Hi there,

I am planning on having a day out this weekend and was looking for some ideas. I am based in Leeds so somewhere that is no more than 2 hours drive away would be great. (anywhere other than Durham and York as I have lived in both these places).

Thanks
Kate

Hi
Most of the questions on this forum about daytrips in the UK seem to have London in mind as the base. You may indeed get responses here from travelers or citizens who know Leeds well; if not, try reposting your question with "Leeds" in the header.

You don't say what you are looking for - country, hiking, gardens, city?

But if it were me, I'd flip a coin between the Lakes (except they will be crowded, especially if the weather is nice), a drive through the Dales, or the north coast of Wales.

My favorite would probably be Conwy and north Wales w/ a detour into Chester if I had the time.

How about the Scottish
boarder area. Galashiels and Melrose.

Fountains Abbey - one of the finest ruined abbeys in UK - in a splendid setting on the grounds of Studley Royal, a huge estate. Near Ripon, above Harrogate, an interesting 'spa' town you could stop in on the way.

Caernarfon Castle, near the town of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch (the uchaf part).

Okay, that's four hours. But I just had to say it.

Janis I love both countryside and cities and as hopefully over time I will get to see all of the places people suggest I really have an open mind. Scotland would be lovely but unfortnately is too far away to do in a day. I agree Fountains abbey is lovely but as it's so close to home I have been a few times. North Wales is a great idea and one I hadn't really thought of so I'll look into that. Thanks for the suggestions everyone and keep them coming!!

K877,

Why not try a road trip?

Bypass Bradford and head for Bingley, (20 miles) the five rise locks are a wonderful feat of engineering.

From there it's a quick trip to Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley, (5 miles), don’t let the words ‘Castle’ and ‘Museum’ deter you

I’d skip Keighley itself and head to Skipton, (10 miles) there’s an open-air market on Saturdays.

From Skipton you could head to Grassington (10 miles) or return to Leeds via Harrogate

I am of course assuming that you have access to a car.

http://www.skiptonweb.co.uk/tourist/...ions/index.htm

I suggest the following Lincoln (magnificent cathedral), one of the east coast towns (Whitby, Scarborough, Skegness) or Blackpool (probably better by public transport).

Since you have access to a computer you can google any of these to see how it fits.

You cannot get to Conway, Caernarvon or the Scottish borders in 2 hours from Leeds on the second weekend in August. I can seldom do the M62 round Manchester in 2 hours, never mind compete with all the weekending Liverpudlians and Mancunians on their way to inject some life into North Wales

But you can get to the central and western bits of Hadrian's Wall, just. Try Wallsend (the only city in Britain with a bilingual "Welcome to..." sign where the second language is Latin), following the signs for Segedunum, which is one of the best bits of Roman hokey in Europe. I defy you not to want to plant the Roman garden in your own backyard. While there, check out the Byker Wall and all the funky new stuff around Gateshead.

And if you were misguided enough to miss them when you lived in Durham, Whitby, Jarrow and Lindisfarne.

Hi Kate
I live in Harrogate and my choice (keep dropping hints to my husband) would be to go to Alnwick and see the fabulous new gardens the Duchess of Northumberland has created.
www.alnwickgarden.com
You can even get to eat dinner in that amazing treehouse!
You could also visit the medieval Castle in the town.
If the weather was good you could then explore the beautiful beaches in the area.
Whatever you choose, have a wonderful trip.
M

The common rooms (and some guest suites) of the White Swan Hotel in Alnwick are furnished with paneling and furniture from <i>Titanic</i>'s sister ship, <i>R.M.S. Olympic</i>.

If you ever wondered what crossing the Atlantic via White Star superliner was like, this is your chance to experience some of the ambiance.

Thanks for all your great ideas. Alnwick is now definitely top of my lists of places to go to but I think we'll save that for a whole weekend rather than a day trip and combine it with a trip to Hadrian's wall. We had decided on Scarborough but given the appaling weather we may take jsmith's advice and go to Lincoln and see the Cathedral. I'll let you know where we end up!

Kate
I know you said you wanted a weekend trip, but if you had some time free midweek then a terrific day out is to take the Flying Scotsman steam train from York to Scarborough. The 'Scotsman was bought recently by the Railway Museum at York and every Tues/Wed/Thurs until the end of August it is steaming to Scarborough and back.
We went yesterday - it leaves York at 12.05 and gets to Scarboro' an hour later. You can either return after 2 hours in Scarboro', or do as we did and have the afternoon/evening in Scarboro' and return on the 8.20pm, which got us into York at 9.15pm.
Loads of people were watching the train go past - we'd fly past cornfields and there would be a batch of men with tripods and cameras catching the train as it sped past at 60mph. We took a picnic on board (including champagne!) but you can order a hamper, or buy from the buffet car.
We had a great time in Scarboro, exploring the Castle, shops, seafront etc, and finished off with a very good meal in ASK overlooking the Harbour.
I think there is still some ticket availability - full details on www.nrm.org.uk
M

That sounds great but unfortunately I can't have any time off work at the moment so I'm restricted to weekends. What a shame they aren't running Saturdays and Sundays!!