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Early September UK holiday advice and recommendations please.

Sloop John B

Sloop John B

And any old music will do…
We have a wedding to attend in Helmswell, Lincolnshire on September 10th. We have a god child who hopefully will be with first born in Gloucestshire (due imminently) so we’d like to get a trip in (from Dublin) that starts in Wales around 2nd September (most likely Fishguard but possibly Holyhead) spends a few days meandering from Wales to Gloucester (spend about 3 days there) and then perhaps a few more meandering towards Scunthorpe for the wedding.

Ideally we’d like to explore Wales for a few days, Gloucester for a few days and then maybe one stop on the way up to Scunthorpe although it may just be best to plough straight from Gloucester.

So places to stay and eat in South Wales - open to hotels, airbnb, nice guesthouses, whatever but 4 star-ish places, we’re now leaving the more budget places to our children.
Things that we should definitely see, places we should definitely visit.
Some nice eateries etc.

Then Gloucester, we probably want to stay 3 nights here. From a day visit when we were in London earlier this year it didn’t strike me as a tourist Mecca (apart from the Harry Potter connection). Any suggestions for places to stay here or are we better to base ourselves nearer Cheltenham?

A bit of knowledge from locals or visitors to these areas would be greatly appreciated.

.sjb
 
brilliant journey - we spend months planning road trips.

S. Wales - St Davids is a lovely place to visit/stay we had a lovely room here - https://twryfelinhotel.com/ (food was excellent)

I hate to say it - IME, i think your biggest problem is going to be finding availability in nice places (hotels)
 
I lived in Anglesey at the end of the 90s and often went to Beaumaris. They have a food fair there in September, though I don't know what dates. There are also some pleasant little waterside restaurants. Also worth going around Bangor over the bridge. South Wales is out of my hands, I don't know it very well.
 
we did this over about two weeks - clearly your starting point will be different - I think it depends on how many days you want to pack into "explore Wales for a few days".

Wales summer 2020 route by uh_simon, on Flickr

the big round dots show our major stop offs points (where we stayed for 2 or 3 days). We stayed in St. Davids for two nights - which was enough for us.

Cardiff is ok if you have never been - here is great to eat https://grupo44.co.uk/asador44/ - but like all cities.........
 
gintonic said:
I hate to say it - IME, i think your biggest problem is going to be finding availability in nice places (hotels)
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I would have thought it wasn’t a bad time for availability presuming school holidays are over?
We could always start the holiday later and do Wales on the way back if early September is a bad option?

.sjb
 
Sloop John B said:
I would have thought it wasn’t a bad time for availability presuming school holidays are over?
We could always start the holiday later and do Wales on the way back if early September is a bad option?

.sjb
Click to expand...

just try some test bookings and see. We always last 2 weeks August and first week Sept
 
We tended to go to Trearrdur Bay, September onwards, as once the school kids have returned it is quieter & cheaper then, not this year though !!

Prices have doubled in our usual stay apartment, I'm all for supporting the economy here but not at those prices sad to say.
 
If you’re heading into Fishguard, you are next to one of my favourite places in Wales full stop, Dinas Island. Simply stunning. The Harbourmaster in Aberaeron is nice, it’s interesting how it changes going north from the nice bits of Pembrokeshire. St David’s is worth a visit.

As for Gloucestershire, stay in Cheltenham, or deeper into the Cotswolds. Broadway (just into Worcestershire), Chipping Campden, Stow, the Slaughters etc, it’s the most gorgeous area with achingly beautiful villages everywhere. OK, I’m biased because I now live there but wish I’d done so years ago. No shortage of lovely places to stay and eat.
 
As you will be very close to Lincoln, plan to spend a day and night in the City. A superb cathedral, with a biggish organ. Also adjacent to the Cathedral is quite a sizeable castle. Between Lincoln and Scunthorpe there is Scampton aerodrome, home of the Dambusters and the RAF aerobatics team.
Looking at the map at the road from Lincoln to the River Hull A15 it is straight apart from a deviation caused by the aerodrome.
 
Derek Wright said:
As you will be very close to Lincoln, plan to spend a day and night in the City. A superb cathedral, with a biggish organ. Also adjacent to the Cathedral is quite a sizeable castle. Between Lincoln and Scunthorpe there is Scampton aerodrome, home of the Dambusters and the RAF aerobatics team.
Looking at the map at the road from Lincoln to the River Hull A15 it is straight apart from a deviation caused by the aerodrome.
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Lincoln is a lovely city - we spent a couple of nights there a few months ago. Louth is nice as well
 
if it is of any use, in Lincoln we stayed here:

https://thetowerlincoln.com/ - pretty nice, good parking across the road, nice walk to cathedral, and some nice pubs nearby. We enjoyed the food here https://www.jewshouserestaurant.co.uk/

In Louth we stayed here: https://www.the-masons-arms.com/ - nice place, be aware there is no parking nearby (unless you have a blue badge) - some lovely pubs (I recommend this micropub https://theconsortiumlouth.co.uk/) and others in walking distance. We ate here (simple Italian) https://louth.montebelloristorante.co.uk/ and at this Tapas place https://www.barcastillejar.co.uk/
 
Gloucester itself does not have a huge amount of stuff to recommend really. Cheltenham is much smarter and has really good shopping. Dunno about eating but for sure there must be places. Nearby Cotswolds will make your heart sing and wallet groan. Some gorgeous spendy spendy country house hotels to choose from in that area.

As said, Lincoln is lovely - but it is a bit of a hike from Gloucester, 3 hours cross country. The East/West road system is not great compared to North/South!
 
Snufkin said:
You might see Robert Wyatt if you are lucky.
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He likes to go to the market on a Wednesday and is often to be found in Louth Jazz Club, Queen St. I think you can still get into the place by paying at the door.

However to be fair Lincoln has a thousand times more things to recommend it.

My choice would be to travel from Gloucester to The Derbyshire Peaks, stay there then Sheffield - M18 - M180 - Scunthorpe. The latter is less than an hour once you get to the M1-M18 junction and is The Motorway That Time Forgot.
 
we stopped in Shrewsbury on our way from Herts to N. Wales. We've been twice now, and really like it. Can visit Iron Bridge.

OP - @Sloop John B where are you starting from and ending up in? Not entirely clear from your post
 
My wife and I spent a very enjoyable week in St Clears, Pembrokeshire three years ago. The Hotel was called Llety Cynin, which had some character in a rural setting, with spa and swimming pool. Food was pretty good: https://www.lletycynin.co.uk/

We spent an evening in Tenby, and I particularly liked our visit to the Tenby Harbour Brewery Tap & Kitchen with good beer and good food; https://harbwr.wales/

Plenty of scenery and historic interest in the Pembrokeshire National Park, spoilt for choice. We visited Pendine Sands (a very long beach!) and the attractive port town/village of Saundersfoot amongst other places. We liked it so much, we are going back to stay in Saundersfoot next week to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary. Have booked Coast Restaurant, which seems well regarded; https://coastsaundersfoot.co.uk/ We only went to a pub for lunch last time.

We can recommend the National Botanical Gardens near Carmarthen, having spent a full day there, which includes the British Bird of Prey Centre. We attended a very immersive falconry display there. It does charge for entry, but we found it a worthwhile experience; https://botanicgarden.wales/visit/

My wife did the restaurant bookings a couple of weeks back and did find that some were fully booked. Best to plan well in advance these days it seems!

Have a good trip.
 
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