This next August I'm thinking of relenting to my families wishes to visit England and Ireland instead of the sunny beaches of Italy. We only have about 2 weeks though and the family pretty much wants to visit small villages and do some walking/hiking. Can anyone suggest a home base in the Cotswolds (one week) and in the country (not city) in Ireland (one week)? They want to spend the days walking, visiting villages and whatever castles might be available. I intend to golf everyday, or at least as much as I can. Is it necessary to have a car? Thanks for any insights. I will continue to read threads here to learn more as well.
You need a car in the Cotswolds because the public transportation is not great. I have my detailed Cotswolds on the site - The Cotswolds According to Me. Any place in the Cotswolds would be a good base, but good areas are in the central Cotswolds, near Stow on the Wold or northern, near Chipping Campden.
Our family has vacationed in the northern Cotswolds a couple of times, and it's one of our favorite areas in Europe.
On our first visit we stayed at an inn in the tiny village of Lower Swell, about a mile from Stow-in-the-Wold. On our second visit we did a long distance circular walk and spent the night in several of the major villages in the northern Cotswolds, including three nights in Stow-on-the-Wold during the Queen's Jubilee celebration weekend. Then our most recent stay was for a week. We rented a cottage in the village of Blockley, near Moreton-on-Marsh.
I really liked Blockley and there are quite a few rentals there. It's big enough to have a shop and two pubs and is a great location for exploring. But it doesn't have that much daytimie tourist (bus tour) traffic, as you might find in some of the other villages like Stow-on-the-Wold and Broadway. I also think Chipping Campden would be a good place to base.
From any of these bases you can easily visit all sorts of wonderful spots and villages. For castles we've liked Blenheim Palace and Sudeley Castle. The walking is wonderful, and there are several really beautiful gardens. (I don't know anything about the golf though.) You can also easily reach Stratford-on-Avon.
And yes, to maximize your exploring, you really do need to have a car in the Cotswolds. (Unless you want to hike like we did )
In Ireland, Killarney is an obvious choice. It's on the Ring of Kerry and easily accessible by public transport. It's a walker's paradise and is packed in the summer though (think small town, several youth hostels all with 200 beds, guesthouses galore etc.) So think about booking now!
Start researching possible walks around Killarney now though, to see if you could spend a whole week there without a car. Two places to visit in the national park which are within walking distance of Killarney are Ross Castle and Muckross Estate.
I visited Killarney in November last year, and even then it was beautiful. It must be glorious in summer.
I wanted to follow up on Claire's post recommending Killarney and the Ring of Kerry in Ireland.
Our family spent eight days in Ireland at the end of June 2006, actually on a walking trip on the Ring of Kerry. The first and last nights were in Killarney, and our first day's walk took us right by Muckross House, which Claire mentioned. There is great hiking in this area, and the countryside is quite desolate. The flowers were abundant, and we really had not expected to see palm trees and rhododendrums. The coastal areas are beautiful too. Other than the Harley motorcycle convention in Killarney on that first night, we didn't find the areas that we visited crowded at all in late June, but we were in more remote areas.
You might get some ideas of what to expect from my blog entries about our time on the Ring of Kerry.
After a family vote, I had to give in to a trip to Ireland instead of Italy and am glad I did. We spent 10 wonderful days there this past August. From the moment we landed we were in awe. It is a beautiful country with lovely people. I had a hard time trying to decide on a good base so we ended up renting a car and spending three nights in Galway, Dingle and Kinsale to make everyone happy. As mentioned, the Killarney area is lovely but we found the town itself quite busy.
Posts: 407 | Location: Watertown, New York, USA | Registered: 22 August 2003
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The family has been sitting at home during our recent storms watching Balleykissangel episodes obtained from Netflix. I'll start the planning as soon as flights are reserved.
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on that first night, we didn't find the areas that we visited crowded at all in late June, but we were in more remote areas.
