Travel Tips

I was kindly taken on a short holiday by relatives to help get over the loss of my wife a few weeks ago. I never thought I would travel on one of these see as many places in a few days holidays and went with some trepidation.
The coach was quite nice although the seats not very comfortable. There was even WC on board and because there was only 14 people on a 53 set coach plenty of space. We were picked up and dropped off close to home and the driver called Phil was informative and friendly. I was the youngest person on board (apart from Phil) and I am 53!

We stayed for two nights at the Quality Hotel on the outskirts of Coventry. The hotel is reaonably good - I will put a review on the Coventry pages - but too far from the centre and anywhere in particular unless a taxi is used to go in the city. The rooms were good, breakfast excellent but the evening meal was very limited to two choices of main course whereas other guests had a better choice.

It cannot make a profit - one night at the hotel costs £99.00 per night for bed and breakfast but the whole three days cost £2.00 less! This of course included all travel and two nights bed, breakfast and evening meal.

We went to Banbury on the first day where we had four hours. The next day Stow on the Wold for two and a half hours , Bourton on the Water for three hours and Broadway for forty minutes. The last day was Stratford on Avon before coming home ,for four hours.
That is my objection - you get no choice where you go although the brochure does tell you of course and some places have too long for the stay. Believe me four hours in Banbury is simply too long although the town in pleasant enough.

Probably - I do prefer to drive or take the train and do what I want to do but in these days of the credit crunch etc. this is a good way to see the UK and Europe cheaply.
If you are from overseas and have a long stay in the UK and you want to see places and travel cheaply go along to the the local bus station where you are and see if there are any such inclusive holidays from where you are. Or check out the National Holidays (I travelled with this company)website if you are in the north of England.
Incidentally - thanks to this three day holiday I found the most wonderful village in England - Boughton on the Water.

I will be eternally grateful for my relatives taking me on this three day break. After the awful last few months I have had this was a good way to relax although packing and unpacking my case by myself and staying in a single room for the first time in years was strange. Avis and myself had never been to the Cotswolds before and so there were no painful memories.
I would also just like to thank all the VT members who have sent me private messages of support and put kind words on my home page following the sad weeks after losing my wife.