Short Breaks

Contact Name	Peter Biggs
Contact Telephone	see "more information for members"
Email prefix	shortbreaks
Frequency/Day/Time	various
Venue	various
Cost
Vacancies	No

A number of 3-5 day short breaks are organised at least twice per year, to destinations around the UK. We also organise one day trips occasionally.

Oxford

Wimpole Hall

Our Short Break trip from Tuesday 16 September 2025 to Friday 19 September 2025 was to South Yorkshire and Kingston Upon Hull .

Day 1 - Travel to Kingston Upon Hull, stopping for a visit to Burghley House before continuing to Hull. We will be staying in the Doubletree by Hilton.

Day 2 - Visit the lovely town of Beverley before heading to Burton Agnes House and Gardens.

Day 3 - The day starts with a coach tour of the city and includes the history of Hull, this will be followed free time to explore the maritime heritage or other attractions including Wilberforce House, Street Life Museum or the Deep Aquarium.

Day 3 - After breakfast we travel home calling at the International Bomber Command Memorial in Lincoln.

Our Short Break 4 day trip from Monday 28 April 2025 to Friday 2 May 2025 was to North Wales. Our hotel was the Ixora Hotel and Spa, Snowdonia.

Day 2 we visited the Snowdon Mountain Railway for a breathtaking ride up Snowdon with views not to be missed. From there we travelled to Portmeirion, this unique attraction was the setting for the cult TV series "The Prisoner". With free time to view and explore this picturesque town. On our way back to the hotel we follow a scenic route to the village of Betws-y-Coed where there is free time to browse in the independent shops.

Day 3 we went to Bodnant Garden, located in the Conwy Valley this is a Grade 1 listed horticultural gem, home to botanical collections from around the world. On leaving the garden and travelled to Conwy where we were greeted by a guide who gave us a guided walking tour of the town to learn about this historic place including a visit to the impressive Castle.

Day 4 we journeyed to Caernarfon, where we visited the impressive Castle. It was constructed as a Royal fortress-palace by King Edward 1 during the bitter wars between Welsh Princes. After our visit we left for Anglesey and the attractive yachting resort of Beaumaris where we visited Beaumaris Gaol & Court rooms. We saw the brutal world of prison life during the 1800s, saw the condemned cells and experienced the darkness of the punishment cell. Later we visited Beaumaris Castle. This is said to be the greatest castle that was never built. The final stronghold of Edward I and was planned to be his masterpiece however due to trouble in Scotland work petered out and this potential wonder of a castle was never completed.

After breakfast on day 5 we leave for our return journey home.

The weather for our Short Breaks day trip on Monday 7 April was lovely and sunny with very clear skys, which was ideal for this Suffolk Villages Panorama tour. Our first stop was at Lavenham where we enjoyed tea/coffee and biscuits at the Cock Horse Inn, and met our Blue Badge guide for the rest of the day. After coffee we had a guided walking tour of historical Lavenham. We then travelled through beautiful Suffolk villages to Long Melford, where we enjoyed a two course lunch of Sausage and Mash followed by Apple Crumble and Custard. Our afternoon continued through more "chocolate box" villages including Clare and Cavendish before arriving in Sudbury. In Sudbury we visited the Thomas Gainsborough museum and gallery, which has just undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment. After visiting the museum we said goodbye to our very knowledgable guide and started our journey home.

Lavenham blossom

Swan Lavenham Crooked house Lavenham

Our Short break in September 2024 explored the Birmingham area. We visited the Black Country Museum and had a canal ride through the magical underground canals built to serve the industrial areas, we saw beautiful caverns with magically lit stalactites and fossils. Day 3 started with a visit to the Birmingham Botanical gardens the highlight being the greenhouses, home to many exotic plant species. In the afternoon we had a chocolate treat visiting Cadbury World which did include afternoon tea. On day 4 we saw an exquisite collection of Coalport and Caughley china, now a museum, the site produced china until 1926. This was followed by a trip to the Aerospace Museum at RAF Cosford, the exhibition has 70 aircraft, wartime memorabilia and the National Cold War exhibition giving an insight to life behind the Iron Curtain. On our way home we made a stop at the Denny Abbey and Farmland Museum to learn the history of rural Cambridgeshire life.