Hello, We are a family of 4 visiting UK for the first time in August. We had intended to do 5 days of London and 5 days of Paris. But my husband feels that the kids might get too museum-ed out and that we should do 5 days of London and explore around UK for the rest of the stay. If anyone has done something like this, I would welcome their input.

We are planning to rent a car but we don't want to drive more than a couple of hours each day. We would like to throw in a farm stay and a castle stay. As for our interests, my teenager is a King Arthur fan, my 8 year old is a Harry Potter fan, my husband is into history and I like scenic places. So any and all suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

In five days with two kids, trying to explore more than one area will entail too much time being devoted to travel logistics. I would suggest picking one area and staying there, doing day trips out and back. Unpack once, that sort of thing. Also I would probably suggest using the train to get to the out-of-London destination, then renting a car. Faster, probably not a lot of difference in cost given the incredibly high UK auto rental rates, way less wear and tear on the central nervous system.

My vote would be for the northeast of England - York, Durham or Northumberland. Plenty of antiquity to see, lovely coastline and landscapes, castles, great cathedrals, and zippy train access from central London (via King's Cross, unfortunately not Platform 9 3/4).

York city walls, Minster, railway museum; Durham cathedral (my vote for most impressive church in Europe); Fountains Abbey; Bamburgh and Alnwick castles (the latter aka Hogwarts in parts), Holy Isle, Yorkshire coastline... way more than you'd be able to see in four or five days.

Gardyloo, look again. It is a total of 10 days.

Keith

I've been visiting the UK for the past 11yrs & still love it. London is a wonderful city & has much to see. For the King Arthur fan Warwick castle is a must, they have a section called the "making of a King" that is awesome. Oxford is also a great place to visit and can be gotton to easily by Brit Rail out of Paddington Station. You can take the train to Bath, rent a car from Hertz at the Bath train station and spend a few days driving around the Cotswolds. You can find one place to stay and go out each day some of my recommendations are Stow on Wold, Great Tew, Morton on Marsh, Upper and Lower Slaughter.Borton on Water (Borton has a miniature village that is interesting to see. We have rented a self catering cottage in Stanton and have also stayed in a Bed and Breadfast in Stow and at The Manor House in Morton. There are animal farms in the area. Chester is another interesting town. They have a Roman Wall surrounding the city that you can walk. Enjoy

One thing to consider is that Paris is far less expensive than London.

Also, I don't understand the reasoning of the kids being "too museum'ed out." There is no reason you have to overdo the museums in either London or Paris -there are plenty of other things to do in both cities. You have control over that issue no matter where you are.

One location you may want to consider for a King Arthur fan is Tintagel in Cornwall. I think Cornwall is a great destination with loads of things to do/see and lovely scenery. The only problem is that in August it may be too crowded as people descend to the beaches.

Keith, I was assuming the OP would still be in London for the five days mentioned, thus five on the road.

In just MHO, Tintagel is unworthy of the effort required to get there. That would apply even if it were in east London instead of Cornwall. That said, the "Excali-Bar" watering hole next to the "ruins" has one of the best pub names in Britain.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I have to do lots more research to decide on the itinerary because all the suggestions sound really good.

jand, I also think there is so much to see in Paris besides museums that you should keep that consideration. As it was said, UK is very expensive now especially for a family.. maybe not a consideration for you though. Driving in UK could be a stress if you have not done it before. Driving in Scotland was much more difficult for my family than we considered. Others have said they had no problem adjusting (I must say that before a slam).

I love the Cotswolds also, enjoyed Warwick and Sudley castle very much. I think Warwick would be wonderful for children. Bath and Stratford also fit in with that trip.

I think the 5 days each is a good time frame for countryside or Paris.

ystanton--would you mind to tell me your bed & breakfast in Stow. My lovely Honeysuckle Cottage is already booked for October.

jand, a wonderful trip for your family.

I regularly travel to Britain, to see my son who lives in London. Might I sugest, 3 days in London (of couse you wont see everything, even two weeks in London is not enought), but use the Hop on, hop off buses, to orientate yourself, on the first circular trip, then use the bus, to get on & off at each attraction, eg.Tower of London, etc. The passes last all day, and its like using the bus as a taxi, it will help in not tiring the children by walking everywhere. Try not to do everything in London, and make a point of choosing one of their quiet parks to rest up in. Children tend to tire quickly in large cities. Just pick out the "main attractions", and be happy to see those ones. Now for driving in Britain, I would suggest purchasing a AA Britain Road Atlas Book, which shows the motorways, road junctions, A & B roads, together with unamed country lanes. Its worth its weight in gold, just like the London A-Z street directory.
On my last trip I used National Car rental, who had a depot close to the A40 motorway out of London, which then links up with the Orbital, then go around to the motorway you want, then away you go. There are some lovely places in Britain, but hard to cramp them into a 10 day holiday, so I would tend to "Concentrate on one of two regions"...where you can stop & smell the roses, as they say. I use the green book called, Nationwide B&B Service, and I prefer to stay in village Bed & breakfast places, where I can drive into a town to see the castles,gardens, etc, but then drive out into the quiet countryside, have dinner in the local village pub, and wake up the farmyard sounds. Also on your trip make a point of driving down the little country lanes. My favourites scenic areas would have to be...The Lakes District, Yorkshire Moors, North York Moors, 3 regions which stretch from east to west across Britain. To get there quickly, always use the motorways for speed & time. However, in your case I would sugest staying closer to London, like visiting the Peak District (lovely national parks and pretty villages), also the Cotswolds. This whole region has lots to offer nearby, eg. Bath, Cotswolds villages, Stratford upon Avon, Warwick and its great castle, the kids will love it, excellent gardens to visit, scenic areas with walking trails like Dovedale in the Peak District.
P.S. don't forget the little villages have a lot of offer in way in interesting things, eg. stone age burial mounds, medieval wall paintings in local village churches, friendly locals, etc.

I agree that Cornwall is one of the most beautiful places in the UK, but it is more difficult to get there and though Tintagel is a lovely sight, it is also very crowded. It seems that there are quite a few locations trying to cash in on the whole King Arthur deal. The signs at Tintagel make it clear that there is nothing in history that actually suggest that an Arthur like guy was really there.

I had read that Alnwick north of York was big in the 1st Harry Potter movie, but I have no idea on subsequent movies. I agree that Warwick is a very cool castle for kids. In York, the Jorvik Viking center would be fun for kids. Age could be a concern at the York Dungeon, but I would have been into it as a kid. The Dungeon is sort of a year around haunted house, based on the horrors of English life in years gone by. Some hate it, some love it.

Bill

Based on all the responses so far I am kind of veering towards Bath and Cotswolds area. Can anybody recommend child friendly B&Bs in this area? Also any suggestions for castle/farm stay are welcome. Warwick castle is definitely on our agenda. Thanks all.

jand...I dont think Bath is particularly child friendly though it is worth visiting..would suggest wells instead...slow beautiful a gem of a city..close to glastonbury (for your arthurian scholar)..lost of kid and adult worthy things to do in the area (and of course Bath is close)...totally agree with warwick as a must with your boys....if you need any child specifics i have some opinions as i was in uk twice with a bunch(20) of boys age 8-18 for a total of 6 weeks of child friendly activities....another good place for a family base winchester area..close to portsmouth, beaulieu ect as well as being a nice size interesting city.

Jand, on my 2nd last trip to Britain, I used a B&B service, which I think was called Farm Stay B&B service, but I'm not sure. Do a web search with google, with the words, "Farm stay Bed & Breakfast" and that should bring up a few. I do know that emailed the company in question, and they sent a beautiful glossy book on all their B&B's (which are all farms), it showed accommodation, bedding, costs, location map, and a picture of the farm in question, and how close the farm was to attractions. In the Cotswolds, you wont have any trouble in finding a farm B&B.
I've just moved interstate in Australia, and all my travel books, maps etc, are still packed in boxes ( hope to unpack very soon). When I sort them out, I should be able to ramble off quite a few B&B's, and even suggest further places to visit, especially, unusual attractions, eg. like having dinner in a village pub, where the local church & pub were built by one of knights who murdered St.Thomas Beckett at Canterbury, or a church, which still has the markings where the knights who returned from the Crusade, blunted their swords, to signify they would cause bloodshed again.

my last message should read, blunted their swords, to signify they wouldn't cause bloodshed again.

Just something I noticed in the newspaper, which made me think of jand's original comment.

For anyone who might be questioning whether museums and their children might be suited to each other, http://www.show.me.uk might help the youngsters decide for themselves what (if any) sort of museum interests them.

Patrick, That is an interesting website, thanks. Everybody, thanks for the wonderfull suggestions. We are all watching a British History series from History Channel in preparation for the trip. We are in the 12th century now. My older one is reading Agatha Christie, Wodehouse etc. So we are really getting in the mood for the trip and greatly looking forward to it. I think we know what we want to do in London. I just have to finalize our countryside itinerary. All your suggestions are helping me. Keep posting!