Natinoal parks, which one?
 

We're planning a trip to the UK June 2016, and priorities are hiking, coastal seafood, historic sites and general relaxing. At this point we will be doing 3-4 nights in London, a week in Cornwall (Falmouth area) and then we have 9 more nights to allocate. Considering Snowdonia, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District, Brecon Beacons. Hadrian's Wall also of interest. We are looking for dramatic scenery, well-marked trails and a charming base town in which to locate. We tend to spend a minimum of 3 or 4 nights in one place rather than moving every two nights. I would love to hear your thoughts on the best choices, especially for that time of year, and why. As always, thank you very much for your help.

Oops, obviously meant to type "National parks."

This is not going to help you one bit :)

But the Dales, Peaks or Snowdonia would each be perfect for a 4 day visit in June. I haven't stayed for any length of time in the Brecon Beacons but they are lovely too.

If I had to choose one I'd have a VERY hard time -- and any decision would probably be based on if there was a festival, event or special place I wanted to visit.

If my feet were to the fire I'd probably rate them 1) the Dales, 2) Snowdownia, 3) the Peak District 4) the Beacons. But the next person could totally flip the list.

Not kidding -- they are National parks for a reason and you can't go wrong which ever you choose.

hi voyager,

given that you are going to be in Cornwall for a week [great choice of Falmouth for a place to stay, BTW, just about my favourite town in the county] ease of access would suggest moving onto the Brecon Beacons and then Snowdonia.

The Brecons are lovely with lots of charming little towns, [though if you wanted the coast, the Pembrokeshire national park is not much further] and of course Snowdonia has the dramatic scenery.

A place not to dismiss is Exmoor [north Devon/Somerset] which has some beautiful scenery and lovely coastline.

if you want to go further north, you might consider flying from Newquay to Leeds or Manchester on Flybe [unfortunately the schedules don't stretch to next June yet] and picking up a car there.

You could also fly to Liverpool and do Snowdonia and the Peaks.

hope this helps!

jj and I posting at the same time.

The Dales are landlocked so obviously don't have the coast you mention. Having said that, I can recommend an excellent and award winning seafood restaurant in the middle of the Dales!
Hiking trails are very well marked, and the scenery is beautiful. Plenty of towns to suit you as a base - maybe Masham in Wensleydale, or Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale.
Nidderdale is actually outwith the National Park Boundary for reasons I won't bore you with here, but is an AONB.
June is a good time to visit - the school holidays don't start until mid July.
Just to throw another park into the mix, North Yorkshire also has the North Yorks Moors National Park which would definitely suit your requirements - spreads right out to the coast. You could visit Whitby and eat fantastic fish and chips!

There's very few places in England I would label as stunning in terms of natural beauty. Small areas of a the Lake District qualify such as the Litte Langdale Valley and Buttermere. The hiking there is incredible compared with the effort you ave to put in. A 3000ft climb will give you great vistas.

Absolutely agree with Ann, Falmouth is my favourite place in England and but for circumstances I would live there at the drop of a hat. Have you narrowed down a place to stay ? For a week, would you rent a cottage?

The Dales and the Breacon are very different landscapes to The Lakes. Both can be quite bleak with rolling fells.

Wow, I am impressed with all the information shared already, although I still need to process what has been said and see how it fits with distances and transportation options.

We have found a coastal cottage near Lizard, not in Falmouth obviously but Falmouth seems to be the largest town in that area. We should certainly be able to visit Falmouth easily, I think? And it looks like there are other good options for day trips nearby.

I had previously thrown the Lake District into the running until one of the trip reports mentioned how busy it was, but maybe I should reconsider. We have time for two parks, so now I just need to figure out which two would offer a contrast and be reasonably accessed given distance and time. Extra consideration would probably be given to significant historical sites near a certain park.

The order of the itinerary is London, Cornwall, then two more places, then back to London to return home. Other than the Cornwall cottage, the rest of our accommodations will probably be small inns/bed and breakfasts.

Likely taking the train from London to Truro and then renting a car for Cornwall. We could either keep the car and drive or take the train somewhere and rent a car again. Think I would prefer the train to flying since we are already spending a lot of time in airplanes to get there from the Northwest U.S. :) Any restaurant recommendations are highly appreciated!

And I would add we are really looking forward to this trip...haven't been to the UK for 10 years and only really explored Lyme Regis area and the Cotswolds, although we were able to see Stonehenge, Bath, Warwick Castle and Windsor Castle as well. We have always wanted to go back.

Thank you for all your help!

< We are looking for dramatic scenery, well-marked trails and a charming base town in which to locate>

Scotland may be too far north for you on this trip but you could consider

http://www.trossachs.co.uk/nationalpark.php

You have hills, mountains, fresh water lochs, sea lchs, castles (e.g. Doune Castle appears in Outlander and Monty Python & The Holy Grail).
Stirling or Callander would be best for a base.

We have found a coastal cottage near Lizard, not in Falmouth obviously but Falmouth seems to be the largest town in that area. We should certainly be able to visit Falmouth easily, I think? And it looks like there are other good options for day trips nearby. >>

Depending on where your cottage is exactly on the Lizard, the nearest town may Falmouth or Helston. if you don't mind posting a link to it, I can tell you how long it's going to take you to get to various places, the nearest/best attractions, etc. [The Lizard is an area south of the Helford river, Lizard village is a village towards the south of that area, and Lizard point is the most southerly point of the mainland UK, so a coastal cottage near Lizard could mean anything!]

Yes, we have considered Scotland too, but thought it might be too far for our slow way of traveling...but we are on the fence even about that decision. The first half of the vacation was easy to decide on, second half not so much.

Here is the link to the Cornwall cottage, annhig. http://www.vrbo.com/8110600ha

wow - what a lovely place! as I suspected it's closer to Helston [about a 20 minute drive away] than to Falmouth [about the same again], with Penzance about the same distance as Falmouth in the opposite direction.

the owners have given you quite a few good ideas - to those I would add going up to the villages of Cadgwith and Coverack, both with good pubs, ditto the tiny village of Porthallow: http://www.thefivepilchards.co.uk/2.html

going up the western coast, you have Kynance cove [very pretty and not too busy in June] then Mullion, then the tiny cove of Polhdu from where Marconi sent his first transmission. there's a particularly nice hotel there, the Polurrian which always reminds me of a set from an agatha Christie novel. should be good for a nice lunch or even better dinner:

http://www.polurrianhotel.com/food-and-drink/

another place we like which you are bound to come across as you travel up and down the Lizard is Trelowarren - a lovely cornish estate with walks and a garden and a terrific restaurant [are you spotting a theme here?] - well worth a stop and a look round.

Finally, before we leave the Lizard there is Helford Village - on the south side of the river estuary - and the Shipwright's Arms. Round the other side of the estuary you can go east towards the gardens of Glendurgan and Trebah, and finally Falmouth or west to Porthleven [ there is a lovely circular walk through the Penrose estate and along the beach and back to the village] and beyond that St Michael's Mount at Marazion, and finally Penzance.

if you like boat trips, Falmouth is probably the best place - you can get to St Mawes or Flushing, or up to the gardens at Trelissick - or even Truro.

That's probably enough information for now but if you want to know any more just let me know!

Thank you, annhig! Yes, I was quite taken with the property as soon as I saw it. These are some great ideas and perfect for our interests. We love going to pubs, restaurants, gardens, historic buildings and really looking forward to taking walks in the area.

I appreciate everyone's feedback and will post again when I begin fine-tuning the second half of the trip.

How about a few days in Norfolk? The scenery may not be dramatic, but it is unique and different from that of your other bases. It has a national park, the Norfolk Broads, which are a series of interconnected lakes and rivers. If you like slow travel, hire a boat for a few days to potter from village to village. Then onto North Norfolk which is famous for its "big skies" - it's fairly flat so you can see for miles. Base yourself somewhere like Wells-Next-The-Sea and be surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches, old fashioned seaside towns like Sheringham or Hunstanton, the royal connection with Sandringham House (the Queen's favourite residence, apparently) "quaint" villages with brick and flint cottages, trendy towns like Holt (a Wills and Kate favourite with fabulous quirky shops). It's a place that attracts British holidaymakers, but is completely off the radar for overseas visitors.

Consider the Pembroke coast and national park too.

It's no good you will just have to start planning another trip. :)

All these ideas has me researching new places like crazy. I appreciate everyone's time in providing advice.