United Kingdom – Adventures In The South of Spain

From Bath, we took the train to Liverpool for a one-night stay at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in the city center. We arrived early in the day, dropped our bags and went exploring on foot. The main draw for visitors is the large sculpture of The Beatles. You can’t miss it! The Albert Dock area is attractive and there are plenty of establishments for grabbing food and drink on your way to The Maritime Museum or The Beatle‘s Story. We went to the Beatles Story on our first afternoon and found it to be a fun walk through Beatle’s history with replicas of The Casbah, The Cavern Club, Abbey Road Studios, The Magical Mystery Tour Bus, Eleanor Rigby’s grave, the plane that brought The Beatles to New York…… and enough memorabilia to please the avid Beatle’s fan.

We happened to be in Liverpool on our 45th wedding anniversary. It seemed pretty significant to celebrate in the birthplace of the Beatles. We splurged on an elegant dinner at Gaucho Argentine Steakhouse.

The next morning, we took The Magical Mystery Tour. It is popular, so get your tickets early. The tour bus was decked out to fit the theme. Beatles music played throughout the tour often with the visitors singing along. Our guide was friendly and informative. He is a musician himself and while younger than Paul McCartney, he grew up near him and knew the family. The tour took us to all of the sites mentioned in Beatle’s songs and past their childhood homes. In some places, we had to stay on the bus, while at other places we could stop for photo ops. It was a tour well-worth taking, because we never could have found all those places on our own. Liverpool is a large city. It is a thriving business center with more to offer than Beatle’s memories, but we were there for the Beatle’s and we were not disappointed.

After our tour, we went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and get a taxi to the station for our train to York. The hotel staff was wonderful and the hotel had a nice indoor swimming pool. Unfortunately, we had not packed suits for this trip.

York, England

It was a pleasant two hour train ride from Liverpool to York. We spent two nights in York at the York Hilton, directly across the street from Clifford’s Tower. The surrounding neighborhood is a little quieter than the city center, but it is only a ten minute walk to the center. A walk in York is a walk through medieval and Georgian England. Cozy tea rooms and historic pubs are steps from contemporary wine bars and bustling restaurants. We enjoyed Pairings Wine Bar, Rustique, and L’Ostria.

We took a morning walking tour which helped orient us to York’s history and attractions. York Minster was built in the 13th century and the Shambles, York’s medieval butcher and market area is remarkably well-preserved. There is a “Harry Potter” feel to the shop district and it is said to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley.

York is definitely worth a stop on your UK tour! There is plenty to do for a couple of days or you can just kick back and enjoy some live music and good food in an historic setting.

Next: Edinburgh

We took the train from London to Bath for a three-night stay in this charming town that is an almost perfectly preserved example of Georgian architecture. The train ride from Paddington Station to Bath takes 1 1/2 hours and costs about $80 per ticket. The train was comfortable and our fellow passengers were enthusiastic travelers and locals.

We stayed at Oldfields’ Bed and Breakfast, a charming house up on the hill above town. The room was comfortable, the staff friendly and breakfast was very good. Most visitors come by car, so the parking lot is a plus. We did not have a car and and it was a bit of a walk into town and uphill all the way back so we used taxis or Ubers.

We took a Bridgerton Walking Tour with Paul Elliot (available on Trip Advisor). He was both informative and fun. On this tour you will see the major sites in Bath along with on location sites from the filming of the Bridgerton series. (Netflix)

A walking tour is a perfect introduction to Bath. Once you have an overview of the town, you can return to the sites you which to visit. We visited The Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, and the Jane Austen Centre. I highly recommend all three. Reserve your tickets ahead for the popular Roman Baths. We were able to walk into the Jane Austen Centre, but it is housed in a Georgian house that can get crowded rather quickly. I wasn’t able to browse the gift shop as I would have liked, because it also serves as the ticket office and there was a large group checking in. We did not go to the Tea Rooms upstairs, but you might want to reserve a table for the full experience.

We spent three nights in Bath. Many tourists visit on a day trip from London, but we are slower travelers and Bath has a lot to offer. We had time to enjoy lunch at Bath’s oldest pub : The Saracens Head. Bath has a number of good restaurants to explore and enjoy.

From Bath, we took a half-day small bus tour to Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is only an hour away, so if you have a car you can go on your own. Our driver pointed out a few points of interest along the way, but once we arrived we toured on our own. Admission includes an excellent audio-tour. Visitors are only allowed inside the stone circle on certain days (solstice) on approved tours. If you follow the perimeter path you get good views of the structures from various sides and learn valuable facts about Stonehenge from the audio narration. All along the route are printed signs pointing out certain features and discoveries; there are even “selfie stops”. Carbon dating pinpoints Stonehenge around 3100 BC and human remains indicate that it may have been a Neolithic burial ground. The type of stone is found in northern Scotland, a considerable distance from the site. Archeologists continue to study and wonder about its origins.

Next Stop: Liverpool

Note: Any mention of commercial ventures is purely based on my own experience. I am independent and unpaid.

Category: United Kingdom

Liverpool and York (August 2024)

Bath and Beyond (August 2024)