Reimposta ricerca
Grand Tour of Europe - 2023
  • Stephen and Debbie
  • Stephen and Debbie

Grand Tour of Europe - 2023

Finally! Our Grand Tour of Europe is here. 90 days travelling through the United Kingdom, France, (with a brief visit to Belgium) and then on to Italy, before finishing with a few days in Dubai. Leggi altro
+6
SeguiPanoramicaPanoramicaCalendarioCalendarioFotografieFotografieCondividiCondividiLista dei desideri
Prima i più nuovi
  • Inizio del viaggio
    3 maggio 2023
    Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    Sydney International Terminal

    3 maggio 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌬 22 °C

    The big day is finally here and we are waiting for our flight to London - QF1 @3.10pm. We first booked this trip in 2019 for 2020 - then Covid came in 2020, so we rescheduled to 2021. There was still Covid, so we tried for 2022, but there was still Covid, so we tried for 2023 and here we are ready to go. We will be back in Sydney on 1st August. The added bonus of going this year though is that we will arrive in London in time to see all the Coronation celebrations - us and a million others, but it will be an experience for sure.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    Tower Bridge
    Tower of LondonTower of LondonLondon EyeBig Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster AbbeyHorse Guards ParadeHorse Guards ParadeCrowds on the Mall - all the roadside vantage points are already taken by those who have camped outThe MallHarry & Meghan made an appearance and drew a huge crowd.Buckingham PalaceAustralia on the Mall

    London

    4 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Our first day in London was a busy one - we walked 20,000 steps according to the Fitbit. So much so, we successfully managed a trip on the London Tube back from Westminster to Tower Hill using our Oyster cards instead of walking. We had had enough by then.

    We saw Tower Bridge, went on the London Eye, walked around Westminster and through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace and then down The Mall to Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square.

    Dinner was very English - a pub, a pint and cod & chips.

    This is an amazing time to be in London to see the massive crowds and preparations for the Coronation on Saturday. Everywhere is decorated and security is very obvious. It seems every Bobby in England is in central London at the moment. We are very lucky to be a part of it.    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    London

    5 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    London is teeming with visitors, security and Police. They are here in the thousands. We walked down through Westminster after the show and they had just closed it off ready for the procession. People had already straight away set up in their chairs for the coronation procession. This was at 11:00pm on Friday night.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    London

    5 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today we spent the morning at the Tower of London. It was an amazing place and pretty special to be in a building that is over 1200 years old. Then we went to St. Pauls Cathedral and returned to our hotel on a river cruise down the Thames. Tonight we were off to Charing Cross to see a London theatre show - Oklahoma at the historic Wyndham Theatre.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    The Coronation

    6 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    An amazing day to be in London. We went in to Westminster along with a million others. We were very lucky to be in the right place at the right time and saw the Kings Guards on their way to the ceremony. Then we went to Hyde Park and watched the King leave the Palace on the big screen. It was very wet and after soaking up the atmosphere it was back to our hotel and the bar to watch the rest. It sounds simple but we walked nearly 10km getting from the train to Hyde Park and back to the train along absolutely packed roads. We feel very lucky to have been here and to be able to have experienced it.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    Wells

    7 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    This morning we joined our tour group for our 7 day Corners of Cornwall Tour with Backroads Tours. There are 17 of us and mostly Aussies.

    As we left London we drove through Westminster and it was if yesterday hadn't happened. The city was clean and all the barricades etc were gone.

    Our destination today was the city of Wells and then on to Dartmoor National Park for the night.

    We drove through the green farmlands and villages of Wiltshire (famous for its pork) and across the Salisbury Plains.

    Wells is the smallest city in England but has a magnificent Cathedral. When we were there they were celebrating the coronation with a community fair on the cathedral green, which added to the atmosphere. A highlight here was Vicar's Close, said to be the oldest continuously inhabited street in the world.

    After leaving Wells, we drove through Glastonbury, saw some gypsy caravans and made our way on the back roads and country lanes through the picturesque countryside and villages of Somerset and Devon to Dartmoor.    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    Dartmoor

    7 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Dartmoor National Park was quite a spectacular place to visit. There were the expanses of the moors and the farmhouses, the dry stone walls and the Dartmoor ponies, which have lived here since the bronze age and around 3000 live on the moors.

    Our first night was spent at the Two Bridges Hotel, an isolated 18th century coaching inn in the Dartmoor Park. It had great beer and food and was exactly how you would imagine an old English pub in the country would be.    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    1

    Padstow

    8 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Padstow is another scenic and very old Cornish fishing village. It is also referred to as Padstein, given it is home to chef Rick Steins original seafood restaurant, as well as numerous other shops owned by him.

    We however had a traditional Cornish pastie and a Cornish ice cream.    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    An oven full of pasties in St. Ives.

    St. Ives & Lands End

    9 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    England's weather reared its head today - heavy rain and fog played havoc with our plans and meant our views of the rugged Cornish Coast and the remains of the abandoned tin mines which dot the coast were non-existent which was a real pity. Even heavier rain at Lands End, the western most point of England meant we couldn't walk to the actual lands end.

    But we were lucky, as we had gotten our visit to St. Ives in before the rain started. An old Cornish fishing village with narrow cobblestone streets and quirky shops and bakeries, it was a place we really enjoyed.    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    1

    Tregothnan Estate

    10 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After yesterdays rain, the weather was perfect today and we had a fantastic day.

    We went to Tregothnan Estate, home of the Lords Falmouth for 700 years. It has the U.K's only tea plantation and tea production was explained to us. We started in the village of Coombe and walked through woodlands, past farm cottages and on tracks that have been used by villagers and farmers since the Norman times. The scenery was superb.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    2

    St. Michaels Mount

    10 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    After leaving Tregothnan, we went to the historic tidal island of St. Michael's Mount near Penzance and Marazion. It has been a monastery since the 8th century and then since the 1600's, home of the St. Aubyn family, who still live there. The current Lord is the 12th generation.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    Charlestown

    11 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Charlestown is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is privately owned by the film company that produced the most recent Poldark TV series. It is a quaint and ancient fishing village and sea port that always has some tall ships moored in its harbour. We walked there (30 mins) from our hotel in St. Austell along the coastal path. It has a shipwreck museum and lots of craft shops.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    The barmaid looks familiar.We sampled each of these. The Divine Intervention is 13.5%!

    St. Austell Brewery

    11 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We caught a bus from Charlestown back to St. Austell and went on a tour of the St. Austell brewery. It first began brewing in 1850 and is family owned with the original family still involved. The tour was really interesting and it finished with a very generous tasting session and either a pint of beer or a bottle to takeaway. Their bottles are 500ml. We chose the takeaway and after drinking it will endeavour to get the empty bottles safely home as a souvenir.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore

    Buckfast Abbey

    12 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We left Cornwall today and headed through Devon and Dorset until we reached Salisbury in Wiltshire, a very scenic drive.

    We had a morning stop at Buckfast Abbey in Buckfastleigh, which has been home to a Benedictine monastery since 1050. Monks still live on site and practice there.

    We drove through some towns with great names - Newtown Poppleford, Wobbly Weel, Cat and Fiddle and also Beer!    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    1Fingal Beach is definitely better!Mary Anning statue1The Fleet

    Lyme Regis & Abbotsbury

    12 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Lyme Regis was our lunch stop and is a well known sea port on what is known as the Jurassic Coast, due to the amount of dinosaur fossils that have been discovered there. Many of these were found by a poor local woman, Mary Anning, in the early 1800's, who sold them on the beach to help make ends meet, hence the rhyme "She sells seashells by the seashore", which was written about her.

    The village of Abbotsbury in Dorset was full of thatched cottages. It was also adjacent to an area on the coast known as the Fleet, which was where Barnes Wallis first tested his bouncing bombs used in the Dambusters in 1943. Next week is the 80th anniversary of the raid.    Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione
  • Stephen and DebbieGrand Tour of Europe - 2023Viaggiatore
    11

    Salisbury

    12 maggio 2023, Inghilterra ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    After arriving in Salisbury we visited Salisbury Cathedral. It has the tallest spire in England and was built in 1310-1330. It was a stunning building.

    Tonight is the last night of the Cornwall Tour. Tomorrow we head back to London.Leggi altro

    Guarda la traduzione