Expert: Alun Hill MCIJ - 11/27/2011

Question
QUESTION: Dear Sir,

I am paul writing from malta.  My friend and I will be visitng England next month for a week.  We will be based at Bath, Bristol, I understand that to the south of us there are the beautiful counties of Somerset, Devon, Exmoor etc but I am at a loss what country side is to the East, North  and West of us.  Hence can you help me, our quest is to visit as much countryside as possible.  Hence it would be greatly appreciate if you could help me in my quest.

In which direction are we to go to find beautiful countryside and anciet quiet villages and towns where could stay at farmhouses etc etc?

Sincerely hoping to hear from you at your kind convenience I thank you in advance.

Regards.





paul

ANSWER: Paul, thank you for your interesting question.

To help me best respond, can you tell me how you're getting around the areas mentioned, please - I presume you're intending to hire a car?

There is a lot of ground to cover - over mostly slow country lanes - and if you're visiting in December you need to do a lot of planning and booking as soon as possible - I'll help all I can, of course. You also need to consider the weather.

I'm unsure as to whether you're staying in Bath or Bristol (although these 2 cities are very close), or if you intend to book farmhouses in the surrounding countryside.

It's certainly worth me mentioning that the areas you mention would take up a week very easily to do any sort of exploring, unless you spend a lot of time on the M5 motorway, which, of course, doesn't give views of any nice villages and so on.

Alun Hill, MCIJ

http://alunhill.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Allun,

First of all, thanks for your reply and assistance.  Yes we will be hiring a car, we will be staying at Bath initially at the Ferndale guesthouse.  Hence what countryside do you suggest to explore.

sincerely yours






paul

Answer
I would suggest that you stay in the county of Devon, which also has 250 miles of coastline - this way, you'll see a lot of the countryside *and* not spend a lot of time driving.

Your priority, though, is to make sure you have the car booked (and you've budgeted for the petrol!) and that you have your overnights booked.

Do have a look at

http://www.devonfarms.co.uk/late-availability.php

and see what places are available for your budget and dates and simply drive between them in your week here - I would strongly advise you to get a satnav, too - most car hire firms will ad done, but you usually need to ask in advance.

Don't underestimate the time needed to get around, please, as the local roads are very narrow and slow.

There are some maps here:

http://www.visitdevon.co.uk/areas-to-visit/devon-maps

and the same site, run by the really nice people at the Devon tourist board, has lots of ideas.

Let me know if I can help further, please - and how you get on - it will be very useful for people to read here in future!



Alun Hill, MCIJ

http://AlunHill.com