English Heritage – Maldo Travels

Windsor Castle – Historic Royal Home

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 19:50:00 +0000

Known to be a popular residence of the current monarchy, Windsor Castle is a large complex that is open to the general public. By car, it takes about an hour to get there from London. There are plenty of paid car parks in the area, but it tends to get very busy in the summer so there’s more traffic and difficult to find a parking spot. Another option is to go by train which takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The train station is a short and pleasant 10-minute walk away from the castle.

Tickets can be booked online for a specific time slot and the booking process will note any restrictions on the day. You must book online to be able to visit and booking directly is the cheapest option. The ticket also comes with an audio guide that can be set to several different languages. As you walk throughout the site, you’ll see numbered signs that you can enter into the audio guide. This is a great way to learn about the history of the many different areas in the castle. It is also possible to book private and group tours if you prefer. The grounds are very well kept and all areas are very well signposted so it’s easy to find your way around. You can visit the different gardens and several different state apartments with many different things on display.

It’s easy to spend a full day here as there are so many places to visit. There are also activities for kids and a couple of cafes to grab something to eat. As you head towards the exit, you’ll pass by St George’s Chapel which is full of history. The Chapel is normally closed on Sundays for service, and you should check if it is open on the day you plan to visit as it’s a beautiful place. At the exit, there is also a soldier of the Queen’s Guard stationed in a booth. A small area is cordoned off and the guard will occasionally step out of his booth and march up and down the cordoned-off area. After leaving Windsor Castle, you can explore the town which has lots of restaurants and the riverside is especially popular. There are rowboats for rent and many ducks and swans floating on the river. Overall, it’s a great day trip from London to a place that’s full of history.

Tintagel Castle – Mythical Scenic Site

Jean Maldonado — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 22:34:01 +0000

From Bristol, it was a 2-hour 40-minute drive to the north side of the Cornish coast. From London it would be a 4-hour 30-minute drive. We arrived at 1.30 PM and found a car park next to the ticket office. Tickets can be booked in advance for entry at a specific timeslot. Pre-booked tickets cost 13 GBP or free if you’re an English Heritage Member. Walk-up tickets cost 14.50 GBP¹ but you should pre-book during peak periods as it’s a very popular site. From the ticket office, you can follow the main path or take a trail that goes up to a viewpoint and then joins back to the main path before the bridge. We took the detour route via the viewpoint and it took about 10 minutes to get to the top. From here you get an elevated view of Tintagel and the new footbridge (finished on August 9th, 2019). It then takes about 5 minutes to walk down to the bridge. On the way you pass a control point where you have to present your ticket, so make sure you keep your ticket with you. Before the footbridge, visitors had to go down some steps to the beach and then up some steps on the other side. In the 13th century, a natural land bridge connected the mainland to the headland of Tintagel. However, erosion has caused the natural land bridge to collapse and now this new footbridge restores the original route to Tintagel.

Whilst crossing the bridge, you get great views of the surrounding landscape and the previous steps to cross to the other side. After crossing, we arrived at some ruins. There are information panels throughout giving information on the buildings that would have stood here. They also give a history of how Tintagel was used as a trading port during the age of the Roman Empire. Next, we followed the path to the top of the headland and found some rocks to sit on halfway through. The view from here is amazing of the hilly shores and beach down below. We continued down the path and arrived at the Gallos Sculpture representing King Arthur at the end of the headland island. It can be quite busy since everyone is taking pictures with the statue. We then found some boulders at the end of the headland to rest on, enjoying the seaside views.

At around 3 PM, we started heading back to go down to the beach. At the bridge, there are some steps on the right-hand side that go down to the beach. It’s a small sand and pebble beach with a rock island in the middle which people were jumping off. The water is freezing so we didn’t get in. There are two caves, one on either side of the beach. Going through the caves can be tricky since there are lots of rocks and boulders. They also fill up with water so keep an eye on the tide. We stayed at the beach until around 5 PM before heading back up and on one of the trails to a viewpoint. It takes about 20 minutes to follow the trail up to the cliff opposite Tintagel Castle. There are great views of Tintagel and the seaside from here. We stayed here until about 5.45 PM before heading back to the town to get some food. It was about 6.20 PM by the time we got back to the town and quite a lot of places were closing. We managed to find a cafe selling Cornish Pasties, so we grabbed a few of those and headed back to Bristol.

1066 Battle of Hastings

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 05 May 2019 21:35:00 +0000

Near the shores of Hastings, this historic battlefield can be visited on a short day trip from London. Only a one and a half-hour train ride from Charing Cross or about 1 hour 45 minutes by car. Entry to the site costs 13.60 GBP² or free with an English Heritage membership. There’s an audio guide included with the ticket to listen to the history as you walk throughout the site. There’s a visitor center a short walk from the entrance which you should start with. There’s lots of info here providing background on William the Conqueror of Normandy and the Anglo-Saxon King Harold of England.

Following the visitor center, you can head to the trail of the battleground. There are two options; a trail which goes on a circuit down to the battleground and then up to the Abbey, or the trail which goes straight across to the Abbey with a panoramic view of the battleground. There are several numbered information panels on the trail which you can input into the audio guides which narrate the events of the battle. It took us about 30 minutes to walk throughout the battlefield and up to the Abbey. We then walked around the Abbey learning about its history from the information panels there. We then visited the garden next to the Abbey before heading back to the entrance. At the entrance, you can head up the tower where there is a small museum with some artifacts. You can also climb to the top of the tower which has views of the town. We completed our visit in about an hour before heading for some lunch and back home.

Walmer and Deal – Coastline Castles

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 21:23:00 +0000

It is possible to take a train to these castles but the train times aren’t that frequent, so we rented a car for these visits. From London, it’s about a 2-hour drive here and only 15 minutes from Dover. We first drove to Walmer Castle and there is parking available at the site. Tickets cost 12.60 GBP¹ or free with an English Heritage membership. An audio guide is included with the ticket which gives you access to the castle and the gardens. There are several information panels with numbers that you input into the audio guide. This castle was part of a chain of artillery castles that King Henry VIII had built to fortify the coastline. He feared attacks from a new alliance between France, Spain, and the Pope after he broke away from the Catholic Church to create the Protestant church. Since then, the castle has been converted into a stately-home. You can see how the furnished rooms have been transformed to create a more comfortable residence. Several Lord Wardens have added improvements over time and it was once used by Duke Wellington. There’s a room with some of his history and also the room he died in has been kept the way it was on the day. You can also step outside to explore the gardens. We went in winter so the garden wasn’t as pretty as it must be in summer. It took us about two hours to complete our tour of Walmer Castle and we were done around 1 PM.

To get to Deal Castle, it’s a short 5-minute drive up the coast and there is also parking available next to the site. Tickets cost 7.90 GBP or free with an English Heritage membership. This is another artillery castle by King Henry VII but this one has been transformed into a museum. The entire castle is open for you to explore on a self-guided tour with the audio guide included with the ticket. At this castle you can learn a lot more about the 16th-century defense system. An interesting part of the castle is wandering through underground perimeter passageways below the castle. There are wellies available for you to put on as it can get muddy. You can complete the visit in about an hour so we were done at around 2.30 PM.

Dover Castle – Coastal Defense

Jean Maldonado — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 20:37:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite day trips from London so whenever family or friends visit, I take them to this castle. It’s possible to visit via public transport from London by taking a train to Dover Priory station. From St Pancras International, it takes about 1 hour 15 minutes. You can then walk for 30 minutes or take a bus which leaves you at the bottom of the castle hill. By car, it’s about a 1-hour 45-minute drive and there’s parking available at the site. Tickets then cost 21.30 GBP¹ or it’s free with an English Heritage membership. The ticket includes guided tours of the war tunnels which for me, are the highlights of the visit.

The car park is located inside the site next to the ticket office. From the ticket office, it’s a short walk down to the WW2 war tunnels which you should make your first stop. Tours leave every 15 minutes and last about 50 minutes. There are 2 tours, one is of the underground hospital which is an immersive experience. You follow the story of a rescued shot-down pilot who has been brought in for an operation. The layout of the tunnel, sounds, and even smells have been re-created to how they would have been during the war. This is one of my favorite tours of any museum/site I’ve visited. The other tour is of the war tunnels used for WW2 Operation Dynamo. In this tour, you’re taken through the military evacuation operation of allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk. Projections of real film footage and dramatizations with special effects bring this event to life. This tour ends in the restaurant/gift shop and there is a small museum area with artifacts above. Also, you can step outside to a balcony-like area that has panoramic views of the seaside.

Following this, you can walk along the castle walls towards the Great Tower. On the way, you can take a small detour to the Medieval tunnels which were used to defend the castle. There’s not a tour for these tunnels but there are several information panels to guide you through the route. Once you come back up from the tunnels, you can then walk across to the tower gate to get to the Great Tower. This medieval palace built by King Henry II has several artifacts throughout with information panels. You can ascend all the way to the roof which has great views of the city. In the surrounding buildings, there are also some self-guided tours of the royal courts. Following this, you can then walk down to the ruins of the Roman lighthouse and the working church of Anglo-Saxon origin. For me, this is usually where I end the day and head back. There are however a couple of other sites such as PWRR Museum which has some history of the regiments. There is also the WW1 Fire Command Post with the only working British 3 inch gun which was used to shoot down warplanes. Overall, Dover Castle is well organized and has produced great tours to experience history.

Farleigh Hungerford – Medieval History

Jean Maldonado — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 18:53:39 +0000

Since we’d just become English Heritage members when visiting Stonehenge the day before, we decided to check out this castle on another day trip. From Bristol, it’s only a 45-minute drive to reach the castle, and keep your eyes peeled as the entrance is easy to miss. There’s plenty of car parking available at the site. With the English Heritage membership, we get free entry but you can check prices here. At the entrance, you’re given an audio guide and the staff member points you towards the start of the self-guided tour. There are several detailed panels with numbers that you enter into the audio guide for more information. It begins by taking you throughout the open areas of the site where the castle’s rooms would have been.

Today, there are just the remains of the towers and some of the foundations; but the audio guide and the panels do a good job of describing how the castle would have been. Several stories include an imprisoned wife, a wife killing her husband, and medieval visitors eating human remains in the tombs. Towards the end of the tour, we visit the chapel which has painted walls from medieval times. These were discovered underneath the top layer of paint so they are quite faint. Inside the chapel, there are family tombs of the Hungerford family who owned the castle. These tombs have been carved with the human shape of the family member buried there. Following the chapel, you can brave descending into the dark chilly crypt. There are several human-shaped lead coffins here where medieval visitors used to poke to eat the human remains. This is the final stop of the self-guided tour after which we returned the audio guides and headed back to Bristol.

Stonehenge & Oxford – English History

Jean Maldonado — Sat, 01 Dec 2018 21:29:00 +0000

Although I started the journey from Bristol, it can also be done in the same way from London with roughly the same timings. There are tours available to Stonehenge, but it’s probably best to get a group together and rent a car. From Bristol, it takes about 1 hour 30 minutes to get to the Stonehenge site. There’s ample free parking available at the site outside the visitor center. This is an English Heritage site and tickets cost 22.80 GBP¹ for non-members. Becoming a member gives you free entry to Stonehenge among several English Heritage sites. Since I planned on doing other day trips, I became a member which costs 5.25 GBP a month (for 12 months) or a one-time payment of 63 GBP for 12 months. There’s also a discount on the membership if you’re a student. Once we got our tickets, we picked up an audio guide which is included with the ticket for a self-guided tour. Then, you have the option of a 25-minute walk to the site or waiting for the bus which takes 5 minutes to get there. Once at the site, the trail is easy to follow. There are numbered signposts along the trail which you can input into your audio guide.

Construction is believed to have occurred in multiple phases which the audio guide goes over. What we see now are large stones laid out in a circular form with an outer circle and inner horseshoe. The entrance lines up with the sun in the summer and winter solstice. Several remains have been found at the site which suggests it may have been an important burial site. It took us about 45 minutes to go through the site with the self-guided tour. We then headed back to the visitor site where there is a small museum with artifacts and more information. There’s also a cafeteria/restaurant where you can get food and drinks.

It was now around 1.30 PM so we headed to Oxford which is about 1 hour 30 minutes away. Free parking is difficult to find around the city center, but there are several paid car parks available. We found a car park near Oxford castle so first headed there for a couple of pictures. Then we went for a walk around the city, coming across several of the old university buildings. Once it got dark, we walked back via the main high street stopping by a rooftop restaurant. It was then a 1 hour 30 minute drive back to Bristol.