Forest of Dean: Wales and England

Now we are almost exactly on the border to Wales, the River Wye is the border, so we are somewhere in the middle of nowhere in this network! It's strange when the Wi-Fi goes down and the phone never shows LTE, but it's also liberating!

We have Chepstow and Monmouth nearby, but for me the real highlight was and still is the forest. Harry Potter fans might know it from 'The Deathly Hallows' because we are in the middle of the Forest of Dean. The forest is a beautiful mixed forest with old beeches and oaks, occasionally some conifers in between. It reminds me of Sherwood Forest, but here you don't find a ROYAL OAK or a Robin Hood Centre every few kilometers, instead it's touristy, but STILL relaxed.

That's not entirely true, because when we arrived on Friday, the meadow around us was still completely free, then about 80 more camping parties arrived, and it slowly became very crowded. The showers are not a problem, because we always leave earlier than the rest. But that was really crazy, because everyone wants to barbecue or order a pizza.....

By Sunday evening we were completely alone!

The dogs have loved our hikes so far, we have to be a little careful not to strain Nerone too much, so sometimes we just did small things. We explored the historic sites in Caerleon, Goodrich, Hereford, and so on. As there has been a border here for so long, there are incredibly many ruined castles along the Wye, in addition to some abbeys thanks to the Reformation, and all of them are beautiful to look at. We visited Goodrich Castle and Tintern Abbey, as they are highly recommended in our England guidebook.

The weather is currently mixed, which makes such trips easier. While I can take Loki on the tours, Nerone finds it rather stressful, so we didn't push it too much. I had some ideas, Christian too, and we have now implemented them slowly. We even drove to Bath so that I could still visit the Jane Austen Tea Room!

A very beautiful area!