Great Britain: North Wales or Lake District?
 

My family will travel from Bath, GB, to Oban, Scotland. We will have two days to stop in between these cities & consider staying in Northern Wales (Ruthin) or the Lake District (Keswick). We are planning for a June 2008 trip, so time to read and plan. Any suggestions, recommendations, or thoughts?

We went enjoyed both places but if I could only return to one it would definitely be Northern Wales. We stayed in Conwy at a B&B with a view of the Conwy Castle. We took day trips to various places and visited many castles, gardens and mountains.

I've been trying to find my trip report but I've heard Fodors' search function is on the fritz. If I do find it I'll post a link for you.

P_M: The best way to search for a thread is to use google. Use advance search and fodors.com/forums in the domain name.

You'll be amaxed at the results.

well maybe amaxed (?) but I really meant "amazed"

Much as I love North Wales, Ruthin does not have much going for it apart from the castle. And it is out of your way. I would say go to the Lake district, which is on your way. You could even go to see Hadrian's Wall a bit further east.

North Wales but I would not stay in Ruthin. Conwy would be a good choice.

North Wales for castles (Beaumarais, conwy and Caernafron) of your dreams, fine walled towns (Conwy) and thrilling rail trips to Ffestiniog or up Mt snowdon

vs Lake District - more rural, bucolic charms - but Lake district is far more overrun with tourists than NWales (but perhaps not in June)

Lakes for outdoorsy stuff

NWales for castles and mountain peaks

Thank you for your helpful responses. The balance of outdoors-type activities vs. castles & cities will help my family to make our decision. Thanks, too, for the input about Conwy.
Happy traveling.

I can't comment on the Lake District, but we spent a couple of days in North Wales in May and loved it. You can see our pictures at picasaweb.google.com/ElendilPickle/RoundaboutTheUKMay2007

Lee Ann

I have been to both. I think it depends on where you go and how you travel.

In my experience, I prefer North Wales.

Thanks, LeeAnn, for the pictures. Great shots of GB.
Ms. Charlie

Ruthin is pleasant enough but would not be high on my list of priorities. Snowdonia and Anglesey would mean a significant detour.

I would second the suggestion of Roman Wall country (say Haltwhistle) and/or North Pennines (Alston).

MsCharlie, we go to the lake district almost every June so obviously that would be my recommendation. You might find my trip report helpful:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34811293

The hiking available in the Keswick area is amazing. There's also water activities at Derwent Water if that's your thing. Early June, it starts to get crowded. By mid to late June, I would suspect it'll be really crowded, but you could offset that by staying at a hotel in a nearby town. Bassenwaithe perhaps.

Gas, err, petrol right now is at least $8/gallon, so get the stick shift!

On an unrelated note - more Wales pictures:

http://pembrokeshireblog.blogspot.com/

I think it depends on what you like, I 've been to both places, and we loved the scenery and castles in Wales.

But, we also loved the Lake District because of it's charm, and the landscape is stunning. Beautiful lakes (of course) and mountains. So if you love nature and hiking the Lake District is a wonderful place.

Whilst I agree that Conwy is perhaps a more convenient place to stay in North Wales, if you did go to Ruthin you can stay in the castle. My daughter got married there this summer and we spent 2 nights there. It was a fantastic location and made it a real fairytale wedding. The rooms and food are good and the honeymoon suite (Prince of Wales room) was fantastic. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants somewhere different to stay.

http://www.ruthincastle.co.uk/