Kristina_Aikens

Hi! I posted a month or so ago about a trip to "Literary England" and the forum members were so helpful I thought I'd try again.

From over here in the US, without much experience traveling around England, train travel in England is hard to figure out! I know that the only way to get to Haworth via public transport is to go to Leeds, then Keighley to Haworth. We are going to spend several days in the Lake District and then several days in London, visiting Haworth in between. We were thinking of spending the night in Haworth. But now I'm re-thinking it, because I don't think we'll be able to get a B&B for one night in May on the weekend (which is, unfortunately, the way it would time out). We could probably get a hotel for the night in Leeds, though.

So my questions are:

1. Would it be better to do a day trip to Haworth from the Lake District (specifically Grasmere), or to spend the night either in Haworth or Leeds?

2. If it's better to do a day trip, would this be a huge hassle via public transport? (My guess is yes -- it looks like we would have to get to Windermere, then Leeds (switching in Manchester), then Keighley, then Haworth.) It looks like the train would take 3 hours just from Windermere to Leeds, and maybe another hour to Haworth. Is that right? Is it true that it would only take 2 - 2.5 hours by car?

Side note: I was excited to take the steam train, but it turns out the weekend we'll be there is a diesel gala and they're not running steam trains, so there's even less of an attraction in Haworth. I am NOT willing to give up seeing the Bronte Parsonage -- it is the thing I am MOST excited to do on this trip -- but I have heard that Haworth is not super exciting and can be done in a day trip. It's just that usually people talk about it as a day trip from York, not Windermere! I would love to go to York, but I am trying not to add more to our itinerary, as I tend to try to pack too much in.

For reference, here's our current itinerary (which would change a little if we did a day trip instead of an overnight to Haworth):

May 22 arrive in London, go directly to Lake District (Grasmere)
May 23 LD
May 24 LD
May 25 LD
May 26 LD in morning, travel to Leeds or Haworth to spend the night
May 27 Haworth, travel to London in the evening
May 28 London (seeing the big sights)
May 29 day trip to Winchester/Chawton
May 30 London (to see some of the minor sights)
May 31 day trip to Rochester and Broadstairs
June 1-sadly leave for home

janisj

Grasmere to Haworth is less than 75 miles and around 2 hours by car. I've never researched doing it by train/bus, but a guess is 4 to 5 hours by public transport - minimum.

>><i>May 28 London (seeing the big sights)</i><<
>><i>May 30 London (to see some of the minor sights)</i><<

I know you aren't being facetious - but this isn't even close to realistic. A fraction of the 'big' sites would take a week.

Morgana

As you have worked out, it is a nightmare to get to Haworth from Grasmere via public transport. Is a car completely out of the question?
It wouls be easy enough to get a hotel for one night in Leeds (I work in the city so can advise if this is the route you decide to take). However, staying in Haworth does have advantages for a Bronte fan.
It's going to be pretty busy on a May weekend especially if the weather is good, but once evening sets in the crowds melt away. That's my favourite time (although of course the Parsonage will be closed so visit during the day!) You can wander up the main street, through the churchyard and up the lane behind the parsonage and get a real feel of how it used to be. And as the evenings will be light you could go for a walk on the Moors just as the Brontes did (but take sensible outdoor wear as it can be bitterly cold and windy up there even in summer).
I'd advise you not to stay in Keighley.
If you decide to stay in Haworth get it booked up NOW! There's a very good restaurant called Weavers that has some rooms too - this would not be cheap but would definitely be a treat as the food is great. And it's really close to the parsonage.
http://www.weaversmallhotel.co.uk/
Alternatively I once stayed here and liked it.
http://www.rosebudcottage.co.uk/
And this is a possible walk (which takes you past the ruins of Top Withens)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...yorkshire-walk

walkinaround

You most certainly can get a good overview of the major sights in London in one day. 'sites' implies seeing not spending a lot of time for example in museums,etc. Many of the major sights are close together and easily walkable.

janisj

Yep - you can take a H-o-H-o bus and see every darn 'major' site in a day -- but not go inside a single one (maybe one). If that is what you mean - great.

Morgana has given you some wonderful tips -- I'd definitely try to stay in Haworth.

Kristina_Aikens

Just to clarify the London thing, we have some specific things we are planning to see. We don't expect to see all of London in two days. I've already been to London, and we're focusing mainly on literary sites. The major/minor notation was for myself and I shouldn't have included it here.

In any case, I have looked at Rosebud Cottage and it's really cute, but there's a minimum two-night stay, so I'm trying to decide whether to stay two nights in Haworth, just stay one night in Leeds, or go for a day trip from Grasmere.

alanRow

I used to live in the Haworth area and went to the Lakes for day walks - it made for a very long day.

However you are wrong about the public transport options as you don't have to go anywhere near Leeds - normally you would travel to Lancaster from the Lakes then train to Keighley then either bus or train to Haworth. You could also go to Preston then train to Hebden Bridge before bus to Haworth. There are a number of hotels and B&Bs in the Aire Valley so there's no need to stay in Haworth itself

kelsey22

I concur with alanRow - I spent the day there (check out my thread as I got lots of great advice. I went from York where I was based and I found the transportation there to be easy. It is truly exciting to arrive via the steam train! If you have a chance to get to York - I highly recommend it. Have fun!

janisj

Kristina: Great -- I took that bit literally

stevelyon

You could always treat yourself and stay at Hebden Bridge near Haworth, which although fairly well known in the north is somewhat overlooked. It is a delightful place with lots of literary connections, its not far from Sylvia Plath's resting place in Heptonstall (an even more delightful village).Hebden Bridge in my opinion is prettier than Haworth and has its own connections with the Brontes. Luddenden is near here where Bramwell worked.

walkinaround

You don't need the h-o-h-o bus to get a good overview of London in a single day but nothing wrong with it if you want to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Most of the iconic sites are within easy reach of the centre mark of Charing cross by foot. I think we all (except perhaps janis) understood that you didn't mean that you were expecting to see ALL sites in a day.