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Travel Plans

PART ONE: U.S. TO CUMBRIA AND BATH

• Sat, Jul 2: Get to Newark
  • Drive from SC to Newark: 4 hours on I-80E
  • Dinner: Sol-Mar Portuguese Restaurant, 267 Ferry St, Newark, NJ 07105
    • Reservations for two under Ross for 8:00 pm
    • You can use Wachovia bank parking lot across the street
  • Overnight at Country Inn and Suites (prepaid, $148)
  • 100 Glimcher Realty Way, Elizabeth NJ 07201
  • Phone for hotel: (908) 282-0020
  • Check out time: noon
• Sun, Jul 3: Fly Newark to London (EWR to BRU to LHR)
  • Take the hotel shuttle to airport (free), will drop us off at Station P4
  • Jet Airways, Terminal B
    • Confirmation # DFQRMF
  • Travelocity Confirmation # 5106 9256 5841
  • Flight one: Jet Airways Flight 227
    • EWR depart 6:40 PM to BRU arrive 7:50 AM
  • Flight two: Brussels Airways Flight 2093
    • Depart BRU 10:00 AM, arrive LHR 10:15 AM
• Mon, Jul 4: Arrive London, bus to Oxford
  • Call Judy from the airport to confirm arrival
  • Take the Oxford Bus at 12:00 to Gloucester Green in Oxford
    • Booking number 121740 (prepaid 44 pounds) for Mon July 4 at 12:20 at Heathrow Central Bush Station
• Tues, July 5: Go to Ambleside, Cumbria
  • Take rail journey OXF to BHM to OXN to WDM (prepaid return, Confirmation Virgin Railway 9R249GN2, 275 pounds)
    • Leave Oxford 8:36, arrive Birmingham New Street 9:48
    • Leave Birmingham New Street 10:20, arrive Oxenholme Lake District 12:22
    • Leave Oxenholme Lake District 12:28, arrive Windermere 12:47
  • Once at Windermere, a short cab ride to Riverside Hotel, under Loughrigg, Ambleside; or can leave your luggage at Daryl’s cafe on the base of Orrest Head!
    • Close to the rail station is Lakeland Limited Cook store, which also has a cafe if you want to eat there
    • Lunch at the Zefferelli’s Cafe (Compston Road) or Rattle Gill Cafe (Bridge St)
  • Roam a bit around Ambleside
    • Rydal Mount is in Ambleside (9:30-5:00 daily, 5.50 admission price)
    • Consider doing the walk from Ambleside to Grasmere Village via Rydal Mount (at Grasmere, lunch at Baldry’s Cafe in Red Lion Square or Miller Howe cafe on the edge of the village green); could also just walk around the B&B
      • If Grasmere, go to the Gingerbread Shop and the Dove and Olive Branch pub
    • Could also attend the Hawkshead Parish summer concert
    • Market Cross shopping area in Ambleside – very picturesque
  • Dinner at The Glass House (fish pie)
  • Waterhead Coffee Shop or The Giggling Goose (cafe) or A Taste of Lakeland cafe
  • Rydal Mount, Wordsworth house is between Ambleside and Windermere (daily 9:30-5)
  • Overnight at Riverside Hotel (no deposit made, 270 pounds total)
    • Telephone, 015394 32395; info@riverside-at-ambleside.co.uk
  • Blackwell Arts and Crafts House (10:30-5:00)
    • 3 miles from Windermere station (can get a taxi)
  • Best Ambleside beer/pub: the Golden Rule (no stupid music!)
    • The website says from town center, “follow North Road up beside the Tourist Information Centre and Post Office. When you reach the butchers turn left between the buildings then drop down to the right to reach the back door.”
    • The Queen’s Head near Troutbeck also a good pub option; but also the Britannia Inn
• Wed, July 6: Ambleside, Cumbria
  • Roam a bit around Windermere
    • Townend Farmhouse: a 17th c farmhouse open Wed and Thu 1-5
    • Could do Hill Top (Beatrix Potter’s house)
  • The good Windermere walk is the 25-minute hill up to Orrest Head (amazing view)
    • You take bus 555 or 599 from Windermere Station and get off at Troutbeck (1.5 miles)
  • Could do the Drunken Duck Inn; eating at Windermere? Hooked for seafood. Holbeck Ghyll or Cedar Manor (40 pounds for 3 courses) if you want really nice food. Mojos Bistro or Francine’s (main road, 3 courses for 20 pounds) for good but unpretentious, reasonable price. People also like The Golden Mountain Chinese resto (can do takeaway). Goose fat cooked fish n chips at the Lamplighter Bar. Local organic from the Jumble Room (not open Tues, only Wed from 5:30 on)
  • Windermere tea and coffee: Brambles Tea Rooms
  • Windermere pub: Watermill Inn and Brewery (microbrew, pub of the year 2011, just near Windermere in the village of Ings, probably a good cheap dinner there)
  • Overnight at Riverside Hotel
• Thur, July 7: Cartmel, Cumbria
  • Take the Windermere Lake Cruise (depart from Ambleside Pier to the Lakeside Pier, at which junction you meet up with the Lakeside Pier; there you walk the tiny distance to the Haverthwaite railway, go from its Lakeside Station to Haverthwaite Station, then take taxi for four miles to Cartmel and have some fun around Cartmel (get sticky pudding)
  • Overnight at L’enclume (120 pound deposit paid)
    • Cavendish Street, Cartmel
    • Telephone 015395 36362, info@lenclume.co.uk
    • One room for Judy at 99 pounds (incl room and breakfast only); one champagne break deal for Andrew and Shawna for 319 (incl dinner, room, and breakfast); dinner reservations at 7:00 pml
  • Cartmel Pub: Engine Inn
• Fri, July 8: Return to Oxford, WDM to PRE to WVH to OXF (prepaid)
  • Taxi, twelve miles from Cartmel to Windermere
  • Leave Windermere 10:49, arrive Preston 11:45
  • Leave Preston 12:17, arrive Wolverhampton 1:31
  • Leave Wolverhampton 1:41, arrive Oxford 3:15
• Sat, July 9: Oxford
  • Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum (ethnography, Victorian arrangement); Covered Market on High Street (with Georgina’s for healthy sandwich lunch); George and Davis’s (ice cream)
  • Jamie’s Italian; Brasserie Blanc (amazing looking French bistro, 71 Walton St); Wagamama Oxford (8 Market St)
  • The Mitre (old pub), Turf Tavern and The Trout and The White Horse (three Morse pubs), the Eagle and Child (literary pub), the Rose and Crown (good whiskey selection), The Royal Oak (cheap but good); the Bear Inn (really old, Bear Lane off High St)
  • Coffee/tea in Oxford: The Missing Bean, 14 Turl Street, which is between Market St and High St, south of Exeter College but north of the Bear pub; Combibos, which is on 93 Gloucester Green, near bus station; patisserie, Maison Blanc; The Grand Cafe (good high tea; site of first cafe in England, 84 High St, Chelsea Clinton’s favorite); The Rose (high tea, 51 High St), Ben’s Cookies
    • For cafes, people also like Cafe Coco (with its pizza); Queen’s Lane Coffee House on High St and its little sister the QL Coffee House on Walton St; the creperie Chez Gaston (on North Parade, colorful, apparently near the Missing Bean); Olives Sandwiches (42 High Street, esp the Oxford Blue sandwich, why not take a baguette to the Botanical Gardens one day)
  • Bicester Village is close (10 miles north, discount shopping)
• Sun, July 10: Oxford
  • Bletchley Park
  • Wychwood Brewery: Hobgoblin tour, 2 hrs long, 6.5 per person with a tasting (Sat: 2, 2:30, 4, 4:30; Sun, 2, 2:30 – make sure to pre book online, http://www.wychwood.co.uk/#/tours//hobgoblin/tours)
• Mon, July 11: Bath, OXF to DID to BTH (prepaid return, Confirmation First Great Western BJCJRCL6, 99 pounds)
  • Train Oxford to Bath, depart Oxford 8:36, arrive Didcot Parkway 8:51, leave Didcot Parkway 9:12, arrive Bath Spa 9:59
  • The Roman Baths and Pump Room, Jane Austen museum and tea
  • Overnight at 139 Bath (one family room, not prepaid, 190 pounds)
    • Leighton House, 139 Wells Road
    • Telephone: +44 (0)1225 314769; info@139bath.co.uk
• Tues, July 12: Bath, BTH to DID to OXF
  • Museum of Costume, shopping
  • Lunch at the Cheese Shop
  • Depart Bath 8:43 PM, arrive Didcot Parkway 9:28, depart Didcot Parkway 9:55, arrive Oxford 10:16

PART TWO: LONDON AND OXFORD

• Wed, July 13: Oxford
• Thurs, July 14: Oxford
  • Blenheim, last admission 4:45? The S3 bus runs to Blenheim each half hour from Oxford Train Station
• Fri, July 15: Day trip
  • Harrods
    • Harrods and the museums are roughly near Kensington, so do both in the same day
  • Churchill War Rooms, Imperial War Museum, V&A, (V&A open later Friday nights)
  • Lunch or dinner: Harrods food hall; Kensington Creperie; Wagamama (Knightsbridge, in ground floor of the Harvey Nichols department store, walkable from Harrods, 109 Brompton Road, super-close to Knightsbridge Tube);
    • Best fish n chips: http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/309/londons-best-fish-and-chip-restaurants and http://www.londoneats.com/news/top10chippies.asp (especially the Golden Hind)
    • If wanted a nice dinner that’s not too expensive, Gordon Ramsay’s French “Maze” is nearby. But a better option is the Gordon Ramsay casual seasonal pub, The Narrow, 44 Narrow Street, you will want to book online
  • Drinks at the Savoy American Bar
  • Bletchley Park closed this day.
• Sat, July 16: Day trip
  • Sat is the best day for St John Bakery (Fergus Henderson), 72 Druid Street in Bermondsey; also, St John Bread and Wine is opposite the Spitalfields ; market
  • Greenwich (No other events that day to crowd the place); the original St John is right outside Smithfield market To eat in Greenwich: For lunch, go to Paul Rhodes bakery to stock up on sandwiches, drinks, pastries, and eat at the Observatory. For dinner, The Old Brewery (top brewer! in the Old Royal Naval College – that is really the wy to go)
    • If you still need options in Greenwich, Inside (modern european, 18 pounds for two courses) at 19 Greenwich South Street
• Sun, July 17: Day trip
  • Hampstead for Keats House and Spaniards Sunday roast?
• Mon, July 18: London day trip
  • Lunch reserved in Shawna’s name at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner for 2 at 2:30 (casual dress), confirmation # 830518110
  • In the Mandarin Oriental hotel, 66 Knightsbridge, London, can do three course set lunch for 28 pounds
  • Dinner or +44 (0)20 7201 3833
  • Bateel – the date store
    • http://www.bateel.com/ at 138 New Bond Street (near the Bond Street tube)
  • Could do Yo! Sushi or a Lebanese place for dinner; or the Hummus Brothers in Holborn or Soho; or Mooli’s Street Cuisine (roti wraps) in Soho; Banh Mi Bay (4-6 Theobald’s Rd, near Bloomsbury) or City Caphe for banh mi too (17 Ironmonger Lane, tube: Bank); in Soho, Golden Union Fish Bar on 38 Poland St for fish n chips; Lebanese, Yalla Yalla at 12 Winsley St around Oxford St
  • London Sichuan: Number 10 in Earls Court, 10 Hogarth Place; Red n Hot, 37 Charlton Street (near Euston Station or King’s Cross St Pancras); or the family of restaurants Bar Shu (28 Frith St, the biggest original) and Ba Shan (teahouse, small eats, midprice, 24 Romilly St) all around Leicester Square tube
  • More London cheap eats: Grenadier (most famous London pub), Viet Grill (58 Kingsland Road, Bethnal Green; Liverpool St tube), Polpo (Venetian, 41 Beak St, Soho, tube: Oxford Circus; if it’s busy try its sister restaurant down the street), Koya (udon noodle Japanese place; 49 Frith Street, Soho, tube: Tottenham Court Rd), Vinoteca (wine bar and fresh local food; 15 Seymour place, Marylebone, tube: Bond St), Pizza East (56 Shoreditch High Street, tube: Liverpool St, or its other location, 310 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, tube: Ladbroke Grove)
• Tues, July 19: Oxford

PART THREE: TRANSATLANTIC

• Wed, Jul 20: Southampton
  • Leave on Queen Mary Two, voyage M116, confirmation CH5J8R, we are on room 10111 (for now)
  • Check-in time is 1:00 PM
  • London-Waterloo train station has train to Southampton Central every half hour: 34 pounds.
• Wed, 27th July: Arrive in New York (Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, Pier 12)
  • Arecibo car to hotel, Country Inn and Suites, 100 Glimcher Realty Way, Elizabeth NJ 07201; call them when you get through immigration, not book ahead, (718)783-6465 (from Brooklyn Pier), about $70
  • Or if the car takes you to the Newark Airport, take free hotel shuttle, which will be waiting at the Station P4 (hotel shuttles).
    • Station P4 is closest to Terminal C (far out, not between Terminals B and C)
    • Pay cost for extra parking
  • Drive ourselves drive home

Other Trip Ideas

• Somerset Cider Trail (incl Hereford Cider Museum, only open Tues to Sat; Sheppy’s cider farm, Bradford-on-tone; Plough Inn, Taunton, and other Taunton http://www.real-cider.co.uk/cider-tour-around-taunton; Perry’s Cider Museum)
  • Daily Mail piece
• Plymouth Gin distillery tour – have to do the 40 pound a head Master Tour to mix your own; 2.5 hrs need to book in advance
• Broadway, the Cotswolds: Tisanes tea house in Broadway (10-5 every day), Mill Stream Manor inn (or the Dormy House Hotel or Buckland Manor), Gordon Russell (arts and crafts) Museum
  • Could do the classic walk from Broadway to nearby Chipping Campden
• Andrew and Shawna: Go to London Monday for lunch at Heston Blumenthal’s. Lunch at St John (noon to 3 pm) – do Judy and Tom want to do that
• London on Friday: Morning, take bus from Oxford using the Express Bus to Marble Arch. Go to Harrods and either get some food there or go to Fergus Henderson’s for lunch. Take the London River Cruise Ltd ferry from Westminster Pier, Victoria Embankment to Greenwich Pier. Go to the observatory with your lunch from Harrods (or could get the Paul Rhodes bakery stuff). Visit museum. Dinner at the brewery and take the DLR and the tube to the Marble Arch, whereupon we take the Oxford Express back home.
• Judy and Tom in Bath
  • Hotels in the city center, moderately priced but well reviewed
    • http://www.haringtonshotel.co.uk/
    • http://www.dukesbath.co.uk/
  • Trains from OXF to BTH
    • Depart Oxford 3:37 to arrive Didcot Parkway 3:51 (by taking the First Great Western Service to London Paddington). Depart Didcot Parkway 4:12 to arrive Bath Spa 4:59 (by taking the First Great Western Service to Weston-super-Mare).
    • Depart Oxford 3:44 to arrive Reading 4:10 (by taking the Crosscountry Service to Southampton Central). Depart Reading 4:27 to arrive Bath Spa 5:26 (by taking the First Great Western Service to Bristol Temple Meads).
  • On Friday, there is a train on every 36 after the hour to get directly from Bath to Portsmouth (it’s either just under or just over 2.5 hrs).

• Future Trip to the North of England
  • Isla for the Scotch
  • Durham for Harry Potter nostalgia
  • Bradford for the Indian food
  • Chester for the architecture
  • Haworth for the Southern hospitality
  • York for the tourist attractions
  • Harrogate for the dales and spa
  • Sheffield for visiting Adam
    • The Milestone (British food)
  • Whitby and Harrogate for the seaside