Road Trip! Two weeks in South England & Wales

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sl888

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Simon
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Hi everyone,

It's been a year since I've moved to London from Canada. It's been all work sleep work sleep work sleep. I have 2 weeks off at the end of August. The car is rented and hotels booked at the following:

Canterbury 2 nights
Eastbourne 1 night
Bournemouth 2 nights
Exeter 2 nights
Plymouth 1 night
Truro 2 nights
Cardiff 2 nights
Gwynedd 3 nights

This will probably be my only chance to see the SW and Wales. I’m not too worried about the SE as I probably could do day trips on the weekend from London.
What are the absolute must see's & do's? Hidden gems along the way?

Thanks in advance!
 
To be honest I'm open to everything but I'm guessing mostly landscapes. I'm looking forward to being by the sea for most of the trip.
Duncan, just had a look through your website. Some amazing images. I would never have known about some of those places. Nash point and Castle of the Wind looks awesome. Don't know if I'll have time to get up to Glyder Fach. Do you mind sharing the location of image 43 of 62 in your Wales album?
 
You've got an awful lot of choice on that journey. Are you going to be using the M5 at all? Some great places along the west coast. Could stop at Glastonbury Tor, there is the option of Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, Clevedon Pier, Burnham on Sea Lighthouse, The shipwreck at berrow sands.
You could also go to Lulworth Cove in Dorset, or Corfe Castle (both a 30 min ish drive from Bournemouth). The Jurrasic coast offers a great deal of spots for shooting. What other areas will you be near on your journey?
 
sl888 said:
To be honest I'm open to everything but I'm guessing mostly landscapes. I'm looking forward to being by the sea for most of the trip.
Duncan, just had a look through your website. Some amazing images. I would never have known about some of those places. Nash point and Castle of the Wind looks awesome. Don't know if I'll have time to get up to Glyder Fach. Do you mind sharing the location of image 43 of 62 in your Wales album?
Click to expand...

Thanks :beer:
Sure - no problem.

43 is the Caban Coch dam in the Elan Valley, next to Rhayader.
62 is the summit of Moel Siabod, a half day walk on the edge of Snowdonia.

Here's a Blog entry from when I took a group up Snowdon and Moel Siabod last Autumn. The Snowdon route (link to route in Blog) is my recommended route for photographers; it's wonderful.
http://www.wild-landscapes.co.uk/Bl...-Moel/26585203_LTKzVM#!i=2222182265&k=mZT4LVg

Since you like landscapes :)
I'll point out that one of my all time favourite shots is close to where you are going - Kimmeridge
http://www.wild-landscapes.co.uk/Gallery/England/i-Qmzw8gk/4/L/20101010-184919-IMG_6901-L.jpg
Loads of photo opportunities there; a classic landscape location - just Google it to see what I mean.

When in South Wales, the waterfall walk is highly recommended - several in my Wales gallery. This route takes in 4 of the eight big waterfalls in that area.
http://www.walkscene.co.uk/map_view_52/Brecon_Beacons_4_waterfalls_walk_near_Ystadfellte.html

Edited to add:
When in North Wales; if you are mid-week - then you have an opportunity to photograph low-flying military jets. Lots of threads on TP about this including a TP meet last month. Search for Mach Loop.
 
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Hi, when are you in Plymouth?
The national fireworks championships are held here on the 13th and 14th August on Plymouth Hoe, three different displays on each night each around 20 minutes long. If you can manage it set yourself up on Plymouth Hoe for a great view.
Failing that, the Hoe and Plymouth sound are great during the daytime.

Also you will be quite close to Dartmoor National Park with Burrator reservoir and Sheepstor which are fantastic for landscapes.

You also have the southwest coastpath which covers the coast from Minehead in Somerset down to lands end and back (past Plymouth) to Poole in Dorset with pretty spectacular coastline along the way.

Makes me want to get out there just talking about it.

Have a great time wherever you go.

Jeff
 
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JakeT1992 said:
You've got an awful lot of choice on that journey. Are you going to be using the M5 at all? Some great places along the west coast. Could stop at Glastonbury Tor, there is the option of Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, Clevedon Pier, Burnham on Sea Lighthouse, The shipwreck at berrow sands.
You could also go to Lulworth Cove in Dorset, or Corfe Castle (both a 30 min ish drive from Bournemouth). The Jurrasic coast offers a great deal of spots for shooting. What other areas will you be near on your journey?
Click to expand...
I wasn't sure if I was gonna use the M5 to go to Cardiff but I definitely will be now after all those suggestions. I was thinking of just driving along the coast. I'll be close to the cities I've listed and most likely going the route my Garmin GPS suggests.

DuncanDisorderly said:
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Click to expand...
Sweet! I'll definitely check out Kimmeridge. I'll try to convince the gf to go on the waterfall walk. I really want to shoot some long exposure waterfalls.
Unfortunately I won't be in North Wales during the mid-week so I'll miss the jets but that would be something I'd check out. Thanks for all your help Duncan.

Mike.P said:
If you fancy doing an airshow and are in Bournemouth the last week of August it's on the Thurs/Fri/Sat and Sunday. Down on Bournemouth sea front and free to watch.
Click to expand...
No go for this one. I'll be in Bournemouth the 2nd last week of August. Thanks though.

Jeffwil said:
Hi, when are you in Plymouth?
The national fireworks championships are held here on the 13th and 14th August on Plymouth Hoe, three different displays on each night each around 20 minutes long. If you can manage it set yourself up on Plymouth Hoe for a great view.
Failing that, the Hoe and Plymouth sound are great during the daytime.

Also you will be quite close to Dartmoor National Park with Burrator reservoir and Sheepstor which are fantastic for landscapes.

You also have the southwest coastpath which covers the coast from Minehead in Somerset down to lands end and back (past Plymouth) to Poole in Dorset with pretty spectacular coastline along the way.

Makes me want to get out there just talking about it.

Have a great time wherever you go.

Jeff
Click to expand...
No go for the fireworks as well. I'll be there the last week of August. The gf would've enjoyed this.
I had a look at Dartmoor and really wanna go but it's just trying to convince the gf to go.
That west coastline sounds amazing. I wish I had more time. I think I will be taking the M5 though because it'll be shorter to get to Cardiff.
Thanks Jeff, I'm really excited about this trip. It's gonna be non-stop shooting.



Guys, thanks for all the suggestions and tips! Must appreciated. :thumbs:
 
Truro to Cardiff is going to take some time, even up the M5/M4. If the traffic's bad on the A road between Truro and Exeter (the bottom of the M5), it could be a long day. If you're going to be in the UK for a while, I would break the trip down into shorter hops and spend more time in each area - 5 nights in the South West isn't enough to do it justice IMO! Of course, this trip could be a reconnaissance trip for further, future trips - whatever, have a good'un!
 
Thanks Nod. I don't have much time left in the UK. Another 8 months at most and I won't have any more time for traveling. Ah well, should be a good trip.
 
+1 for burnham on sea lighthouse also Brent knoll fantastic landscape shots to be had from top of there can see for miles well worth the walk up there also there is a church on the bottom and inside the pews tell a story can't remember name of the church tho sorry but I'm sure someone on here will be able to tell you more if not google church in Brent knoll as for Wales Cardiff bay at night and as someone suggested the waterfalls in Neath and if you like walking pen-y-fan in Brecon is a must do just for the experience
 
Thanks Mark. I showed Burnham-on-Sea to the gf and she didn't seem to fond of the lighthouses. I would really like to go up Pen y Fan but the hike is a little long for the gf.

One of her suggestions that really stood out is St. Michael's Mount. That's gonna on my top priority list. Hopefully I'll be there when the tide is low.
 
You can travel across Dartmoor to get from Exeter to Plymouth. The B3212 runs from Exeter right the way across the moor taking in Postbridge, Powder Mills, Princetown as well as plenty of fantastic landscapes. If you turn left at Two Bridges you can look at Dartmeet and then, eventually, join the A38 to take you to Plymouth or turn right at Two Bridges and into Tavistock and then follow signs to Plymouth from there :) Enjoy your trip :)
 
I believe I'm gonna go through Dartmoor and skip the coast. Thanks Heather.
Heading out tomorrow! Thanks again everyone.
 
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