Hi ST's, i usually post on the "italy" page but now i need your help finding a nice, english-style B&B near Southampton (possibly in the new forest area)...

I am 89% sure this place has rooms, but I do know they have a website so you can check. The Thatched Cottage is a lovely restaurant, if nothing else, in the New Forest. We had a very good lunch there a year or so ago when a friend landed in Southampton. If they don't have rooms, perhaps they will know of one nearby.

Here's my list of resources for UK B&B's:

• www.smoothhound.com (not so good for Scotland)
  
• www.theaa.com (the Automobile Association)
  
• www.sawdays.co.uk
  
• www.enjoyengland.com/stay/ (the English Tourism Council)
  
• www.karenbrown.com (more expensive)
  

That should keep you busy for a while.

Oops, forgot to make those links active. Well, you can cut and paste.

Any reason for Southampton in particular?
The reason I ask is that Winchester is only 12 miles away, and that is a far more pleasant place.

I cannot really help you with B&Bs, but the Bell Inn at Brook is a pub in the forest that that offers rooms. We stayed there several many years ago, and the rooms were OK, the Breakfast was superb (as were the pub meals at the bar).

Other places you could search on are Lyndhurst and Ashurst and Brockenhurst - all forest villages and towns.

TimW