We will arrive at Heathrow on Friday, April 18 at 10:30 AM. Without knowing if we will arrive on time and how tired we might be we would like to have some options of towns to stay in either near or on the way to Chatsworth House. I would like to just make a reservation when we arrive, does that sound possible. Thanks for any help.

You are arriving on Good Friday. Don’t even think of hiring a car and driving up to Derbyshire on that day. As well as all the safety issues of driving a long distance after a long overnight flight on roads you are unused to on what for you is I assume the “wrong” side of the road, Good Friday will be a particularly busy day leaving London to the north for the long weekend, especially if the weather is good.

Luckily it looks like there are no planned engineering works on the best train line for you over the Easter weekend. Take a train to Chesterfield in a bit under two hours and stay there for your first night. Then hire a car (if that’s your plan) on the following day from there. Whilst Chesterfield is not a touristy town (apart from the church’s twisted spire) I would not want to be travelling without having booked accommodation. That probably applies to the rest of your travels too these days. You will probably always find somewhere on spec but it will be either a poor choice or very expensive or both.

Both booking and driving upon arrival is a very poor idea. If it were me, that would ruin my precious vacation by adding the huge stress and danger of renting a car from LHR and hitting the road while groggy. It's extremely dangerous for you and others. You may feel fine upon arrival, but that's just a smallish boost of adrenaline/excitement with navigating through the airport's long terminals and then border control. The sleepiness descends FAST after. I usually arrive from Chicago between 7-10 am, and KNOW my brain is sluggish by noon. By 2 pm, I'm able to fall asleep.

A much better idea is to take the tube or Elizabeth line into London for the first night. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon and early dinner, and get a good night's rest with the BBC. Then, take the train to Chesterfield or Sheffield and rent a car from there to enjoy the wonderful midlands.

Chatsworth is lovely, and worth a good amount of time to enjoy the history of the garden and the house. I've stayed in Bakewell and Matlock. Both are lovely; Bakewell especially so. But, the best lodgings are booked early. For Bakewell, I stayed in a B&B along Baslow road x Bridge street, and that was a lovely location. You may see hot air balloons floating over that stunning landscape.

Do yourself and your travel partner a favor and rearrange that first day. Nothing is set in stone, yet, and it's good you're refining on this forum. Good luck with your search on the hotels. It may come down to a Premier Inn, but those are really fine, too. (Except the worst Premier Inn i've stayed at was the Sheffield City on Angel Street. It wasn't terrible, but it was a bit dreary and I had loud neighbors. The next time I go to Sheffield, I'll stay nearer the Peace Gardens. There's a Novotel right by it.)