MNGuy

Hello, I have a gap in my Itinerary of 3 days/nights between Edinburgh and London. I can travel by train or rent a car. Initially I had though to drive south from Edinburgh, seeing Hadrian's Wall, with a night in Durham and 2 in York, then taking the train to London. My wife is interested in the lake region, so I am having trouble deciding. What would you do? Any other suggestions? Thanks!
Andy

crckwc

Tough choices! I think you might want to keep your wife happy by including at least one day in the Lake District. Driving south from Edinburgh, you could base at Cracrop Farm (www.cracrop.co.uk) where we stayed in 2002. It's a lovely farmhouse B&B centrally located for spending a day at the lakes, a day at Hadrian's Wall, and the third day at Durham. However, I would skip Durham and drive to York for the 3rd day, and take the late train to London. For a much more relaxing trip, spend 3 days in York and surrounding Yorkshire area, or 3 days in the Lakes/Hadrian/Durham area. Whatever you miss on this trip, you can see another time. Have a wonderful trip!

janis

Actually you can do it all. The Lakes and Northumberland/Hadrian's Wall are convenient to each other. If you base your self for 2 nights somewhere near Penrith You can spend one day exploring the Lakes and the other one along the Wall. Then drive over to York (with a detour to Durham IF you get an early start) for the last night. York is small enough to see most everytung in one day.

janis

That should be "everything . . "

MNGuy

Thanks for the suggestions, any others?

Travelnick

Durham is a beautiful town with I think a more impressive cathedral than York Minster - partly because of its stunning location. But it is small and 3 hrs will allow you to wander around the old town, see the Cathedral and Castle (which may not be open as it is a college) so very much a good lunch place.

RB1

Hi MNGuy,
We did a similar route just in the opposite direction. It was amazing! I would suggest to rent a car and go south to Hadrian's wall, see on the way maybe Jedburgh, Floors castle- a very nice stop for no more than an hr, Melrose abbey - these are all in very close proximity although you may want to see only one abbey (it gets quite repetitive, all those border abbeys...) or maybe press on to Durham to see the cathedral. on the second day: Fountains abbey - by far the largest and most beautiful abbey we've seen and Castle Howard before getting to York. Spending one day in York is sufficient: we've seen practically all the must see places in York in one (very tiring) day. (I also have to mention that in between what will be day 1 and day 2 in this itinerary - we stayed in Langley castle (the greenwich room)- where the room itself, the dinner, breakfast, and the ambiance of the place was beyond belief, if you're interested... ).
Have a great trip