Devon or Yorkshire
 

My husband and I returned from our first UK trip last month, a trip that we planned with a lot of helpful advice from Fodorites! We are now planning another trip for next summer - one that will include my parents who are in their 70s and our two girls (ages 14 & 11) so I wanted to start here with our planning, hoping for more great insight. We do not have exact dates, but will be there roughly the last week of June through the first week of July, probably 12 - 14 days total. We plan to drive again, my husband drove on our last trip and we feel if we survived the single lane, curvy, hedgerow lined roads of the Cotswolds then we can handle other areas as well. We plan to split the trip into two bases and we will rent cottages for each portion of the trip as we like coming 'home' every night and with a party our size it really just makes sense. Anyways, we are all in agreement that we want to do half of our trip in North Wales, but are looking for where to spend our second week. We were hoping to be able to spend some time in Yorkshire on our last trip, but it just didn't end up fitting in, so I have done quite a bit of research on that area already. A few weeks ago, my parents mentioned that they wouldn't mind seeing the Southwest of England - I think this owes to a lot of Doc Martin and Poldark watching. After looking around a bit I think a stay near Exmoor or Dartmoor parks might be a good fit. Anyways, this brings me to my question - which area would you recommend based on our group make up and time of year we will be there? As a whole we like exploring National Trust houses & gardens, castles, dramatic scenery and nice walks. Here are some things I have already considered:

1.) I assume Yorkshire will be easier to drive in and less crowded - I've heard that Southwest England gets pretty crowded in the summer months
2.) I know Yorkshire makes more sense in terms of proximity to North Wales - We're really not bothered by the extra driving time though.

Any ideas or advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

>>1.) I assume Yorkshire will be easier to drive in and less crowded - I've heard that Southwest England gets pretty crowded in the summer months<<

First of all late June/early July is not all that busy. Most British schools don't let out until around the middle of July so the only families on holiday are generally foreign visitors. Yorkshire is a BIG place - but in general it will be a little easier to drive around then Devon/Cornwall. If you thought the roads in the Cotswolds were narrow -- you ain't seen nuthin' yet. There are a LOT of very narrow roads in the SW and the stone walls make them seem even narrower.

>>2.) I know Yorkshire makes more sense in terms of proximity to North Wales - We're really not bothered by the extra driving time though.<<

Either Yorkshire or the SW would work and be a wonderful destination. But if you chose Yorkshire you could fly in/out of MAN and not have to deal with the long drive south.

janisj has it right, fly into and out of Manchester and you'll be fairly close to North Wales-about 90 minutes away-and a couple of hours from the start of the Dales if you head for Skipton or the Kirkby Lonsdale area. You'll also be handy for the Lake District so you could add another area on to that. The motorway network from Manchester Airport will take you to Llandudno or Conwy very easily and the same is true of the Dales from the M6 side and both areas will offer a good range of accommodation.

I have to agree with Janisj re some of the the roads in Cornwall and the people heading toward you. Cotswolds was a piece of cake in comparison.

If you have six people, what vehicle are you proposing to rent, and how well do you think it will fit in the lanes in Devon and Cornwall?

Thank you for the information so far. We will be renting a people carrier so I know that would make it harder to navigate narrow roads. I wasn't sure what the roads in Devon were like, so if there are a lot of single carriageways that would be an issue. Maybe our Sat Nav just gave crazy directions, or maybe it was the places we went, but I would say 70% of the roads we drove on in the Cotswolds we single lane and only one car could pass - lots of puling off into passing places - however we did have a small Hyundai, I can't imagine how much more nerve wracking it would be in a large vehicle! So overall the Lakes or Dales areas would be easier to navigate? We hadn't really considered the Lake District, I don't know why, maybe I'll look into that as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

The thing about a people mover -- it doesn't make driving narrow roads harder, and in some cases the are slightly easier.

They are not that much wider than a regular car and because they are taller it can help seeing over low walls. There are relatively fewer single tracks in the Cotswolds than in Devon/Cornwall. But you will find them in any rural/scenic, village-y area.