What would have been the default response before five years ago when those gardens first opened? What would I have been asked if I was going to see? Before this trip, I'd always primarily associated Cornwall with Arthuriana, and indeed, as a good medievalist, Tintagel was our other major stop on this brief trip. Strangely, I'd forgotten it was mining country. (I need to do more mining tourism! Much more!) The Gulf Stream enfolds the land there, but never having been any nearer to southwest England than Salisbury, up until my trip to Bath last month, I'd never seen any land near it for myself. Cornish pasties were all I knew about any local food identities.
I took a new approach to planning the trip. For Scotland, I used the AA Best Places to Stay for Food Lovers. We weren't best successful with the results, so this time I prioritized the restaurants: I chose our hotels based on their restaurants appearing in The Good Food Guide.
But first, to break up the driving, we stopped in the Cotwolds.