Advice for Time in Cumbria and/or Yorkshire Dales
 

Hi, hoping to get some logistical advice, as I am going to be in Penrith in mid september for a 4 day retreat. I don't have any travel booked yet (will fly from Toronto) so am fairly flexible as to where i fly into - although at some point afterwards will be flying to Basel. Since I've I've never been to the area around Penrith, I am thinking of renting a car after the retreat to explore the area and Yorkshire Dales for a few more days and then fly out of one of the larger cities relatively close by. Rental options to pick up a car right in Penrith and drop off elsewhere (eg Manchester) seem extremely expensive. getting the train to Kendal and renting from there seems like a more reasonable option, based on my own searches but are there other options I should be considering? thanks!

Seems to me the best solution is fly into Manchester, pick up the car from there, and keep it until you fly out of Manchester to Basel.

The logical airports are Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle. I might check autoeurope's price for say pickup Carlisle and drop Manchester.

I suspect your best, and perhaps only, non-stop departure to Basel is going to be from Manchester.

I doubt you can find a car hire in Kendal you can drop elsewhere. I'd look at flying in to MAN. For flying on to Basel - AFAIK there are no non-stops from either Leeds or Newcastle. But there are from Manchester and Liverpool.

Thanks so much for the advice. I now have to be in London a few days before heading to Penrith, so not quite as flexible as I initially thought. Flying into manchester (from home) doesn't really work now (plus I don't really want a vehicle for the 4 days I am in Penrith).

bilboburgler thanks for the Carlisle suggestion! I hadn't even thought to check for a rental there - and it turns out I can rent there and return to Manchester airport - for a fee of course, but it otherwise seems to me to be a better option than getting the train from penrith to Manchester to pick up a car and then driving back up north?

there IS just the one direct flight to BSL out of Manchester, late in the day, which at least gives me plenty of time to make it back to Manchester on my last day.

If I can add on another question - I've been through many of the threads advising on things to do/bases in the Yorkshire Dales, which has been invaluable. I have a b&b booked in Masham for all but the first night, so will use that as my base.

Any suggestions on a driving route and possible overnight stop from Carlisle? google maps (which i know i cannot rely on for actual driving times) shows the driving time from Carlisle to Masham a couple of hours - so i assume I should add some cushion there. I thought I might stay overnight in the Hawes or Aysgarth area, so I can see a few sites in this general area enroute?

Masham (pron Maz ham not Mash am) is really nice (I used to work there) don't eat in the Kings Head, the place is so customer unfriendly, best avoided.

The Black Bull in Paradise visitor's centre is not bad and the pub next to that is good.

Route, Barnard Castle is interesting, Richmond good, you could even go to Durham which is spectacular in a small way :-)

Certainly going "over the tops" as we would say, that is non-motorway traffic up on the moors, can take some time, watch out for the odd sheep wandering around.

Hawes and Aysgarth is pretty too.

Masham is great - I live close by. There's a friendly tourist office there if you need any advice.
Two breweries in town too which you can tour - Black Sheep and Theakstons.
If you have time Jervaulx Abbey a few miles 'up Dale' is well worth an hour exploring. No fancy visitor centre, an honesty box in the car park and everything gently crumbling away.
Or you have the World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Gardens within easy reach too just outside Ripon.
Middleham Castle is also worth visiting.

>>If you have time Jervaulx Abbey a few miles 'up Dale' is well worth an hour exploring. No fancy visitor centre, an honesty box in the car park and everything gently crumbling away.
Or you have the World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Gardens within easy reach too just outside Ripon.
Middleham Castle is also worth visiting.<<

ditto to ALL of that. Don't miss Jervaulx Abbey for sure. My last trip I didn't visit Fountains/Studley Royal (been there a few times in the past) but did visit Middleham for the first time and I really enjoyed it.

I visited Jervaulx this June on a trip with Rabbies. The only ones there were our small group of 7. Magical. It's been some time but have enjoyed Middleham Castle and Fountains Abbey is one of my favorites.

Thanks again everyone for the helpful replies.

bilboburgler I actually did know how to pronounce Masham properly -I'm a knitter so am familiar with Masham sheep/wool :)

I've now booked a B&B near Aysgarth for the first night, after I pick up the car in Carlisle and then have 3 nights at a B&B in Masham. Jervaulx Abbey is definitely on my list to see - i thought I might try to do that (along with the Falls and Bolton Castle) the day I am driving from Aysgarth to Masham?

There is a festival in Skipton on the week end I am there that I want to attend (either the sat or sunday, I'm flexible on that) GIven its on a week end I'm allowing for a full day there and back to Masham, with hopefully time for some stops along the way (Bolton abbey, grassington?) and then Ripon, Fountains Abbey and that area on another day.