tuscanlifeedit

We will go in 2011, if we can. Right now, the year is open, but I would like to know when the weather is pleasant. We probably won't be able to afford tickets for June, July or August. Late April, or early May might work, as well as late September or early October.

Any advice and experience would be welcomed.

janisj

You can't really pick by the potential weather. May could be wonderful, nice-ish, or bordering on dreadful. Same w/Sept (or July for that matter).

In general IMO the 'best' times to visit are May, June and September but any time is fine. BTW - airfares in June are normally quite a bit less than July/Aug/early Sept.

However one issue is the first and last weekend in May are holiday weekends --so air fares might be lower, but accommodations will be as high as July/Aug. Mid-May avoids that problem.

But to be honest -- I'd choose when BA or Virgin or AA or somebody springs a sale. You can make a nice holiday whenever.

tuscanlifeedit

Thanks Janisj.

I've never been that far north in the UK, only in the south. I remember one year when DH and I had fairly nice weather in May, then our friends went to London in June and had the worst weather ever.

annhig

hi tuscan,

you really can't predict from looking at average temps/rainfall what the weather will be like in any particular year, and though the north is on average colder than the south, we've had weeks this year when certainly the midlands were a lot warmer than here in cornwall.

May or Sept would be my choice, were I you.

tuscanlifeedit

annhig, we have had a couple of very wonderful vacations in Cornwall. We are fans.

PalenQ

Best time to visit Yorkshire>

IMO during the 'Pudding Season'

annhig

pleased to hear it, Tuscan.

why Yorkshire?

PalenQ

Best time is during the Terrier Races in York

(really just topping for more discussion)

danensis

There's a local saying "Ne'er cast a clout 'til May be out", in other words, you'll need your coat until the end of May.

If you want to see lambs and daffodils, then the end of April onwards is the time, but from mid May to mid June is the time to see Yorkshire at its best. School holidays start towards the end of July, so late July to the end of August tend to be busy. There is often an "Indian summer" in late September/early October, but as we can have four types of weather in one day, nothing can be guaranteed.

Morgana

Plus there's a lazy wind up here in North Yorkshire. It doesn't go round you, it goes through you.

annhig

There's a local saying "Ne'er cast a clout 'til May be out", in other words, you'll need your coat until the end of May.>>

some controversy about what this means - is it the end of the epomymous month, or is it until the may blossom blooms?

Plus there's a lazy wind up here in North Yorkshire. It doesn't go round you, it goes through you.>>

we've got that one too; it gets about.

Royal

We were just in the Yorkshire Dales in late June and the weather was lovely.

We usually travel in September but this year chose June as we went to Wimbledon first. One thing we really enjoyed was the fantastic amount of daylight. Those lovely long summer evenings were a bonus.

tuscanlifeedit

Why Yorkshire?

I'm a cathedral fan, and I haven't been to York. Also want to see some ruined abbeys, a bit of coast, a pretty village or three. Some nature.

We almost went this year, but a threat at DH's job kept us from planning. Things seem OK now, so we are starting to plan.

historytraveler

Yorkshire is an excellent choice for what you want to see. May and September are likely the best times of those you suggested. Just be prepared for anything as any kind of weather is possible almost anytime of year and as already noted can vary greatly within a 24 hour period.

tuscanlifeedit

historytraveler, thanks, it does seem like Yorkshire is a good place for our tastes.

I'm going to start the ticket search soon, but in the meantime, I will be posting more questions. I've already archived a couple of threads here, and I'm collecting bookmarks.

annhig

ditto what HT said.

jsut as long as you're not going for the weather!

Mimar

For your cathedral collection you could do a daytrip from York to Durham, either by car or train. I really like both the town and the cathedral of Durham. Here's the iconal image from the river below: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...Kathedrale.jpg. It might be 200 years ago.

Sue878

You can also visit: www.visityork.org

We went in May of 2009 and the weather varied, both from sunny and rain. Take an umbrella.

Morgana

When you say you are visiting ‘Yorkshire’ I assume you mean North Yorkshire? There’s also East, South and West, and between them they cover a very large swathe of Northern England. North Yorkshire is usually the tourist destination although West Yorkshire does attract visitors to Haworth in particular (Bronte Parsonage).
I would avoid the last week in May as every year this is a half term ‘Whit Week’ holiday for all schoolchildren. As this is traditionally the first decent weather we get any year, this week is always very busy in terms of travel, accommodation, tourist hot spots etc. Don’t underestimate the difference it can make when the school children are off.
North Yorkshire contains two large National Parks – the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire Dales. Both would fit your requirements for beauty, nature, lovely villages etc although the Dales are landlocked and therefore obviously contain no coastline. York isn’t in either national park, it’s in the Vale of York, a pleasant but not outstandingly attractive area (especially compared to some of the other areas close by).
www.northyorkmoors.org.uk
www.yorkshiredales.org.uk
A car is vital to make the most of your visit. Public transport can be very sketchy and in the more rural areas it is practically non existent. Having said that, driving in York isn’t for the faint hearted and as it is such a compact city it would be best to travel in via train or bus, and then just tour around on foot.
Many people hire a cottage in the Dales or Moors and use it as their base to go exploring.
I’ve lived in North Yorkshire for many years now, but I was born and brought up in the south of the country, and to be honest the difference in weather/temperature for the summer months is negligible. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve rung my family (down south) and they’ve got cloud/rain whilst we’ve had a glorious day. I would be prepared for all eventualities though – definitely bring a light waterproof and/or an umbrella. It does rain more up here!
Lots of abbeys and castles up here – Fountains Abbey is a World Heritage site and also includes Studley Royal Water Gardens within its estate. There’s also Rievaulx, Byland and Jervaulx – the latter being pretty much unrestored, free to visit and never much troubled by visitors. We often have the place to ourselves.
www.fountainsabbey.org.uk
www.jervaulxabbey.com
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/d...rievaulx-abbey
Bolton Castle at Castle Bolton, and Middleham Castle are both lovely.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/d...ddleham-castle
www.boltoncastle.co.uk
Hope this helps your research and happy to try and help answer any questions.