Two week trip to England to see great houses and gardens

This is a two-week trip by rental car in which travellers visit great homes in England, mostly in rural areas.

Short Summary.

Day 1	Leave the Midwest on a flight to London.	Overnight flight
Day 2	Rent car. Hampton Court. Chartwell Manor	Cranbrook, Kent
Day 3	Canterbury Sissinghurst Castle	Cranbrook, Kent
Day 4	Bodiam Castle Arundel Castle	Southampton
Day 5	Beaulieu Winchster	Southampton
Day 6	Salisbury Stonehenge Blenheim	Chipping Campden
Day 7	Spetchley Gardens The Edward Jenner Museum Berkeley Castle	Chipping Campden
Day 8	Stratford-upon-Avon Packwood House Baddesley Clinton House	Chipping Campden
Day 9	Hidecote Manor Warwick Castle Stowe House	Nottingham
Day 10	Belvoir Castle Belton House	Nottingham
Day 11	Galleries of Justice Museum Newstead Abbey Brodsworth Hall	York
Day 12	Castle Howard	York
Day 13	Burghley House	Cambridge
Day 14	Cambridge Chippenham	Cambridge
Day 15	Woburn Abbey Wisley Garden Basildon Park	Richmond
Day 16	Turn in Rental Car Kew Gardens National Archives	Richmond
Day 17	Return home.	home

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Full Description

Day 1	Friday	Flights depart the Midwest at about 4:00 p.m. and, after making a connection, arrive in London the next day in the morning around 8:25 a.m. on the next day. It's possible to leave earlier at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, and arrive at 5:35 a.m. the next day. Flights in September will cost 202 myrfti (about 2% of a medan year-round full-time worker's earnings) per person. Flights in the spring will cost about 216 myrfti, and flights in June, July, or August will cost about 256 myrfti. As gardens are a key type of place you're visiting, this trip should be taken between April and October, preferrably in late April or early May, or else in early September. A flight from Chicago to London takes about 8 hours, but with five time-zones crossed, a 7:00 p.m. departure out of Chicago puts you on the ground in London around 8:00 a.m.. It is very important to sleep as much as possible on this flight, rather than watching movies or keeping awake. If possible, get in a habit of sleeping very early (before 9:00 p.m. and waking up quite early (before 5:00 a.m.) in the week before you leave for England, and schedule your meals and so forth to help avoid jet lag on your arrival day in London.	Night on a flight from America to London.
Day 2	Saturday	Rent car at the airport. It’s only a half-hour drive from the airport to Hampton Court Palace. (10 miles) Visit Hampton Court, probably arriving around 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m. After a few hours at Hampton Court, depart around 2:00 p.m., and arrive at Chartwell Manor by 3:00 p.m., as it is open until 5:00 p.m. (32 mile drive) Visit Chartwell Manor and the gardens until it closes. Drive from Chartwell Manor to Cranbrook, to the George Hotel (reviews) (32 mile drive) It will be about 6:00 p.m. when you arrive in Cranbrook. You’ll have jetlag, and probably want to go to bed early.	1st Night in Cranbrook at George Hotel Stone St. Cranbrook, England TN173HE United Kingdom
Day 3	Sunday	After breakfast in the morning, drive 33 miles to Canterbury. Assuming a 10:00 a.m. departure from Cranbrook, arrive in Canterbury at 11:00 a.m. See the Cathedral. Depart Canterbury around 2:00 p.m., and arrive at Sissinghurst Castle at 3:00 p.m. after a 30 mile drive. Spend a couple hours in the gardens and grounds. Return to Cranbrook (3 mile drive) and go to bed early.	2nd night in Cranbrook, Kent
Day 4	Monday	In the morning after breakfast go to Bodiam Castle (9 miles), arriving by 9:30 a.m. By 11:00 a.m. depart Bodiam and drive to Arundel Castle. (58 miles) Visit Arundel Castle, arriving at 12:30 p.m., and stay there for the afternoon. Drive to Southampton (44 miles) Stay at the Southampton City Center Premier Inn (reviews)	1st night in Southampton Premier Inn Southampton City Centre 6 Dials New Road, Southampton SO14 0AB
Day 5	Tuesday	Day around Southampton. Drive to Beaulieu to visit the gardens (14 miles) When finished at the gardens, drive on to Winchester to see the cathedral. (24 miles) Visit Winchester Cathedral, and the return to Southampton (14 miles).	2nd night in Southampton
Day 6	Wednesday	Depart Southampton around 10:00 a.m., and stop in Salisbury to visit the cathedral (24 miles). There is a tower tour at 11:15 and 12:15 a.m. from April to September. Depart Salisbury around 12:45 p.m. Drive to Stonehenge (12 miles) Arrive at Stonehenge shortly after 1:00 p.m. Depart Stonehenge at 2:00 p.m. and drive to Blenheim Palace (78 miles) Arrive at Blenheim Palace at 3:30 p.m. Stay there for a couple hours. Depart by 6:00 p.m. Drive to Bramley House (reviews) in Chipping Campden. (30 miles), arriving there around 7:00 p.m.	1st night in Chipping Campden Bramley House 6 Aston Road, Chipping Campden GL55 6HR
Day 7	Thursday	In the morning, leave around 9:00 a.m. and drive to Spetchley Park Gardens (28 miles), arriving there around 9:45 a.m. Depart the gardens at noon. Drive to Berkeley to see Berkeley Castle and the Edward Jenner Museum. (44 miles). Arrive at 1:00 p.m. Depart at 4:00 p.m. and drive to Bourton-on-the-Water, arriving at 5:00 p.m. (40 miles) Evening hike around Bourton-on-the-Water and Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter. Finished with dinner and the walk, drive back to the Bramley House (16 miles) in Chipping Campden by 8:00 p.m.	2nd night in Chipping Campden
Day 8	Friday	At about 10:00 a.m. drive north to visit Stratford-upon-Avon and visit Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Mary Arden’s Farm, Hall’s Croft, and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage (12 miles). Depart Stratford-upon-Avon at about 2:30 p.m. depart and drive north to Packwood House (14 miles), arriving there at 3:00 p.m. Depart Packwood House at about 4:00 p.m., and drive the 3 miles to visit Baddesley Clinton House, and visit that home until it closes at 5:00 p.m. Return to Chipping Campden, arriving back by 6:00 p.m.	3rd night in Chipping Campden
Day 9	Saturday	At about 10:00 a.m. go out to Hidecote Manor (4 miles). Depart there by noon, and go to Warwick Castle (20 miles), and arrive there by 12:40 p.m. Depart Warwick at around 3:00 p.m., and drive to Stowe Landscape Gardens (34 miles), arriving at around 3:40 p.m. Visit Stowe House until about 5:30 p.m. Drive 82 miles north to Nottingham. Spend the night at the Best Western Westminster Hotel (reviews) in Nottingham, arriving there by 7:30 p.m.	1st night in Nottingham
Day 10	Sunday	Drive out to Belvoir Castle (20 miles) in the morning, and after a few hours there, drive on to Belton House (12 miles), to spend the rest of the day there, and then leave Belton when it it closes, returning to Nottingham (28 miles).	2nd night in Nottingham
Day 11	Monday	In the morning visit the Galleries of Justice Museum in Nottingham in the morning, finishing at 11:00 a.m. Depart Nottingham and go to Newstead Abbey (12 miles), arriving around 11:30 a.m., and visit Newstead Abbey for about two hours. When done at Newstead Abbey, by 2:00 p.m,. depart Newstead Abbey and drive north to Brodsworth Hall and Garden (48 miles), arriving there by 3:15 p.m, and spend the rest of the afternoon at Brodsworth Hall. When Brodsworth closes, drive north to York. Assuming a 5:30p.m. departure from Brodsworth, it will probably be 6:30 p.m. when you arrive at The Groves in York. Stay at The Groves (reviews) in York.	1st night in York The Groves, 15 St Peters Groves, York, North Yorkshire, YO30 6AQ
Day 12	Tuesday	At some point this day, drive the 16 miles north to Castle Howard, and spend most of the day there. It is about a 30 minute drive each way between York and Castle Howard. Spend the rest of the day in York.	York
Day 13	Wednesday	Depart York at about 11:00 a.m., and drive south about 115 miles for 2 hours to visit Burghley House, arriving there around 1:30 p.m. Spend the rest of the afternoon there, having a meal there.. From Burghley House it is a 48 miles (1 hour) drive to the Alexander Bed and Breakfast (reviews) where you can spend the night.	1st night in Cambridge Alexander B&B, 56 St Barnabas Rd., Cambridge CB1 2DE
Day 14	Thursday	This is a day to look around Cambridge. After lunch take a short drive out to Chippenham Park in Chippenham (20 miles), and stay there to visit as long as you like. Return to Cambridge for the second night.	2nd night in Cambridge
Day 15	Friday	Leave Cambridge at 9:00 a.m. and drive to Woburn Abbey (46 miles) Arrive at Woburn Abbey by 10:30 a.m., and stay there until noon. At noon drive 80 miles to Basildon Park, arriving at 1:40 p.m. At 3:00 p.m. drive to Wisley Garden (52 miles), arriving at 4:00 p.m. (Wisley Garden is usually open until 6:00 p.m.) At 6:00 p.m. drive to the Shirley Royle B&B in Richmond, near the National Archives and the Kew Botanical Gardens.	1st night in Richmond
Day 16	Saturday	Turn in Rental Car Visit Kew Gardens and the National Archives, both within walking distance of the bed & breakfast.	2nd night in Richmond
Day 17	Sunday	Return home.	home

Cost analysis

Costs. I use dollars for the year I research costs and then convert those dollars into Myrfti units. A Myrfti is a sort of inflation-adjusted price. If you have 100 Myrfti, you have 1% of the median year-round full-time American worker's wage/salary. So, if the median year-round full-time American worker earns $50,000, a Myrfti is equal to $5, and 100 Myrfti are $500.

The dollar prices will soon be out-of-date, but the Myrfti prices should be close to what you would pay in any year. Just find the most recent median full-time year-round income for American workers, and divide that by 10,000 to find what 1 Myrfti is worth. Then, once you have that figure, multiply it times the Myrfti costs to get an estimate for the current dollar price of the trip.
For this trip, the two-person prices assume an adult couple sharing a bed, and the four-person costs assume a family of four with two children aged between 12 and 17.

cost type	Cost Item Description	Cost in 2010 US$	Cost in % Myrfti for U.S.
Days 2-17	Total transport costs, including rental of a car for 14 days, the cost of gas for driving 1,375 miles, and the costs of using public transport in London on days 16 and 17.	2 persons $900 4 persons $930	2 persons 182 4 persons 188
Days 1, 17	Flight ticket, assuming a June departure (significant savings are available if you can do this trip in September, April, or October).	2 persons $2,536 4 persons $5,072	2 persons 512 4 persons 1025
Days 2-16	Lodging costs. Lodging expenses, including parking fees at some of the lodgings (2 nights in: George Hotel in Cranbrook, Premier Inn Southampton City Center, Best Western Westminster Hotel in Nottingham, The Groves in York, Alexander B&B in Cambridge, and Shirley Royle B&B in Richmond; 3 nights in Bramley House in Chipping Campden)	2 persons $1,875 4 persons $3,480	2 persons 378 4 persons 703
Day 1-17	Food costs. On expensive days (eating in better restaurants) the cost is estimated at $70 per person, and on inexpensive days, the cost is estimated at $33 per person per day. With two persons there would be six expensive days and nine inexpensive days. With four persons there would be four expensive days and eleven inexpensive days. These are reasonable expenses, and I've accounted for the fact that on several mornings breakfasts are included with lodging costs.	2 persons $1,435 4 persons $2,570	2 persons 290 4 persons 520
Days 2-16	Costs for admissions, entrance fees, shopping, parking, tolls, and so forth, with the assumption that everyone gets an annual membership in the National Trust to gain free admission to nine of the places visited.	2 persons $1,215 4 persons $2,300	2 persons 245 4 persons 465
Total	Total expenses for the whole trip For a family of four, this trip will cost about 29.0% of a median year-round full-time worker’s salary. For two persons the trip will cost about 16.1%	2 persons $7,961 4 persons $14,352	2 persons 1608 4 persons 2900

Budget planning for this trip.

To afford a vacation like this every four years, a typical family budget for a family earning 120% of the median year-round full-time income ($59,400 would be 120% of about the median income of $49,500 in 2011), might allocate money in this way each month:

Housing and utilities: 27.7% ($1370 per month)
All taxes: 16% ($790 per month)
Car expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance, purchasing): 12% ($595 per month)
Groceries, food, and household supplies: 10% ($495 per month)
Savings for a trip like this every four years: 5.8% ($290 per month)
Savings for smaller trips every year: 5.2% ($260 per month)
Savings for retirement: 5% ($250 per month)
Savings for children's college expenses: 5% ($250 per month)
Health insurance and health care expenses: 5% ($250 per month)
Charitable giving: 2.3% ($114 per month)
Miscellaneous other expenses: 2% ($100 per month)
Clothing: 2% ($100 per month)
Other entertainment, Internet, cable television, movies, etc.: 2% ($100 per month)