Page 216 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

in place (pillars show Gay St; adult/child £11/5.50; to the BBC studios where
where missing stones h9.45am-5.30pm Apr-Oct, the series is filmed (look
would have been) and a 10am-4pm Nov-Mar), guides for the TARDIS outside).
large section of the vil- in Regency costumes If you time it right,
lage is actually inside the regale you with Austen- you can catch a fired-up
stones – footpaths wind esque tales as you tour rugby test at Cardiff’s
around them, allowing memorabilia relating to Principality Stadium (Mil-
you to really soak up the the writer’s life in Bath. lennium Stadium; %029-2082
extraordinary atmos- The Drive » It’s 56.5 miles 2432; www.principalitystadium.
phere. National Trust– from Bath to the Welsh capital. wales; Westgate St; tours
run guided walks (£3) Take the A46 north and join the adult/child £13/9).
take place most days. westbound M4 over the Severn
Estuary on the six-lane, cable- 4 p219
4 p219 stayed Second Severn Crossing The Drive » Take the
The Drive » It’s a 27-mile bridge (westbound bridge traffic A48 northeast for 32 miles,
drive along the A4 past incurs a £6.60 toll, payable by bypassing Newport, to riverside
patchwork fields, country pubs cash, debit card or credit card). Chepstow.
and a smattering of villages
to the Georgian streetscapes TRIP HIGHLIGHT
of Bath. a Chepstow
9 Cardiff Nestled in an S-bend in
Set between an ancient the River Wye, Chepstow
8 Bath fort and ultramodern (Welsh: Cas-gwent) was
World Heritage–listed waterfront, Cardiff has first developed as a base
GREAT BRITAIN 15 THE BEST OF BRITAIN
Bath was founded on top been the capital of Wales for the Norman conquest
of natural hot springs since only 1955, but has of southeast Wales, later
and has been a tour- embraced the role with prospering as a port for
ist draw for some 2000 vigour and is now one of the timber and wine
years. Its 18th-century Britain’s leading urban trades. As river-borne
heyday saw the con- centres, as you can see commerce gave way to
struction of magnificent on a stroll through its the railways, Chepstow’s
Georgian architecture compact streets. importance diminished
from the 18th century. The huge success of to reflect its name, which
The best way to explore the reinvented classic TV means ‘market place’ in
the city’s Roman Baths series Doctor Who has Old English.
complex and beautiful brought Cardiff to the One of Britain’s old-
neoclassical buildings is attention of sci-fi fans est castles, imposing
on foot (p294). worldwide. You can find Chepstow Castle (Cadw;
Bath is known to many yourself sucked through www.cadw.gov.wales; Bridge
as a location in Jane a crack in time and St; adult/child £4.50/3.40;
Austen’s novels, including thrown into the role of h9.30am-5pm Mar-Oct,
Persuasion and North- the Doctor’s companion 10am-4pm Nov-Feb) perches
anger Abbey. Although at the interactive, highly atop a limestone cliff
Austen lived in Bath for entertaining Doctor Who overhanging the river,
only five years, from 1801 Experience (%0844 801 guarding the main river
to 1806, she remained a 2279; www.doctorwhoexperi crossing from England
regular visitor and a keen ence.com; Porth Teigr; adult/ into South Wales. Build-
student of the city’s social child £15/11; h10am-5pm ing commenced in 1067,
scene. At the Jane Austen Jul & Aug, Tue-Sun Mar-Jun, less than a year after
Centre (%01225-443000; Sep & Oct, Wed-Sun Nov-Feb, William the Conqueror
www.janeausten.co.uk; 40 last admission 3.30pm daily) invaded England, and it
exhibition, located next was extended over the
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