Warwick

We arrived in Warwick on Saturday 4 August and where we stayed at the Hilton Hotel.

Tuesday 7 August was a free day so we decided to test the public transport system by taking a bus into the town.The hotel did not have a map or a copy of the bus time-table so we wandered to the bus stop near the hotel entrance and waited for the X17 bus. We later discovered that we could also have taken the X18 bus, but that was not until it had passed us. Once on the double-decker bus we found out how expensive it was to travel on public transport in England. This relatively short journey cost us £2.40 each for the single trip. The bus meandered its way through streets of houses until we reached the central bus station in town.

First stop was to locate the information centre to collect a map. We then decided to visit the Thomas Oken Tearooms for a coffee and hot chocolate plus a freshly made cheese scone. This allowed us time to have a good look at the map to work out where we wanted to go.

The tearooms in Castle Street are near the Warwick Castle. Thomas Oken lived in the mid 1500s and after his death he left money to assist the poor in Warwick.

As the River Avon is near the castle so we walked to the bridge to have a look at this section of the river.

Colourful paddle boats in the shape of flamingos, dragons and swans were on the river.

Local ducks and swans swam close to the boats, perhaps hoping for food.  We the walked back through St Nicholas Park towards the town. Being school holidays there were many children playing in the park.

The church of St Nicholas was built in 1785 on the site of an earlier mediaeval church building. the church marked the southern border of old Warwick town. 

Warwick has many old buildings dating back hundreds of years. The street behind the castle has many of these buildings.

An entrance to the back of the castle can be seen within the castle walls.

Older buildings make up much of the street-scape. 

Strings of bunting zig zag across the streets between the buildings.

The East Gate of the town remains and is now the entrance to Smith Street - a row of assorted shops and restaurants.

The Collegiate Church of St Marys is also prominent at the end of Northgate Street.

Like in the other towns we have visited in England, the flowering baskets and tubs are enjoying the beautiful weather.

Before returning to the hotel we visited the museum located in the former market hall built in the seventeenth century.

We then located the bus stop for the trip back to the hotel.