Two days in North Yorkshire.
 

We are a family of three, arriving at York by train from Edinburgh on 27 Sept. at 6 pm, (after spending 3 days in Edn and 3 days in Oban). We will rent a car, 27 and 28(Sun & Mon) in N Yorkshire, and leaving for Cambridge on 29 morning.
We are visiting N Yorkshire, since we are Herriot fans.
Where should we stay? Is York itself the best place?
How much time do we allow for Thirsk and York?
Should we plan to see both the Yorkshire Dales and the Moors?
Are Scaraborough and Whitby worth a drive and will we have time? (Not interested in beaches or water skiing.)
On our way to Cambridge, should we see any places?
In short, we will be grateful for a North yorkshire 2-day plan! Thanks.

The first thing I thought of when I saw your title was James Herriott. I can't answer your questions but I know I would want to see the Dales since he loved them so much. Are you going to Skeldale House?

Hi, there's enough to do up here in North Yorkshire to keep you occupied for weeks (and it's a very large county) so I need to know more about your interests (apart from being Herriot fans) before I can help you plan out your 2 days.
As a quick rule of thumb I would say you need as an absolute minimum a day in York, a day in PART of the Dales (they cover a huge area so impossible to see all but you could do a Herriot Dales day including Thirsk), and a day visiting the Moors/Whitby. That's obviously 3 days so something's got to give!
I'd be happy to plan a Herriot Dales day if that's what you decide, especially if you are fans of the TV series too, as I'd include areas where it was filmed (Hawes etc).


There's very little to detain you in Thirsk apart from the Herriot museum.

Thanks, Morgana.

Unfortunately, 2 days is all we have.
No, we haven't even seen the TV series (not shown in India). So not important to us.
We have no specific interests here, except that we want to get a feel of the essence of North Yorkshire(apart from Thirsk). Just the essence, since we have only 2 days. (BTW, we are vegetarians, so YS pudding, etc., will be beyond our scope! Pubs would be good!)

So would you say York, Thirsk for sure. Dales v/s Moors incl drive to Whitby?

You decide what we must forego! We gratefully leave our 2 days of N Yorkshire in your safe hands!

I don't much care for the town of Whitby, but the abbey ruins are magnificent and well-worth seeing if you're interested in that sort of thing.

<<(BTW, we are vegetarians, so YS pudding, etc., will be beyond our scope! Pubs would be good!)>>

excuse my butting in, but unless you are vegans &/or the said pud is cooked in animal fat [possibly but not necessarily] there is no reason why you should not enjoy a Yorkshire or two, since they are only flour, egg, and milk. it's the beef they are normally served with that would be forbidden.
you will be more likely to find veggie food in bigger places like York, but most pubs will have at least one vegetarian alternative.

I'm looking forward to reading Morgana's suggestions for your stay!

regards, ann

Hi, nice to know that there is veg version too! We will certainly look for it. Thanks.

Yes, awaiting Morgan's suggestions!

Sorry, I meant Morgana's reply!

Have you already arranged your rental car? Picking up on a Sunday may be a problem -

Hi again
Well, have given this some thought and my suggestion would be to get to York, enjoy the evening there (ghost walk? trip down the river?) stay the night in York and then spend the next day exploring York itself. No need for a car to do this - the city is compact and easily walkable. It's a gorgeous city, so much to see and do - loads of info on this board or here -
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum...e_England.html
Don't miss the Minster (hard to do so!), or the wonderful National Railway Museum (free entry and superb).
www.nrm.org.uk
Then Monday morning pick up your rental car (avoids the problem of picking it up on a Sunday as cleverly pointed out by the excellent Janis) and go to Thirsk to visit the Herriot museum. Then spend the rest of the day visiting the Dales, especially the Herriot associations. I can advise further on this if you wish. Spend Monday night in the Dales! There are numerous farm bed and breakfasts in the area that are well priced and the perfect way to enjoy the area. Some are very rural but that won't be a problem as you have a car. This website has lots of ideas -
www.yorkshirenet.co.uk
Or how about here-
www.herriotsinhawes.co.uk/index.html
Then Tuesday morning, after a farmhouse breakfast you can travel to Cambridge.
Yorkshire Puddings are traditionally made with the juices from the joint of meat that is roasting at the same time, so as vegetarians you will need to be careful about this. However, they are best served piping hot, fluffy and golden and straight from the oven so to be honest you don't see them that often on menus. They don't take kindly to hanging around, and the frozen Aunt Bessie's ones are vile.

Thanks, Morgana! Your 2-day plan addresses all our needs and expectations. You have uncluttered our minds too! Dropping the Moors, Scarborough and Whitby now seem sensible. (HereInFranklin had said that Whitby is dispensable.)
Is it ok if we returned to York on Monday night?
In York itself, any recommendations to stay? (Our budget is 30-40 per person per night for accommodation.)

Janis, thanks for the tip on Sunday for car pickup, and your suggestions in my other threads!
clefloors, yes, we will be seeing Skeldale house, at long last. Hope you too will make the trip some time! (Are you from UK or elsewhere?)

Glad to help, and no problems about returning to York on Monday night.
I don't have any specific York accommodation recommendations because I live locally so don't need to use them. However, the tripadvisor link in my post above has many questions on reasonably priced places to stay so I am sure you will find something. I would advise you to book as soon as possible though as it is a very popular place to stay.

there ar ev good vegitarian restaurants in York, but you would be better to buy one of the UK books that list them if you are traveling about

morgana's list is as usual v good. This week the weather is cold (11C) with rain from dryto heavy. next week is supposed to be lovely so I guess 18C and dry. Hence sunbathing may or may not be on the cards

annhig

Yorkshire pudding is normally cooked in beef dripping or lard so not suitable for vegetarians. Vegetable oil does not get hot enough.

jayadev

If you decide to sample chips from a fish and chip shop ask what they are cooked in - in Yorkshire they are traditionally cooked in beef dripping although things are changing rapidly so chips cooked in veg oil are more common. In pubs and restaurants you should be fine.

Thanks, Ann. We will ask before we eat!

Scarborough is very much worth a visit. Very charming small town with lots of nice hotels and b&b's on both the south cliff and north cliff with terrific seaviews. On the other hand I would avoid Newcastle (wish I had) especially on the week-ends when the stag and hen parties are in full swing and there is not a quiet hotel room in town.

Larry J

Hi, We have no time for Scarborough unfortunately. We have 2 days in N Yorkshire - day 1, a drive to Thirsk and the Dales. Day 2, York. By the way, we changed our itenerary: travelling by train London-York-Edinburgh. Thanks anyway!