Great Sidetrips From London: Travel Details
This is a quick and handy source for details on the sights, hotels, tour guides and restaurants featured in "Great Sidetrips From London" show. For much more (and updates), see this year's edition of Rick Steves' Great Britain guidebook.
Warwick Castle
From Land's End to John O'Groats, I searched for the best castle in Britain. I found it. With a lush, green, grassy moat and fairy-tale fortifications, Warwick Castle will entertain you from dungeon to lookout. Standing inside the castle gate, you can see the mound where the original Norman castle of 1068 stood. Under this mound (or motte), the wooden stockade (bailey) defined the courtyard as the castle walls do today. The castle is a 14th- and 15th-century fortified shell holding an 18th- and 19th-century royal residence, surrounded by a dandy gardens landscaped by Lancelot "Capability" Brown in the 1750s.
There's something for every taste: an educational armory, a terrible torture chamber, a knight in shining armor on a horse that rotates with a merry band of musical jesters, a Madame Tussaud re-creation of a royal weekend party that resembles an 1898 game of statue-maker, a queenly garden, and a peacock-patrolled, picnic-perfect park. The great hall and staterooms are the sumptuous highlights. The "King Maker" exhibit (it's 1471 and the townfolk are getting ready for battle...) is highly promoted but not quite as good as a Disney ride. Be warned: The tower is a one-way, no-backing-out, 250-step climb offering a view not worth a heart attack. Even with its crowds of modern-day barbarians and its robber-baron entry fee, Warwick is worthwhile (£14.50, open daily April-Oct 10:00-18:00, Nov-March 10:00-17:00, 10-min walk from Warwick train station www.warwick-castle.co.uk/).
Cabinet War Rooms Museum
This is a fascinating walk through the underground headquarters of the British government's fight against the Nazis in the darkest days of the Battle for Britain. The 27-room nerve center of the British war effort was used from 1939 to 1945. Churchill's room, the map room, and other rooms are just as they were in 1945. For all the blood, sweat, toil, and tears details, pick up the excellent and included audioguide at the entry and follow the 60-minute tour; be patient — it's well worth it. Don't bypass the new Churchill Museum (entrance is a half-dozen rooms into the exhibit), giving a human look at the man behind the famous cigar, bowler hat, and V-for-victory sign. It shows his wit, irascibility, work ethic, American ties, writing talents, and drinking habits. A long touch-the-screen timeline lets you zero in on events in his life from birth (November 30, 1874) to his election as Prime Minister in 1940. It's all the more amazing considering that, in the 1930s, the man who became my vote for greatest statesman of the 20th century was considered a washed-up loony ranting about the growing threat of fascism (£10, daily 9:30-18:00, last entry 60 min before closing, on King Charles Street, 200 yards off Whitehall, follow the signs, Tube: Westminster, tel. 020/7930-6961, www.iwm.org.uk).