After having completed Wales and Cardiff trip successfully, next long holiday loomed by and I wanted to plan my next road trip. Seeing where to go I initially thought of doing Brighton and Seven Sisters. With Durdle Door having excellent views and close-by Brighton got added to my list. I thought I was done with my plan, but Cornwall having pretty beaches and castles got added on to the list. That was it, what started as just two places extended on to the whole southern coast of United Kingdom. It was four days long weekend and worked out perfectly with stays in between places. I planned for the first day around Brighton, Seven Sisters, the second day to Durdle Door and drive to Cornwall and next two days relaxing by the beaches and back home. My friends were all set and excited to kick-start the second road trip of UK. Now let me walk you through each of the places I visited.
Handy tips for planning the trip
- It’s best to plan these places during summer time (May to September) as winters are mostly cold and rainy.
- During festive times, accommodation and other bookings need to be done well in advance as they turn out to be very expensive. Last minute we won’t get hotels in the preferred place and will be fully booked.
- Take appropriate costumes like shorts etc., as there are lots of beautiful beaches in the coastal areas.
- There are lots of festivals happening around Brighton/Cornwall during summertime, hence lookout for proper dates before booking.
- Booking a Campervan is good for places like Durdle door, Cornwall, where you can halt on the go and relax for a while.
- The Isle of Wight is also an option which is closeby Portsmouth and can be reached in an hour by ferry.
Brighton – It was the first stop of our trip. It turned out to be the most happening place where there was a theme park set up on a wooden strip. Also was my first experience in a pebble beach. Spent few hours relaxing on the beach and then went for few rides by Brighton Pier. The weather was ideal and sunny throughout the day. Got excellent photos for the memory books. Then tried the traditional Brighton rock candies and a bit of ice cream famous there. Brighton was a perfect start the long road trip.
Seven Sisters – After spending around half day in Brighton, we moved next to Seven Sisters. It was about one hour drive and reached afternoon for a bit of evening trekking. Seven Sisters comprises of seven hills and can be trekked all the way to the end. We decided to climb the first hill and on that day it was just us on top of Seven Sisters. It had beautiful views to offer from the top of cliffs surrounded by sea. We sat by the edge of the cliff and relaxed enjoying the evening. As it got late we couldn’t trek the remaining hills, came down and there was a similar pebble beach as in Brighton where we sat down for a while. Signed off the first day with wonderful memories.
Durdle Door and Dorset Coast – After halt close to Bournemouth, next day we started the journey to Durdle Door. Its one of UK’s most iconic and special locations for photography which is world’s best stone arch I would say. Its yet another pebble beach with a long coastline and we had to park the car far away and walk the way to stone arch. I was pretty excited as the views I saw on google were breathtaking. As we got close by, it got very windy and cold. One thing to note is the weather in UK changes every now and then. We made some of best photos at top and got down to the beach. It’s a 10-minute walk down to pebble beach, where we dipped a bit into sea and enjoyed the day.
Stonehenge and the Mustard Fields – There are few other landmarks on the way. Stonehenge one of UK’s preserved heritage can be visited along with Roman Baths. At least half a day is needed to visit both these places. We just did a small photo shoot of Stonehenge on the way and continued with our journey. And if you are travelling during summer season, you can see beautiful mustard fields with beautiful yellow flowers fully blossomed. We were lucky to witness mustard fields at its best.
Cornwall – Last 1.5 days I had planned to cover Cornwall and the beautiful beaches. Not to forget, Cornwall has some of the best beaches in UK. Tintagel was a pretty castle built along the beach where you can immerse yourself in history, myths and stunning scenery at Tintagel Castle, set high on Cornwall’s rugged north coast. After doing the castle, we settled up in our cozy rooms to have a nice sleep. We had booked our stay in New Quay which had a beach walking distance. Early next morning we relaxed by the Fistral beach and started for the day. The first halt was by Lizard point, which was the southernmost tip of UK, and had stones shaped like a lizard. Next, we went to Lands end, which was yet another scenic viewpoint in Cornwall. There was Minack theatre by the sea, where plays and various shows happen during the festive season. It was closed as there wasn’t anything planned that day. We did the last stop by St. Ives which had the most stunning coastline and you can also take the popular train to Carbis bay. Then it was six hours drive back to Nottingham (home).
On the whole, it was one memorable trip covering the entire south coast. With loads of beautiful memories, we reached back Nottingham and cherished the trip. Signing off with some best photos of trip 🙂
Sandhya Sriram 