rachill_az

Husband and I have rented a car for part of our first visit to England next June. We'd like help choosing our driving routes from location to location. We don't mind going out of the way a little bit for a more scenic route through the countryside or picturesque villages.

Driving Route 1: Bathampton to Thornburry
Driving Route 2: Thornbury to Ludlow (stopping at Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey along the way)
Driving Route 3: Ludlow to Manchester (Debdale Park area)
Driving Route 4: Manchester to Lake District (Grasmere)
Driving Route 5: Grasmere to York

*For example, it had been recommended to me by a friend for our drive to Thornbury to drive across country (A46, then A432 maybe, via Old Sodbury) instead of M4 motorway route.

Thanks for any help!

janisj

I usually use the AA route planner. The times are a <i>little</i> more accurate (though you still need to add time) and there is the 'Avoid Motorways' option

••• The site won't let me include the link - a continuing loooooong problem on Fodors.

But google AA route planner . . .

MmePerdu

Which of the places on your list of prospective drives do you definitely plan to visit? Or are you simply looking for beautiful drives? If the latter, I think you've got it a bit backwards. There are scenic drives all over the place so, rather than choose the drive first, I'd choose towns/cities of interest to you personally and ask for suggested scenic routes between them.

MmePerdu

Re-reading, maybe you do, in fact, plan to visit them all. Sorry I doubted you.

ribeirasacra

••• The site won't let me include the link - a continuing loooooong problem on Fodors.

just read there is a Ddos attack maybe it is something to do with that.
http://gizmodo.com/todays-brutal-ddo...k-f-1788071976
Some UK based newspapers will not load. Some forums will not load either.

chartley

Why are you planning to go to Thornbury? Is there someone there you want to meet, or are you intending to stay at Thornbury Castle? It is an unexceptional small town, now largely surrounded by suburban housing. It's not unattractive, and has some history, but not really a destination in its own right.

Travelling from Bathampton to Thornbury is unlikely to take much more than an hour, even if you avoid the often congested M4/M5. You could go via Chipping Sodbury, which is an old Cotswold market town with a wide main street and many old buildings. You could stop for a coffee and cake at Hobbs House Bakery.

If you want to take all day travelling, then you could consider going via Castle Combe or possibly Tetbury. Wootton under Edge is another traditional small town which is seldom mentioned but worth seeing. Berkeley Castle, a few miles north of Thornbury, is well worth visiting.

Perhaps I am too familiar with this area, but although it is attractive, it is not jaw-droppingly scenic. The villages and towns are mostly occupied by ordinary people with ordinary jobs. It is prosperous, but not wild and uninhabited.

MmePerdu

"...Castle Combe or possibly Tetbury. Wootton under Edge..."

I agree with chartley on all 3 of these, have stayed or passed through all on walks and otherwise. If they and the surrounding countryside stand up to a walking pace, then I think surely a drive though with stops will be good by car too (I'll have to think about that conclusion but suspect it will be true).

The small road to Llanthony Priory also isn't too far out of the way along the Welsh border north of Tinturn, nice intimate countryside and a stop at the not-too-done-up medieval priory. Maybe for lunch.

rachill_az

Thank you for the responses so far.

Our itinerary is already set in stone and we will be driving all 5 routes I listed above. My question is in regards to the specific route from point A to point B - which roads should we take? If there is an option to drive through the countryside we'd rather do that than a non-scenic motorway. When I look at a map it seems like there are endless possibilities to get from point A to point B - looking for suggestions/recommendations from those who are familiar with the area.

>>Which of the places on your list of prospective drives do you definitely plan to visit?<< Hopefully I was able to clarify, sorry for the confusion. We will be doing each of the 5 drives - just looking for the best route for each.

>>Why are you planning to go to Thornbury?<< We'll be staying the night at Thornburry Castle for a relaxing evening before we really start our roadtrip.

Seems like there is some consensus on the Bathamton - Thornbury route:

Driving Route 1: Bathampton to Thornburry
- Take A46 then A32 via Chipping Sodbury

janisj

>>just read there is a Ddos attack maybe it is something to do with that.<<

Nope -- its is a year+ long issue on Fodors uniquely. There is a very VERY long thread on the Help board discussing it. It is a problem when an unknown word/symbol in a post that will not allow it to post. Sometimes related to URLs but more often not. If you have a lazy afternoon you can read the whole thread

http://www.fodors.com/community/foru...rope-forum.cfm (there are other threads but this is the most current)

See - I could post this link but not the AA link in my earlier entry -- but after a lot of editing/changing I couldn't identify the offending text in that one.

sofarsogood

Grasmere > Kendal > Sedbergh > Hawes > Buckden > Grassington > Bolton Abbey > Harrogate > York

but don't rely solely on sat nav - you need a road atlas such as

http://shop.theaa.com/store/uk-1/big...las-britain-pb

available from newsagents, supermarkets and garages. The Atlas also highlights scenic routes.

janisj

>>but don't rely solely on sat nav - you need a road atlas such as . . . <<

Ditto that!! You will definitely want to get a road Atlas.

annhig

If you want to take all day travelling, then you could consider going via Castle Combe or possibly Tetbury. Wootton under Edge is another traditional small town which is seldom mentioned but worth seeing. Berkeley Castle, a few miles north of Thornbury, is well worth visiting. >>

to those you could add the Wildfowl Centre at Slimbridge.

ribeirasacra

janisj's thanks for your reply. I did not know about the problem. So maybe I will use bitly.com (an URL shortener)more often to see if that over comes the problem.
So far this has happened once, around the time of the attack. Hence my assumption.

Rubicund

Your route 3 ending at Debdale Park, is this to visit family or friends, otherwise it's not an area I'd recommend. Are you intending to stay at the Holiday Inn? If so, there are equally priced hotels right in the City Centre, either with Premier Inns or Holiday Inns.

There's nothing around Debdale Park to recommend it to travellers in terms of scenery or restaurants etc. and you'd be far better staying in the City itself.

rachill_az

>>Your route 3 ending at Debdale Park, is this to visit family or friends, otherwise it's not an area I'd recommend.<< Yup, visiting family for a few days.

>>If you want to take all day travelling<< No, I don't want to take all day driving. I just want the most efficient route that is still scenic. If I have to go an hour or two out of the way for more scenic, I don't mind.

So, any other input on best driving routes? Seems as I've only nailed down route #1 and #5.

Driving Route 1: Bathampton to Thornburry (Take A46 then A32 via Chipping Sodbury)
Driving Route 2: Thornbury to Ludlow
Driving Route 3: Ludlow to Manchester
Driving Route 4: Manchester to Lake District
Driving Route 5: Grasmere to York (Grasmere > Kendal > Sedbergh > Hawes > Buckden > Grassington > Bolton Abbey > Harrogate > York)

chartley

From Bathampton to Thornbury, you need to take the A432, not the A32. The A432 does not go all the way to Thornbury, so you will need to look at a map to determine the best route, and the numbers of the roads. It is not what I would call a scenic route.