Southwest England

England is a very nice destination. It has magnificent historical towns and beautiful nature, nice people and delicious food. The Southwest of England has a lot to offer. National parks, the world famous Stonehenge, Bath and much more. We had booked the Moorhill Hose Hotel in the New Forest National Park for 3 nights and the ferry from Hoek van Holland to Harwich https://www.buroscanbrit.nl/vakantie/engeland/accommodatie/moorhill-house-hotel

You can find gluten-free dining tips at https://captureplaces.com/glutenvrij-engeland/

Because you arrive in Harwich early in the morning, it is best to visit something on the way to the hotel. On the way back to the ferry you also have that option, because the ferry sails back to Hoek van Holland late in the evening.

St Alban

St Alban is a nice little town for a stopover. St Albans is named after St Albanus of England. The Cathedral is an 11th-century church dedicated to Saint Albanus of England. It is one of the largest English cathedrals. The nave of the church is the longest of all cathedrals in England at 84 meters.

The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Albanus

Roald Dahl museum in Great Missenden

The Roald Dahl Museum is an award-winning museum in Great Missenden, the village where Roald Dahl lived for 36 years and wrote his world famous books https://www.roalddahl.com/museum. In the museum you can see the chair in which he wrote his books. In the area you can do walks that Roald Dahl used to inspire his books. For example, you can see the petrol pump, which appears in ‘Danny, the champion of the world’. You can also visit Roald Dahl’s cemetery.

Chair in which Roald Dahl wrote his books.

hiking trails to the forests of Great Missenden

Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, Great Missenden. Roald Dahl’s grave.

Oxford

Oxford is a beautiful university city with many special historic buildings and a very rich history and culture. One of the largest, richest and most impressive universities in Oxford is Christ Church. Harry Potter fans can indulge themselves here because recordings were made here, or at least the spaces were used as inspiration for the film.

The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge between two parts of Hertford College.

Moorhill house hotel

Moorhill house hotel is located in the forests of the New Forest National Park and at the end of a long driveway. Moorhill House Hotel. Within a 10 minute walk you are in the village of Burley where there are a number of nice pubs. From the hotel you walk into the New Forest, where you will certainly encounter wild horses on the moors or even in the middle of the villages.

New Forrest National Park

The New Forest National Park is an area in southern England that is mainly situated in the county of Hampshire. This area used to be one of the official hunting grounds of the king. The area does not, as the name suggests, consist only of forest, but rather of forest meadows, a mixture of forest and open landscapes, including many moors. Well-known animals in this area are donkeys and ponies. The pony is not a wild animal here, but can roam freely in large parts of the national park. You can make beautiful walks in this area and view villages.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is situated about 50 km north of Moorhil House Hotel and is a monument from the Early Stone Age, about 13 km northwest of Salisbury. Dating from 2008, the construction of Stonehenge was determined to be 2300 BC.

The large monument consists of an earthen wall around a circular arrangement of large, primitive carved standing stones and is one of the most famous prehistoric sites on earth.

Stonehenge, which gets an extra mysterious atmosphere by blowing on sahara sand.

The building plus its surroundings were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986. It is also an antique building, legally protected by the British government.

You park your car at the large parking lot from where you can buy a ticket at the visitor center. In the visitor center is a museum, where you can learn more about the stones, a shop, a café and a rebuilt village. A shuttle bus goes to the stones, but you can also walk there. Then a walking path circles the stones.

Man en vrouw zetten zich zelf op de foto met op de achtergrond de stenen van Stonehenge

Bath

Bath is a beautiful town founded in the first century by the Romans, which, like Stonehenge, is a World Heritage Site. If you are in Bath for one day, it is best to do a city walk, where you walk along all kinds of sights. Often these walks are available at the local tourist information, but we have walked the walk from the Lonely Planet of England (version 2017)

Roman Baths

Bath has been a health resort in the English town of Bath for two thousand years. The Celts built a temple here and later the Romans built a temple and a bathhouse in the same place above 3 natural hot springs. It is England’s only natural hot spring. https://www.romanbaths.co.uk

For wellness in Bath, people nowadays go no more than the Roman Baths but to the modern spa center Thermae Bath Spa. This wellness center is opposite the ancient Roman Baths.

Bath Abbey

The Abbey Church of Bath towers over the city. It was built between 1499 and 1616. On the west side you can see angels climbing up and down the stone ladders.

The Circus

The Circus is a historic street with longhouses inspired by the Coloseum in Rome. These houses are arranged in a circle and have 3 entrances. It was designed by architect John Wood The Elder and was built between 1754 and 1768

Jane Austen Centre

Bath is one of the locations in Jane Austen’s books. She lived in Bath for only 5 years, from 1801 to 1806, but she visited Bath regularly. The Jane Austen Center has a permanent exhibition about her life in a Georgian townhouse. On the top floor is a tea room, where the waitresses serve in traditional clothing. https://www.janeausten.co.uk

Waitress brings the ordered tea to the Jane Austen Center

Hurst Castle

For a view of the Needles from the Isle of Wight we visited Hurst Castle. This is a fortress built by Henry VIII on the seaward side of a coastal spit. It was one of the most advanced artillery fortresses in England. It has narrow access to the Solent and offers beautiful panoramic views. The castle was used as a prison for prominent 17th century prisoners, including Charles I. It was later fortified in the 19th and 20th centuries and played a role in the defense of the Western Solent against invasion threats from the Napoleonic Wars to World War II.

You can reach the fort by walking 2.4 km on a gravel path (quite steep) along the coast from Milford-on-Sea. In good weather you have a good view of the Ilse of Wight or with a ferry from Keyhaven. From Keyhaven you can easily walk back to your car in Milfor-on-Sea.

Western point of the British Isle of Wight

Sailboats with ironed sail from the ferry to Keyhaven

There is of course much more to see in the South West of England. We were only in this region for 6 days, but will definitely be back.