Hello, I'll be travelling with my wife (both early 60's) from Australia to Britain for the first time. I've done quite a bit of research but am struggling with the Scotland and then back south to London part of the trip. We start in London to pick up car, Salisbury for one night, Cornwall for 5 nights, Bath for two, Cotswolds for 4 nights then Chester for two more (going to Old Trafford for a game - pretty exciting). Following that we've got 4 nights in the Lakes District (Keswick) and then I'm thinking 7 nights in Scotland starting in Glasgow and finishing in Edinburgh before heading to the Dales via some East coast sightseeing.
We'll be heading into Scotland (in our hire car) on 26th May - a bank holiday weekend I believe for the week in Scotland. Do I need to prebook all of our accommodation in Scotland or maybe just the big cities? We'd like to be back in London on the 11th May. Just can't get my head around where to stay apart from Yorkshire Dales on our way back south. Your advice and local knowledge or previous experiences would be greatly appreciated. Apologies for long winded request.

Your dates don't make sense. Is it 26th April into Scotland? Or 11th June back to London?

In either case, you don't need to pre-book anything. I never do and have yet to have to sleep in the car.

I do find it interesting that you plan to spend 4 nights in the Lake District which is about the size of a postage stamp and only 7 nights in all of Scotland. Should I guess that is based on 'hype' about how wonderful the Lake District is?

It's tiny, it's crowded and when driving you pretty much cannot take your eyes of the road for a second or slow down to see the scenery as the long line of cars in front of you and behind you keep you having to move at their speed.
http://falconwoodgcsegeography.weebl...34277_orig.jpg

If you drive in the Scottish Highlands on the other hand, other than a few main roads, this is far more likely to be what you see.
https://cdn.shutterstock.com/shutter...ize(height:160)

The English have an over-inflated sense of how wonderful the Lake District is, based on a general lack of knowledge of anywhere else to compare it to. In my opinion, it is an area to quickly drive through to get to somewhere less crowded as soon as possible. It's hills are scenic like hills anywhere but cannot compare to mountains and it's lakes are ponds.

A week is enough time perhaps to see what interests you in Glasgow and Edinburgh but not enough time to also visit the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

Between the bank holidays the Lakes will not be crowded . . . At all. As long as you miss the bank holidays that is probably the BEST time to visit the lakes. And if you want to hike, 4 days is fine. But yes, 7 days is very VERY short for Scotland. You could spend that week just in Glasgow Edinburgh and a bit in between (the Trossachs/Stirling etc.)

If you do only have one week I'd do Edinburgh/the Trossachs and maybe 2.5-2 days in Fife.

But honestly . . . With so little time it'd suggest you not go to Scotland at all. Spend time in Cumbria/the Wall/Northumberland then down into the Dales. Save Scotland for when you can give it some time.

(But if it was me- I'd spend 3 weeks in Scotland and cut out some other regions.)

You don't have to have never seen mountains to appreciate the Lake District. I've been driven on one of the highest mountain roads in the world (Karakoram Highway), seen Everest from a small plane, crossed the Andes and the Rockies, and I would still be happy to revisit the Lake District. I visited a while back after 30 years, and couldn't believe I had waited that long. No, it's not the Himalayas, but it's still very beautiful. And a great place to hike.

On the way back down you could stay in the Peak district as well as the Dales. Derbyshire is under-rated and the part around Matlock is very beautiful. Or head into Norfolk and have a look at the Broads and the coast around Blakeney - again, all very lovely and relatively unspoilt.

sounds like wonderful trip - where in Cornwall are you planning on staying?

It sounds like you're going to Old Trafford for the Chelsea game and to have gotten tickets you must be experiencing the hospitality option at OT. The wine or beer will flow. If that's the case, stay in Manchester after the game and don't drive to get there. There's lots of options to get to the ground and back into the city afterwards. It's a pity that you won't be able to do a stadium tour on a match day.

Chester is worth a day trip but with your itinerary I'd stay in Manchester where there's lot do do, great hotels and world class dining then down the spectrum to great street type food.

Don't be put off the Lake District, it won't be mad on the roads, the villages and small towns are attractive and the atmosphere is appealing.

On the way out of Scotland, unless you take janis's advice, you could stay in York or Harrogate, do a stadium tour at OT, then stay in Chester, day trip to Liverpool and train from there back to London.

Thankyou for the replies and advice. Dogeared, it is May 26 into Scotland and June 11 into London. I'm glad to hear we wont need to book as that will allow us to keep things flexible. Janis, it is the 4 days before the bank holiday and we avoid crowds whenever possible (we lucked that) enjoying the countryside. It is a short time for Scotland but we enjoy driving and seeing the beauty of the scenery as it rolls by. Our time in Scotland may involve a bit more driving but being Aussies we are used to that - I understand local conditions will determine how far we may travel on any given day. Thursdayd, thankyou for that! I'm really looking forward to some hiking and finding a lovely English pub to enjoy a pint, some lunch then walk it off in the afternoon. Annhig, you've given me some great advice on where else we could stop on our way back to London. I'll look further into those places! We'll be staying in Falmouth in Cornwall - it's so hard to make informed decisions, never having been there but things have a way of working out. Rubicund, we've been offered the tickets by some lovely English neighbours here in NSW who have the contact there - very excited as it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I appreciate your tips greatly. Once again, thankyou all for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated, Matt

Plan it how you really want, but definitely/100% do not think driving in the wide open spaces of Australia is anything like what you will experience in s Outland (or anywhere else on your itinerary)

In places like Cornwall, the Lakes, and scenic Scotland you average less than 40 mph, and often much less.

We'll be staying in Falmouth in Cornwall - it's so hard to make informed decisions, never having been there but things have a way of working out.>>

Mattchoo - great choice - one of my favourite places in Cornwall, [where we live] in fact had circumstances been different we might have moved to live there. Things you might consider doing in your 4-5 days there:

a day trip to the Roseland peninsular by ferry to st Mawes and then a smaller boat to Point, and walk to St Anthony's head lighthouse and back.

OR stay in St Mawes and explore the castle, and/or walk along the side of the estuary to visit the gorgeous ancient Church of st Just with its beautiful garden.

A boat trip up the Carrick Roads to the National Trust gardens at Trelissick

A boat trip along the Helford River or alternatively drive to the Nat trust garden of Glendurgan and walk down through the gardens to the village of Durgan, and then turn right and walk along the footpath to Helford passage where there is a great pub for lunch. [avoid bank holidays and weekends]

On the way back call in at Trebah Gardens to see its beautiful situation and have tea or an ice-cream on the beach which was the departure point for some of the troops who took part in the D Day landings.

Spend a day in Penzance and/or visit the Minack theatre for a matinee or evening performance.

Visit the Lizard and walk down to the most southerly point of the island of Britain; call in at the quaint village of Cadgwith of lunch at the pub or to pick up a crab or lobster for dinner.

if it rains, pop into the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth - they have a new exhibition starting soon about Captain Bligh:

https://nmmc.co.uk/whats-on/

Phew - that should keep you pretty busy!

Thanks again for the added info Janis and annhig. We'll be governed, whether we like it or not, by the realities of local roads and conditions. Having a "heads up" can only help. Annhig, thanks so much for your tips on Falmouth and Cornwall. We obviously "lucked" that town again. It's good to know it comes recommended! I'm going to print your tips for the few days we have in Cornwall. Nothing like a person who loves the area to give their advice. Greatly appreciated - and can't wait!!

no probs Matt - and don't hesitate to come back with any queries you might have as your trip gets closer. There are loads of things I haven't mentioned - Pendents Castle, boat trips to Flushing, the Seal Sanctuary at Gweek - there's far too much to do in a week or even a fortnight in this area.

I hate autocorrect Should have been Scotland not 'Outland' . . . But you probably knew that

it struck me too, JJ - it's Pendennis Castle, not Pendents - wherever that is.

It looks like the game that you're attending is the Crystal Palace match, currently scheduled for the 21st May. However, this date has not yet been confirmed and could move a day or two either way depending on the requirements of the TV sport schedulers. You need to keep it a bit flexible. The time of kick off could also move so keep an eye on Manchester United's website:

http://www.manutd.com/en/Fixtures-An....aspx?pageNo=4

It's the last home game of the season, so it will be busy and without a car park permit you'll need to get there a bit earlier. My earlier advice regarding staying in Manchester holds good though and you could do a stadium tour either side of match day. You do need to book in advance.

After catching my breath at the thought of an outsider actually snaring a ManU ticket, even if Chelsea may already be the champs the way things are moving, I want to suggest that there is more to Manchester than football. It has a decent art gallery and a huge technology museum with bits and pieces of the pistons and trains that made Manchester an industrial giant. There's even a museum dedicated to the working man, an amusing study in trades-union goals and propaganda. Restaurants reflect England's new multi-culturalism (as an Australian will recognize) led by up-market South Asian dining rooms.

It has two classy art galleries or did last year. Also the main library is a piece of gothic victoriana not to be missed.

Southam--thanks for the Manchester advice. We plan to take a train to Manchester for a day (from Buxton) and will plan to see both the science and technology museum and the People's History Museum (which is the one I think you mean by history of the working man.) Also looks like the Science Museum is pretty near St. Peter's Field so I could have a look at the site of the Peterloo Massacre as well.

I'm also a football fan but will probably not have time to see anything related to that.

Thanks guys for all of your added tips and advice. We will aim to catch as much of Manchester as we can - but we're not for missing the ManU game Rubicund thanks for that info and link to match day details. annhig (I think I owe you a beer) and Janis thanks for all of your help - Southam and bilbo too of course. We'll not do more than scratch the surface it seems but 6 weeks will give us a good sample and we hope it won't be our last visit. Really appreciate that you have taken the time to provide your local knowledge and experience. Matt

annhig (I think I owe you a beer) and Janis thanks for all of your help>>

Mattchoo - I'll hold you to that!

Ann, I'll drink it on your behalf at Old Trafford!