Help with driving routes from Stratford on Avon, Leeds,Edinburgh,Loch Ness
 

We are leaving for Great Britain on Thursday. I can't wait. I have gotten so much help from everyone on this forum--I need a bit more. We are driving from Stratford on Avon to Bradford(very close to Leeds). We'll be staying in Haworth. Can anyone tell me an interesting route to take? Then from Bradford to Edinburgh along the eastern part of the country--any suggestions? The last part of the drive will be from Edinburgh to Loch Ness--again any suggestions for a route and sights would be appreciated.Thank you soooooo much.

OK Haworth to Edinburgh <BR>(I get more knowledgeable the further north this route goes) <BR> <BR>Haworth to Keighley; Keighley to Harrogate.(Buy sticky buns at Betty's). North to Fountains Abbey nr Ripon (worth a stop). Onto the A1 and hammer north as far as Alnwick (arguably worth a stop for the cathedral in Durham) <BR> <BR>Alnwick should be seen. carry on- detour to Seahouses and Bamburgh Castle. back on the A1. Detour to lindisfarne- Holy Island- worth visiting if the tide is out. Then on to Berwick- visit castle. then Eyemouth- detour to visit fishing port and then St Abb's. Then back onto A1 and a straght run into Edinburgh (Disadavantage- A1 is a B awful road) <BR> <BR>Alternative is to go onto the A1 at Ripon then just north of Scotch Corner, take the A68 towards Crook and Corbridge then, crossing the border at Carter Bar, up to Jedburgh- stop to see Abbey. On to Dryburgh- Abbey and where heart of Robert the Bruce is buried (possible side trip to Kelso- Floors Castle and/or Mellerstain) on to Galashiels- visit Abbotsford ( Walter Scott's home)then on to Peebles- stop at Traquair- arguable Scotland's nicest "stately" home and certainly the oldest, and a straight run into Edinburgh <BR> <BR>Disadavantage- less big main road (much less traffic tho') and not much to see/do/comment on between Ripon and the border. <BR> <BR>Edinburgh to Inverness <BR> <BR>Leave towards Perth, and cross the Forth Road Bridge; you pass the rail bridge, one of the modern wonders of the world on your right, and you don't even have to slow down. <BR> <BR>Just over the river (the Forth) Dunfermilne is on your left. Robert the Bruce, the hero king who won Bannockbrn is buried here in Dunfermilne Abbey (although his heart is buried at Melrose in the borders- did i say Dryburgh above? mmm... it's definitely one or the other); go back onto the main road and you will shortly come to Loch Leven, where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up in the castle on the island (v. romantic..the story of the escape- she then fled to her cousin in England for succour. She locked her up for 20 years then beheaded her. (perfidious Albion!) There is a very pretty bird reserve at Vane farm on the south side on the loch. <BR> <BR>Just before you come to Perth you cross over the "Wicks of Baiglie" and can see right down the Tay valley to Dundee. Myth says that Julius Caesar made it this far, and seeing the broad fertile valley stopped and said "Ecce Tiberus!" (Look, the Tiber!) <BR> <BR>Perth is a very nice little city; capital of Scotland before Edinburgh and imbued with history. There are two large parks on the edge of the city centre, the North and South Inches.(Inch is from the Gaelic innis- a meadow)The story goes that a particular Eal of Perth wanting to be buried in the City Church, St John's, told the town magistrates " If you give me six feet, I'll give you two inches" <BR> <BR>Take time to climb Kinnoull Hill which proudly overlooks the town and the Tay and is surmounted by a folly castle built by another Earl of Perth, who had done the Grand Tour and thought that the Tay valley was just like the Rhine except it didn't have castles on its hilltops- so he faked a couple. <BR> <BR>Then drive on to Dunkeld, a lovely town on the Tay, with a beautiful historic square, a cathedral and some wonderful views. There's a pub in the village (the name of which I can't remember but it's the second one on the street on the right immediately over the bridge- you can't miss it) which is owned by Dougie Mclean one of Scotland's greatest contemporary singer songwriters. It can be a fine place to spend an evening. <BR> <BR>If you then take a wee detour west to Aberfeldy and Loch Tay you will pass Breadalbane Castle, former home of the Marquis of Breadalbane, and now a golf course! and come to the lovely 18th century planned village of Kenmore. the Loch is stunning. And if you're up to the walk, go along the north side to Ben Lawers and drive up to the National Trust visitor centre. Time it right and then walk up to the top. Don't do this if it's raining unless you're nuts! <BR> <BR>Then drive back down to Pitlochry (if you go along the north side of the river you pass the Farleyer Hotel, which has a stunning bistro..It's not cheap mind you). Pitlochry is a tourist dive so don't stay long; although it is a good place to get your tweeds and tartans and woolens and things...if you've got any money left after Edinburgh and lunch at the Farleyer. <BR> <BR>Go north again and stop at Killiecrankie and see the famous soldier's leap. If you don't know the story, learn the song. <BR> <BR>A couple of miles further on is Blair Atholl, another planned village and a superb castle for a visit. the Duke of Atholl is the only person is the UK licenced by the Queen to have a private army. <BR> <BR>From Blair Atholl, go north again on the A9. You will pass a place called House of Bruar which markets itself as "the Harrods of the North" It's a real fancy shop and I hate to say it but I love it. Worth stopping. <BR> <BR>Next up you will come to Dalwhinnie- great whisky, great distillery. I don't know if it dies tours but it's worth stopping if it does. Come off the main road somewhere north of here and carry on on the old main road- less traffic and more scenic. <BR> <BR>You come to Newtonmore and Kingussie I can never remember which comes first, but at the first one there is a superb 17th century barracks built by the English to keep the Scots down after Culloden. Worth a trip. It's immediately adjacent to Insch Marches which is another bird reserve- lots of brilliant ducks and waders ( did I mention I was into birds?) Carry on up the Spey until just before Aviemore and turn right as though you were going to Grantown on Spey. You come first to Rothiemurchus which has all sorts of visitor facilities, then to Abernethy estate, which is also owned by the bird people (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds- like the Audobon) At their Loch Garten reserve you can see Osprey which are wonderful fish eating raptors which live in Africa in winter and come to visit us in summer. They always come back to the same nest so the RSPB have a live TV camera showing everything that is going on. In June you should have young in the nest. In any case, Rothiemurchus and Abernethy are remnant Caledonian pine forest- our oldest trees; and I guarantee you, that, unless you are made of stone, a walk off the track will make your skin tingle. You have the sensation of being where generations have been before. If you go up into the hills here ( quite a long walk- 4-5 hours, but worth every minute) you may well see Golden Eagle. By going back to Aviemore and going to the ski slopes at Cairngorm, you can take the chairlift well up the mountain; but we'll all hate you for doing it the easy way. If you carry on towards and past Grantown you are into the whisky country of Speyside. Glenfiddich distillery at Dufftown may not make the best malt in the world ( there's no such thing as a bad one) but it probably does the best tour. <BR> <BR>Back to the A9 along the Spey and you drive on to Inverness capital of the Highlands. (Aviemore is like Pitlochry but modern- avoid it like the plague) you have the Cairngorms Mountains on your right and the Monadliath Mountains on your left. It's just grand. <BR> <BR>Just before you get to Inverness turn right and go back as far as Culloden-6 miles.(as an alternative to this you could carry on east from Dufftown and arrive at Elgin and come up the A96, stopping at some of the Moray fishing villages on the way. Culloden will appear on your left before you get to Inverness. <BR>

Sheila, thank you so much for all the wonderful information. You have helped me so many times on this forum and I really appreciate the invaluable advice. Do you, by any chance, know the location of the castle that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula? I believe it is near Whitby--called Whitby Abbey. Is there anyway to fit that in our route? Thank you again.

Bit of a raw nerve there Joan. There is huge rivallry between Whitby and Slains in Aberdeenshire as to the source of the inspiration <BR> <BR>You are referring to Whitby and you COULD go there, but it's a long way east and, if you want to get to Edinburgh in one day is likley to mean you don't have time to do anything else. <BR> <BR>Slains was the home of the Earls of Errol on the east coast about 30 miles north of Aberdeen and is now a ruin.

Sorry for the faux pas, I didn't realize this was a sore point. Thanks again for the info--I'll have to sit down with my map today and try to figure out how many side trips we have time for! 4 days and counting--then I'll finally be able to help someone else!

Sheila has done a marvellous job on your itinerary from Haworth to Scotland, so I definitely won't buy into it. I've been thinking of the first half, Stratford to Haworth on and off for the last 24 hours and I even got as far as jotting down which way I would go, but it is so convoluted, and requires so many twists and turns I did'nt post it for fear of either confusing you totally, or scaring you to death. <BR>The problems we have are that we need to avoid Coventry, Birmingham, <BR>Manchester and/or Sheffield, all of which are major industrial connurbations and not particularly pleasant to drive in or through. <BR>I was trying to steer you into Derbyshire which is one of England's prettiest counties and the towns of Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton, all of which are excellent stopping points. <BR>Whether you can detour to some or all of these places depends on how good your map is, and how good you are at reading it, and not least how much patience you have. <BR>Anyway the end result of all this waffling is that you will probably have to take to the motorways (freeways)for part or most of your journey, assuming you will have already been to Warwick and maybe Leamington whilst at Stratford , both worth a short visit. <BR>So here goes. From Stratford A439 to M40. Left onto M40 to M42 to M5. North on M5 onto M6 still heading North. <BR>From here you have choices. The direct route is M6 all the way to M62. East on M62 to junction number 21, then left through Littleborough, Todmorden,and Hebden Bridge to Haworth. <BR>If you are patient, and good map readers you could improve the scenery and interest of your journey by leaving the M6 a lot earlier at junction 17, turning right onto A534 to Congleton, A536 to Macclesfield, and A537 to Buxton for lunch.From Buxton I'll list the towns to head for and let you work out how to do it: Chapel en le Frith, Glossop, Stalybridge, Uppermill,Shaw, Littleborough,Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Haworth. <BR>As I said, very complicated, but you will see some very pretty parts, plus skirt the old Cotton Mill towns of the early 20th.Century, and get some relief from freeways. We did something similar once, and quite enjoyed it. <BR>Make sure print this out as you'll never remember it and try to have a good time anyway.

P.S:- Not far from Buxton, about a half hour drive is "Chatsworth House", home of the Duke of Devonshire. Set in magnificient park like gardens, this is one of Britain's finest stately homes, open to visitors, and definitely well worth the visit. From Buxton head South East on the A6 through Bakewell to Rowsley, where turn left to Chatsworth, about 3 miles from turn. To save backtracking you can then continue through Baslow and along the A623 to Chapel en le Frith to pick up orginal route,all very scenic. <BR>I don't recall seeing Chatsworth House mentioned in these posts, which is quite surprising as it is an absolute gem.