We are flying into London and training to York, for our first 5 day stop..any ideas for day trips? We are interested in the James Herriot Museum..has anyone visited there?

We haven't visited the Herriot Museum, I assume it is a museum devoted to the veterinarian. Could you perhaps tell us a litle more about your itinerary? You mention 5 days in York. Where else do you plan to go? Have you been to England before? I recommend 5 or 6 days in London. And when are you going? If in the spring or summer, there are lovely gardens all over England. We simply love to visit Kew Gardens if we are in London during the spring or summer.

Yes, we need to know when you are traveling. And will you have a car for day trips from York?

I am not familiar with the museum either. The obvious daytrips from York are Castle Howard and Fountains Abbey. You can also go up to Durham (by train) and see the cathedral there. It's a really nice little town.

If you are a fan of the novels or the TV series, then the museum will be of interest to you. See the website:

http://www.worldofjamesherriot.org/

Clifford's Tower, Yord Maze, York Minster(cathedral) are some of the spots you could visit - also as 'Mimar' suggests, it would be helpful if you can describe the time of your visit and if you will walking/driving whilst in York. Also your interests? - nature, history, art etc so that we can inform accordingly.

The Herriot Museum is in Thirsk - I will just add that there are local rumours it could be closing, so this might be something to check regularly on if this is a big part of your trip. There are lots of other Herriot related places you can visit (it's a big industry up here!) including Askrigg in the Dales where a lot of the TV programmes were filmed.
I assume from your post that you are staying for 5 days in York?
I could give you enough ideas to keep you busy for 5 weeks, so if you can let us know your interests that would be helpful.
Also will you have a car? I am afraid that some places such as Fountains Abbey involve long, time consuming journeys by public transport as opposed to a quick trip in a car. Castle Howard is easier as there's a bus (not Sundays) that goes 4 or 5 times a day to the house.

Thank you all for your replys..we will not have a car. We are visiting the first weeks of April '11...following York we will visit Wales, Bath and New Castle..We have been to England several times;London, Lake District into Scotland, many places and now want to spend more time doing day trips from special areas.

Morgana: Is Thirsk doable by hiring a driver? I appreciate any and all ideas for York..we are excited to be coming..we had a trip planned for last year right at the time the volcano blew!!

Just one quick comment right now -- dashing out . .

You don't need a driver to get to Thirsk. You can take a train from York. Now, if you also wanted to tour around more of the area (see Sutton Bank, the Moors, Abbeys etc) -- a driver/guide would be a good idea. But just to get to Thirsk and the museum -- not necessary.

You might enjoy the steam railway which runs from Pickering (bus from York ) to Whitby. There are several stops on the way. www.nymr.co.uk Great day out in good weather. Check the schedules as a few years ago not all trains ran as far as Whitby. Great fish and chips in Whitby. Lots of little cafes around the harbor.

Janis - as always - is quite correct! Easy trip by train. An exploration of other, more rural areas would need a car, but well worth it. The scenery up here is beautiful.
I too am dashing out, but a few quick thoughts on day trips easily done by public transport.
1) I'll second Durham (which is a city, not a town!). Magnificent cathedral, plus castle to explore.
2) Harrogate - by train about 35 minutes. Very attractive Spa town, upmarket shopping, Betty's Tearooms (also in York and other locations). A floral town (you might be just too late for the famous crocus displays) with lovely parks. Herriot (Alf Wight) used to come to Harrogate for lunch at Bettys and shopping once a week)
3) Bus from York to Pickering. Explore Pickering (castle, museum) and a trip on the North York Moors Railway to the coast?
www.nymr.co.uk
You may find this website easy to use for travelling around North Yorkshire by public transport
http://www.yorkshiretravel.net/welcome.do

following York we will visit Wales, Bath and New Castle>>

hopefully not in that order, warbler!

if you look at your map, you will see that Newcastle [one word] upon Tyne [which is the one I assume you mean, Newcastle under lyme is somewhere else] is a good distance further north from York, on the north-east coast, just beofre you get to Scotland. if you are really keen on going there [and I'm not sure what its attractions would be to 2 senior US ladies apart from the male inhabitants' penchant for going around topless in freezing weather] it would be best to fly there from London, then get the train south to York, etc.

you can also fly from Cardiff to Newcastle [and vice versa] and from leeds/bradford airport to Bristol [see www.airsouthwest.co.uk].

annhig: Thank you for straightening me out;we are going to the horse races in Newmarket!! Thank you everyone for the great ideas..we are "go-go-go" travelers so will do as much as we can.

I think you're getting a bit confused with your destinations that begin with the letters NEW.

Newcastle on Tyne is in the North East of England, Newmarket is in Suffolk in East Anglia. The April meetings are :

13/04/2011 - Wednesday Craven Meeting
14/04/2011 - Thursday Craven Meeting (2011)
30/04/2011 - Saturday Guineas (2011)

The two places are nowhere near each other, so be clear on where you're heading for.

If you like horse racing, there is a course in Thirsk
http://www.thirskracecourse.net/

And in Wetherby!
www.wetherbyracing.co.uk

and at York! and in lots and lots of places all around the UK. what about this:

http://www.southwell-racecourse.co.u.../fixtures.html

Southwell is a small town in rural Nottinghamshire, about 100 miles south of york, and in absolutely stunning countryside. they hold both flat and national hunt [ie jump] races, and there is also the lovely and ancient Southwell Minster to explore, the chance to look round a preserved workhouse, and much else to see in the area. I strongly recommend spending part of your stay in a place like this as the contrast with the more touristy spots like York and Bath is very great, but these types of paces are just as interesting.

I can recommend a lovely B&B there too - the one that we stayed in when we were there for DD's graduation.

Buy the Great British Heritage Pass! In York I visited enough sites to make the pass pay off - and you can use it in London and other places. And no need to order it online as janisj upbraided me once when I said you could not buy it at the zillion of sites covered - she said many did sell them on site. anyway will save you a bundle just in York and environs itself.

The British Heritage Pass
FREE - Entry to 500+ Attractions Get Great British Heritage Pass Now
www.greatbritishheritagepass.com

Great British Heritage Pass
Buy your passes & tickets from Britain's Official Tourist Office
www.visitbritainshop.com