So before my husband started his new job, we decided we needed to get away for a while. Not having two nickels to rub together, we had to be thrifty.
We live in Brighton(ish) and here was our itinerary:
Day 1 -- drive to Poole and spend the day drooling at pottery
Day 2 -- visit Longleat in Warminster
Day 3 -- drive into Wales to see Dan-yr-Ogof caves and the
Big Pit Aberdulais Falls (we skipped the pit in favour of the falls -- we didn't have time for both)
Day 4 -- go to Wookey Hold and
Cheddar Gorge (too pooped by the end of the trip, so we just opted to go back to the hotel and RELAX).
Day 5 -- depressing drive home to normalcy
The trip was really nice and affordable.
I found some deals on Travellodge.co.uk so we got our first two nights for £30/night. After that, though, I discovered Holiday Inn Express -- so I made Andrew let us stay there. Oh ... the joys of having a phone in your room ... such little things make me happy.
I've thrown a very limited number of photos up online at Shutterfly (thanks, Melanie, for showing me that) since our personal website is STILL not done (*nudges Andrew (dh)*)
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3222c566532 (I recommend the “view as slideshow” option on the right once you’re in the album)
BTW... the first one is fake -- don't panic.
VERDICT [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Depending on if you want adventure or just simple beauty... everything was nice. Longleat had something for everyone and was SOOO worth the money. We spent £16/pp to get in, but it was a FULL day's worth of activities. The world's longest hedge maze is there and we got stuck in there for years! I had to pee SO bad, we ended up coming out before we hit the goal. Talk about confusing! Andrew got to see a Dr. Who exhibition.... so he was happy.
Also, if you go to Longleat, hit "heaven's gate." It's this... thing... that Lord Bath constructed up on a hill. You can't really get to it once you're on Longleat property... we checked it out the evening before. Ask your B&B owner or Hotel receptionist how to get there. The views from there are beautiful and worth the trip.
At the Dan-yr-Ogof caves there is also a Shire Horse farm with VERY friendly animals. We got to pet a whole bunch of lamas and shire horses and... those little miniature horses.
All in all -- great trip. If you go to any of the places, check their websites... we got tons of coupons and "buy one get one" offers.
Any questions, just ask!
