Bath, England and Stonehenge!

Bath, Stonehenge, and Avebury:
The trip of a lifetime!

I arrived from Budapest at London Heathrow, took the National Express bus to London Gatwick (£18/$33), and spent the night at the Gatwick Travelodge (£56 + £6 bus fare [£66/$122], basic but with A/C!). The next morning, I picked up my mother (here referred to as EHG) at Gatwick. We took the train to Bath (we changed in Reading; I got a super online deal of £8/$15 each).

We caught the 5 pm live tour of the Roman level. This was our guide (left-hand photo). The tour was wonderful!!

One of the things he points out is the actual Roman lead pipe still visible (right-hand photo; just as lead pipes are still visible at Pompeii!).
NOTE: a glass of spa water from the Pump Room is included with admission to the Roman baths.
We missed trying it because the Pump Room was closed when we finished our tour.

After the Roman baths, we walked around the town. I had always wanted to see the Royal Crescent and Circus. They are beautiful!
NOTE: McDonald's is just a few streets over from The Henry and is open (and cheap) when everything else in closed (and/or expensive).

Stonehenge is amazing!! Every few feet the view changes. The right-hand photo was my favorite view.

Bath, Stonehenge, and Avebury: The trip of a lifetime! I arrived from Budapest at London Heathrow, took the National Express bus to London Gatwick (£18/$33), and spent the night at the Gatwick Travelodge (£56 + £6 bus fare [£66/$122], basic but with A/C!). The next morning, I picked up my mother (here referred to as EHG) at Gatwick. We took the train to Bath (we changed in Reading; I got a super online deal of £8/$15 each).
	We stayed at The Henry Guest House in Bath. It was easy to find and near the train station. We had a twin room with hot breakfast for £60 ($110) per night. The owners were nice and very helpful.

Our room had two (good) beds, a sink, a closet, TV, and two windows with a view of the street. The toilet and shower were down the hall. Towels were provided but not bar soap (surprising for $110 per night). Breakfast was orange juice, tea/coffee, full English breakfast (or scrambled eggs on toast), yogurt or fruit, and lots of toast. Very good!

We arrived in Bath before 3 pm. We quickly found The Henry, checked in (note: payment is in cash at check-in), dropped off our bags, and headed out to the Roman baths. They are expensive (£9.80 [$18] each) but worth it! An audioguide is included. We arrived just before 4 pm and stayed until we were kicked out at 6 pm. The self-tour starts at street level and journeys down to the Roman bath-level. Rick Steves is wrong: the water is green because of algae growth (not lead as he says; lead compounds aren't usually green!).

We caught the 5 pm live tour of the Roman level. This was our guide (left-hand photo). The tour was wonderful!! One of the things he points out is the actual Roman lead pipe still visible (right-hand photo; just as lead pipes are still visible at Pompeii!). NOTE: a glass of spa water from the Pump Room is included with admission to the Roman baths. We missed trying it because the Pump Room was closed when we finished our tour. After the Roman baths, we walked around the town. I had always wanted to see the Royal Crescent and Circus. They are beautiful! NOTE: McDonald's is just a few streets over from The Henry and is open (and cheap) when everything else in closed (and/or expensive).

Our second day in Bath was packed. We took the excellent Mad Max full-day tour to Stonehenge, Avebury, Lacock, and Castle Combe for £22.50 each ($42, but note that they have increased their prices and that the entrance to Stonehenge is not included). The bus holds 16, and the driver is the guide. He narrates the scenery as he drives (very informative) and at Avebury. Entry to Stonehenge was £5.90 ($11), again steep, but worth it! It includes an audioguide. The tour stops at Stonehenge for an hour and arrives before 10 am (the big tour buses start arriving less than 45 minutes later). Stonehenge is amazing!! Every few feet the view changes. The right-hand photo was my favorite view.
	Our next stop was at Avebury. It was very neat because you can actually touch the stones. "The Avenue," a path leading to Avebury, was most intriguing because it was so like Native American mounds of Ohio!
Our lunch stop was The George Inn in Lacock. I had a good steak sandwich (£4.75 [$9]) and a glass of cold water. The town was pretty.

Our final stop of the day was Castle Combe. The right-hand photo is me in front of the Market Cross and the church. We visited the church; it was pretty inside and had something I had never seen: a children's area in the sanctuary! I'd never thought about how old churches handle a nursery (as they don't have separate rooms attached). I was very impressed. The right-hand photo shows me looking back at the town from just across the bridge.
We got back from our tour at 4:30 pm. We took a nap, ate dinner at McDonald's again, and caught the 7 pm free walking tour. The tour was fabulous! The picture at right shows our tour guide (pointing). She led us around Bath, telling us neat history and showing us the town for two hours. I am so glad we caught this tour! I learned a lot. And I was the only one on the tour who recognized the UNESCO World Heritage symbol (as this was my fourth or fifth World Heritage Site on just this year's trip!)☺
	Check-out was at 10 am, but our train wasn't to arrive until noon, so we got up at 7:15 am, packed, and were kindly allowed to store our bags in the breakfast room. We set out to see all the (free) things we hadn't been able to on our other two days: the Pump Room, the Assembly rooms, Pulteney Bridge (pictured at left), the Guildhall Market, and the riverside path. We also bought lunch at the Waitrose supermarket near the bridge (bananas, pop, and Pringles) and added McDonald's cheeseburgers on our way to the train station.
Notes on Bath and Stonehenge:
Hotels in England are quite expensive but don't provide cable TV. The same 5-6 channels are everywhere (not even CNN). England's Fanta flavor: Summer Fruits (good). I really enjoyed our time in Bath. It's not cheap or lively, but it is fun, beautiful, peaceful, and informative.	While I was able to watch the World Cup games live in every place I stayed, Tour de France coverage was non-existent. On previous trips to Europe, I've watched the Tour de France live daily. This year, it wasn't even mentioned on the morning news!