I too was a bit surprised to see that you were free to choose your own route, I wasn't given the choice, but it was a route that I hadn't done before. Goodwood is quite good fun and deals with a lot of students. After I had landed there on my QXC the lady behind the desk grinned and said: "Well done! You should've come yesterday, the landing fees were half price".
In the end you know your own strengths and weaknesses so choose something that reflects those. If you do choose grass airfields, might be worth having some practise landing and taking off on grass before you set off - a tad more bumpy (or though that might just be my landings!).