Worcester Travel Forum

I WILL BE TRAVELLING TO THE UK IN LATE SEPT WITH MY HUSBAND, HIS MOTHER AND OUR 18 MONTH OLD DAUGHTER. WE ARE SPENDING 5 DAYS IN LONDON AND THEN HIRING A CAR TO EXPLORE FURTHER. A FEW WEEKS AGO I POSTED AN ITINERARY THAT WAS JUST A BIT TOO EXTENSIVE FOR OUR TIME FRAME. MY THOUGHTS ARE NOW TO CUT DOWN ON WHERE WE ARE GOING AND STAYING LONGER IN THOSE PLACES. WE WILL HAVE A TOTAL OF 6 NIGHTS AWAY WITH OUR 7TH NIGHT AT A HOTEL AT HEATHROW AS WE FLY OUT TO PARIS THE NEXT MORNING.

WE ARE COLLECTING OUR CAR FROM HEATHROW AND WILL BE HEADING TO BATH FOR 2 DAYS.

AFTER THIS I'M JUST NOT SURE WHERE TO GO NEXT AND MORE IMPORTANTLY WHERE TO STAY NEXT. THE THINGS I WISH TO DO ARE ALL RELATIVELY CLOSE TOGETHER THEY ARE AS FOLLOWS:

WORCESTER - TO SEE THE PORCELAIN FACTORY
STRATFORD UPON AVON - CADBURY
WARWICK - CASTLE
BOURNVILLE - BLACK MUSEUM

THE OTHER PLACE IS BURSLEM AT STAFFORDSHIRE WHICH APPARAENTLY IS WHERE THE ROYAL DOULTON VISITORS CENTRE IS! CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THAT THIS IS STILL OPEN? IT APPEARS TO BE FROM THE WEBSITE THAT I FOUND, BUT SOMEONE TOLD ME THAT DOULTON DO NOT MAUNFACTURE ANYTHING IN THE UK AT ALL ANYMORE AND THE WEBSITE SAYS THAT SOME THINGS ARE STILL MADE ON SITE. THIS IS OUT OF THE WAY OF EVERYTHING ELSE.

I GUESS MY QUESTION IS WHAT ELSE IS THERE AROUND THIS AREA AND WHICH TOWN SHOULD WE STAY IN? I THINK WE SHOULD STAY A MINIMUM OF 2 NIGHTS IN EACH PLACE AS THIS IS THE START OF A 2 MONTH TRIP FOR US AND WE HAVE OUR DAUGHTER TO CONSIDER.

SHOULD WE HEAD TOWARDS BURSLEM FROM BATH STOPPING AT WORCESTER ON THE WAY AND SEEING THE PORCELAIN FACTORY AND THEN HEAD BACK TO THE OTHER PLACES? OR WILL THIS BE TOO BIG A DRIVE FOR ONE DAY WITH A CHILD?

THANKS IN ADVANCE AND HI FROM DOWNUNDER

You should have time to do all the things you've listed. Cadbury World is in Bournville, about an hour's drive from Stratford/Worcester. I'm not sure what you mean by the 'Black Museum'.......do you mean the 'Black Country Living Museum' in Dudley (which is excellent, btw, and well worth visiting)?

Personally, I'd use Worcester (nice city, see my page for pics etc) as a base for at least the Cadbury/Stratford/ Warwick castle bit (allow at least 5 hours for the castle, and Warwick itself is interesting.......see my pages). There is lovely countryside near Worcester (the Malvern Hills in particular, fantastic hill-fort on the top called 'British Camp'), and you could happily spend several days exploring it. Stourport-on-Severn and Upton-on-Severn have the river and boats and little shops etc and are pleasant places to visit, along with many other small villages in the area. Both Dudley and Burslem are within a couple of hours drive of Worcester, but do be wary of motorway traffic congestion around Birmingham; choose your times carefully. Get a cheap A3 roadmap book from any garage to help you both explore the area and find alternative routes; they cost about 6GBP.

The Royal Doulton factory in Burslem still manufactures some porcelain etc, and their visitor centre looks good if you are interested in such things. http://www.thepotteries.org/doulton/

Hope this helps a bit.

Why not visit the Wedgwood factory at Barlaston south of Stoke on Trent - much easier to get to.