UK TOUR - DAYS 1-3

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DAY 1 - HEATHROW TO CHIPPENHAM

We arrived on time into Heathrow, made it through customs in good time and hopped on the shuttle bus to pick up the car from Hertz. We have a Suzuki Swace wagon, which is a terrific car. If they had them at home, I'd get one tomorrow. So with Google maps running we headed for Reading. We did a few laps of Reading before I gave up on finding a place to park, and hit the M4 and found a quaint little village of Hungerford. A very old place as the photos show. A nice walk around town and across the river with plenty of long boats and locks.

From here it was off to Marlborough, on a suggestion from a lady we spoke to by the river. Marlborough is more a town than a village, larger than Hungerford. Again we found a spot to park and had a great walk around town, our first visit of many to a couple of cathedrals. From here we followed the A4, a beautiful country narrow road to Avebury, Calne & into Chippenham for our first night. A few drinks at Old Road Tavern, where as in the US, we struck up conversation with some local, which included a Kiwi who made Chippenham home.



DAY 2 - CHIPPENHAM TO AMESBURY

A quiet stroll around Chippenham this morning before a great little breakfast at Gregg's Bakery. Off to Bath, where finding a parking spot was impossible, so off to Bradford-on-Avon, which was much better. Again a little village, but being a Saturday morning it was very busy. A stroll around the streets, then off to lunch at Black Horse Inn in Devizes. We headed out through another great country road and into Stonehenge. Being a Saturday it was chaotic, so we decided to come back towards the end of the trip. Tonight in Amesbury, a small village close to Stonehenge.



DAY 3 - AMESBURY TO PAIGNTON

Started the day with a visit to Stonehenge's poor cousin, Woodhenge, only a 3 minute drive from our motel. It's a log version of Stonehenge, built in same pattern out of 9 foot tall logs, which were replaced with concrete in 1925. Then off to Old Sarum Castle, on the outskirts of Salisbury. Very interesting place as you'll see in the photos. We then had a short drive into the ancient and very historical town of Salisbury. We drove thru here before we visited Old Sarum, found a great parking spot, only a short walk to Salisbury Cathedral, which has the tallest spire in Britain. Salisbury itself is a very ancient historical town, with narrow laneways, arches and many old shops, again the photo's will not do justice.

A 92 mile drive followed to Paignton for two nights.

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