England vs Wales

Our third camper trip this year will take us to the home country of Wendy, England. The plan is to travel through the south of England, visit Wales and continue back to England towards the North, visit friends and family before we head back to the south and catch the Eurotunnel again home. Depending on the weather we may decide to stay a few extra days in the north of France.

Day 1 – Calais

We booked a ticket on the Eurotunnel for Monday morning, so we decided to start traveling on the Sunday in order to not stress ourselves to being on-time, especially with our experiences around Antwerp 2 trips ago. So we arrived on a windy camping, just behind the dunes in a village 10 minutes away from the Eurotunnel. We stretched our legs with a walk over the beach which was long, wide and every 50 meters or so a wave breaker. Nice to see all the wind and kite surfers fighting the wind and the sea while in the background all the big ferries were sailing along.

Day 2- Eurotunnel

Our train was scheduled for 10:20 which would mean we would arrive before 10:00 with the time difference. We were advised to be there an hour ahead so we ended up entering the terminal at 09:00. We had no idea what to expect, how we would get on the train or what it would look like, quite exciting. After several checks, tickets, passports and even a x-ray scan of the campervan we were lined up on the tarmac with still no train or train track to be found. We finally went on board and after a few turns we came onto a platform where we entered the train and drove a while in the train following the other cars, then they locked the doors and off we went. All rather efficient and relaxing.

When we arrived in the UK we immediately were confronted with driving on the left side of the road, but as everyone is doing this, you just follow and get in the swing of it. What was more concerning was the state of the roads with all the potholes, not nice. We planned to avoid all the traffic around London so continued driving along the coast. Our first stop was to be Rye, apparently a beautiful little town but they forgot to arrange parking space. We drove around trying to find a suitable place for our van but after an hour we gave up, bye bye Rye.

As we needed a rest we stopped at the next beach town called Hastings, where we could easily find a place for the campervan. What looked like a bit of a deserted beach town had some nice features we do not have in Europe, to start with the pebble beaches and the wave breakers.

We walked around had a coffee and continued our journey to beachy head, where we would find some white cliffs. Wow, parked along the street and climbed up the hills to the top of the white cliffs overlooking the lighthouse. Making photos from the edge of the cliff was quite tricky as there was a strong gust of wind, which could blow you of your feet. I actually wanted to go down to the lighthouse to make photos from sea level but after some reading up this is quite tricky, you have to time the tide right with a window of 3 hours to go there and back. Decided to give that a miss.

As it was getting late we needed to find a campsite and against all objections of Wendy (Brighton rock syndrome) we arrived at a great campsite in Brighton. We decided to walk into town for a pub meal, which turned out to be a much longer walk than expected, but the famous Weatherspoon still had place, food and beer.

Day 3 – Brighton

After a leisurely breakfast and recovered from yesterday we set off to see some of the white cliffs in Salty Dean (next to Brighton) and the pier and Pavilion of Brighton. Salty Dean is seems a bit run-down but the walk along the cliffs was nice.

We then headed back to Brighton to the delight of Wendy and went straight to the Pavilion, which was build for one of the royals in the style of Indian building. A strange site to see even today but even more so in the days it was built. We wondered around the building which had a lovely park and despite it was busy it felt like a place to relax in a busy city.

Then back to the famous pier of Brighton, how tacky can you get. But the beaches look nice and I can imagine it will be very lively and lots of fun when the sun comes out. At the same time it was so busy we took our photos and got away again.

Our next stop was going to be Stonehenge, a bucket list thing of ours. As it was already midday we decided to find a camping nearby and visit Stonehenge the next morning. On the way though it started to rain heavily and wouldn’t stop, which caused some flooding on the roads and traffic jams. We can really consider ourselves lucky in the Netherlands as our roads are superb compared to this. We have no hills either of corse. When we were getting close to our preferred campsite and I was getting quite tired from the intense driving, Wendy all of a sudden said “Look Stonehenge”. And indeed on the right side of the road there it was, we were just driving past it. The image I saw from the car, with 2 people under an umbrella watching the stone circle is something I still have in my head. We found a camping in the pouring rain, parked up and walked a nearby pub for a beer and a pint. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 4 – Stonehenge

We woke up with some sunshine, so much better weather than yesterday. Also today we are going to see Stonehenge, a bucket list item for the 2 of us. It is difficult to explain what is so fascinating about it, probably that up until today we do not know why this was built 5,000 years ago. My kids sent me this YouTube video which proves we are not alone in this search https://youtu.be/mbyzgeee2mg

Arriving at the entrance of Stonehenge all the mystics were swiped away as we were queuing up with literally hundreds of other people in search for “the meaning of Stonehenge”. We had to walk up half an hour to the circle of stones as we opted to not take a bus and it was a lovely walk. And then finally we are there, probably 10 meters away from the stones. In spite of the mass tourism, you still feel it is a special place. Stones aligned there for 5,000 years carried from miles away, put up straight and on top of each other without modern technology. And why?

We walked around the circle in a much wider circle and stopped every 50 meters but eventually walked back to the parking. Stonehenge a very special place.

We then continued our journey up north to Avebury where there is another stone circle, larger in width and more accessible. It was actually a nice little village and the farms and houses were built within the circle. Also many sheep were wandering through the stones, just as the visitors.

Day 5 – Tintern Abbey

The next stop crossed the border to Wales and was a ruin of an abbey. King Henry VIII (the one with the many wives) decided to close the abbey and when roofs and copper were stripped it left the abbey to decay over the years. It is still an impressive place and you can try to imagine how it was back in the days.

We walked around the town for an hour and then found ourselves a supermarket to stock up on food and beverages. As the predictions for tomorrow are sunny and 27 degrees we decided to stop for 2 nights on a camping nearby, next to a river.

Day 6 – country walk

It was a beautiful morning, we enjoyed a relaxed breakfast and bought a map at the campsite to do a proper walk through the countryside. It started off nice, following the river but after half an hour the path disappeared and we had to fight ourselves through fields with tons of nettles. We backtracked, found another path but were stranded in another field again full of nettles. After finding another part of the route which disappeared again, we gave up and walked back to the campsite. After lunch and recovery from our walk we decided to take our chances and follow another track to a nearby pub. Success! A lovely pint in the beer garden was our reward. The walk back was more up hill and difficult but we made it. We had bought some lovely steaks so we grilled them outside on our little gas grill. A lovely long warm evening.

Day 7 – Aberystwyth

We had a lovely full English breakfast at the campsite before setting off to the west coast of Wales, a 2,5 hours drive. The scenery on the way was lovely and we stopped at a place called devil’s bridge. The story is that a cow had escaped the gorge to the other side and an old lady made a deal with the devil who made a bridge. A bit vague and more realistically the monks have build that first bridge after which 2 more bridges were built on top of it. It was scenic though and some lovely waterfalls.

We then arrived in the coast village with the unpronounceable name of Aberystwyth, where we found a campsite overlooking the town and the sea below. We walked into a pretty coast town which was covered in clouds and looked a bit depressive. According to the weather apps (our best friend) the sun would break through in an hour. We had some fish and chips (as that’s what you have to eat on the coast) waiting for the sun to come through and it did. Even though it was just a short time it immediately changes the look of everything. Happy we walked up the hill back to our lovely campervan.

Day 8 – the west coast

Today we continued the west coast and the first place we stopped was Barmouth, a nice little beach town with a wide sandy beach. We walked around for a while, rain coats on and off.

Further North we stopped in Harlech, where we visited the castle. It was nice but very grey weather which did not really inspire. We found a camping in the dunes of Harlech and after dinner we went on a walk to the beach. By now the grayness had changed for a lovely evening sun which gave us a beautiful view of the earlier castle but also the beach was a lovely wide stretch.

Day 9 – Portmeirion

Today it is raining. We had breakfast inside and had to pack up in the rain. In spite of the weather we went to Portmeirion village but as it was still pouring we first did some shopping in the hope that the weather would change. It did! When we got to the village of Portmeirion the sun was shining and so were we. The village of Portmeirion has been built by some rich guy who gathered houses, towers, statues from all over the world (mostly Italy) and built his own village here in North Wales. The village has also been used in a TV series from 1968 called “the Prisoner” about a secret agent who was trapped in this village. (we had to look it up on YouTube) Everything is a bit surreal and it gives me a bit of an “Efteling” vibe. (the Dutch will know what I mean) Nevertheless it was a fun couple of hour to wander through this village. Just as we stepped in our van it started to rain heavily again, we managed to visit here in the only 2 dry hours of the day.

We continued north and found a camping just outside of Caernarfon

Day 10 – Castle day

Today we are going to visit 3 castles in a day in the North-west of Wales. Our first castle was in Caernarfon, only 3km’s down the road from our camping. The castle was in the centre of the town Caernarfon and their main attraction. The castle is big and looked in good shape and was situated next to a harbor. The harbor runs dry at low tide, which was the case when we visited. Many of the boats were banked on the sand, waiting for the tide to come in. After a walk around the castle and town we continued our journey.

As this was our castle tour day we drove to the island Anglesey to visit the castle of Beaumaris. It was a lovely drive where we crossed over a beautiful bridge to the island and a narrow road along the coast to Beaumaris. The castle was right on the coast and in a reasonable state, we wandered around it and watched people playing crown green bowling. It was a busy little town with a mix of tourists and locals. We had some fish and chips down at the jetty watching the sea.

The next castle on our tour was back to the mainland and north coast of Wales in Conwy, a rather busy town surrounded by old walls. Quite a challenge to manoever our campervan through the small gates. It was easy to find some parking and we could walk straight up the walls from there. We payed to get in and wandered through the remains of a very big castle. At one side of the castle was a huge bridge to the old entrance, though you could not use that anymore. We left the castle at closing time so enough time to find a campsite. Tomorrow we will leave Wales again and go up the country of England.

Day 11 – Peak District

As we left the campsite it was rainy weather and as we were on our way the heavens opened. We drove 2,5 hours towards Edale in the Peak District which is where the Pennine way starts (a walking route through the middle of the country all the way up to Scotland). We discovered Edale does not offer more than 2 pubs so we headed further to Castleton. After a spectacular, scenic 20% descent we found Castleton, where many walking routes start and therefore a popular town with plenty of pubs and restaurants. We found a campsite a little further in Hope valley and decided to stay there for 2 nights with the hope (in Hope) that the weather would be better tomorrow. As we set-up our campervan the weather already started to change and we started to walk back our route to Castleton to see the start of that spectacular descent, tomorrow we planned to walk up that way and make some photo’s.

Before we went back to Hope, we had a beer in a 17th century pub and then another on our way through Hope (maybe there is hope after all)

Day 12 – Winnats pass

This morning was a big surprise it was really t-shirt weather, the sun was shining and so were we. We decided to walk back to Castleton through the hills and fields to walk up our way to Winnats pass, the 20% decline we drove yesterday. It was a lovely but tough walk as it was mainly going up the hills. Going up we had some strong chilly wind, but the sky was blue which gave enough energy to do this 3 hour route. When we finally reached the point of going down into Winnats pass we were treated with some lovely views and found motors, sports cars and some lovely women down the road (and all the way going down)

On our way back to Hope we found a sheep who really wanted some attention and think wanted her photograph taken. As I normally have to ask my model if she can smile I grasped this opportunity with both hands

After we freshened up, we had a meal in the local pub of Hope.

Day 13- I hate rain

The next few days there will not be many updates of our travels as we are going to meet up with friends and family. Therefore today we headed to Hebden bridge to find a camping which was convenient for our friends to travel to. The route was quite scenic but as it was non-stop heavy rain the 2 hours to get there were quite miserable and then in the end we actually could not find a suitable campsite. It took us another 2 hours to find one in Ripponden and apart from the weather an ok location. We had a meal in the local pub, which was surprisingly very good.

Day 14 – a walk in the rain

No change of weather predicted today but we managed to have breakfast outside. Some of our friends arrived around 14:00 and after some coffee they proposed to walk along the river to a nearby reservoir. If the English would wait for better weather they wouldn’t get far, so we walked for about 2 hours through the fields in the pouring rain. Around 17:00 more friends arrived and we had another lovely meal in a nearby 13th century pub before they all went back to their homes.

Day 15 – Finchale abbey

Another day of rain so we decided to drive up to the northeast of England as we have to be there for Wendy’s mum’s birthday. Since Wendy knows that area well enough she found a camping on the site of Finchale Abbey. The Abbey itself is more of a ruin but interesting enough and situated on the banks of a nice river.

Day 16 – Durham

Today was such a better day weather wise that we decided to walk into Durham following the river from the campsite. A beautiful walk to the town of Durham where you can see the castle and cathedral from miles away. Durham is one of the highest rated university towns in England, which is situated in a medieval town next to a big and impressive Cathedral. We walked along the river and climbed up to the castle, had lunch and walked back the 1,5 hours to our campsite.

Day 17 – Gateshead

Today we celebrated the 84th birthday of Wendy’s mum in Gateshead. In the afternoon we continued our journey south of England and as the weather was wet … again … we drove quite a bit and ended up in Sherwood Forest, the hideout of Robin Hood and his band of thieves. Luckily when we arrived at our campsite (with really no connectivity) the sky cleared up and we had a walk through the forest. Unfortunately we have to continue our journey further south otherwise it is a beautiful place to stay for a few days.

Day 18 – Cambridge

Grey, wet, … it is almost predictable. But around 11 the sky cleared and we made our way to Cambridge where we found a lovely camping just outside. We arrived at 14:30 and managed to get the bus into the centre of Cambridge. Cambridge just as Oxford are the top universities of England and as we looked it up, currently the number 1. The faculties are spread around town and I kid you not they are beautiful old static, wealthy buildings set in the most beautiful gardens. What a privilege if you can study here. We walked around town following the trail of faculties and also found some nice parks on the banks of the river. Of course you have to have a pint of beer, though we could not get the 10% student discount.

Day 19 – Canterbury

Our last stop in England is Canterbury,, famous for the old English book “the Canterbury tales”, but also for the really impressive cathedral. It is also a university town and when we visited there were lots of graduation celebrations. Boys and especially girls all dressed up with high heels stumbling their way through the cobblestoned streets. The cathedral unfortunately was completely in scaffolding and not open for the public. But we managed to walk around the building, which was interesting on its own.

Day 20 – Eurotunnel

This is our final day in England and we made our way to Folkestone to get our ride through the Eurotunnel back home. However since the weather was not totally in our favor we have decided to stay in France for another week, go south and dry and warm up for a week. This did not entirely go to expectation but I won’t bother you with that in this blog.

Recap – England vs Wales

After almost 3 weeks traveling through the 2 countries we want to make up the score:

Weather : a point for Wales

Pubs : a point for England

Coastline : a point for Wales

University towns : a point for England

Castles : a point for Wales

Beer : a point for England