We picked up a hire car at Gatwick and drove out to Oxford via as many backroads as we could.
Had lunch in Oxford, after looking through bookshops and colleges. A short trip to Bicester where I had worked for a few months for nothing but Nostalgic reasons, then drove through to Bristol where we spent the first night. It was a very basic business hotel with no atmosphere so we drove into the city looking for a take way where we found a pretty dingy place - had an overpriced Pizza and watched a brawl across the road outside a nightclub until the police showed up.
Next day drove down to Exeter with a few stops in small coastal villages, ideal seaside holiday places that were really beautiful and had a great atmosphere.
Stayed a few days in Exeter in Devon, checking out the University as a potential exchange opportunity. Spend a day walking in nearby Dartmoor and drove down to Torquay.
Next to Penzance in Cornwall where we stayed a couple of nights. Took a nice long walk along the coast to Mousehole (pronounced Mous'l) and walked out to a castle in the bay although we got there a bit too late and it was closed.
