I happened to be looking up sources of lardy cake and saw this
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUse...s_England.html


I love lardy cake. It's not for those on a diet

My next question is this: if we choose two week long stays what are the best towns for a base in both the Cotswolds & Yorkshire? I'd like something centrally located so when we do go sightseeing our drive isn't over an hour each way on most days. For example, if we stayed near Chipping Campden our drive to Stourhead would be 2 hours each way - far too long. The same is true of Yorkshire. We're really looking for something bucolic but still with some variety of Pubs, shops...a nice little town to walk about. Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Many have also suggested we not drive the first day or so until we're acclimated - if that is the plan we could spend a night or two in Bath (or Windsor as jj suggested, or Edinburgh as Gardyloo suggested) then drive to our next location...but this would hamper the two week long rental idea ... unfortunately I can't have it both ways...suggestions?

'Yorkshire' covers a huge swathe of Northern England so therefore there's no one town which will be ideal.
You've already mentioned Thirsk which is situated in the Vale of Mowbray. It's a busy, bustling place, perfectly acceptable but not particularly attractive, and the surrounding countryside lacks the beauty and grandeur of the Dales and Moors.
The advantages of Thirsk are that it has rail and decent road links, plus a good range of shops and pubs, and the Herriot Museum of course. However, I'd be hard pressed to call the place in any way bucolic.
Somewhere you might like to investigate is Masham. I'm probably biased because I live very close by, but it really is a lovely spot in Lower Wensleydale. It has good road links to deeper into the Dales, but also you'd be able to reach a lot of the places you want to see within an hour (Fountains, Aysgarth etc).
http://www.visitmasham.com/
There's a small market twice a week, shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants, two breweries you can visit, and a small Tourist office if you wanted more info on where to go. It's surrounded by lovely countryside with lots of interesting walks from the market square itself.

I was thinking this morning about where to stay. Thirsk is ok but a bit dull. Ripon is a possible with at least some good transport connections and the old centre is pretty nice. I spent 18 months working in Masham and it has a very pretty centre with stuff to do close by it is just a bit in the middle of nowhere (sorry Morgana but you know what I mean) though that does mean there is grand hiking all around. (plus two breweries).

I think that though people always want a Saturday to Saturday booking June is still relatively early in the season and I suspect landlords would rather have a 6 nighter or 5 nighter booked early than a gap in bookings nearer the time. So take advantage of your planning horizon.

I'd just stop by Windsor one night. Jet lag wears off, especially if you stay out in the daylight as long as possible. The castle and town is a pretty good visit, the river bank offers lots of walks and you can start good an early to get to the West.

UK motorways in the south of England take a bit of getting used to, I'd not like to learn to drive on these roads on the right hand side of the road (not my usual side) with an automatic (not my usual car) and the whole family screaming in the back at Heathrow.

No offence taken Bilbo - but compared to the 'hamlet' I live in, Masham is considered the local 'big town'!!
Ripon is a good suggestion, hadn't thought of that.

Let's look at Ripon then. The characters in the Alice books are said to be based on the choir pew carved animals in Ripon Minster (which is also a pretty good visit and worth getting a deacon to show you round), a fit person could walk from Ripon to Fountains Abbey, though I doubt if many do, along a public footpath. Fountains abbey is worth a good half day, looking at the old buildings, visiting Studley Royal, going bird watching... and eating cake. Light Water Valley amusement park is just up the road and there is Masham. Going south is Harrogate and Ripley (another old castle/village), all pretty close before you hack over to York or up to Richmond

For the Cotswolds you really can't do better than in/near Burford.

. . . But there are many fabulous sites (including gardens) much nearer the Cotswolds than Stourhead. If Stourhead is a must -- maybe you need to re-think the Cotswolds . . .

In North Yorkshire - Thirsk is good mainly because 1) it has lots of shops/restaurants, 2) easy rail connection to York, 3) is located in the middle of things -- so driveable to the Moors/coast and the Dales and everything in berween. The Dales are lovely -- but a long drive from the Moors. The Moors/coast are great -- but a long drive from the Dales and York. So if minimizing drive times is really important to you -- Thirsk or Ripon are likely your best area. -- You don't have to stay IN either town -- a nearby village would work too.

I think that though people always want a Saturday to Saturday booking June is still relatively early in the season and I suspect landlords would rather have a 6 nighter or 5 nighter booked early than a gap in bookings nearer the time. So take advantage of your planning horizon.>>

As a putative landlord/lady [albeit a cornish one] I can tell you that in June you shouldn't have a problem getting a 5-6 night let. The local tourist board is a good place to start looking as they have independent letters like us who don't pay commission to the big boys such as english country cottages and the like. We still have to be vetted by the tourist board and you should be able to tell from the website if they have the right no of bedrooms, washing machine [nearly all do] dishwasher [not so many] etc. etc.

Since it may come up, it's "maz ham" not "mash am" just saves a load of discussion.

Although I think Stourhead and Wells are not-to-be missed places, it is difficult to find somewhere that is both convenient to them and to the Cotswolds. The problem is that you have to cross the Avon valley at some point and either go through Bath or Bristol, or make a long detour round. The north to south roads are not fast, and there are few of them. The traffic is nearly always heavy.

On the subject of the Cotswolds, there are far more places to visit than ever get mentioned here. What about Woodchester Mansion, where building started in the nineteenth century but stopped when the money ran out. You can really see how a large house was built, and also hear an interesting story.

Another place never mentioned is Ozwleworth Church, which we visited a few weeks ago. It takes some finding, and you have to go through the grounds of the local manor house to get there. You will probably have the place to yourself, but it will make a more lasting impression than the sort of place where you have to fight your way in. It's convenient for Wootton under Edge, unless you meet another car on the steep narrow lanes.

Could I also put in a plea for Cirencester? It is surely the largest of the Cotswold towns and has lots of history and charm. In Roman times, it was the second largest city in the country after London, and it has an excellent museum. On the outskirts are the remains of an ampitheatre, and not far away is the Roman villa at Chedworth. Cirencester is a proper town with shops, restaurants and a bus service. It also has an impressive parish church right in the town centre.

We did Stourhead and Wells as day trips from Bath. If you took the bus from the airport to Bath, spent a day in Bath, then rented the car and drove to Wells and Stourhead, spent another night in Bath before you headed north, that would be an easier start to your trip. 3 nights in one hotel. Caveat: you would need parking in Bath. But I would stay in central Bath -- so on the first day if some one needs to drop back to the hotel for a nap, it's easy to get to.

I do think you might have to adapt this trip to mediate the differences in interests, energy, and travel style between your parents and your daughters. A lot of time in the car going first to one stop, then another, doesn't give you a lot of flexibility.

>>I do think you might have to adapt this trip to mediate the differences in interests, energy, and travel style between your parents and your daughters. A lot of time in the car going first to one stop, then another, doesn't give you a lot of flexibility.<<

I agree. It is a huge advantage of renting cottages for 6 or 7 days at a time. In any week, there will be times one or more of a 3 generation group of 6 will just want/need a down day. Sit around the house, taking a walk, watching telly, exploring the local village - anything but packing and moving and spending the day in the back seat of a people mover. W/ a cottage -- that is a possibility. Staying in a series of B&Bs - not so much.

Agree that two bases, with two different cottage rentals, is the way to go. In the north, Thirsk is a good location; as others have said, it's very easy to get to the Dales in one direction and the Moors in the other (over Sutton Bank, via Helmsley). York is very accessible as a day trip; there are park + ride places on the outskirts of York, but we've found that getting there early and finding a car park near the city centre has been fine. I've spent quite a lot of time in North Yorkshire - I come from England and now live in Canada. I've done two family holidays here with kids (now teenagers); we've stayed at this place - http://www.oldoakcottages.com/. I'd strongly recommend this, or something along these lines; if you have a look at premiercottages.com, there are others, but the nice thing about Old Oak is the indoor pool. This is a working farm, right below Sutton Bank and near a couple of lovely Yorkshire villages, Coxwold and Kilburn. There's a Tesco in Thirsk. We've done a lot of day trips from here, including to the coast - Whitby is nice and combines well with a day on the moors. It sounds as if you have a great trip planned!

Sorry, I gave you the wrong link for cottage rentals; it should be http://www.premiercottages.co.uk/index.aspx

Well, after mulling over all of the wonderful suggestions here I have somewhat reworked my itinerary. I think doing several long term rentals will work best and I've also really thought about things that are must sees for me personally (Bath, Stourhead, Wells) and what would best fit our traveling party on this trip. I've also implemented Gardyloo's suggestion to flip our trip around and begin with Edinburgh, that way we have a few days without a car in the beginning to recover from any jet lag before driving. We're still moving three times, but if we want to recover from jet lag somewhere (whether Bath, Windsor or Edinburgh) I don't see how this is unavoidable. However, our two main lodgings will be longer term. So here it goes ...

Day 1 : Fly into Edinburgh (flight arrives @ 8:30 am) do some sight seeing or rest for those who need it
Day 2: Edinburgh sightseeing continued
Day 3: Pick up car & drive to Yorkshire (stopping somewhere about half way to stretch & see something along the way; arrive at Yorkshire cottage (exact location TBT) staying for 5 nights
(days 4 - 7 could be switch depending on the weather, and what we feel like doing - since we won't be moving much we have some flexibility)
Day 4: Masham, Aysgarth, Hawes
Day 5: Helmsley, Rievaulx Abbey, (possibly Eden Camp if time allows)
Day 6: York (probably taking the train from Thirsk)
Day 7: Fountains Abbey & whatever else comes our way
Day 8: Drive South to the Cotswolds (again stopping at an interesting midway point to stretch & see something along the way) Arrive at Cotswold cottage (exact location TBT) staying for 6 nights
(Days 9 - 13 can also be switched to suit our needs once we've settled in)
Day 9: Explore the Cotswolds
Day 10: Oxford
Day 11: Explore the Cotswolds
Day 12: St. Fagans
Day 13: open to whatever we decide on our last day...
Day 14: Return car in Oxford & take the National Express to Heathrow

I'm interested in your thoughts on this itinerary. I know it isn't perfect (Edinburgh deserves more time) and I still need to decide on our actual bases in each location (I'm taking everyone's suggestions into consideration). I'm also trying to decide if it would be better to do 6 nights in Yorkshire & 5 in the Cotswold's because I could easily do that if Yorkshire requires more time of the two. I appreciate all of the great feedback!

makes sense to me

Pretty good. couple of comments:

By St Fagans - do you mean the Museum in Cardiff? If so that will be at least a 2 hour drive from most places in the Cotswolds.

And Edinburgh to say Thirsk is a 5 hour drive -- any stops (like Hadrian's Wall for example will ad a lot of time/quite a detour.

The One major exception is Alnwick -- right ON your route. But the problem (other than it is too far north -- only about 2 hours from Edinburgh) is the Castle is FANTASTIC and has something for everyone. Medieval castle, Harry Potter connections, stately home, beautiful gardens -- takes most of a day to see. So maybe a slight modification . . Drive in the AM from Edinburgh to Alnwick. Spend all afternoon there and stay the night in Alnwick or nearby. Then the next day you only have about 3 hours to Thirsk. This would add an additional stop/check in/check out but well worth it IMO. And on the drive south from Alnwick you'd have time for either Hadrian's Wall or even better for the kids and your Dad maybe - Beamish

http://www.beamish.org.uk

Well, two months later and everything is set. We will be flying in and out of Manchester (found great priced, nonstop flights!) and staying for our first week in Helmsley and our second week in Bourton-on-the water. I just wanted to thank everyone for your great suggestions and first hand experience accounts!

Yes, by St. Fagan's I mean the museum in Cardiff. Yes it'll be between and hour and half to two hours I figure ... but as we decided to give up Scotland we're willing to make the journey into Wales as it sounds like an experience everyone would enjoy and we can drive through the Wye Valley and see some beautiful countryside.

Great! I can be more specific about some suggestions now.
I am sure you will love Helmsley. It's a lovely place in itself but also a good base to explore.
You mentioned Eden Camp earlier - this is perfect for a rainy day activity. I worked in a school for many years and we used to do regular school trips out here. The children loved it and got a lot out of their visits.
If you are going to visit the Dales then your girls might well love this place.
http://www.theforbiddencorner.co.uk/
It's set in beautiful rolling Dales countryside, and is a very strange place indeed! However you must buy tickets in advance - you can't just turn up and go in.
If you plan to visit Whitby and your girls like reading then I'd suggest they look at the Robin Jarvis series called The Whitby Witches. My own children loved these books, and they would definitely enhance a trip to the town.
http://www.robinjarvis.com/whitbyhome.html
The Ryedale Folk Museum is another great day out and not too far from you. Hutton le Hole is one of the prettiest villages in the area, and the Museum consists of lots of little houses and rooms that you can explore.
http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/
Lastly, don't miss Rievaulx Abbey, very close to Helmsley.

Terrific! lovely plan litchickmi.