For £11.00, you can get a 24hr pass to ride the City Sightseeing Stratford upon Avon bus…read more Although the town is pretty much a walkable-do-it-yourself kind of place, you'll be thankful you're not walking the 6 miles round trip, to Mary Arden's House Also, if you have tons of packages from shopping , need to schlep your luggage to the train station, or if you're just plain old lazy, there are 12 stops where you can hop on & off They give you little earphones to plug into the bus to hear little prerecorded tidbits about each of the historic sites - well announced before you get there so you can decide if you'd like to stop off A taxi would cost you £11.00 just to get to Mary Arden's so this overall cost for the bus is pretty decent.....that is, if you can't just walk the city yourself

A great morning/afternoon can be spent here, and also neighboring property Packwood House, so try…read moreand visit them both together. All four of us n our party enjoyed our visit to Baddesley Clinton very much. This is one of the only moated manor houses we have seen on our "National Trust" travels. As with lots of other properties of this era, there are Priest holes to see created by the infamous Nicholas Owen. Excellent tea rooms. A great time will be had by all.

This is a great place to visit and to keep going back to, even if only for the great walks in and…read morearound the grounds. The moated manor house has lots of surprises including priests' holes, possible bloodstains on the floor in one of some rooms, and chatty and knowledgeable room guides who make the visit a pleasure. There is a great secondhand bookshop to pass some time (nice and cheap too), the usual NT shop, and a lovely courtyard for teas and coffees with sheltered alcoves, which is alongside the barn restaurant. Nice food too, if a little pricey for some items. As an NT member, you can pop in for free, so worth considering if you like the ambiance of the place. It's also very near to the NT's Packwood House, so you can easily fit in a visit to both in the same day.

Absolutely stunning scenery. Circular walk from Slaughters to Naunton was exceptional. Would never…read morehave found such beauty without the map. Problems with our experience include not getting our itinerary until a few days before the trip, problems with booking taxis especially our transfer to the second hotel, and no reservation at the second hotel. We were lucky they still had a room for us.

Thank you Andrew and Adam for putting together an amazing itinerary for my husband and I. It was…read morequite an experience walking the entire Cotswolds Way trail in one week and we couldn't have done it without your expertise. The book, map and advice were super helpful and your selection of overnight stays were great. They were all super convenient (located on the trail), the accommodations were clean, the staff was friendly and the daily included breakfasts were hearty and delicious. I highly recommend your team!

Recently took a day trip to the Cotswold area which turned out to be FABULOUS. After being picked…read moreup in a clean, comfortable vehicle from our hotel we were transported to several villages. Along the way we received lots of interesting details about the area, our questions were answered, and we toured at our pace stopping as we desired rather than following someone else's preordained idea of a good trip. Service, pre/during/post trip communication, cost, entertainment, etc was EXCEPTIONAL and we have rather steep expectations.

Birmingham also has its famous sightseeing bus tours and I have been experiencing some of them. The…read moreBig Brum Open Top sightseeing is one of those experiences. Every first Sunday of each month, including this one now) until October, it's possible to check 30 touristic places of Birmingham, in a sightseeing that has the starting point on the corner of Colmore Row and Waterloo street, at Victoria Square. Take note: There are three different hours to join this adventure, at 10:30, 12:30 and 2.30 pm. When this tour guided started running in Birmingham, the admission was free but now it costs £12 (adults), £8 (students), £5 (15-5 years children) and under 5 years are for free. It's a bit pricey for a sightseeing compared to other bigger cities but if you just have a weekend to explore the city and this weekend is exactly when the Big Brum is running, it's a good way of visiting most of the heritage museums and landmarks in just one go!

To review Big Brum Sightseeing, I have to talk about what I think is their best tour; the Christmas…read moreLights tour. This is an open top bus, driving through Birmingham city centre when the Christmas lights are on. So yes it's freezing but it's dazzling too. I've been on it twice and whilst it doesn't get any warmer and each year we vow to take more warming things with us; another pair of gloves, and extra thermal hat, thermal socks, flask of hot chocolate etc etc. The best part of is it the commentary because although this is a Christmas tour, the guide is full of dark humour and we hear all about Christmas murders, wrong doings and mis-behaviour in the bygone era. Unmissable every Christmas!

Tumbling brooks, lush greenery, open fields - right in the centre of Birmingham!…read more Friendly walking / jogging / cycling / ambling / pushing prams people. This is a cycle path from the very heart of Birmingham's old industrial centre out into the countryside. You wouldn't believe it exists, until you have a go and navigate through it, down the Rea Valley Cycle route and beyond. Use the Sustrans Route 5 West Midlands Cycle Route Map (covers the bit from Derby to Oxford and part of the great mapped pathway north-south (or visa versa if you cycle backwards)). 162 miles for this section, but the map breaks this down into handy bite sized chunks so you can pick a ride to suit the distance and difficulty you want. Just completed the bit from Birmingham city centre (Selfridges by Moor Street Station) to Stratford upon Avon - on a Brompton just to add to the hell of it. Absolutely fantastic. Making friends all along the route, funny thing, just smile and say hello and maybe ask where you are and guaranteed kindness and welcoming assistance (though it helps not be wearing a hoody and gold chains and keeping the rottweiler at home). The route really does go through lush green pathways and spooky craggy woody bits following streams and canals almost from the off, after entering the wonderful Cannon Hill Park. Going this way also starts off nice and easy, flat for a gentle introduction. Gets a bit more hilly and urban once out toward Kings Norton, but still interesting and quiet back streets. The mapping gets quite complicated at a few points and you have to be vigilant with the little Route 5 signs and have a cute sense of direction - might even be useful to consider overlaying the urban bits with a street map before you leave maybe. Past Longbridge and out into the 'real' countryside - rolling hills, beautiful quaint villages, river fords, town centres of Catshill, Bromsgrove and Redditch make a constantly changing backdrop of scenes as you bowl along - stop for a Costa Americano in Bromsgrove high street, why not - (can you beat a Costa Americano with hot milk - maybe a Nero's - but they are different and equally as good in their own ways?). Finally come across Mary Arden's House looking resplendent in its rickety timber framed way and then onwards to the canal tow path to take you down and down past all the thousand and one locks right into Stratford itself - buzzing with international tourists, ducks and barges - what a place to end up and sit with a cool ice cream watching the world stroll by. Loads of trains back to Moor Street if those little legs won't go any further. Highly recommended for adventurous cyclists who: - don't need to get any where in a hurry, - want to see a wide range of scenes, - have the patience and nouce to deal with some confusing signage - want to avoid heavily congested roads, - want to see an amazing side of Birmingham that's a secret to all but those in the know - (of course now you know too). Hope this is useful.

You know those amazingly warm and sunny weekends? Well we don't get them too often and when they…read morehappen I get the urge to do something quintessentially English. So last one day recently saw a much needed drive out of Brum and into the countryside. I'm not a National Trust member but I am starting to wonder why? Our visit to Packwood House was fantastic. You can go into the house and even have a tour but we wanted to experience the gardens, herbaceous borders and huge yew topiaries up close. The house is originally 16th century and features several gorgeous blue and gold sun dials - so check your watch against them and see which are still set to GMT. The gardens are beautiful and kept in stunning condition. Mostly they are comprised of some very distinct and large yew topiaries. The highlight has to be walking up the helter skelter style border to reach the top of The Mound which is adorned with a large yew tree. From there you can take in the views, enjoy the cool shade and benefit from some much needed peace. The rest of the gardens are a mix of wild and wonderful plants and the look must change considerably throughout the year. Don't miss out on walking around the back of the house to catch the very unique sun dial monument. A great day out even if you are not a National Trust member - stunning!

Packwood is another National Trust property right on the doorstep and one that makes me so glad…read morethat we got membership for a Chrismas present. The gardens are the usual lovely mixture of more formal with some stunning yew trees to admire, plus the broader park land. The formal area is very children friendly and there's a lovely little raised mound right at the back that's lots of fun to run up. The pak land has a great walk and there's a large pond/small lake with ducks. It's a good place to explore and there's the usual wooded area to wander around too. The National Trust is so much better at welcoming families and Packwood now has so much more to offer children such as outdoor games and family activities during holidays. Picnics are welcome too. There isn't a cafe or restaurant although you can get coffee and snacks from the reception area. The toilets are in the car park.

If you're familiar with the North West, most of you will have been to Southport more than once…read morebefore. If you haven't then I would recommend a visit and the best way to to it, is by open top bus. A ticket for an adult costs £8 and a child £4. These prices are really reasonable for the amount of sights you get to see whilst on board. Plus, you can hop-on and hop-off any time you wish as the ticket lasts for 24 hours. With departures every 60 minutes, it is very convenient for the tourist. Some of the locations include Pleasureland (a must!), Ocean Plaza and Lord Street for shopping & restaurants. My all time favourite has to be Southport Pier and Promenade even though the tide always seems to be out! Southport makes a brilliant day out and you might as well tour in style.