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HOME AT FIRST's
England
TRAVEL TO DREAM DESTINATIONS WITH ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME |
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Fantasy? Museum piece?
Re-creation? Dreamscape?
None of the above.
Olde
England quietly continues,
co-existing seamlessly alongside
modern England — hidden in
plain sight. Scratch the surface
and you will find it awaiting you.
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THE ENGLAND OF
THATCHED COUNTRY INNS BEJEWELED WITH ROSES CAN STILL BE FOUND,
NOT FAR FROM THE WORLD'S MOST VIBRANT MODERN CITY. HOME AT FIRST
LETS YOU
PURSUE YOUR TRAVEL GOALS AND DISCOVER THE ENGLAND OF YOUR DREAMS.
PICTURED IS THE ROYAL OAK INN, WOOTTON RIVERS, WILTSHIRE, BETWEEN
THE COTSWOLDS & STONEHENGE. |
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INTRODUCTION: WHY WE GO TO
ENGLAND —
The sun has not set on
the British cultural empire.
Island fortress? Not hardly! It seems every tide brings a wave of new
invaders to England. Some, indeed, were repulsed
— the Spanish and the Germans come to
mind. But most have been very successful in overrunning England and
changing everything they find. Of course you know about the Romans, the
Vikings, the Danes, the Angles, the Saxons, and, most famously, the
Normans. But those are only the hostile takeovers.
Ever since there has been a British
Empire, the colonials have managed friendly takeovers of the motherland.
At least two colonies, Scotland and Holland, have managed to take over
the empire itself through capture of the monarchy (the Houses of Stuart
and Orange). And, few are the colonies or |
ST. PAUL'S
CATHEDRAL, LONDON
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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ex-colonies that have not partially colonized England in
return. Think India,
Africa, the West Indies. Aren’t American
tourists but
common examples of ex-colonials returning to Mother
England? And why
not? Even after more than 230 years of independence we still attribute much of
American history and, to a great extent, our culture, our laws and our
arts, our economy, indeed our very language, to our former place in the
English world. What’s so special? Come and see!
(For more on this theme, see:
ST.
GEORGE.) |
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In our customers' own
words—
"Our trip to England was fabulous!! We would do it all over
again. The location of our lodging was outstanding."
— A. Dowling, Florida
"Our trip to England was
wonderful! My personal favorites were our lodgings in Devon and the
Cotswolds. I like to hike, and there are unlimited opportunities at both
locations."
— M. Blackwell, Georgia
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HOME AT FIRST
offers travel programs to 6 regions of England:
(CLICK
ON EACH DESTINATION TITLE TO GET FULL TRAVEL PROGRAM DETAILS & PRICES) |
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LONDON
London may be the most youthful,
interesting city in the world —
chaotic, loud, sophisticated, and diverse. It is theater,
shopping, museums, royal pageantry, landmarks, red buses and black cabs.
Home At First's apartments
— located by London's #1 attraction,
the
Tower of London
— are a 5-minute walk from Tower Hill
Underground station, from which all of central London may be reached
within 20 minutes. The apartments are next to a traffic-free marina
lined with shops and restaurants
— a quiet harbor refuge from the
bustling city. After exciting days pursuing history, culture, fashion,
and theater, return to a friendly pint at a local pub. Or stop at a
local market for fresh food and a bottle
of wine to enjoy on your balcony overlooking the yacht basin.
LONDON PROGRAM DETAILS |
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Can this be Central London?
St. Katharine's Marina by the TOWER
of London is the superb location of
HOME AT
FIRST'S
LONDON APARTMENTS.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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THE COTSWOLDS
The Cotswolds embody much that is
familiar about the English countryside: quaint villages with
multi-hyphenated names (Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water),
thatched cottages of golden limestone, and pleasant walks between rural
pubs. Home At First has cottages in the
southern Cotswolds at Tetbury and in the north in and near Chipping
Campden. Both of these pretty towns have numerous shops, restaurants,
and pubs where you will meet local residents and feel like a local
yourself. Our cottages are ideal bases for exploration the Cotswolds or
for day-trips to popular nearby destinations including Bath,
Stratford-on-Avon, Oxford, Windsor, Salisbury & Stonehenge, South Wales,
even London.
THE COTSWOLDS PROGRAM DETAILS
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Nice
Neighborhood! Thatched "cottage"
in Chipping Campden, in the Northern
Cotswolds. Home At First's cottages —
not quite as large, but historic and
charming — are also here.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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DEVON & CORNWALL
Home
At First's Devonshire cottages are at a western entrance to
Dartmoor National Park, an ideal base for exploring the far southwest of
England — Devon and Cornwall — including the wilds of
Dartmoor and the coastlines of the English and Bristol Channels. Narrow,
rural lanes follow the winding contours of the West Country leading to
charming hamlets hidden throughout Devon and neighboring
Cornwall. Devonshire cream teas, idyllic thatched cottages,
bluffs, heath and moor out of the novels of Thomas Hardy, traditional
fishing villages along two coasts, Sir Francis Drake, the Mayflower Pilgrims, and the
D-Day preparations all draw you to southwestern England. Plymouth, Bath, Stonehenge,
Penzance, and the English Riviera are among many possible day-trip
destinations.
DEVON & CORNWALL PROGRAM DETAILS
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Appetizing scenery, fine foods: fresh
seafood and rich dairy are always on
the menu in Britain's West Country,
like here along the Bristol Channel
Coast of Devonshire.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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SHROPSHIRE & CHESHIRE
The gentle countryside of
west-central England helped begin the Industrial Revolution, then went
back to sleep. Today, Shropshire and Cheshire remain pretty, rural
counties just north of Shakespeare country, east of the mountains of
Wales, and just south of the great medieval town of Chester. Here are
several preserved gems of old English villages and some important
monuments to the awakening of the modern age. Home At
First's accommodations in Shropshire, in a converted abbey dating from
1133, are a peaceful and stylish retreat and a great base for touring
western England from Robin Hood country through northeastern Wales.
SHROPSHIRE & CHESHIRE PROGRAM DETAILS
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Treasure hunt! Hidden
historical
treasures await your discovery in
sleepy Shropshire, like this restaurant
and pub from Elizabethan times.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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THE LAKE DISTRICT
Wordsworth's 19th century
poems of praise of the Lake District's lovely landscape of lakes, hills,
and quaint villages still apply. Home At
First's Lake District lodgings include traditional rural cottages as
well as attractive apartments in a beautiful converted country estate
home overlooking Esthwaite Water, a small lake just west of Windermere.
The Lake District is a gentle wilderness, and the resulting touring pace
is measured and graceful, never manic or boring. The many walking paths
always offer tranquility, and sometimes exciting challenge, but never
dull repetition. And the lakes are hidden like so many diamonds
scattered among the folds of a counterpane of hills.
THE
LAKE DISTRICT PROGRAM DETAILS |
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Style and grace at a slower pace:
passenger launch on Lake Windermere,
5 minutes from Home At First's STYLISH,
graceful, Lake District lodgings.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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YORKSHIRE
&
THE DALES
This part of northern England is a pleasant, rolling landscape dotted
with small villages and larger market towns. Our cozy cottages are
located in villages with characteristic Yorkshire names like Bishop
Monkton and Burnt Yates, names suggesting the quaint charm and slow pace
of the region. Yorkshire is known for its variety of walking paths,
opportunities for riding, scenic touring, and encounters with English
history at numerous castles and abbeys, and in the great medieval city
of York.
YORKSHIRE & THE DALES PROGRAM DETAILS
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Walking
path by
Bolton Abbey
on the
edge
of the Yorkshire Dales. if, unthinkably,
you should tire
of this unspoiled, rural landscape,
the great medieval walled
city of
York is only 45 minutes away.
Photo © HOME AT FIRST |
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