I had an idea.
"Bob. Do you want to go next year?"
He said yes, with a few strings attached.
So I posted to the COTH eventing forum and got some advice. The nearest village, Stamford, is probably booked, I was told. I made perhaps a dozen inquiries and managed to find a place, The Stamford Lodge, at a rate we can manage. And, we have a year to save for the trip.
The current sticking point is that I don't know when I'll get to the UK again, and I was to have an extended stay. Bob, whose vacation is more limited, wants to just go for the trials -- in and out.
I guess these are the sort of problems I like to have...
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I went to Burghley this year (although I'm lucky enough to only live about an hour and a half away from it) and I stayed in a hotel about fifteen minutes away from it that worked out at about £29 a night, it was part of the www.premierinn.com chain and it was really nice, we only booked it about three months before and there was still plenty of availability. Hope this helps if you do decide to go, this was the first time I'd made it there and I fully intend to go every year from now on, I enjoyed it that much!
ReplyDeleteI should warn you that the UK weather can be very unpredictable in September, e.g. last weekend hit highs of 24c and sunny. This weekend its been 9c and rainy...a packing challenge anyway.
ReplyDeletePremier Inns are great value (I stay in them on work trips sometimes), but they vary a lot and some of them are more of a motel (rooms, reception, dining pub next door) than a hotel - so perfect for a flying visit to Burghley but perhaps not so great as a base for a proper holiday if you win the argum-I-mean-discussion :)
When I lived in England I went to Badminton twice but never to Burghley. Badminton is not very far from London and is in beautiful country. Burghley is way far up north and your only option is Birmingham for big city, which is... not my kind of place (unless you like Cadbury, where the factory is). September up north can be a dodgy proposition. Personally I would go Badminton...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a plan to me...well a partial plan, anyhow. Here's hoping it all works out to perfection in the end.
ReplyDeleteYou don't both have to stay an equal amount of time, do you?
ReplyDeleteI thought about Badminton but it's too close to Rolex -- we have plenty of fun there w/o going across the ocean. I have reservations at the Stamford Lodge -- anyone heard of it? Good or bad?
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like Stamford Lodge it's a beautiful stone Georgian building, as is most of Stamford, actually in the town itself.
ReplyDeleteStamford is a beautiful town and the 1st weekend of Sept is usually lovely weatherwise although of course this is England and it can all turn to rain.
The horse trials are a few miles out of the town on the Burghley House estate, I'm assuming you'll hire a car. Leave early for the trials because the traffic build up gets truly horrendous.
I'd suggest you purchase membership tickets when the box office opens in the Spring, they usually include 4 day admission & parking, grandstand seats for the dressage, Sunday grandstand has to be purchased seperately, entry to membership enclosure.
I've been going to Burghley since I was about 10, you're going to have a wonderful time, shopping is good too. By the way Stamford isn't "way far up north" it's really not that far from London it's about a 2 hour drive from Heathrow Airport.
Wow - how cool! I'm sure you guys will work out something with regards to the duration of your stay... :-) If you can stay longer, do it. The UK is so beautiful, regardless of the weather, that it would be worth it to stay as long as you could. So much to see and do outside of horsey stuff as well.
ReplyDeleteWell, you can tell Bob that at least one of your readers ASSUMED you would stay beyond/before Burghley because who goes to England and doesn't "do" London, at the very least??? :-) My dad was unsure about a GB trip, but went along, and then my mother had to practically drag him back to the US. For one thing, the London museums - British Museum in particular - are a male paradise. Unless Bob is totally not a museum-goer, I can just about guarantee he'd have a fabulous time! I strenuously argue for an extended stay...
ReplyDelete(Also - I thought if you did Burghley that meant you'd be skipping Rolex. If you are still going to KY, yippee, because I'm planning to be there, too!)