The last time we went to Stroud (from Paddington) it rained, that kind of heavy, drizzly rain that’s not fun.
We managed to find a great place to eat, a small market where we got some nice coffee beans, and the sun came out later.
There are lots of nice places in that general area, including Gloucester and Cheltenham.
The county of Kent is easy to reach from London. Trains go from Victoria, Charing Cross, London Bridge, but we prefer to go on the High Speed train from St Pancras.
As well as Canterbury, Rochester and Dover, there are some lovely and historic places like Sandwich and Faversham:
But, if you like your seafood, especially oysters, then Whitstable is the place to go.
It’s a quiet place. There’s a bit of an old town, a ‘castle’, lots of very clean beach and cocktail bars and oyster shops everywhere.
We have written about tipping before: https://www.pwsanders.uk/2017/08/01/tipping-down/ and more recently: https://www.pwsanders.uk/2024/04/28/tipping/
It’s a hateful thing, spoils your meal and in some cases can force people to eat at home rather than go out, just to avoid the axiety and possible abuse over the tipping.
But in the UK we are not as bad as the USA. On a recent trip, tipping was done for everything, including self-service shops, starting at 25% and going upwards.
There’s a new law in this country that says staff have to keep their tips. The restaurant cannot withhold tips.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/ce8v6zp4111o
As we said elsewhere, even when we pay by card we try to tip in cash, just because it’s easier. We just wish we didn’t have to do it at all.
