For 588.00 euros with Leitner Busreisen to South England Part 2

Travel report Part 1: https://vakantio.de/tourdesilke/live-bericht-fur-58800-euro-mit-leitner-busreisen-nach-sudengland

Day 4 05/05/2018

On the 4th day of the trip, we visited the historic cities of Salisbury and Winchester. Our bus departed at 09:00 am after a hearty English breakfast consisting of ham, blood sausage, sausages, toast, and tomatoes. Salisbury is the capital of Wiltshire and is considered a model example of medieval city planning. The city was planned on the drawing board and was established in 1220 with the Salisbury Cathedral as its landmark. The cathedral has the tallest church tower in all of England and is considered the most perfect example of English Early Gothic architecture. The location for the cathedral was determined by a shot from an arrow. It was built in 45 years in the 13th century. For me, this cathedral is clearly the inspiration for Ken Follett's cathedral in the novel 'The Pillars of the Earth'. In the chapter house, one of the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta can be viewed. Since we had the opportunity to visit the cathedral last year during our Aida tour, we went directly to the chapter house and the Magna Carta this time. The Magna Carta is an agreement sealed by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215, with the English nobility. It is considered the most important source of English constitutional law and guaranteed basic political freedoms of the nobility against the English king. The Church was guaranteed independence from the Crown. Written in Latin, it consists of 63 articles in the English version. Surprisingly, all of these articles fit on one page of parchment. We took our time and explored the informative exhibition on the Magna Carta. Afterwards, we strolled through Salisbury and treated ourselves to a portion of fish and chips. There was a large weekly market taking place in the market square, so time passed quickly in this beautiful city.

Our destination in the afternoon was Winchester. Our bus stopped directly in front of the Guildhall. To our delight, the flying car from Harry Potter was parked in front of the Guildhall. The driver was dressed as Harry Potter and Hedwig was perched on his shoulder. Winchester has approximately 40,000 inhabitants and is the administrative center of Hampshire. It is located at the western end of the South Downs along the idyllic River Itchen. Winchester played a significant role in the history of England and was even the capital of England in the 10th and early 11th centuries. The city's landmark is the cathedral, which was built in 1079 and is the second-longest cathedral in Europe. Many Bishops of Winchester were buried inside. The cathedral used to be a popular pilgrimage site. The pilgrimage route to Canterbury also begins in Winchester. We took a leisurely stroll through the city and enjoyed the view from the top of the city wall tower. The next destination was the Great Hall of Winchester Castle. It was built in the 12th century and expanded further between 1222 and 1235. The castle is home to King Arthur's Round Table, which has been hanging there since at least 1463. However, it is not a table from King Arthur's time but from the 13th century. Nevertheless, it is of historical importance. Originally, the table was not painted and was only decorated with pictures in 1522 for King Henry VIII. At the top end of the table, King Arthur is seen on his throne, and the names of the legendary Knights of the Round Table surround the table. As a big fan of King Arthur, this was exactly what I was looking for. On the way back, we discovered a typical English pub romantically situated in a side alley. Here, we tasted some really good beer. We also found a place to eat just around the corner. During our last visit to England, we developed a weakness for Cornwall pasties. These pasties were invented by miners and are made of shortcrust pastry filled with a type of stew and potatoes. When closing the pasty, a special folding technique creates the typical thick crust edge, which allows miners to hold the pasty without getting their dirty hands on the part that is eaten. I find these pasties incredibly delicious and they are a budget-friendly snack costing about 5.00 pounds. After 3 hours, we had to say goodbye to Winchester. After dinner, we tested the last two pubs in the town and had engaging conversations with the locals, who were all very friendly.

Day 5 05/05/2018

On Sunday, it was already time to say goodbye. We started our journey back with the goal of reaching the ferry to Dunkirk in Dover by 6:00 pm. As a stopover on the way, we planned to visit Knole House in Sevenoaks. Knole House is a Jacobean country house in Kent and is known for its largely unchanged condition since the early 17th century. The house is also referred to as a calendar house because it has 365 rooms, 52 staircases, and seven courtyards. The extensive property is surrounded by a large park with freely roaming fallow deer and a golf course. Finding the entrance to this park turned out to be extremely difficult. Sepp drove in circles several times until we finally found the very narrow entrance. As it turned out, buses are only allowed to enter with prior notice, which we did not have. However, since Sepp and his bus couldn't disappear into thin air in the entrance, we were allowed to enter the park to make a U-turn. Sepp let us out at an inconspicuous spot. We had 2 hours to explore the area in more detail. Inside the house, you can visit about 6 of the magnificent rooms for an entrance fee of 10.00 pounds. There is a medieval café in the former stables. Here, we treated ourselves to a pot of English tea before taking a walk through the park and observing the golfers. It was also great to see many English families having picnic lunches on the lawn, complete with picnic baskets and blankets. We still had time to visit the picturesque cemetery in Sevenoaks. We reached Dover one hour before the ferry departure time. Sepp drove us up to Dover Castle for a photo stop. At 5:30 pm, we were allowed to drive our bus onto the ferry. Since our arrival at the hotel in Lille was not expected before 10:00 pm, we received a voucher for a main course, dessert, and a drink for dinner on the ferry. The lasagna I chose was not Michelin-star quality but tasted decent. The chocolate cake with vanilla sauce was really delicious. On the outdoor deck, we enjoyed the crossing with a romantic sunset in bright sunshine. The hotel in Lille was once again the Mercure Airport Hotel. Although we were accommodated in the room next to our room from the outbound trip, it felt like a different hotel. The room was dark, dusty, and musty.

Day 6 06/05/2018

Day of departure. We had almost 800 km of driving ahead of us. After a sparse French breakfast, our bus set off towards Munich at 7:30 am. 17 hours would pass until we stepped off the bus at home. The journey seemed never-ending as our bus devoured kilometer after kilometer. We made a quick stop in Aachen to visit the cathedral and the treasury and enjoyed a delicious currywurst for lunch at Hanswurst. In Erlangen, we had a driver change and a three-hour tour to drop off all the passengers at their respective stops.

Conclusion:

We enjoyed the trip. The price-performance ratio for this tour was very good. The hotels were decent and clean, and the hotel in England impressed us with its coziness and delicious food. The bus was almost new and in good condition, and our driver Sepp did a great job. Our tour guide Peter made a great effort. We would have liked to spend an additional night on the Isle of Wight. The time there was definitely too short. In general, a few more hours in the beautiful cities would have been nice. The journey, especially picking up the passengers, was clearly too long. Such a bus trip is not a leisurely trip, and one must be aware that you spend more time on the bus than at the destinations. It would have been nice to drive through the English countryside instead of the highway. Six days are definitely too short for South England. We will probably have to travel to this interesting country again, but next time by ship and not by bus.