For 588,00 Euros with Leitner Busreisen to Southern England Part 1

From 02.05.2018 to 08.05.2018 we were in Southern England with Leitner Busreisen. What can you expect from the trip for the price of 588,00 Euros. How much time would we spend on the bus and what quality would the food and hotels have at this price. According to reviews on the internet, a bus trip with Leitner is always a lottery. Did we win or draw the short straw? These are the questions we asked ourselves before the trip and I will answer them here.

According to the itinerary, our trip looked like this:

Day 1: Bus journey to Antwerp - During a city tour with a guide, you will get to know the most important sights (1x half board in the Calais / Dunkirk / Lille area).

Day 2: After breakfast, drive to Calais and ferry crossing to Dover, stop in Canterbury (3x half board in the Bournemouth / Southampton area).

Day 3: In the morning, including a guide, you go to the Isle of Wight.

Day 4: Today you drive to the ceremonial county of Wiltshire. Visit the venerable cathedral of Salisbury. Then continue to Winchester.

Day 5: On the way to the coast, you visit Sevenoaks. After a 2-hour stay, continue. (1x half board in the Calais / Dunkirk / Lille area)

Day 6: Your return journey takes you to the imperial city of Aachen. Here you have 2 hours to visit the Aachen Cathedral and the city center.

The price of 588.00 Euros per person included the following services:

Travel in a luxury bus with toilet, etc.

5x overnight stay with breakfast in 3*** star hotels (national category) according to the program. All rooms with bath or shower/WC.

5x dinner / menu

Ferry crossing Calais - Dover - Calais

City tours with a guide in Antwerp

Guide from day 1 to day 6

Ferry crossing to the Isle of Wight

All excursions according to the program

Day 1 02.05.2018

Punctually at 02:00 in the night our bus started from Friedberger Volksfestplatz. Two more ladies got on here. For the next 5 hours we picked up the remaining 26 passengers, our tour guide Peter and our final bus driver Sepp in Munich, Allersberg, Nuremberg, and Erlangen. This could be handled much better with shuttle buses. When everyone finally sat on the bus in Erlangen at 07:00, we set off for Antwerp, which was 670 km away. Unfortunately, we only had 90 minutes for the beautiful Belgian city. With a city guide, we explored the sights around the Marienkirche. We also walked through small alleys that we probably would never have found on our own. Very nice, but unfortunately much too short, this stopover in Antwerp. We finally reached our Mercure Airport Hotel in Lille at around 19:30 after another 2 hours drive. The hotel, a typical conference hotel, was fine and our room was large and clean. For dinner, we were greeted with a Citre at the expense of the house. Our menu consisted of a vegetable quiche, brawn with fries, and a waffle with vanilla ice cream. The taste was good, but the composition of the main course was a bit strange. After dinner, we went straight to bed. Everyone desperately needed some sleep.

Day 2 03.05.2018

Our alarm clock rang promptly at 06:00 am. Since we had to reach the ferry to Dover at 10:00 am, we had to leave at 7:30 am. The breakfast that Leitner Reisen had booked for us at the hotel was very modest and consisted of a croissant for each of us, a glass of orange juice, ham, cheese, baguette, fruit salad, muesli, jam, honey, and curd.

We reached the ferry in Calais shortly before nine. Here we had to walk through passport control on foot across the border. At half past nine, we were allowed to board the ship. The ferry had 7 decks, with decks 4 and 5 for vehicles and decks 6 and 7 for passengers. The English and French coast are only 35 km apart. So the crossing takes less than 2 hours. Since the weather was sunny, we spent the crossing on deck 6 in the open air, enjoying the wind on our faces. The entry into the port of Dover with a view of the impressive white chalk cliffs, which are a landmark of England, was very nice. 

Only 35 miles from Dover is the old historic town of Canterbury. Canterbury is the spiritual center of England. Already during the Ice Age, there was a settlement here called Cantii. In 100 AD, the city already had a considerable size. Today, the old town is bordered to the east by the partly walkable city wall and to the west by the River Stour. On both sides of High Street, there is a maze of medieval alleys with half-timbered buildings. 

We stopped at the central bus parking lot. Our bus driver Sepp had prepared sausages with bread for lunch. After being well fortified, we set off for the cathedral. The Canterbury Cathedral is the landmark of the city and visible from a distance. The entrance fee for the visit is 12.50 pounds. The cathedral was built from the 11th to the 19th century. It was built on the ruins of the 1067 burned-down Anglo-Saxon bishopric church. We enter the cathedral precinct through the gatehouse. In the cathedral itself, one gets the impression that it consists of 3 churches. The Martyrdom, where Thomas Becket was murdered on 29.12.1170, is very interesting. The stained glass windows dating from 1482 are really worth seeing. The Miracle Window, in particular, stands out. In the Trinity Chapel, a candle burns where the shrine of Thomas Becket used to be. Then we went into the garden. Here we met one of the friendly volunteers who told us a lot about the history of the cathedral and the garden. Volunteers are scattered throughout the cathedral and are happy to show you special sights. We were particularly impressed by the cloisters and the chapter house.

After visiting the cathedral, we strolled through Canterbury. In the Heritage Museum, we had a typical English cream tea with scones, jam, and clotted cream for 5.00 pounds. Very tasty. In the city, we could observe the students of the University of Kent everywhere, recognizable by their school uniforms. The university is one of the most prestigious universities in England. Since 1965, students have been taught in three faculties: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The university covers an area of 1.2 km. Lecture halls outside the university campus are located throughout the city in historic buildings. So the students hurry through the entire city during breaks, including through the cloisters of the cathedral, to appear punctually for a lecture in a lecture hall, for example, in the city wall. Unfortunately, the time was much too short. Already at 3:30 pm, our bus set off again towards the hotel. We reached our Holiday Inn in Farnham at around 7:30 pm. We had a very nice newly renovated room on the ground floor. We felt very comfortable there for the 3 days. Dinner turned out to be a delicious buffet. Salad, soup, fish, meat, and cake for dessert. Really delicious.

Day 3 04.05.2018

The next day, the Isle of Wight was on the program. The 382 km2 island is known as the 'Madeira of England' and offers a mild climate, white chalk cliffs, beautiful beaches, a sailing area, good wines, and a famous rock festival. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert discovered the island as a holiday destination. The ferry from Southampton to Cowes takes about 45 minutes. Our ferry left at 10:00 am. We made ourselves comfortable on the deck and enjoyed the crossing in brilliant sunshine. We passed the 3 cruise ships that were in Southampton and had a view of the coast with its beaches, castles, and forests. Our first stop on the island was Osborne House. This can be visited for an admission fee of 16.50 pounds. However, it was too expensive for us for the two-hour, much too short, stay. So we only looked at the really worth seeing park with the ice house. Osborne House was Queen Victoria's summer residence. It was built in 1848 in the style of an Italian country house. From the outside, we really liked the house in any case. 

At 1:00 pm, our bus set off for an island tour. From the bus, we could admire the coast, the 800 m long pier in Ryde, Victorian villas, and flora and fauna. We made a stop of 90 minutes in the seaside resort of Shanklin. The center of Shanklin is characterized by crooked cottages, small cafes, and half-timbered houses with thatched roofs. We used our free time for English tea in the garden of a very quaint tea house. The self-baked scones for tea were served here with fresh strawberries. Very tasty. Unfortunately, after our stay, we had to go back to Cowes to catch our booked ferry at 6:00 pm. From the ferry, we could watch the departure of two cruise ships. During the whole time, a saxophone player was playing, so we had a romantic crossing.

Back at the hotel, we visited a pub after dinner, which was about a 15-minute walk from the hotel. Here we then tried the really delicious English lager.

Part 2: https://vakantio.de/tourdesilke/fur-58800-euro-mit-leitner-busreisen-nach-sudengland-teil-2