London, Bath, Stratford-Upon Avon, and the Lake District

It's a very snowy day today in Chicago.  I've just heard that over 1000 flights have been canceled out of O'Hare.  Glad we are not traveling anywhere today - it's beautiful but you can barely see 100 feet.  It's a great day to stay inside and plan some travel!

We're about 3 months out from our two week trip to Britain and plans are starting to take shape.  The whole adventure started when we grabbed a week near the Lake District in our RCI Timeshare exchange.  It's a small village of Carnforth - not far from the sea and very close to the Lake District.  In addition to a week in the Lakes, we decided to add on a few days in London, Bath, and Stratford-Upon Avon. 

The US Dollar is so weak right now, everything is a bit pricey, but we've made a few choices to keep costs down.  One thing we think will save us money in the long run is the British Heritage Pass .  It must be purchased before you go to Britain, and can be used for free entry into over 600 sites.  We'll be using the pass at Stonehenge  , Warwick Castle   , the Roman Baths , and Anne Hathaway's cottage  , not to mention some of the unplanned (as of today) sites we'll be seeing in the Lake District.  With just the first 4 sites, it's already paid for itself, everything else is gravy. 

I'm also using Hilton points for our hotel in London.   The prices on hotels in London are outrageous!  I couldn't find anything for under $400.  It's been awhile since I've stayed in a youth hostel (I don't really qualify as 'youth' anymore) but I was starting to think they may be a good idea again until I realized I had a bank of unused Hilton points.   Voila!  We are now staying for 2 nights at the Waldorf Hilton in central London - it cost me all of my points, but I think it will be worth it.