PaulBWI

With apologies for such a long first post….

My partner and I are planning a trip to England, 29 Aug - 5 Sep. We hope to spend 29 Aug - 1 Sep outside of London, possibly going to the Isle of Wight or Cornwall (we haven't been to either before). We'd appreciate any specific suggestions for travel and accommodation, including if there are "better" last week of August destinations.

We're arriving at LGW on the August bank holiday. So I'd prefer not to have to rent a car and drive if that's at all practical. In order to avoid the car, we need to make sure that we can get "there" and that "there" is somewhere where we can get around on foot or good public transportation.

By way of example, we spent Easter weekend '04 in Bath, having taken the National Express bus to Bath from LHR. We stayed in a B&B and had a great weekend exploring as far as our feet would take us.

We're saving London for the end of this trip and already have tickets that won't easily change, e.g., Clarence House. Last Fall, we enjoyed staying at City Inn near the Tate Britain, but this year its prices and the US/UK exchange rate aren't cooperating. We've checked out tripadvisor and are considering the Bonnington in Bloomsbury. Perhaps stating the obvious, we're looking for a good location. And for us, air conditioning is mandatory for the London stay.

We're using US Airways Dividend Miles awards for the tickets, so there's a little flexibility on the pricing of the travel and accommodation. But the exchange rate will continue to temper any leanings towards "irrational exuberance" in our spending.

With advance thanks for your help and suggestions,

Paul

Gatwick Alan

If you only have a few days and dont want to drive Cornwall is just too far.
To get to the Isle of wight you can get a train direct from Gatwick to Portsmouth Harbour and then hop on the ferry.
Personally i prefer Cornwall but think the distance is too great for the time available(driving time from Gatwick is 6 to 9 hours depending on destination and traffic)

Swanhunter

I visited Cornwall for many years on holiday when a kid - and used to visit the Isle of Wight frequently when living on the South Coast. For me it is a no brainer to visit the Duchy. There is much more to do, more impressive scenery and just a generally different feeling to Cornwall, whereas the IoW just feels like an extension of Hampshire.

However, from a transport point of view the Island is easier to get around (being much smaller), in Cornwall public transport simply won't take you to all the best bits. However neither offers a really compact experience - perhaps somwhere more city would suit your desire to explore by foot given the limted timescale you have.

If you still fancy Cornwall, could I recommend staying in Truro. Its the main town in the county, with decent rail and bus links (including National Express) and you can get to places like St Ives, the Eden project and some of the coast fairly easily. Beware that it will take you 4-6 hours to get there and get back - the IoW is only 2-3 hours by comparison.

The week you suggested will still be easy - it is the last week of school holidays for many and obviously the bank holiday on the 29th will mean things are pretty busy.

Strawb

Hi,

August 29 is the late summer Bank Holiday and as such will be a busy day to travel by road or rail in the UK. I've only visited the Isle of Wight for the day and I much prefer Cornwall for its beauty and beaches but also because it's so much more tranquil. And Cornwall is a lot larger in area than the Isle of Wight and you can get to many nice places on the local but limited train services such as the fishing village of St Ives. It's been a while since I last visited Cornwall. Devon is just as nice.

stut

I would sooner go to Cornwall than the Isle of Wight, personally, but it is quite a trek.

However... There is a domestic LCC which operates from LGW to Plymouth (PLH) and Newquay (NQY), Air Southwest which is probably worth a look (nothing to do with Southwest Airlines!)

ridgeback

I read in the FT the other day about a few London hotels with US Dollar friendly rates. They're not exactly cheap, but less expensive the normal. I was able to find this using google:

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher...037612&start=8

"London hotels offer guaranteed dollar rates

With the exchange rate a disheartening $1.87 to the pound, a number of hotels in London are offering special fixed pound-to-dollar rates to draw American tourists this summer.

The Royal Garden Hotel, 1-866-521-7017; http://www.royalgardenhotel.co.uk, is offering guaranteed dollar rates through Sept. 30, with a superior room (one with a king-sized bed and a sitting area) costing $259 a night, including a Continental breakfast and tax. Rooms must be booked at least 30 days ahead and a minimum stay of three nights is required.

At the Capital Hotel, guests who stay a minimum of three nights get a guaranteed three-night rate of $1,199 for a double room; taxes extra. Full English breakfasts are included as is a car pickup at Heathrow Airport. (44-207) 589-5171; http://www.capitalhotel.co.uk.

The Baglioni Hotel is offering a locked-in exchange rate of $1.75 to the pound through Aug. 31, meaning that a superior room would cost $332.50 a night, not including taxes. (44-207) 368-5800; http://www.baglionihotels.com.

The Athenaeum Hotel is offering visitors from the United States a savings of about 40 percent until the end of the year. A standard room, typically 295 pounds, is $295, not including taxes. Rooms overlooking Green Park would cost $395. 1-800-335-3300; http://www.athenaeum.com."

GadgetFreak

Havent been to the Isle of Wight but we were in Cornwall last fall and loved it. One possibility given the time constraints is to go to Devon. Very nice, country atmosphere and closer to London.

PaulBWI

Thanks to everyone for reading and responding thus far. It sounds like Cornwall is the way to go.

Particular thanks to stut for making us aware of Air Southwest and the flights to Newquay. Flying seems like a great alternative to spending hours on the road driving to Cornwall from LGW after an overnight flight from the U.S.

It does seem that we'll need a car. Newquay airport has both Europcar and Hertz. Any reasons to select one over the other? (And it will be an automatic.)

And based on the posts, we're now looking for a good place to stay somewhere in the Truro area (as well as still looking for London). Any recommendations of a good B&B or hotel are appreciated.

Thanks!

BigLar

We went to Cornwall a couple of years ago and loved it! My trip report has a few pages on Cornwall, if you're interested.

GadgetFreak

You might consider the train from London. We took the train and then a taxi to where we were staying (in St. Mawes right on the water).

Amoose

One thing to watch with the LCCs is their baggage weight policy, which is often less than allowed on transatlantic carriers. For example, most US to UK flights will let you check up to two bags up to 32kg each. Air Southwest limits checked baggage to 20kg in total according to their website.

A Moose

Swiss Tony

Don't want to sound pedantic, but the 20kgs thing isn't specific to LCC's. I think you'll find most flights that don't route to, from or via North America will limit Y class baggage to 20kgs (or maybe 23kgs), C to 30kgs and F to 40 kgs.

Perhaps it's just me, but I can pack a bag of clothes for a week or 10 days of skiing and include my ski boots, for well under 20kgs...

Raffles

The overnight sleeper rail service still runs from Paddington to Penzance.

This will a) save you 2 nights of hotel charges and b) save you a day you would otherwise lose travelling.

See here http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/a...ce/sleeper.php for details. Not sure if you can book online or if you have to call - the online systems may not be able to handle it. The service is well regarded although loss-making - it may be scrapped from April 2006.