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Hotels in England
London is a busy and constantly changing cosmopolitan city. Just an hour or two`s drive or train ride outside of Britain`s capital lies an unchanging and picturesque world of English countryside, seaside and historical monuments.
Travel like royalty to Hampton Court Palace with the river boat from Westminster Pier. The 22-mile journey takes three and a half hours and gives you views over Lambeth Palace, Chelsea Hospital, Syon House and Richmond Park. You can watch herons and kingfishers on the river upstream from Richmond and crowds of chattering green parakeets in the trees around Hampton Court Palace. The ghosts of Henry VIII, his wives and his entourage still haunt the palace state rooms, chapel, maze and kitchens.
A 35-minute train ride from London`s Waterloo station is a faster way to Hampton Court. This gives you time to visit Windsor Castle, just a 20-minute bus ride from Hampton Court. Walk around the Castle grounds, St George`s Chapel and Windsor Great Park. The Magna Carta was signed at Runnymede, just nearby. A train from Windsor takes you directly back to London Waterloo.
An hour`s train ride from London`s Waterloo station takes you to Winchester, King Alfred`s capital city. Visit the cathedral dedicated to the city`s patron saint, St. Swithin and where the writer Jane Austen is buried. Military history buffs will enjoy the military museums, including the Ghurkha Museum, which host reconstructions of battles at Waterloo and the North West Frontier. The 65-mile drive takes about one hour 20 minutes from London, depending on central London traffic. There are lots of charming hostelries along the Surrey - Hampshire borders where you can stop for lunch.
Southwold is a traditional and quintessentially English seaside resort on the Suffolk coast, locally called the Sunrise Coast. There`s an old world magic about the beach with its famous beach huts, the harbour and the pier. You can even go surfing. Take a train from London`s Liverpool Street Station and change either at Ipswich or Lowestoft arriving at Darsham or Halesworth. Both these stations are 10 miles from Southwold. Driving there is better. The 111 - mile journey is a two hour drive from London via Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich.
A one hour 40 minute train ride from London`s Paddington station takes you 97 miles to Bath in Somerset. See the Roman Baths, the Abbey, the Fashion Museum and the Herschel Museum of Astronomy. Walk along Bath`s charming Georgian terraces. There are Bronze Age and Iron Age ruins on the hills outside the city. Bath is a quick, two-hour drive along the M4 and M5 motorways from London. Once in Bath, it`s best to use the park and ride facilities.
It is just a two-hour drive from London to Shakespeare`s birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon. The route takes you through Oxford`s dreaming spires and the Cotswolds’ countryside. With a little planning and help from a London car hire firm, you will be able to fit in a boat trip on the River Avon, a matinee at one of the theatres and a meal in one of the restaurants around Stratford`s Bridge Street.
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