idesofmarch

Just got a new job and almost the first thing I thought of was that I can afford to go to England again! This will be my fifth trip and I will be traveling for the second time with my husband and for the first time with my 13-year-old daughter. We have two weeks in the latter part of June and we will be traveling to London for about 4 days.
My biggest dilemna is where to spend the other part of our trip. My husband drives so we are mobile. At this time we are leaning towards renting a cottage in Yorkshire and seeing York, Whitby, Riveaulx Abbey, etc., with maybe a side trip to the Lake country and for my daughter, Beatrix Potter's Hill Top. All though this is my forth trip to York, I'd like to see more of the Moors, the Dales and the coast.
Yet, we've never been to Dorset or Cornwall or seen much of the south. I've seen Salisbury Cathedral; but would love to visit again and have never been to Winchester and Chawton.
It's a problem I love having; but a problem just the same. I do the planning and my husband and daughter are flexible. I like museums, stately homes, churches and villages. I don't go overseas to sit on beaches; but I love a rugged coastine. My husband has put in a bid for Cambridge and I would like to see Lincoln Cathedral, so I was thinking of taking a train from London to Cambridge, renting a car and traveling through LIncoln on the way to Yorkshire.
To me it sounds like a plan and then I think of Canterbury, Devon, and Truro and I'm befuddled again. You see my dilemna. Any ideas? Suggestions?

flanneruk

"I'm befuddled again. You see my dilemna. "

No.

You've got two weeks this coming summer. You've also presumably got several decades during the rest of your life. You can't cram both NE England and the south into one holiday, so decide which works now. Both will be there in ten years' time, neither are "better", no-one but you knows what your family will enjoy, so only you can make the decision. Having someone tell you how wonderful place x is gets you nowhere.

There's no argument for or against either option - and there really is no sensible compromise, unless you want to spend your holiday stuck in motorway tailbacks.

If it's really difficult to decide, toss a coin. Having done so, turn your energy to something useful - like organising the holiday in NE or Southern England and getting the most out of your limited time.

Faffing about which of two more or less interchangeable options, though, is a complete waste of time and energy.

alya

Hopefully Morgana (Yorkshire) and annhig (Cornwall) will pop along and give you suggestions.

I'd be useless to give you advice since I'm a Yorkshire girl whose favorite holiday destination in England is Cornwall. Either way you'll have a good vacation if you take flanners suggestion and decide which area you'll choose.

You can't go wrong either way but from what you are saying I think Cornwall/Devon and the places in between there and London are a better fit for you.

Don't forget Wells on your itinerary, the cathedral is not to be missed.

alya

Sorry - I forgot to mention that while I have gone home to England on a regular basis, I've lived in the USA since 2001 and I don't like to give travel advice unless I've visited the place in the last 2/3 years.

Wells cathedral has been there for a while though and I would totally recommend it - also Tintagel

alanRow

<<< You can't cram both NE England >>>

Yorkshire isn't in NE England - unless you count Middlebrough

bilboburgler

Well I'm from Dorset and live in Yorkshire.

I think the idea of a train to Lincoln (I'm an Oxford man so have little time for the other place) and then car into God's country.

Morgana normally has some good stuff, but I'd try to fit in Magna in Sheffield for the children ( an old steel mill with some fun stuff to do) or the Yorkshire sculpture park (the car park is £4 the day but the museum is free and many of the sculptures are interactive. Then York, maybe a booking on the north york moors. Jerveulx abbey as well as Fountains may drive the children mad.

Morgana

Hi
I'm more than happy to help out if you decide on North Yorkshire - and your idea about Cambridge, Lincoln and then North Yorkshire sounds fine to me and all perfectly doable. I can give you advice about things your daughter might like to see too in North Yorkshire, where I live. But I'm hopeless at this 'should I go south, should I go north' stuff - I'm a southerner anyway, and there's no right or wrong answer. So I'll wait until you've made your decision!

jamikins

We spent a week in the Lake District and Yorkshire last May (2009) and loved it. The Lakes were stunning scenary and lovely pubs. Yorkshire had some amazing abbeys and villages. I particularly liked Whitby.

We are heading to Cornwall next summer with my inlaws so I cant say much about that yet!

Definitely pick one or the other, there's so much to see in both places you cant make a wrong choice!

janisj

You absolutely 100% can't possibly make the wrong choice here. And no one one here can do the deciding for you.

York/Yorkshire would be a wonderful place to base in a cottage.

Devon/Cornwall would be a wonderful place to base in a cottage. (see a pattern here?)

Neither has more or better 'stuff' than the other. It just depends on which just feels better to you and your family. I've rented cottages in both areas several times and honestly wouldn't recommend one over the other.

Me personally - I'd opt ever so slightly to Yorkshire. But that is just that I've spent more time there it feels more "home" to me. But you might feel more at home down south.

So just decide -- and then don't look back or second guess yourselves

idesofmarch

Thanks all, good advice as usual and glad to hear Morgana that you think the Cambridge, Lincoln, route is doable. Flanneruk I've just never "faffled," this much on plans for my trips before. So, more reading, more planning and when I'm ready to book cottages and trains I'll get back to you all.