Drive to the Cotswolds

Today we rented a car. Our first destination was Winchester. We got there in about an hour. We were able to find parking in a parkade close to the city center. As we started our walk we came across a very old grist mill. Inside was a coffee bar, where we stopped for a coffee and to pickup a bun for lunch. From there we found our way to the famous, Winchester Cathedral. A huge church with a history dating back over a thousand years. We paid our admission fee and joined a guide for a walking tour inside. Many famous bishops and others are buried here including the well known author, Jane Austin. After leaving the cathedral we walked along the main pedestrian street and worked our way back to the car. We saw the oldest house in Winchester dating back to 1450!

The other destination we had planned for today is Northleach, a small town in the Cotswold area of England, about 1 1/2 hrs from Guildford, that has a place that rents bicycles. The town is located close to a number of other small, very old and very quaint English towns that can be accessed by bicycle along quiet, lightly travelled roads. There are several different bicycle routes possible with varying lengths and levels of difficulty. We picked one that is about 25 km in length and easy but would take us through several beautiful villages. It turned out to be a perfect bike trip for us. Lots of beautiful scenery, old and historic buildings. We got a bit lost towards the end but we sorted it out.

Once we had dropped off the bikes we headed back to Guildford. Unfortunately, it started to rain a little and then it got dark as well. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me on a drive, except maybe the Malahat. But, we were finding the driving in England to be very stressful already. Way too many confusing traffic circles, careless drivers and the challenge of driving on the left hand side of the road. On the journey we narrowly missed getting hit head on by a driver passing too many cars; we almost sideswiped a car in my blind spot when having to quickly make a lane change; almost drove off the road when taking a wrong turn at a highway exit; and we added almost twentieth minutes to our trip home after missing turnoffs. We will never again rent a car in England. Much too stressful!

By the time we finally got back to the hotel it was late and we were too tired to walk into town for dinner so we had dinner in our hotel restaurant. It was tasty and filling, but way above what we would have preferred to pay.Read more