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Anyone been to Marriott's in Wales?

bazzap

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Changing mind about car rental pickup. If we drive from Bristol airport it’s easy. No tranfer. No bus schedule.

Is there something in Somerset we should visit before crossing bridge?
Bristol Airport is just to the South West of Bristol.
Assuming you don’t want to drive too far out of your way and depending on what appeals, you could consider
A scenic drive through Cheddar Gorge, with an option to visit the caves
https://visitbristol.co.uk/things-to-do/cheddar-gorge-and-caves-p24501
A trip to the seaside, at a typically English Weston Super Mare!
https://www.visit-westonsupermare.com/
Or after crossing the Severn bridge into Wales, go to historic Chepstow Castle
http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/chepstow-castle/?lang=en
 

Quilter

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The gorge is my favorite option.

When I looked at the map I was surprised how close Bristol is to the Cotswolds.

Changed car rental again. Hertz automatic Kia Ceed $240 (USD).
 

ACP

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A visit to the city of Bath would be well worth it. There are some Roman Spa Baths that are a wonderful attraction and the city itself is full of character, a lot depends on your schedule, but you could easily spend 3/4 hours there. There are other options (Stonehenge or search https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk) will give you a few ideas.
We live about 15 minutes from the bridge, happy to hook up and show you around, born in Cardiff so know the area pretty well, like Bazzap (who I also know) lots of options. PM me if you wish. We're at HH at the moment enjoying the sun and golf.
Cheers
 

Quilter

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This was good video. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/heart-of-england-and-south-wales

I really like Rick Steves. We dragged our daughter through Cotswold and gardens in 2002 when she was 15. She was fairly bored and didn’t like giving up 2 weeks of her summer vacation with friends.

Now she’s 31 and been all over Europe and even went on medical mission trip to Thailand. I’m curious to see what she wants to do this time.

We land in Bristol at 3. We’ll have to limit what we do between Bristol and Cardiff before dark.

Jack and I are already planning to return next year so I don’t have to see it all this trip.
 

bazzap

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This was good video. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/heart-of-england-and-south-wales

I really like Rick Steves. We dragged our daughter through Cotswold and gardens in 2002 when she was 15. She was fairly bored and didn’t like giving up 2 weeks of her summer vacation with friends.

Now she’s 31 and been all over Europe and even went on medical mission trip to Thailand. I’m curious to see what she wants to do this time.

We land in Bristol at 3. We’ll have to limit what we do between Bristol and Cardiff before dark.

Jack and I are already planning to return next year so I don’t have to see it all this trip.
Sunset should not be until just before 9pm here tonight, so you should have plenty of daylight to see a few places.
Our thermometer in the garden just now reads 38C (100.4F)!
It is in the sunshine so rather misleading, but it is 5pm already so not at all bad.
Welcome to a hot and sunny UK.
 

Quilter

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We’re here! Driving to Bath. DD’s choice. Caught in rush hour traffic. Hertz people were wonderful. We got Anna added complimentary. Cool Toyota Excel hybrid automatic that is very smart! It warns when we’re to close to middle line. GPS too!
 
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Quilter

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It’s lovely. Lilacs blooming just like at home. Spiraeas and horse chestnuts. This is just wonderful!
 

bazzap

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We’re here! Driving to Bath. DD’s choice. Caught in rush hour traffic. Hertz people were wonderful. We got Anna added complimentary. Cool Toyota Excel hybrid automatic that is very smart! It warns when we’re to close to middle line. GPS too!
Bath is a great city.
It is cloudier and cooler today, but thankfully dry (as we have had our conservatory roof replaced today)
Enjoy you travels.
 

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We got into the bath museum just in time. Will walk around after dinner.
 

Quilter

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Before we left Bath we drove to the Royal Cresent. Anna took a great panoramic picture.

Made it to Cardiff. We were crossing the bridge as the sun was going down. I got some beautiful pictures.

Missed our exit which gave us a roundabout tour of Cardiff. Got here just after dark. Looking forward to relaxing tomorrow.

Tonight we found Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” (2007). I’ve seen it several times. I wanted Anna to see it.
 

Quilter

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Our car is smart but not smart enough to tell us why people were honking at us :rolleyes: We thought they were very impatient but Anna kept saying something just didn’t make sense as she hadn’t passed one car. On the way to Bath and then Cardiff it took us a while to figure out speeds were in mph...not kph. Oops!
 

Quilter

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I’m back in Venice. DD and I had nice flights in both directions on Easy Jet. Both were airbus 319/320.

The hotel in Cardiff was fine but I wouldn’t say it’s a Cat 7. DD did enjoy the lounge. It looks to be in the process of renovation. Restaurant and bar area were nice. Food was good. Location was convenient for what we wanted. It’s dated. The staff on the front desk is a mix of good and not so good. I had been sent an email saying I was upgraded to an executive king. It wasn’t until we were ready for bed I realized we definitely didn’t have a king. They moved us the next day. We had a better view. It never had decent air conditioning though. The weather was fine and you really couldn’t tell until warmed by the heavy comforter. It felt like it was only the fan. We dialed it below 20 but the condenser never came on. I mentioned it at the front desk but it never changed. It would have been fine with a light cover but all they give you is the comforter. No sheet.

I’d consider trying Swansea property if I went again. Loved being close to the coast. Lounge wouldn’t be necessary as there are lots of seaside restaurants. It was only a cat 5 so it costs less.

We got a pass to visit castles that are part of the Cadw properties. We also went through the Brecon Beacons to get to Builth Wells. It was a beautiful drive. In fact, we had perfect weather all week. On the return we stopped at Peny fan, a popular walking site to a peak vantage point. On the trail you pass lots of sheep. This time of year they have the little lambs with them. You also pass horses and their foals. We climbed a fair amount but not to the top. Going up is hard on the quads. Coming down is hard on the shins.

Since the wedding was Saturday we stayed in for the morning to watch it before heading to Caerphilly Castle. It was great having Anna as my personal driver.

One of the young women in the lounge suggested we drive 2 hours to Tenby. It’s a colorful seaside resort town. On the way we passed through Swansea, and Mumbles. I thought Mumbles worth a return visit more than Swansea. We also took the time to park and visit the beach at Three Cliffs. Definitely a plus. We got there just in time to experience the tide at it’s near low point. The car park has the checkin office for some cottages and a decent spot to enjoy pasties and ice cream.

Laugharne Castle and Tenby were next. Just enough time to walk around and snap a bunch of pictures. We thought about dinner but we’re still full from the pasty. We drove back to Cardiff and were glad to arrive just before dark. Tired and hungry. The hotel had a decent fish and chips on the bar menu.

May was great time to visit.

Google maps gave us several options back to the Bristol airport. All similar time of travel. We picked one through the countryside. Well I picked it because I was the navigator. Anna was the one dealing with the country lanes not quite wide enough to have a white line down the middle. This was all fine though you need to know there are no gas stations for a last stop fill up before turning in the rental. We drove a bit past the airport for gas and then returned.

It was a beautiful introduction to Wales and the route from Bristol.
 
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