My husband & I will be vacationing in Great Britain September 18th through September 22nd. We will have a rental car. We will have 2 days to drive from Stratford-Upon-Rye to Helmsley. We like beautiful country and avoiding large cities. Should we go east towards Lincolnshire and head up north to Helmsley or go west instead towards east Wales and north towards Cumbria and the Lake District and then head east to Helmsley? Any suggestions on the best route would be appreciated.

I don't know of a Stratford-Upon-Rye (unless it's a sandwich); perhaps you mean Stratford-Upon-Avon.

If so, here's how I'd do it: First west into Hereford, then north through Shropshire. Below Manchester head back east into the Peak District, then northward into Yorkshire.

This route is a zig-zag, but it goes through pleasant rural areas and pretty towns and villages. It slips between (and avoids) the urban areas of Birmingham, Manchester, Shefffield and Leeds.

The Lake District is north and far west of Helmsley; also that route involves the Liverpool-Manchester area and Lancashire is not that scenic IMO.

yes, you are right, I meant Stratford Upon Avon, don't ask me where the "Rye" came from. Thanks for the route.

A very different approach would be to grit your teeth and clog it up the M6 to Lancaster (about 3 hours) then head off north-east through Ingleton or Kirby Lonsdale into very quiet and lovely country.

Then you could have a very leisurely trickle through the Yorkshire Dales, perhaps looking at Dent, Ribblesdale, Wensleydale and Swaledale before heading east to Helmsley.

Between Herefordshire/Shropshire, the Peak District and north-east Lancashire, it's approaching a toss-up.

Completely forget Lincolnshire. Most east-west routes in England are awful, and you'll just waste the best part of a day getting there, with really little to show for it when you do. If you meant Leicestershire (which is sort of on the direct easterly route to York), forget that too. Great if you practise foxhunting: otherwise little to offer.