Also, for your time in Bakewell, I heard from a local that Renishaw Hall is a lovely place to visit. Chatsworth and Haddon Hall are not to be missed, but when I return, I plan to visit Renishaw for the gardens.
http://www.renishaw-hall.co.uk

Chgogal: Coincidentally, I booked that b & b earlier this week, before reading your post! Thanks so much for your recommendation. My friend has some ideas about what she wants to show me, I think. She is from the area, but I'll keep all of this in mind. I was there in '88 with a literature group. We visited Haddon Hall, Chatsworth and Hathersage (which was the most beautiful area I saw, and looking forward to seeing again).

Thanks for your comments.

ChigoGal: I just found your review on TA. I had read it a few weeks ago and was encouraged that someone managed to get there by public bus, which I then looked into. I've since decided to rent a car, but if I don't have a good driving experience, it's nice to know I can return the car and use public trans to get to some of these places.

Also, I specifically want to thank you for the mention of Reinshaw Hall, which I hadn't heard of, and also Monsal Trail. I'll research both of these.

Hi, Susan001. Yes, I spent 5-6 days in the Peaks and around Manchester using public transportation. I had rented a car a few years back to drive about in the same area. It wasn't awful, but it takes a bit of getting used to. Also, I wanted to incorporate lots of long-distance walks, so a car would be more of a hindrance.

That being said, I don't like driving, even in the US. I live in a city and don't have a car, so I drive only 4-5 times/year for business meetings or to visit family. If you enjoy driving, I imagine you'll enjoy it in England. Even I enjoyed it after the first day or so, though I could tell my stress was elevated. The turnabouts take a day of getting used to. Familiarize yourself with the different looking traffic signs and lane markings. DEFINITELY bring a GPS with UK maps loaded as a solo driver-my Garmin was fantastic. A paper map, too, just to get your bearings each day.

You likely already know, but a Royal Oak membership will allow you to enter National Trust properties for free. May or may not be worth it for the places you visit.
http://www.royal-oak.org/index.php

Have a great trip!

Hi ChgoGal: I've done many trips to Europe using public transportation. The easiest place to do this is Switzerland. The trains work like clockwork and go to most places, but I also took two busses to get to Soglio (remote southeast corner). I also used the train system to get to most places in Germany and Austria. But halfway through my trip there, I said to myself, having a car just has to be easier than lugging these bags up and down flights of stairs to get to the next platform.

I drive all over Southern California, including downtown LA and the west side (which can be a traffic tangle), but driving out of state is a bit of a challenge, and I'm sure it will be triple the stress, at first, in UK. Yes, I've picked out a Garmin Nuvi with Europe maps already loaded for upcoming trip. I've even looked into loading an app on my iphone 5 as a backup. And I've ordered all the necessary Michelin maps.

The roundabouts are troubling, but I hope after a few times they will become a non-issue.

Thanks for the info about Royal Oak. I'll check out the link.

Oh heck - the roundabouts aren't troubling at all :) You will grow to love them in a day or two. A bit daunting at very first but they rally are easy.

>>And I've ordered all the necessary Michelin maps. << Do you mean paper, fold up maps? Or do you mean a road atlas (a michelin map book w/ spiral binding)

Paper maps are next to useless. To have the scale you need for all the tiny roads they would be enormous/unwieldy and you'd need MANY.

Get a road atlas - I'd even wait til I was in the UK to buy one -- when you get to Alnwick is fine. Every news agent/book shop/garage/petrol station has them and they much cheaper there than at home.

Heck - your friends in Alnwick may have a spare one lying around to give you.

Yep, Janis, that's exactly what I ordered, and they arrived today. Helpful, but you are right. Too big. I didn't know there was a spiral road atlas. THANKS. I can still send these back.

Right now, with the help of the viaMichelin site and one of these giant maps, I've been rethinking the practicality of staying in Castle Combe. It's lovely (place already booked), but found another place in Bradford-on-Avon (and from Bradford, I could take a 15 min train into Bath). From Bradford, Stonehenge is a 45 min drive one way. From Castle Combe it's an hour and 5 minutes.
But Castle Combe would sure be a beautiful place to stay. Decisions decisions.

Bradford on Avon is convenient. If it was me, I'd personally stay in Castle Combe but both are fine. Bradford on Avon is a pretty big town -- probably near 10,000 population. Castle Combe is a beautiful village.

Thanks, Janisj. I'm going to stick with Castle Combe, just because I prefer villages to larger towns, and it looks so charming. I think I'll regret if I change. So I'm pretty much set!

Thanks so much for your help!

I find a GPS really helpful with roundabouts in the UK. Even if just going effectively straight ahead on the same road, as we go around, I lose my sense of which exit to take. The GPS tells us.

Oh heck - the roundabouts aren't troubling at all :) You will grow to love them in a day or two. A bit daunting at very first but they rally are easy.>

I agree - just learn to go with the flow and how they operate and Round Abouts can be lots of fun - it takes about 5 minutes of driving in Britain to get used to driving on the 'wrongs ide' of the road - only problems I have found is when I'm on one of the narrow back roads with little traffic - easy to revert to a right-side driving mentality - until you round a curve and.... UGH!

I think the Garmin Nuvi I'm planning to buy will prove invaluable. In regards to staying on the left side, I'm reminded of what Ira advised: Just remember that the driver is always closest to the center of the road. With the steering wheel on the right side, that shouldn't be hard to remember.

The Gamin will definitely help, especially if you do two things before you go: 1) use it and get used to the way it guides you and 2) be sure to update the UK maps before you go.

VolCrew: thanks. Planning to do both.

Susan, I have a couple recommendations. I just did that hike from town to town that leaves Stowe on the Wold, and one of the fields we were supposed to cross has a "bull in field" warning on it! On the trail toward Burford. Just a heads up. We loved the Minster Lovell to Burford hike, which you can find on the web (let me know if you have trouble finding it), and several others.
Oh, and if you're doing a town-to-town hike, and using public transportation to get back to your car (as we did) be sure to check the up-to-date bus schedule to avoid nasty surprises--we couldn't believe how seldom the buses ran out there.

Also, in York, I would recommend staying *just* inside the city walls, so you could park the car and leave it. We stayed at the Aisling House, which was just great, and there are others with parking. York is fabulous, my favorite English city to visit.

Just a clarification re the 'hikes' the Professor mentions . . . Those would be considered <i>walks</i> - not hikes. ;)

Thanks so much, Professor. I've booked the Abbeyfields in York. It also looks like a very nice place, and the owners couldn't be nicer.

janisj: yes, I know they are considered "walks." I did a couple of "walking tours" -- one in Scotland, one in Northumberland (each a week long) after the summer school was over in 1988. We walked up to 13 miles a day!

Susan, just came cross your post. Don't know how I missed it!

Sounds like a great (and long) trip. I'm envious. I don't think David would hold up on a trip like that.

What Ireland tour were you considering? We are looking at tours for next fall. I've zeroed in on a 10 night Insights Tour of Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland, mainly because of the central location of the hotels. Might add London via the Eurostar before or after. Still trying to decide.

Betty, had I stayed with the original plan of doing both England, Ireland, then I had thought about doing an RS tour of Ireland (after 2 weeks on my own in England). I'm so glad I tossed that idea, as I much prefer being on my own, and also focusing on one country.