During our summer in London, we got out the City a few times and visited Henley, Oxford, Bath, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, but we wanted to see more of the countryside before heading back to the Continent. So, when our lease ended in London at the end of August, we packed up a car with the steering wheel on the wrong side, and we were off.

Besides remembering to drive on the left and not drifting off the road, the hardest part was deciding where to go. There is way too much to see in the UK. We finally decided on the Cotswolds, North Wales, the Lake District, and Oban, Scotland. The trip was great, filled with lots of rain, just enough sunshine, lots and lots of sheep, and a few hikes with a pug in a backpack.

Cotswolds

Our first stop was a few hours west of London, in the Cotswolds. The Cotswolds is the place where all the cute houses with thatched roofs live. It’s an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and “AONB”. I have not looked up what that means, exactly, but it is pretty. The Cotswolds are full of sheep, meadows, rolling hills, bucolic villages, and extremely narrow/winding roads where people drive at extremely unsafe speeds in classic British sports cars.

We stayed in a tiny little village called Mickleton, which is less of a village, and more like a few homes around a pub. And our B&B – home to the Pudding Club, whose mission is to “preserve the Great British Pudding.” We had some puddings – sticky toffee, syrup sponge, and a chocolate one – all served with a huge side of warm creme anglaise. The British pudding is extremely sweet, and they all sort of taste the same. I still wouldn’t turn one down.

We had a full day to drive around the area, and stopped in the villages of Chipping Campden, Stow-on-the-Wold, and Bourton-on-Water. Bourton-on-Water has a shallow, wide stream running through it. There were kids and dogs splashing around. It was pretty fun. Stow-on-the-Wold was the biggest village, and was charming. I ate a delicious bakewell slice there.

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We had lunch at Daylesford, and did a little “hiking” around their farm. (Marked “D” on my nice map above.) Daylesford is an organic farm in the Cotswolds, which also has a few farm shops in London. There was a Daylesford close to our flat in Notting Hill, where we went about once a day because it is so great.

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We stopped at Hidcote Manor Gardens, which were incredible, and worth a visit if you like gardens. Hidcote claims to be the first garden where the concept of outdoor rooms was used, and it does the outdoor room well. A few Hidcote photos below.

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Driving was stiff terrifying on this portion of the trip.

On our way out of the Cotswolds, we stopped for lunch at Stratford-upon-Avon, where we walked by Shakespeare’s birthplace, and got barked at by some swans. If you want to see swans you don’t need to look very hard, they are everywhere in Britain, but there are a lot in Stratford. Stratford is super touristy, though worth a quick stop to see all the old Tudor buildings.

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North Wales – Conwy

We drove a few hours north and landed in Northern Wales. Wales is really beautiful. There is tons of hiking. The mountains are covered in ferns and heather. There are huge castles everywhere.

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Conwy, where we stayed, sits at the mouth of the River Conwy. It is a small town of about 4,000. A huge castle, Conwy Castle, built around 1280 by Edward I, towers over the town. The castle is pretty rundown (as you might expect an almost 800 year-old castle to be), but the walls of the great hall and royal chambers are all still standing, and there are impressive views from the top of the towers. For example:

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We had a full day in Wales to explore, which was nowhere close to enough time. Especially because you have to spend some time trying to understand Welsh. Plus we had bad weather. I’d love to see Wales on a sunny day. We stopped at a pretty ivy-covered cottage in Llanrwst below, called the “Tu Hwnt I’r Bont”, drank tea and ate scones. See what I mean by taking a minute to figure out the Welsh?

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By this point, driving the car was no problem, except for the occasional single-track stone bridge built in the 1200s that you are really not sure holds the weight of a car. We crossed one such bridge to get to tea.

After tea, we went on a hike up to Llyn Idwal (a mountain lake) in Snowdonia National Park, which was possibly the best part of the trip because there were ponies on the trail! They were all very pleasant ponies on the way up, letting us pet them and introduce them to Alice. On our way down, however, they were in a mood. One bit my leg – unprovoked! – with its tiny pony teeth.

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The lake itself was almost as exciting as the ponies. Very pretty. The trail is exposed and it was windy and rainy, so by the time we got to the top we were soaked. Everyone else on the trail was dressed appropriately in rain gear. We were not. People were swimming in the lake, while the wind was blowing whitecaps on the water . . . . These people do not mind wind, rain, and cold. We decided not to swim this time, and instead hid behind a boulder from the elements before hurrying back down to the ponies.

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Nighttime at the harbor in Conwy looking back toward’s the castle.

The Lake District – Keswick

Next we headed up to Keswick in the northern end of the Lake District. A cute small town, that is very dog friendly, with tons of pubs, and a twice weekly market. The Lake District was our favorite stop on the trip. There is nice hiking, beautiful lakes, small towns, and again, lots of sheep. I get why Londoners come here every year for their holidays.

With huge views and lots of clouds, this is not a place suited for iPhone photos, so I struggled to get pictures that do the natural beauty justice. You will just have to trust that it is spectacular. It also rains a lot, and is technically a rain forest.

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Oban (pronounced “Obin”), Scotland

Last stop on the trip was Scotland. We went to Scotland briefly with our friend Dave during the summer, but I wanted to see more Highland cows, so we made it our last stop. Oban is on the west coast of Scotland, and is the gateway to the Hebride Islands. There is one island in particular, Staffa, where puffins hangout during the summer months. Well, apparently they leave Staffa in early August, so we missed them . . . plan accordingly.

Regardless, we had a nice time and saw some seals and eagles. We ate good seafood, and toured the Oban Distillery.

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Our very last stop was to see some Highland cows on the way to catch our flight out of Edinburgh. We fed them apples and grass in the rain, and drove to the airport.

Highly recommend a UK road trip. You get to develop a new skill – driving on the wrong side of the road – and it is really beautiful.