Reflections on Wales and England.

My trip is almost over. I’m at the airport waiting for my flight home.
I’ve had a lovely time in Wales and England. It differed slightly from my previous two trips in that I chose just two places to stay rather than moving every 3 nights. My first trip back in 2016 was the trip of a lifetime and I wasn’t expecting I’d ever come back so I wanted to see as much as possible.
The second trip I only spent a few days in London before travelling to Ireland and Northern Ireland and doing the same 3 nights per place. I still think that 3 nights is a good length of time as it gives you time to explore the immediate area.

Last year on Norfolk Island it was the first time in a long time I had stayed in one place for a longer period and I enjoyed the slower pace.
My plans are to always return to the UK if I come to Europe. I enjoy the freedom having a car gives you. I’m not keen to repeat my experience of driving in mainland Europe but never say never.

5 nights in Wales and 6 in Wiltshire worked out well.
I had wanted to visit North Wales and Snowdonia as I had missed it in 2016. I had originally planned to be a bit further south in Somerset but found the accommodation in Wiltshire and it worked out well being easily accessible for two day trips to Bath. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Bath. There was so much history there and it is very walkable.

I visited Anglesey at the right time.
Earlier this week they closed the Menai Bridge due to safety concerns. It had been only open to cars and motor bikes but difficulties in enforcing this lead to the decision to close it altogether. That leaves the one bridge to get across the Menai strait.

The highlight of North Wales was the scenic drive to Llandudno and the highlight for Wiltshire would be Lacock Abbey and village.

I’m still enjoying solo travel. It was nice to meet the group in Bergen and then meet Cynthia again in Manchester. The only real difficulty I found was trying to squeeze my luggage and myself into a toilet cubicle in Manchester.

As I’m waiting for the plane my thoughts have turned to my next overseas trip. I still have Italy, Canada and New Zealand on my list. When I come to Italy I’ll come to,the UK. I want to see more of Scotland and I haven’t explored the south east corner. It won’t be until 2027 at the earliest. I need a few months off without any planning as this trip especially the Norway portico took a lot of planning. I did use a travel agent and unlike my other two trips I was disappointed in what she offered and ended up doing a lot of the organising and planning myself. Next time I think I will do it all myself.
Also I need time to save some money. Norway was certainly expensive, England and Wales less so but having a car meant I was able to stay a but further out of the metro areas and use self catering accommodation to save on meals out.
I had 2000 NOK left which I converted to GBP. I’ve £141 left so I budgeted fairly well. Czytaj więcej