UK Road Trip

Easter Long Weekend
9 - 13 April 2009

The destination was Scotland, but we stopped at a number of places along the way to break up the journey...enjoying continous pretty views of the English & Scottish countryside along the way.

Yes, we covered a heck of a lot of ground in just over 4 days, getting a taste of the UK thanks to Alex, the driving machine!

Highlights:

The Peaks District
Our first stop, 3 hours north of London.

• Chesterfield town centre, known for the Crooked Spire church
• Chatsworth House & Garden, home of the Duck & Duchess of Devonshire and the set of Pride & Prejudice, plus experiencing our second real life maze!

Bathgate
A little town nearby Edinburgh.

• Stayed at Kaim Park Hotel, a fantastic little place with a great restaurant...definitely recommended

Inverness & Loch Ness
Our long awaited journey to the great Scottish highlands!

• Inverness was quite a nice town, even for a fleeting moment as we enjoyed strolling through the markets for lunch
• Loch Ness was also very scenic...no, we didn't quite see the monster (not a real one at least) but a massive rainbow instead (reminding me very much of the west coast of ireland)
  

Edinburgh & Roslyn chapel
Somewhere we always wanted to go back to, after the brief experience of the 'rained out Hogmanay' 2 years ago.

• A highlight of the trip, just enjoyed all the architecture and exploring on foot including seeing Edinburgh castle
• Roslyn chapel, made famous by the Da Vinci Code movie was really something special. I loved the detail and flowers carved in the stones throughout

The Lakes District, Cumbria
Another place we thought would be nice to come back to after the brief experience last year, seeing only Beatrix Potter's Hill Top place before rushing back to see Greg Norman (not make history) at the British Opens.

• Stayed at the awesome Castle Green Hotel in Kendall, set on acres of lovely parkland. Feeling very close to nature, we enjoyed a delicious steak at the onsite pub and a relaxing facial for me & massage for Alex to wind down from the drive
• Spent a bit of time at Windermere just doing what the Brits were doing...enjoying the sunny weather (albeit deceivingly chilly still). Actually really liked it there...more than simply 'pleasant', and would rate the Lakes at or above say a weekend at Port Stephens in terms of being scenic, except for the lack of beaches