takes you onto the hills above Bath where you get some amazing views of the area. More info can be found here: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-skyline 

 

• Bath Christmas Market:

One of the main reasons that we went to Bath was for the Christmas market. It was so amazing to wander around the old streets of Bath with lights everywhere, music, decorations, stalls and vendors, and best-of-all, the smell of mulled wine and cider.

There were people selling cheese, soaps, ciders, fudge, distilleries, homeware, jewelry, candles, christmas decorations, craft beer, art, and so many other things.

Beyond the market itself, there were lots of cool stores, cafes, and restaurants as well. One place that we didn’t get a chance to visit was the board game cafe. Next time.

I had expected the Christmas market to be in the courtyard of the abbey and be fairly limited, but it was spread out along multiple streets and squares so it seemed like it was never-ending.

 

• Pubs:

Just like everywhere that we visited in England, the pubs in Bath we another highlight. I can’t remember all of the pubs that we went to, but one was the Huntsman and another was The Boater.

 

• Pulteney Bridge and the Wier:

The Pulteney bridge over the River Avon makes a really good spot to take some photos. There are spots to explore downstream of the bridge along the river, and even from the next bridge that the river goes under.

 

• Union Passage:

My favourite street or alleyway in Bath was called Union Passage. It was narrow with shops on either side and lights hanging everywhere. I spent quite a bit of time taking photos along it while the rest of the group wandered around the shops.

 

Cheddar Gorge: (December 12)

After a few amazing days in Bath, we headed south towards Cornwall. We said goodbye to Sophie as she had to return to work and set off on another adventure with Tom and Claire. Our first stop after leaving Bath was the Cheddar Gorge.

It was a bit rainy and wet on the way down and we didn’t have a lot of day light so we didn’t stop long in Cheddar Gorge, but there are some great walking trails by the look of it that take you to the rim of the gorge for a good view.

We also stopped in at the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company to buy a small wheel of cheddar cheese for a christmas gift for Hilary’s dad. Oh, and Tom insisted that we buy some scrumpy (cider) to try later that night. Neither Hilary nor I were overly fond of it, but it’s always good to try new things.

 

Exmoor: (December 12)

The other stop that we made on the way south was in Exmoor National Park. We stopped to visit some of Claire’s family that live in the area which was really great.

We didn’t have a ton of time here, but after a quick lunch visit with Claire’s brother and wife, we headed to the Tarr Steps which is an ancient stone foot bridge for a quick walk.

We also spent some time in the town of Dulverton after. There was one street with a red phone booth and some cool shops along it that I think would make a good photo. I didn’t quite get what I wanted, but here’s my attempt.

 

Cornwall: (December 12 – 14)

When we finally arrived in Cornwall, we had a few very busy days:

 

• Good Food and Pubs:

It might take quite a long time to talk about all of the different food and places that we visited in Cornwall, but here is a quick list anyways:

• Cream Tea from the Little Bo Cafe in Sennen
• Fish and Chips
• Pasties from Saint Agnes (Denzil Trevethick Pasties)
• Hedgehogs from Chapel Porth Beach Cafe
• A meal at the Miner’s Arms Pub
• The Logan Rock Inn at Treen
• Schooners in Saint Agnus
• The Meadery (we ran out of time for a visit, but it sounds fun)
• The Driftwood Spars pub in Saint Agnes

 

• Cornish Towns:

We loved all of the towns throughout Cornwall. Besides the narrow roads that made driving (actually Tom drove so we don’t even have a reason to complain here) quite stressful and exciting all at once. Once you were able to walk around the towns, however, they were all really fun to explore. We spent a lot of time wandering through different shops and eyeing up pubs and cafes.

Some of our favourite towns were:

• Marazion
• Sennen
• Mousehole

 

• The Cornish Coastline:

There is also the coastal pathway that winds along the coastline through a large chunk of the Cornish coastline that would be amazing to explore more. The coastline in Cornwall was really incredible and the swell was quite high when we were visiting so we were able to see large waves crashing into the steep rock walls and spraying foam everywhere. It was very dramatic and (besides the wind) an awesome experience.

 

• St. Michaels Mount:

Set on a rock island just off the coast of Marazion, there is a state home called St. Michaels Mount. Although visiting the home itself was closed while we were there, it was still beautiful to see from below. We were there at low tide as well, which allowed us to walk out on the causeway.

 

• Tin Mines:

The Cornish coastline has a strong tin mining history and there are remnants of them everywhere that can be seen. One that we visited was called Wheal Coates. There is also the Botallack tin mine which we weren’t able to visit, but would be a great focus for photography.

There are also tin mines in the area that might be worth checking out if you’re interested in further history.

 

• The Minack Theatre:

Although we didn’t have a chance to visit the Minack Theatre, if you were able to visit for a performance, I think it would be an amazing experience. The theatre is an outdoor amphitheatre along the coastline that is very unique. I don’t know the full history, but it would be worth looking into.

If you happen to visit, you can also take the smugglers steps down the steep hillside to the beach of Porthcurno.

 

Conclusion:

This trip to England was a little bit different than other trip that we’ve gone on. Instead of staying in hostels and spending long days on busses, trains, or navigating unfamiliar roads with rental cars, we were able to stay with friends, and spend more time visiting than exploring. We of course saw lots of new things and I took tons of photos, but that was by no means the purpose of the trip. This was a first for us, and it made the trip much more special.

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