mantapup

Ladies and gentlemen,

My wife and I are wrapping uip our life in the UK and returning home and have been floating the idea of driving up to Edinburgh (perhaps even further North - isle of Skye?). I know it's convenient to take a train and cheaper by plane etc but we REALLY do want to drive and have chalked out a rough map.

So with that in mind here goes:
- London to Chester - spend the whole day in Chester. Stay overnight.
- Chester to Liverpool - 2 nights
- Liverpool to Lake District (Not sure where?) - 1 night
- Lake Disctrict to Edinburgh - 3 nights
- Edinburgh - Isle of Skye (not sure where exactly) - 1 night
- Isle of Skye to Aberdeen - 1 night in Aberdeen
- Aberdeen to Durham and Newcastle - 2 nights
- Newcastle to London

I have realised that removing the Edinburgh to Isle of Skye to Aberdeen part will save us approx 400 miles. That is a significant amount of driving and I wanted to find out what this forum thought about adding it in or leaving it out. Part of me thinks I am probabaly never going to repeat this journey so might as well, then, other part thinks well, I'm not sure if this will break my back and just add more time and effort.

Destinations - What do you think I could add along the way to visit, any specific towns I could swing by or stop over on this route, I should consider?

Accomodation - I am hoping to stay out of main city centres for the primary reason that they can be expensive to find accomodation. Do you have any suggestions of towns 10-15 minutes out of each of my destinations that I should look for decent accomodation in.
we also have a small dog who will be travelling with us (she loves road trips!) and need pet-friendly places.

Weather - It does get WET up North, doesnt it. Hoping it wouldnt be absolutely horrible and we get to have a great time on thjis road trip - any thoughts on how the weather could be in mid-late September would be great.

I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I will be going thorugh forums and searching the internet for things to do in each area.

Thanks a bunch,

thursdaysd

This whole itinerary is far too rushed.

One night for the Lake District is way too short. The whole point of visiting the LD is to enjoy the scenery and do some hiking. You need a few days, not an overnight.

If you're going to Skye and Aberdeen you should do it before Edinburgh, not after, and I would visit Glasgow rather than Aberdeen.

Aside from Durham itself, you should visit Hadrian's Wall.

It can get wet anywhere in England. Worry more about cold.

annhig

mmmm - of course i don't know why you've picked these particular places nor what you have already seen or what your interests are.

Chester I understand, but you are missing out the Peak District in favour of 2 nights in liverpool, only giving the Lake District 1 night, and giving 2 to durham and Newcastle though you say you want to stay out of cities.

you are also giving yourselves a hell of a lot of driving - Aberdeen to Durham one day, and Newcastle to London another are both long days, even if there are no hold-ups on the motorway.

i think that a better way to approach this might be to fly to Aberdeen and then drive south.

you could then distribute your 11 nights [is that all you have?] something like this;

Day 1 - arrive Aberdeen, drive to skye [dependent on time of arrival of course].
day 2 - Skye
Day 3 - drive to Edinburgh, say 3 nights
Day 6 - drive to the Lake District - stay 2 nights
Day 8 - drive to Chester - stay 1 nights
Day 9 - Peak district or North Wales - 2 nights
Day 11 - ? or South wales/bristol
Day 12 - home to London.

I've missed out the big cities that you've mentioned, but in the time you've got, something's got to give and you've still got Edinburgh and Chester. you could also substitute York and the Dales for the Lake District and Chester if you wanted to drive down the east coast [better for Newcastle] than the west.

there's no reason to suppose that the north will be any wetter than anywhere else in mid-September, though the Lake District is notoriously soggy.

mantapup

Thanks. Did feel a bit rushed when I was typing it up.. OK certainly do not have any more days up my sleeve so will have to cut down on destinations. I think Skye and Aberdeen bit will have to go, as much as I'd like to see Skye especially. And I like your suggestion about going to Edinburgh afterwards - thank you.

Where abouts in the Lake District is a good town to stay and I could add another day making it 2 nights here.

I will add hadrian's wall and will be searching for more places but please do let me know if you know of any ones in particular not to be missed.

Do you think it could get into freezing temperatures in September?

Gordon_R

>>London to Chester - spend the whole day in Chester<<

It will take you around 4 hours drive time to get there (possibly longer if there's congestion on the roads), so in reality you have - at best - only half a day left to see Chester.

mantapup

Thanks Annhig. Yes, I think the last 2 days of big driving do seem back-breaking... will have to re-think.

I've been to York for a couple of nights so have seen that. Our interests are seeing the sights and walking in the city, exploring by foot once we park our car. We've driven pretty much most of South England and Wales. The only places left are Cornwall and further West but, thats for another trip.

I only picked these cities because I've heard of them and wanted to see them. No particular reason. And when I plot them on Google maps they all kinda work out.

I do not want to fly for 2 reasons 1. I have a dog and would probably need more planning and 2. hiring a car will be expensive and I want to use my own car.

Gordon_R

Freezing in September..? How long have you lived in the UK - the climatic variations between London and the North of England / Scotland ain't THAT dramatic.

mantapup

Forgot to mention PUBS, quite important so thats another thing we like to do is having a couple of pints of real ales in nice pubs all over these cities, before we head back home - that would be great.

mantapup

Just under 2 years Gordon, dont think you quite understand that the standard variations in this country are quite dramatic for us foreigners But glad to know it wont be freezing.

Gardyloo

I'd personally prefer an east coast route over a western one. You could visit the Yorkshire Dales, Durham, the magnificent Northumberland coast (Bamburgh, Holy Isle) and enter Edinburgh via East Lothian with its little fishing towns like St Abbs.

Nothing against the Lake District, but if you're really keen on mountains, I'd skip Skye and instead consider taking a very scenic 2-day Highland loop from Edinburgh to Glen Coe, then back through Oban, the amazing Kilmartin valley (lots of standing stones and neolithic bits) and Inverary. The scenery will knock you out, the villages and history very impressive and iconic, and the driving joyous. http://goo.gl/maps/Ox6Hu

Morgana

If you are doing the east coast route as suggested above, then it would make much more sense to visit the North York Moors rather than the Dales.
Reason being that the Moors stretch right over to the east coast whereas the Dales are a good way inland.
I still think you have far too much on your 'too see' list - some hard decisions need to be made to cut places out I'm afraid.

annhig

Do you think it could get into freezing temperatures in September?>>

No.

If you're going to drive all that way and back, you're going to have to plan your overnighting carefully. you need some good bases that easy to get in and out of and are near the things you want to see. up the west and down the east would work - if you're prepared to get an early start and forgo the Peak District, you could do this:

Day 1 - drive to Chester. Stay 1 night
Day 2 - drive to Lakes. Stay Keswick 2 nights.
Day 3 - drive to Edinburgh. Stay 3 nights
Day 6 - drive to ? near Hadrian's wall. Stay 1 night.
Day 7 - drive to ? on north York moors recommended by Morgana. stay 2 nights
Day 9 - Drive home.

oh no - that's too FEW nights.

well, that was deliberate. you could stretch it by adding in Gardyloo's Glen Coe tour, or an extra night in the Lakes, or another on/near Hadrian's wall...but the point is that the distances are doable, and you can add things in that you might like to see.

have a great trip!

ESW

I posted this on another thread but thought there might be some ideas which might appeal to the OP,. This was designed for London to Edinburgh but would work just as well the other way round. It would help pad out annhig's suggestions.


Drive the A1. Stop to have a look at Hatfield House where Elizabeth I spent her childhood and Peterborough Cathedral. Head to Stamford for the first night. This is a lovely town with stone built houses and is about two hours drive from London.

Next morning consider visiting Burghley House, one of the Great Treasure Houses of England. Then head up through Lincoln with its superb cathedral set on top of a hill and pick up the A15 across the Humber Bridge. Head for Beverely with its stunning Minster,m which is even better than York Minster and you may even have it to yourself. Then head to Helmsley for the next two nights. This is about three hours drive from Stamford.

Helmsley is a lovely small village in the heart of the North York Moors and there is plenty to do and see from there. The North York Moors are less touristy than the Yorkshire Dales but scenically just as good. There are ruined castles in Helmsley and Pickering. There is Castle Howard, another of the Great Treasure Houses fo England. Rievaulx Abbey is one of the great ruined Abbeys in Yorkshire. Cropton is a small village with a very good brew pub, the New Inn. This also does B&B so you might want to consider this rather than Helmsley. A bit further away is Whitby with its ruined Abbey and Dracula connections. Scarborough is a good old fashioned sea side town again with a ruined castle. There is also the North York Moors Steam Railway (with connections to Harry Potter which used Grosmont Station as Hogworts Station). There are lots of small villages to enjoy.

After Helmesly head north with stops at Mount Grace Priory on the edge of the North York Moors and head for Durham with its superb Norman cathedral and castle which is one of the halls of residence for Durham University. Crook Hall Gardens are also delightful. After Durham head for either Corbridge of Hexham for the next night. This is about a couple of hours drive from Helmsley.

This allows you to spend some time on Hadrian's Wall the next morning. There is a fort at Corbridge but the best is probabaly Housesteads to the west. It is also possible to go for a short walk along the wall here. This is superb countryside. Finally take the A68 to Edinburgh, your final destination. Again this is about two hours drive from Corbridge, so you have plenty of time. Good stops after Hadrians Wall are Jedburgh which has a superb ruined Abbey and is also a nice town to walk round or Melrose, again with a ruined abbey. The other alternative is to miss the abbeys and head for Rosslyn Chapel on the southern outskirts of Edinburgh.

How does this grab you?

mantapup

Absolutely wonderful! Annhig - your deliberate too few nights idea is great. Leaves us room to move ahead of stop for longer. and ESW thanks for your help and detailed stop-overs on the way back.. Looking very very engaging and I got places to visit and names of areas to swing by, which is whats generally the hardest I find, when planning a road-trip. Will take these in and come back if any questions and hopefully a finalised plan.. theres enough here for me to just run with

annhig

happy planning, mantapup.