Business trip in England/Wales

In 2 weeks I'm heading to Cardiff via London Gatwick for a business trip. I will have 2 off days in the south of

England and I am already planning Stonehenge, Avebury, East and West Kennett. I am mainly interested in old

sites (obviously), am I missing anything within 2 hours of these? While in Cardiff I plan to try to get over to

Caerleon on Usk (yeah, I butchered the spelling), what other castles may be interesting around there? Is London

worth visiting for maybe 4 hours? Or should I avoid? Thanks in advance for your input. I'm going to use up the

last of my APX 25 on this trip, I need to make it worthwhile (thanks Larry Dressler for the roll you gave me).

croeso :)

 

welcome to wales.. wales is the land of castles.. for the impressive ones close to cardiff there is the caerphilly castle, lots of roman remains in caerleon, just half an hour from cardiff. there is a fairytale esque reconstructed castle called castel coch close to cardiff in monmouthshire.

 

when in cardiff, do walk though the arcades. they are wonderful and lots of photo opportunities in these arcades. small shops, boutiques, markets and stuff like that. very much an unmentioned part of cardiff that visitors take great joy in visiting.

 

drop me a line if you needed any more details on places close to cardiff.

Michael,<P>

 

Good luck with your trip. Check out <a

href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-localtoyou/w-wales/w-wales-places.htm">National Trust Wales

</a> for lots of info on castles, etc. <P>Is London worth visiting for 4 hours? Probably not unless you decide on

a single destination that you can get to quickly.

To the west is Glastonbury Abbey (ruins, but spectacular) with the purported resting place of King Arthur and

Guinevere), and with the Glastonbury Thorn, purportedly descended from a planting by Joseph of Arimethea. On the

coast, Tintagel, the ruins of a Dark Ages castle said to be Arthur's birthplace - the coast line is spectacular,

and the setting of the castle ruins (on an island closely but narrowly connected to the mainland) is amazing.

 

I'm neither Arthurian nor biblically obsessed, but these are two places burned in my memory by the combination of

the history and visual appeal. But frankly, I find the UK rich with such opportunities.

 

There is tons in London, but personally I think I'd stay away unless I had a week to devote to it or there was a

particular attraction I was obsessed with. Scratching the surface at such an expansive locale is for me not

nearly as rewarding as the depth offered by a covering a smaller one.

 

Stonehenge might be disappointing as I believe you still can't get close - the Avebury Stone Circle was far more

impressive for me - partly because of greater scale. But you'll have fun with whatever you choose - have a great

trip!

 

P.S. - Glastonbury Abbey was destroyed in the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. The ruins impressed

me because of how magnificent they showed the intact abbey must have been. I was wandering the grounds near an

elderly British lady, evidently feeling as I was about the beauty of the place, and the tragedy of its

destruction. We were close to each other, but not really interacting. And then she turned to walk away, looked

up at me, and in classic British fashion said "Hmmph - Henry VII has a lot to answer for!" I LMAO'd. What a

perfect editorial. Again - have a great trip.

Doggone typo's! I meant Henry VIII!

With the wealth of photographic opportunities in the southwest of England and Wales I wouldn't spend time travelling to London. I think they are getting a little touchy about photographers there anyway. Concentrate on Wales and you will find a vast array of landscapes from lush valleys to barren hillsides, mining villages to sandy beaches, quaint villages and university cities. The scenery can be breathtaking and early stone farm buildings and cottages full of character. And if you still have time, travel through the Wye Valley and cross the Severn back to England and visit the Roman/Georgian city of Bath in Avon, with its beautiful architecture and the Kennet and Avon Canal.

I'd recommend Wells cathedral. One of the most beautiful in England. It's not far from Bath or Glastonbury.

I will second the idea of giving Stonehenge a miss. It's very disapointing. You have to stick to a circular path to go

round it. Not many photo opportunities.<BR><BR>I wouldn't bother with London either unless there was something

specific you wanted to see. You would probably spend more time travelling than visiting.

Is London worth visiting, well I live here I highly recommend it. If you like cityscape. My husband enjoy & is very good at

shooting buildings he has the whole spacial awareness I don't have must be a guy thing lol

 

Wells is amazing skip stonehenge as others have suggested can't get near it full of tourists + they give you the pleasure

to pay now.

 

I originally come from Dartmoor it's lovely there but you need transport & some where to stay.

 

Living in London I would say we (my husband & I) both enjoy doco photography capturing Londoners & the parks but this

is personal use we like to capture memories.

It depends what & why you want to photograph

 

APX nice!

You don't say how you're going to get around in your two days free time and its important. If you're stuck with rail or

buses some places will be inaccessible or time consuming to get to and you can say goodbye to early and late

photography.

 

I wouldn't visit London for four hours, given that it takes a while to get there and then you have to cope with the fact

that the rail stations aren't in the nicest parts of town anyway which means more travelling.

 

If you're basing yourself in Cardiff for your free couple of days then I'd suggest a visit to Tintern Abbey,, north of

Chepstow and you might also continue north along the Wye valley as far as Symonds Yat and Goodrich Castle. I

would also visit Bath, and try to fit in a visit to Castle Combe, northeast of Bath which might be the prettiest village

in England.

 

If it were me I'd exit Cardiff day 1, tour the Wye valley, Goodrich castle and Abbey, then get onto the motorway for a

45 min (approx) journey to Bath and stay there (or in a Castle Combe pub) overnight, doing Bath the next day and

finishing at Avebury/West Kennet/Silbury Hill. Of these Avebury is the prize. Then you have an easy 90 minute

drive back to Cardiff on a freeway type road after sunset.

If you do have time to travel away from Cardiff, St David's on the Pembrokeshire coast is worth a look. The

Pembrokeshire coastline itself is beautiful and St David's is the smallest city in the UK (more of a village) but the

cathedral there is beautiful. However, it is a fair way from Cardiff, so some of the suggestions above would be better

if you have more limited time. If you want to stick with South Wales, the Gower peninsula is also worth a look for

landscape, but I don't think it's rich in castles. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)

Thanks for all the great responses, everyone! I will have a car, so I am free to roam at will. Looks like I will hang around Wales for most of the time, then on the last day heading back to London I'll hit Avebury. I appreciate the advise about Stonehenge, but I can't imagine not getting at least one picture, so I'll plan a driveby on the way down to Avebury. I am with everyone else, Avebury/Silbury Hill fascinate me more than Stonehenge. My trip last month to Czech Republic was all about castles and beer :)

Stonehenge is fine if you can get there first thing in the morning before the buses come down from London. In the off-season, midweek is not so crowded. Allow more driving time than you might expect.

You mentioned East Kennett in your original post - not worth the effort given the time you have available, just a long barrow covered with trees. It doesn't have any accessible chambers, unlike West Kennett which is definitely worth a visit, you also get an excellent view of Silbury Hill. If you're feeling thirsty you also get an excellent view of Silbury from the bar of the Waggon & Horses plus Wadworths 6X... :-)

 

Couple of other sites near your route - Chepstow Castle is one of the most impressive/interesting in South Wales (& easier to get to than Goodrich), Caerwent has a remarkably complete circuit of Roman walls & is easily visited between Cardiff & Chepstow & Tintern Abbey is also close at hand.

 

& don't waste your time in London..... Cheers.