Driving through South England before Leaving from Southampton

[Denny01]

Hi

 

I started a thread on the Celebrity forum about our Silhouette TransAtlantic cruise and the first part is about us spending a week driving through Cornwall and Hampshire prior. Then I realized a lot of what I’m sharing might be of interest for those who are looking at this area forum. So here goes. See if you find this handy:

 

17-18 Oct

Flight

Here we are in the UK. Flew via Delta Atlanta to Heathrow arriving 1130 local. Flight was nothing to speak of. OK. Have arrived earlier before and had 3 other flights from US arrive at 0830ish and a ton of us trying to go through arrival. this flight was the only one in so very quick.

 

18 Oct

Windsor

Rented an Avis car and drove to Windsor. Although planning on most of the time in Cornwall/Hampshire area, decided to spend the first night in Windsor which is only 20-25min from Heathrow. Good idea after an overnight flight instead of driving 5hrs. Watch if you get an cheaper model - many are manual shift which can be tricky even if you know how to use them, being on the other side of what we are use to in the States! I upgraded for $60 for the week for auto and got a hybrid that will save on gas! Tried to navigate via preprinted map and gave up and opened up our iPhone and that worked well, except it gave us directions into one dead end. Recommend set up using international calling/data so you can use google or Apple map navigation. My ATT costs $10 each day I use it. Other phone systems are similar. Handy.

 

Staying at the Clarion Harte and Garter on Hill St right across from Windsor Castle. great hotel. Nice view of the castle; elevators; dining. No parking. Must use city lots. they vary from $20-$5/day depending on distance and if open lot. Room is spacious with a view of the castle - king bed and shower/bathtub.

 

Ate lunch at the old train station which is now a major shopping mall - at the All-Bar-One, which had side rooms that Queen Victoria and Albert stayed in waiting for their train.  Excellent varied menu. Wandered around the castle area - Queen’s flag, the Royal Standard, was flying so she was ‘in residence’. Ate Dinner at the Horse and Groom near the hotel and castle - classic pub food and choices of bitters and wines. Looked like a local place with lots of socializing.

 

Left windows open for cool room and got the ‘party noise’ - it was Friday night. Not bad though.

 

Up and breakfast and wandered a bit more, then on the road to Penzance. Check out is a bit early, 1000, but can ask to stay a little while longer if you wish or leave luggage and wander.

 

Saturday 19 Oct

Windsor

Up early and walked over to the train station and ate at Bill’s. Great breakfast! Then drove the car back to the hotel get the luggage. Got stopped getting on Hill St which the castle and hotel are on - all traffic blocked for 10min or so while they had the changing of the guard. No problem. Checked out and on the road to Penzance.

 

The Drive

takes 4.5+hrs. Good drive but below Exeter, it gets smaller lanes and local farm vehicle traffic which slows it up. Strongly recommend using Google/Apple/GPS Maps/navigation. Again, you really need GPS mapping to find many of these hotels and get around the Round-about traffiic circles - tons of them!

 

Penzance

Smugglers Restaurant and Rooms - Penzance (really in Newlyn which is further along the harbor/bay).

What a place! Small but fantastic rooms. they close for the season next week, so few here now and we have the Harbor Watch room. Unbelievable. Faces the harbor and all the fishing vessels. Queen bed/huge BR/2nd floor no elevator/parking is down the street at harbor - $3.

Very friendly. Ate dinner there. One of the best meals Ive had in a restaurant. You’ve Got to come here! Going to drive the coast up to St Ives tomorrow and stop and see the Marry Maids Stone Circle - prehistoric stones of Stonehenge era but you can walk around and touch.

 

Sunday 20 Oct

Up early and a fantastic English breakfast at Smuggler’s. won’t have to eat till later afternoon! Drove out of Newlyn towards Lands End and stopped at the Merry Maids Stone Circle, an early Bronze Age circle. GPS had us go up a Very Narrow road that was called the Cornwall bicycle trail and it was very interesting but very narrow and curvy. I’d strongly recommend use A-3312 out of town instead. You can walk amongst the stone circle and think of what it was used for. Wear boots - its a farm field and cows/sheep have been there. We then drove on using A-3312 to Lands End then onto St Ives on the ocean-skirting roads. These western Cornwall roads are a challenge especially for right-hand drivers since they are barely wide enough for 2-way with stone walls girding them. I didn’t get a photo of it, but one sign said ‘Oncoming traffic in the road center ahead’....think about that for a second!!

 

Got to St Ives. Beautiful coastal town with great views, cliffs, beach, dining and shopping. Parking is a challenge even this off-season but it was Sunday so lots there. Found a park near the beach area. Carry 1pound coins since most parkings use auto-pay sites that only take coins. Cost 4.7 for 4hrs. Wandered through the narrow streets shopping and eating at a seafood cafe. Too many to recommend - all looked great. Did buy a nice small book with hand drawings of the sites between St Ives and Lands End. Drove the easier A-30 back and relaxed. Dining and supping at the nearby Red Lion pub tonight.

 

Driving to Hampshire area north of Southampton/Portsmouth tomorrow and staying at the Hampshire Hog. It’s 4+hrs along the south coast. Will spent 3 nights in that area before boarding the Silhouette for the TransAtlantic.

 

Monday 21 Oct

Did the drive from Penzance to Hampshire area. It was long. got to the Hampshire Hog hotel and just going to relax and take it easy. The hotel is really fine. Great rooms and nice pub/restaurant. classic with roaring fire and lots of seating around the pub and places to relax. Room is very spaceous. Queen bed/huge HR/free parking/double shower head. Well worth it. Near Southampton and Portsmouth. For me, the driving has been a challenge - not the lefthand side business, but the narrow roads and one thousand round-abouts! Handled them but tiring. Next time may take the bus/train to an area and give that a go.

 

Going to the Butser Ancient Farm which is just down the road - its a site where they’ve built early Neolithic/Mesolithic/Iron Age/Roman/Saxon round and long homes. Sounds fantastic.

 

Tuesday 22 Oct.

Slept in and relaxed. Great included breakfast. Off to Buter Farm. Great weather for it today. Got there and it well beyond anything I expected. Numerous examples of ancient villages in what is called ‘experimental archaeology’. they didn’t recreate an existing village but built round and long homes using the ancient stone and Iron Age techniques. There are a number of school tours ongoing but not an issue. We spent the full day there. well worth it. they directed us to the Red Lion Pub nearby which was built in early 1600’s. excellent meal and beauiful pub/restaurant.

 

Back to the Hampshire Hog and relaxing. Going to Portsmouth to walk around a nice town and see the HMS Victory.

 

Den

Edited October 22, 2019 by Denny01

[sddsddean]

Glad you managed to negotiate our wonderful road system with no major incidents. The west country can be challenging (perhaps you should have tried Porlock Hill!), but much prettier than going up and down the motorways.

For future reference, if you are not keen on roundabouts, don't visit Milton Keynes. Its built on a grid system (like many US cities), but instead of traffic lights at each intersection, there is a roundabout. If I remember correctly, there are currently 130 in the town!

Of course, you might like to head to Swindon and try the 'magic roundabout' (named after a childrens tv programme).

This is 5 mini roundabouts round a central roundabout and because of the way it works, you actually go round the central roundabout the wrong way! All good fun!

 

Simon

[gnome12]

59 minutes ago, sddsddean said:

Glad you managed to negotiate our wonderful road system with no major incidents. The west country can be challenging (perhaps you should have tried Porlock Hill!), but much prettier than going up and down the motorways.

For future reference, if you are not keen on roundabouts, don't visit Milton Keynes. Its built on a grid system (like many US cities), but instead of traffic lights at each intersection, there is a roundabout. If I remember correctly, there are currently 130 in the town!

Of course, you might like to head to Swindon and try the 'magic roundabout' (named after a childrens tv programme).

This is 5 mini roundabouts round a central roundabout and because of the way it works, you actually go round the central roundabout the wrong way! All good fun!

 

Simon

It looks absolutely terrifying!

😲

Edited October 22, 2019 by gnome12

[sddsddean]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

It looks absolutely terrifying!

😲

Actually, it works quite well.

 

Simon

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, sddsddean said:

 

For future reference, if you are not keen on roundabouts, don't visit Milton Keynes. Its built on a grid system (like many US cities), but instead of traffic lights at each intersection, there is a roundabout. If I remember correctly, there are currently 130 in the town!

 

Simon

 

Milton Keynes is a "New Town" built from scratch in green fields during the 1960's.

My understanding of the reason for so many roundabouts is as follows..............

 

In his site office the foreman-in-charge of the road system had a huge desk, overlain with with large-scale plans of the proposed town.

He wasn't a neat and tidy person.

He was very fond of coffee.

He used to just put his coffee mug down anywhere on the desk.

The mug left brown circles on the plans.

The engineers accordingly built roundabouts everywhere they were indicated on the plans.

 

I'm not 100% certain this was the reason 

 

JB 

  

[scottbee]

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

It looks absolutely terrifying!

😲

There's also the "Scilly Isles" junction, much closer to Heathrow

 

[newport dave]

There's also this new elongated roundabout on the M4 at J28 close to where I live.  Which again, works actually quite well and has reduced congestion significantly.

 

[Denny01]

Wednesday 23 Oct

Relaxed again at Hampshire Hog - a great place to chill out. I made an earlier mistake - it is Butzer Ancient Farm, not Buter Farm.

 

we drove down to Portsmouth and visited the HMS Victory. You can get tickets for a number of the dock sites, but we only got one for the ship. It was outstanding. Walking through the entire ship and it gets colorful and tight! But well worth it. Loved it. Walked around the dock area some and then headed back to the hotel. The new visit spot in Portsmouth is the Mary Rose, the flag ship of King Henry the VII of the 1600’s. we didn’t go but it looked very interesting. It’s not part of the tickets you get for the Royal Navy tours.

 

Next day heading to Southampton Airport to turn in the car and taxi to the City Cruise Terminal, Berth 101 for Celebrity.

 

By the way, here are my favorite quotes between my wife and I while driving in Cornwall and Hampshire:

 

- Me: Let’s take the scenic route.

- Actual road sign: Caution. Opposing traffic may be in center of road. Followed by Karen’s: where in the hell are we suppose to be!?!?

- Me while driving: there’s no shoulder.....hell, there’s only one lane!!

 

• Me: don’t worry the Merry Maids Stone Circle is just up a bit further.
• Upon arrival:
• Karen: they’re just rocks in the middle of a very smelly field. 

 

- Karen: keep left....Keep Left!....,KEEP LEFT!!!

Me: why are you so stressed?? I did all the driving????

 

Thursday 24 Oct:

Drove to Southampton airport to turn in the car. One heads up, when we went to the airport terminal for a taxi, you have to check in at a booth in the terminal, not just wave a taxi down. when we got to the booth, the woman told us a taxi wouldn’t be available for 30min+. they only use one taxi service. She told us we could walk to the train station and get a taxi there. we did. It was easy. You walk to the station, take a lift to cross the tracks to the other side and there were lots of taxi’s which are easy and cheaper - $15 instead of the $20 from the airport. Weird. Our driver was very nice. Took us right in the the City Terminal Berth 101 and off we went. took a few minutes to get through security but got on board in less than 20min. wine waiting for us and a lovely, lovely Celebrity Silhouette ship!

 

Den

[John Bull]

16 hours ago, Denny01 said:

 

Drove to Southampton airport to turn in the car. One heads up, when we went to the airport terminal for a taxi, you have to check in at a booth in the terminal, not just wave a taxi down. when we got to the booth, the woman told us a taxi wouldn’t be available for 30min+. they only use one taxi service. She told us we could walk to the train station and get a taxi there. we did. It was easy. You walk to the station, take a lift to cross the tracks to the other side and there were lots of taxi’s which are easy and cheaper - $15 instead of the $20 from the airport. Weird.

 

Den

 

Taxi drivers pay a fee to the airport , whereas there's no fee at rail stations or hailed in the street.

Hence the premium on the fare at the airport.

(Same applies to the taxis lined up at the cruise terminals, though I think it's only £1)

 

JB 

[Host Bonjour]

On 10/22/2019 at 2:45 PM, sddsddean said:

Glad you managed to negotiate our wonderful road system with no major incidents. The west country can be challenging (perhaps you should have tried Porlock Hill!), but much prettier than going up and down the motorways.

For future reference, if you are not keen on roundabouts, don't visit Milton Keynes. Its built on a grid system (like many US cities), but instead of traffic lights at each intersection, there is a roundabout. If I remember correctly, there are currently 130 in the town!

Of course, you might like to head to Swindon and try the 'magic roundabout' (named after a childrens tv programme).

This is 5 mini roundabouts round a central roundabout and because of the way it works, you actually go round the central roundabout the wrong way! All good fun!

 

Simon

 

🧐🤫🤯😳🍷 Only wine can follow those faces.

 

Where's the emergency exit. No really. Upon reaching this I'd have just gotten out of the car and left it there, immediately fixing to find a pub. A roundabout inside a roundabout? Goodness, I thought it was such a civilized, welcoming place.... 😉 

[Host Bonjour]

On 10/22/2019 at 6:39 PM, scottbee said:

There's also the "Scilly Isles" junction, much closer to Heathrow

 

 

Ummmm......what? Oh I know......no wait the second bump.....is someone/thing maybe buried in the smaller Isles of Scilly that they couldn't dig up to let the A307 pass directly through? Who or what's a Scilly? 🤔

[Host Bonjour]

On 10/22/2019 at 11:24 AM, Denny01 said:

Hi

 

I started a thread on the Celebrity forum about our Silhouette TransAtlantic cruise and the first part is about us spending a week driving through Cornwall and Hampshire prior. Then I realized a lot of what I’m sharing might be of interest for those who are looking at this area forum. So here goes. See if you find this handy:

 

17-18 Oct

Flight

Here we are in the UK. Flew via Delta Atlanta to Heathrow arriving 1130 local. Flight was nothing to speak of. OK. Have arrived earlier before and had 3 other flights from US arrive at 0830ish and a ton of us trying to go through arrival. this flight was the only one in so very quick.

 

18 Oct

Windsor

Rented an Avis car and drove to Windsor. Although planning on most of the time in Cornwall/Hampshire area, decided to spend the first night in Windsor which is only 20-25min from Heathrow. Good idea after an overnight flight instead of driving 5hrs. Watch if you get an cheaper model - many are manual shift which can be tricky even if you know how to use them, being on the other side of what we are use to in the States! I upgraded for $60 for the week for auto and got a hybrid that will save on gas! Tried to navigate via preprinted map and gave up and opened up our iPhone and that worked well, except it gave us directions into one dead end. Recommend set up using international calling/data so you can use google or Apple map navigation. My ATT costs $10 each day I use it. Other phone systems are similar. Handy.

 

Staying at the Clarion Harte and Garter on Hill St right across from Windsor Castle. great hotel. Nice view of the castle; elevators; dining. No parking. Must use city lots. they vary from $20-$5/day depending on distance and if open lot. Room is spacious with a view of the castle - king bed and shower/bathtub.

 

Ate lunch at the old train station which is now a major shopping mall - at the All-Bar-One, which had side rooms that Queen Victoria and Albert stayed in waiting for their train.  Excellent varied menu. Wandered around the castle area - Queen’s flag, the Royal Standard, was flying so she was ‘in residence’. Ate Dinner at the Horse and Groom near the hotel and castle - classic pub food and choices of bitters and wines. Looked like a local place with lots of socializing.

 

Left windows open for cool room and got the ‘party noise’ - it was Friday night. Not bad though.

 

Up and breakfast and wandered a bit more, then on the road to Penzance. Check out is a bit early, 1000, but can ask to stay a little while longer if you wish or leave luggage and wander.

 

Saturday 19 Oct

Windsor

Up early and walked over to the train station and ate at Bill’s. Great breakfast! Then drove the car back to the hotel get the luggage. Got stopped getting on Hill St which the castle and hotel are on - all traffic blocked for 10min or so while they had the changing of the guard. No problem. Checked out and on the road to Penzance.

 

The Drive

takes 4.5+hrs. Good drive but below Exeter, it gets smaller lanes and local farm vehicle traffic which slows it up. Strongly recommend using Google/Apple/GPS Maps/navigation. Again, you really need GPS mapping to find many of these hotels and get around the Round-about traffiic circles - tons of them!

 

Penzance

Smugglers Restaurant and Rooms - Penzance (really in Newlyn which is further along the harbor/bay).

What a place! Small but fantastic rooms. they close for the season next week, so few here now and we have the Harbor Watch room. Unbelievable. Faces the harbor and all the fishing vessels. Queen bed/huge BR/2nd floor no elevator/parking is down the street at harbor - $3.

Very friendly. Ate dinner there. One of the best meals Ive had in a restaurant. You’ve Got to come here! Going to drive the coast up to St Ives tomorrow and stop and see the Marry Maids Stone Circle - prehistoric stones of Stonehenge era but you can walk around and touch.

 

Sunday 20 Oct

Up early and a fantastic English breakfast at Smuggler’s. won’t have to eat till later afternoon! Drove out of Newlyn towards Lands End and stopped at the Merry Maids Stone Circle, an early Bronze Age circle. GPS had us go up a Very Narrow road that was called the Cornwall bicycle trail and it was very interesting but very narrow and curvy. I’d strongly recommend use A-3312 out of town instead. You can walk amongst the stone circle and think of what it was used for. Wear boots - its a farm field and cows/sheep have been there. We then drove on using A-3312 to Lands End then onto St Ives on the ocean-skirting roads. These western Cornwall roads are a challenge especially for right-hand drivers since they are barely wide enough for 2-way with stone walls girding them. I didn’t get a photo of it, but one sign said ‘Oncoming traffic in the road center ahead’....think about that for a second!!

 

Got to St Ives. Beautiful coastal town with great views, cliffs, beach, dining and shopping. Parking is a challenge even this off-season but it was Sunday so lots there. Found a park near the beach area. Carry 1pound coins since most parkings use auto-pay sites that only take coins. Cost 4.7 for 4hrs. Wandered through the narrow streets shopping and eating at a seafood cafe. Too many to recommend - all looked great. Did buy a nice small book with hand drawings of the sites between St Ives and Lands End. Drove the easier A-30 back and relaxed. Dining and supping at the nearby Red Lion pub tonight.

 

Driving to Hampshire area north of Southampton/Portsmouth tomorrow and staying at the Hampshire Hog. It’s 4+hrs along the south coast. Will spent 3 nights in that area before boarding the Silhouette for the TransAtlantic.

 

Monday 21 Oct

Did the drive from Penzance to Hampshire area. It was long. got to the Hampshire Hog hotel and just going to relax and take it easy. The hotel is really fine. Great rooms and nice pub/restaurant. classic with roaring fire and lots of seating around the pub and places to relax. Room is very spaceous. Queen bed/huge HR/free parking/double shower head. Well worth it. Near Southampton and Portsmouth. For me, the driving has been a challenge - not the lefthand side business, but the narrow roads and one thousand round-abouts! Handled them but tiring. Next time may take the bus/train to an area and give that a go.

 

Going to the Butser Ancient Farm which is just down the road - its a site where they’ve built early Neolithic/Mesolithic/Iron Age/Roman/Saxon round and long homes. Sounds fantastic.

 

Tuesday 22 Oct.

Slept in and relaxed. Great included breakfast. Off to Buter Farm. Great weather for it today. Got there and it well beyond anything I expected. Numerous examples of ancient villages in what is called ‘experimental archaeology’. they didn’t recreate an existing village but built round and long homes using the ancient stone and Iron Age techniques. There are a number of school tours ongoing but not an issue. We spent the full day there. well worth it. they directed us to the Red Lion Pub nearby which was built in early 1600’s. excellent meal and beauiful pub/restaurant.

 

Back to the Hampshire Hog and relaxing. Going to Portsmouth to walk around a nice town and see the HMS Victory.

 

Den

 

Thanks so much for posting this here as well Den! It's always great to get trip reports here, we don't see as much after as we do before which is OK, since everyone gets busy once they are home. It's just sometimes nice to hear how things worked out and for folks getting ready to go, to hear other's experiences and see photos. It's especially cool when folks visit places we don't always see written about, like jaw-dropping roundabouts! Part of the fun of being in different places and having experiences altogether different than our own.

 

Hampshire is a beautiful region, I have been around this countryside quite a bit and loved it. Would looooove to see Cornwall, haven't yet had the delight, that would be a journey to stay only there, I believe. Seems it warrants an exclusive trip of its own. 

 

Thanks again for sharing your adventures with us here!! 

[sddsddean]

21 hours ago, Host Bonjour said:

 Who or what's a Scilly? 🤔

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isles_of_Scilly

 

Simon

[Host Bonjour]

On 11/4/2019 at 2:39 PM, sddsddean said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isles_of_Scilly

 

 

Thank you for the link, it's an atoll, wow!! For whatever reason, I didn't think typing in Scilly Isles might turn up anything in a search. I don't know why but I love that I know about these islands and will look to see if I can find videos on them now. I'm obsessed with remote places. Kind of makes sense they named the patches of land inside the roads after the Scilly Isles...but it's a really good thing there aren't as many of them as there are Scilly Isles. 😳

[Cotswold Eagle]

In the context of the junction, Scilly is just a pun 🙂