After agreeing to meet at our bus to leave at 8.30am, we drove out at 8.44am and were in Bath 40 minutes later. After grabbing a coffee and souvenirs, we toured the Roman Baths, which date back to AD and sit in the middle of the shopping centre in the Abbey churchyard. The tour included individual audio devices to listen to as you moved through the Baths on a self-guided tour.

After finishing our tours, we roamed the shops and found Cornish pastries (first one we’ve tried – except Luke who now regrets not getting one) and sausage rolls for lunch. Jarrod was hoping to explore the Bath Cathedral, because it’s the third time he has been to Bath and has never had time to, but at 7.5 pounds per adult to enter, we weren’t keen to pay for everyone.

We drove around to the Circus and The Royal Crescent, and Jarrod was able to recreate some of the photos we took nine years ago when last here. We then filled up the bus and headed for the Cotswolds, all agreeing that Bath is one of our favourite places we’ve seen.

The Cotswolds being such a large area, and not having time to explore it in detail, we headed for the most famous part: Arlington Row in Bibury. They have rubber duck races there on Boxing Day each year. It is one of the most photographed streets in England, and dates back to the 14th century. Here is one more photo given its claim to fame!

We grabbed coffees at the trout farm cafe opposite the street, and Ross and Luke decided to hightail it back to Stonehenge, hoping to get there before darkness fell. It was an hour and twenty minutes away, but they knew of a side street where you can park and walk a track through rolling hills to reach Stonehenge without paying the entry fee.

Well the sun was setting as we arrived at the track entrance, so they RAN it to reach Stonehenge before it became dark. Even Ross ran 🤦‍♀️. Beck and I being the sensible ones walked to the halfway mark, zoomed our phones in to get some photos of Stonehenge in the distance, and walked back to the car in darkness, where we waited for the others to return.

The last two photos were not mine and show the runners did make it there in time for some memorable pictures.

On the way back to the castle, we stopped at Trowbridge again for dinner. A restaurant called Toby Carvery was willing to take 14 of us for dinner with no notice, and it was a buffet style all-you-can-eat of meat and vegetables. The baked dinner was delicious, and we returned to our accommodation feeling quite full.