"I tend to trust the AA Route Planner rather than Google Maps"

Love that comment, the AA actually use Google maps.

Typical Fodors responses dismissing Ireland so if you want some advice on a visit this side of the Irish sea maybe ask on a less biased forum.

"Love that comment, the AA actually use Google maps."

Yes they do BUT as I was talking about travel times, i've always found the AA to be more accurate.

Yes -- they use the maps but as Hooameye says, the drive time calculations are different. AA is better (it is the one I use most) but you <i>still</i> want to add <u>at least</u> 25% to the times.

Typical Fodors responses dismissing Ireland so if you want some advice on a visit this side of the Irish sea maybe ask on a less biased forum.>>

who dismissed Ireland? What we said in effect was that as England and Scotland are the main focus of this trip, better to concentrate on them and do them justice, and leave Ireland for another trip when you can do it justice too.

what's biased about that?

BTW, I also advised the OP not to add Cornwall into this trip and I live here - not much evidence of bias there, I suggest.

>>Typical Fodors responses dismissing Ireland so if you want some advice on a visit this side of the Irish sea maybe ask on a less biased forum.<<

Tony -- you <i>know</i> better than that. Did you even read the responses? Wouldn't you say suggesting a future, two week trip JUST for Ireland is better than a rushed 6 day add on?

Any time a multi country option including Ireland comes onto this forum Ireland is the least supported and often as this case pushed off the list, that unfortunately is just how it is.

Whatever . . .

well instead of moaning, why not suggest your own itinerary for the OP, Tony?

Taking into account all the "must dos" and other ideas she's got planned of course.

Tony - I'm heading to Dublin for two weeks next week so I'm feeling the love for Ireland - even if I didn't post about it here on Fodors .

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Yes, Manchester is a must for this visit. I've heard it is not the most exciting city, but I'd like to be able to see the church my grandparent's were married in and spend a couple of days with extended family still living in England.

My husband has some family history documents tying his family to the Shropshire and Derbyshire area back to the early 1200s - so we are interested in driving through the area (making a few stops or spending a night in the countryside).

I'm taking Castle Combe off the list and adding a night (or 2) in the Cotswolds. What is a good town to stay in to experience the "quintessential" English village?

As I plan the details, I will keep in mind avoiding the rush hour times and make sure to add 25%-50% to driving time.

There is so much I'd love to see in Ireland. I think a separate trip is necessary as I would be missing some essentials areas in my GB itinerary if I allotted 5-6 days in Ireland. And I'd love to spend even more than 5-6 days in Ireland, which would only be possible with a separate trip.

bilboburgler - you made a good point about hotel's with parking spaces. Is this going to be a concern for most of the places on my itinerary?

Now that we are talking about hotels...any good recommendations? I'd like to stay mostly in B&Bs and maybe try out a castle hotel or 2 Budget would be about $150-$250 USD/night. We wouldn't mind splurging a few nights on a castle or something similar (no more than about $600/night).

Thanks again!!

>>What is a good town to stay in to experience the "quintessential" English village?<<

Check out Burford (my favorite), Chipping Campden, Broadway and Tetbury. Any would be a good base for 2 nights.

>>bilboburgler - you made a good point about hotel's with parking spaces. Is this going to be a concern for most of the places on my itinerary? <<

That is only re in central cities - and he was specifically speaking of York. A parking spaces there is a must. You are mostly going to rural areas.

For a very special night check out Traquair House - it is in the Borders south of Edinburgh. And it is a good base to visit Melrose and Dryburgh Abbeys.

http://www.traquair.co.uk It is an amazing and very historic property and their B&B rate is well inside your splurge castle budget. Only £190 (less than $300)

as janisj says

English village....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...lish-villages/

One side of my family comes from the Peak's in Derbyshire, and some moved to Ireland to help build Kylemore Abbey for the Henrys'. the end of the Derbyshire line was in the 1980's in Youlgrave http://www.youlgrave.org.uk/ (not far from Chatsworth House http://www.chatsworth.org/ well worth a visit if you have time) where I spent a fair bit of time growing up. If you want an English village then there are lots in Derbyshire, and for tradition see if you can catch on of the Well dressings http://www.welldressing.com/calendar.php no idea of dates for 2017 but they tend to be around the same every year.
I still have family ties in the Manchester area and I ran a pub just outside Market Drayton in Salop for a while in the 80's so have a decent (if past) knowledge of that area as well.

We didn't stay at Traquair House, but visited it, and it would be a great place to stay, but a bit like staying in a museum.

We stayed in Jedburgh--Glenbank House Hotel--and loved both it and Jedburgh. Great meals, too. Glenbank is more of a B&B than a hotel.

>> but a bit like staying in a museum. <<

Not in the bedrooms or the guest lounge. No 'do not touch' signs or anything like that. They even give you your own key to the front door and you can come and go as you like and you have the run of the gardens after the visitors have left for the day.

That is one of the reasons I like it -- besides being one of my favorite houses in Scotland (after Craigievar and Culzean). With just the 3 rooms to rent you might even be the only guests.

Thanks for the great recommendations. I'm finding it difficult to figure out how to fit an overnight at a castle or a stay at a historic property into my itinerary - it seems that most are pretty far outside the cities I plan to visit.

For example, I've read some great things about Ruthin Castle - but seems too far to stay overnight there to visit Conwy or Snowdonia as a day trip. Thornburry Castle seems too far away from Bath. Swinton Park Castle too far from York. Augill Castle too far outside the Lake District. Traquair House and Castle Venlaw too far from Edinburgh. Do you see my dilemma?

Of course, I'd love to spend all day at a castle in the countryside (and I am sure that is part of the experience)...but I'd need to take a night from somewhere else in my itinerary.

Dalhousie Castle seems close enough to Edinburgh to possibly work.

None of those are too far to drive for an overnight stay.

Traquair for instance is less than an hour's drive from the Edinburgh ring road.

Augill Castle - about 1.5 hours from Windermere.

Thornbury castle a little over and hour from Bath.

Ruthin Castle is about an hour from Chester, and less than an hour from Conwy.

Swinton Park os a little over an hour from central York and only maybe 45 mins from Thirsk.

janisj - so for our 2 nights in Bath, it wouldn't be too inconvenient to stay at Thornbury Castle? I was thinking it would be much easier to stay inner city?

Same for Ruthin Castle - would it be inconvenient to stay here and make day trips to Snowdonia and Conwy? As opposed to staying IN Snowdonia or staying IN Conwy?

For our two nights in Edinburgh, would it make sense to stay at Traquair and drive into the city each day?

I'd love to stay in some of these castles/historic properties, but not if it means a long-ish drive into the city to see all the attractions (Since we'll already be doing so much driving as is).

No -- those castle hotels/houses aren't bases for other areas. If you want to stay in a castle hotel you need to specifically carve out a night (or two) to do so.

Oh - one possible exception is Dalhousie castle which is less than 10 miles outside Edinburgh -- but it really isn't convenient to the city center.