Itinerary

Note: Coloured words are links to places - click on them

Sunday 17 December 2017
20h15 BA056
Johannesburg to London

Monday 18 December 2017
Arrive in London at 05h35   * Note : UK time is 2 hours behind SA time. 

Hire car at Heathrow and drive to Bibury in the Cotswolds (North Westerly direction)
Approximately a 2 hour drive though we may need to take a scenic drive to delay getting to our cottage too early.

Accommodation:
Bank Cottage
 Potlickers lane, Ablington, Bibury
(4 nights)

Plans for the 4 days:

• Ross-on-Wye - where the Preece/Ryall famlies come from. (around 1 hour 15min drive from Bibury)
• Bourton-on-the-water
• Upper Slaughter & Lower Slaughter
• Chipping Camden
• Chipping Norton - many movie stars live here. Elizabeth Hurly, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet....
• Swindon Outlet Mall
• Blenheim Palace- to see the Christmas light festival  (around 40min drive from Bibury)

In Bibury : (15 minute walk from our cottage)

• The Bibury Trout Farm
• The Catherine Wheel Pub
• Arlington Row

Friday 22 December 2017
Drive up to Chester
2 hours 50 min drive
We may stop over at Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare’s town) and a other spots along the way.

Accommodation:
The Chester Grosvenor Hotel
(1 night)

Our plans for Chester:

• A 2 mile walk along the old city walls (originally built by the Romans at around AD70 but altered over the years but have retained their current position since around 1200)
• Eastgate Clock - built for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It's Britain's second most famous clock (Second to Big Ben).
• Shoppin in the Chester Rows - which is where our hotel is situated. 

Saturday 23 December 2017
Drive up to Cumbria, The Lake District
2 hours 13 min drive
Will probably take in some more sight seeing of Chester in the morning and take a leisurely drive up to Grasmere.

Accommodation:
The Coachouse
White Moss
Ambleside
Cumbria
(4 nights).  -  our home over Christmas

Plans for the 4 days in the Lake District :

• The World of Beatrix Potter 
• Dove Cottage (William Wordsworth's cottage)
• Derwent Pencil Museum in Keswick
• Castelrigg Stone circles
• Grasmere gingerbread shop
• Boat cruise on Lake Windermere
• Hawkshead
• Penrith
• Possibly Hadrian's Wall (around 1 hour 30 min from our cottage)

Wednesday 27 December 2017
Drive a very leisurely drive through the Yorkshire Dales to the city of York.
The drive is around 2 hours 30 min, but we’ll take our time.
Depending on weather, drive through Muker (Swaledale), Knaresborough and on to York.

On arrival, we ditch our rental car in York.

Accommodation:
The Principal York Hotel
(2 nights)

Plans for 2 days in York:

• From our hotel, it's a 15 min walk int the centre of the city.
• The Shambles (for some retail therapy)
• York Minster Cathedral
• York Chocolate Story
• The Shop that must not be named

Friday 29 December 2017
After breakfast, we catch a train at 12pm to Kings Cross station in London.
Conveniently our hotel in York is situated right next door to the York station so we can just walk there.
The train trip will take just short of 2 hours.

Accommodation:
The Stafford Hotel
St James Place
Piccadilly a
London
(5 nights)

Plans for 5 nights in London :

• Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
• Covent Garden & Neals Yard
• Westminster Cathedral
• Shopping on Regent & Oxford streets and to see the lights
• Fortnum & Mason
• Harrods
• Dinner at Shepherd's Market
• Trafalgar Square to see the lights

Sunday 31 December 2017
We have tickets to visit the Harry Potter Warner Bros studio at 9h30
(We will need to leave our hotel before the sun comes up to get there on time! What was I thinking?)
(The sunrise is only at 8 am!)

New Year's Day - the New Year's Day parade starts right outside our hotel on Piccadilly street at 12pm

Wednesday 3 January 2018
Fly home
BA 055 at 18h10