Suggestions needed for our next trip to England
 

I'd like to visit England again October 2009. I know there is so much for us yet to see throughout England. I am not sure which two areas to base ourselves for one week each. We will rent a car but will drop it before our final week in London.

We have already spent week long stays in the Lake District, Yorkshire area, Cotswolds, Bath and Devon usually in combination with London

Our interests are numerous and so varied that we select our locations and then have fun doing the research.

I'm sure there are some wonderful areas "new" to us and would appreciate your suggestions.

Thank you, Deborah

Deborah
Have you explored Warwickshire - there are some interesting areas there ie Henley upon Arden, Stratford, Warwick. Or dare I say it, my area of Lancashire - the Trough of Bowland is a delight and you can combine this with some of the lesser known areas of Yorkshire which border onto Lancashire. There is also the Peak District which has recently been the subject on this Forum. Good luck.
Steve

You could head further south-west to Cornwall if you liked Devon. Or spend some time in the south east - Canterbury, Dover, the Cinque Ports.

Cornwall, East Anglia, Peak District

What about Wales? We live in England about 20 minutes from the Wales many many times. There are loads of castles, plus beaches, as well as Snowdonia in northern wales. Depending on what you are looking for, there is plenty to choose from.

Thank you for the suggestions and Wales is a possibility. One question I have is if the Lake District and the Peak District are one and the same??

thanks again, Deborah

If you do not go to Wales (I LOVE Wales) why not try the North York Moors and Dales? Stunning scenery - absolutely sublime. It is my favourite part of the entire country and Northumberland would be my second. I would go back in an instant if I could!

No the Lake District is in the north west of England and the Peak district is central slightly east England. Check out www.visitbritain.com for maps

Northumbria and Wales- I had overlooked them when suggesting places. Both have stunning scenery.

Another vote for Northumbria and Wales

hi deborahAnn

although I ought to be plugging Cornwall, I'm not sure that October is the best month to be here - my favourites are May and September, though April is good too when you've stil got some of the camellias out- they are generally over by May.

of the other suggestions, I love Warwickshire, hailing from there originaly, and the Peaks are terrific. another one that hasn't been mentioned is the border country between Wales and England - near Ross on Wye. it's really lovely and not much visited by tourists. Malvern, Ludlow and Worcester are all within reach.

too many choices.

regards, ann

What a delightful problem to have so many destination choices for England. I am slightly concerned about late October weather so I might begin our trip in mid September. I wonder if a "shoulder season" for travel prices still exists??

I just picked up from the library the 2009 Fordor's England with the Best of Wales included---I now know where the Peak District is located--and so my research begins ;;) Deborah

If you enjoy stately homes, charming villages and gardens (English gardens in Oct. beat those at home in Canada at that time of year), consider Kent/Sussex.

Suffolk is also wonderful, as are the North York Moors.

October can be a stunning month to go (it can rain no matter what month over here). I first enjoyed Scotland in October when the autumn colours were setting in. Wales (being in the west) can be wet or you could be lucky and have a glorious autumn day.

If you've spent a week in the Cotswolds, my guess is you've already seen many of the Warwikshire sites - right?

All the Shakespeare sites, Warwick Castle, Kenilworth etc etc.

My choices (though you could have a great stay just about <u>anywhere</u>) for Oct would be

• Kent/East Sussex. More castles and gardens then you could possibly see in a week. Especially Sissinghurst, Scotney Castle, Hever, Chartwell, Dover, Canterbury and TONS more.

• Northumberland - the Wall, Bamburgh, Alnwick, Lindesfarne, Durham, and even into the Scottish Borders would be easy day trips.

• North Wales - castles and scenery on steroids :)

• North Yorkshire - moors, dales, abbeys, York, Castle Howard, Fountains Abbey/Studley Royal, etc.

• or the Lakes and/or Peaks.

Absolutely ANY of those areas are worth more than a week.

If I had to pick 2 - mainly because they are relatively convenient to each other w/o having to travel to the far end of the country - it would be Northumberland and either North Yorkshire or North Wales.

Thank you for the suggestions. I now can see two different possibilities for our trip. I will do some research and then decide whether to fly in and out of London including stays in Sussex/Kent and East Anglia or flying in and out of Manchester and visiting the Peak District and Wales. Thank you so very much for the help, Deborah

Wales will be gorgeous at the time of your trip! The leaves will be a blaze of color and the soft rains result in beautiful rainbows. I very highly recommend Wales.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the area around Cambridge.

Besides the University city where one could spend a couple of days minimum exploring the colleges and churches, there are the lovely towns of Lavenham and Saffron Walden in the area.

Ely, one of my all time favorite cathedrals.

Norwich also has a cathedral with great ceiling bosses, some interesting old streets, and a museum.

Duxford air museum has all sorts of aircraft. One hangar is dedicated to American aircraft of WW II. It was an emotional experience to see the plane like the ones my father flew in the war. It was a miracle that any survived.

The American cemetery is just outside Cambridge.

These are just a few of the treats in this area.

OOps, just noticed that MissPrism mentioned East Anglia. Sorry, Miss P!

Don't mention it ;-)

For an idea of East Anglia look at http://sylvia.photoblog.me.uk/c1250171_1.html

If you click on my photo of Willy Lott's cottage in Flatford and then have a look at Constable's painting, you'll see that it has changed very little over the centuries