Hi susan,

I have a terrible confession to make - in all my 56 years of living in England, I've never been to Blackpool! Never seen the Golden Mile or the pier or the amusement park or the illuminations...oh, the shame.

but i can tell you that in 2 days you don't have time to get to London - you do have time to see a little of the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake district, either of which are close enough to Manchester airport to make them sensible choices if you get a nice early start on day 1.

as it'll be August, you'll need to book in advance as they are both very popular holiday venues in the school holidays.

York ticks all the boxes - plus there is a direct train to Manchester airport

Well you could start with us!

Lytham St Anne's is 5 miles south of Blackpool, it may as well be million miles away. You may have heard of us, we had the Open golf here last year. Lots of coffee shops and independent shops, we are a little life in the 1960s. It is a short train journey or there are bikes to hire off stands all along Blackpool sea front , just put your money in the slot. The front has had half a zillion pounds spent on it and is world class, it is very flat and easy cycling.

We have a bakery/coffee shop here, pop in and say hello.

We live most of the time in SW Scotland which is beautiful but quiet , it is well worth a visit.

The train system isn't great as many of the branch lines were closed 30 years ago.

I would suggest hiring a car ad the Ribble Valley has many good pubs and had very English countryside.

Which music festival are you visiting?

Lake District! I went to university in Lancaster, nearby, but then didn't visit the Lakes for thirty years. When I went back it was so beautiful I nearly cried. Couldn't believe I had left it so long.

Without a car what about Liverpool? Or even spending time in Manchester.

I forgot about the no car bit. Without a car I might go to Chester.

We have a bakery/coffee shop here, pop in and say hello.>>

please can I come too, Dickie?

what is you house speciality?

All welcome Ann.

Tea and scones all round.

Carrot cake is my fav.

Dickie - where in SW Scotland? That is stop #1 for us. We are very excited! We are coming for the Rebellion festival...not my cup of tea, but my now corporate boyfriend is a diehard punk rock fan from way back. I would date myself if I said from the 80's LOL. I agreed to go with if I could plan the rest of the trip around the festival. I can deal with 4 days to get the rest.

Ann - thanks for the info. I am the planner in the pair so if left to my boyfirend we would be homeless the last 2 days. All the options close to Blackpool sound great!

Everyone is so helpful!

Blackpool's role for the past 150 years has been to entertain the population of northern England, so it retains remarkably good railway connections with its traditional customer base.

Obviously Liverpool, which is by common consent The World's Greatest City (TM). Its boosters exaggerate slightly (but not much) when they claim it has Britain's largest heritage of conservation-grade buildings outside London and the largest amount of free museums outside London. But it does have Britain's greatest collection of properly preserved urban architecture after London, Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the world's best pubs. There's also that nonsense about some pop group and a local football mania you'll probably be fortunate enough to just miss.

Well worth a couple of days. With hourly direct trains, easy to do from Blackpool, but Liverpool hotels are a great deal better and cheaper than Blackpool's. Blackpool used to be notorious among convention attendees for its appalling hotels, till the conventions all moved to places that treated their guests properly. Since losing all that business, Blackpool's upgraded its attractions, and its hotelkeepers have learned basic customer service. But they still run elderly, poorly built, operations aimed at the undemanding requirements of 1920s cotton workers, with few physical changes, and next to no new hotels, since.

Without a car, your access to the Pennines and Yorkshire Dales is very limited. But there is a direct train every hour to Hebden Bridge, which is a stunningly preserved (some might say gentrified) real community, gloriously located up on the Yorkshire side of the Pennines.

Connections to Chester are messy, but there are several departures an hour taking (including the time for a couple of changes en route) 90-120 mins, so you can do that in a day. Again: you might prefer overnighting in Liverpool. Chester's on what is effectively Liverpool's metro system and is just 45 mins away.

Incidentally, Blackpool's really effective reaction to the loss of its convention business has been to become Northern England's gay entertainment capital. This gives it a terrific club scene, and means it gets less of the drink-based nightime violence that characterises the centre of those English cities which attract heterosexual young males for an evening's clubbing (virtually all English cities with a population of over 5,000, except London, which the yobs can't afford, and Liverpool, whose proud tradition of police brutality sends its young nutters somewhere more tolerant of uncivil behaviour)

You may well find Blackpool's fantastic DJs and sound systems outweigh its lumpy mattresses and congealed breakfasts

This is really a no-brainer! Apart from flanners OTT description of Liverpool, (it really is only the greatest hub cap and alloy wheel stealing venue) if you're flying out of Manchester, spend the time in Manchester.

There is a vibrant club and music scene, lots of good food across the price range and a wide choice of hotels to suit your pocket. If you're into culture, we have art galleries, Victorian architecture, theatre, Roman ruins and friendly people.

All this and you will only be a 20/30 minutes train or taxi journey back to the airport.

If you take the train from Blackpool to Chester via Liverpool you only have to change once. You could use either as a base for the other. Personally I'd prefer Chester but it has been a long time since I was in either.

All welcome Ann.

Tea and scones all round. >>

i'll bring the clotted cream.

I would actually love to see someone in our place this year.

Sorry, I mean from Fodors. We see thousands of normal people.

Liverpool : thank you Rubicund.

I went to Sarajevo weeks after the end of civil war. It reminded me a lot of Scouseland. The moment I reach the end of the M62 a cold shiver runs down my spine and that of my car. My little car fears for its wheels and I just fear. However, it is becoming increasingly affluent following the extent of its success in the State Benefits derivatives market, the hugely success fraudulent compensation claims and reinvesting the leftovers from African slavery.

Back to reality

Susan

We have a house in Rockcliffe, Dumfries and Galloway : here's our village

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rockcliffe_village_Dumfries_&_Galloway_Scotland.jpg

SW Scotland is beautiful, not as stunning as the highland but greener and warmer. There are many border castles to see and plenty of wildlife. The beaches have incredible views of The Lake District mountains and make for great walks.

Where are you staying?

Back to your original post. It depends on what makes you tick.

Do you want to : see history? Shops? Architecture ? Countryside ? Food ?

I would actually love to see someone in our place this year.

Sorry, I mean from Fodors. We see thousands of normal people.>>

i'm sure that you didn't mean that fodorites are ABnormal people, dickie.

or did you?

we went to southern Scotland once.

it rained.

Or did you?

Did I !!!!!!!

It is strange.

All I ever remember of our many trips to Cornwall are blue skies.

All I ever remember of our many trips to Cornwall are blue skies.>>

a line from a favourite song in this household goes like this:

"it never rains in Cornwall and the cornish never lie"

i'm pleased that was your experience too, Dickie.

We went to the Eden project a few years ago and it rained. We went into St Austell and it rained. We went into Padstow and it rained.

We left Cornwall for Bath. It rained.

Rubicund - I apologise for the british weather.

dare I ask what time of year it was?

Ann--last week of August just rolling over in September. Up here in Lancashire, it never rains. Snow this morning.