My wife, daughter and I are travelling for the first time in UK, in September, for 15 days. Can someone please help us get our priorities right in terms of places to visit and to give a miss:

If we were to choose between Scotland and Lake District, what would you recommend?

Is Wales missable?

We are long-time fans of James Herriot. So would we find Thirsk and Yorkshire Dales worth a visit? (I have often heard that it could be disappointing, since one expects so much.)

Given this background, can someone suggst an itenerary (giving London 5 days)?

Thanks in advance.

You are trying to cover ALOT of territory. Does the 15 days include your arrival and departure day? Will you have a car?

If you are driving and from N. America be aware that driving here takes so much longer than back at home!

So with 15 days I would choose 2 areas outside of London to explore. But only you can decide what you are interested in! Scotland alone can take all 15 days!

I would do maybe 5 days London, pick up car drive to Lake District do a few days there, drive to Yorkshire spend a few days there, then head back to London....but again it completely depends on your interests...

Oh and just because the Island looks small doesnt mean you can cover Wales, Northern England, and Scotland in 10 days...you could, but you woudl spend your entire vacation in the car traveling between points. Focus on a couple areas and relax adn enjoy them!

Hi thanks for so prompt a response, Jamikins! Yes, UK is offers so rich and varied fare, we have to be very selective given the 15 day limit. We are travelling from India. We plan to take trains/coaches.

Would you recommend Lake District or Scotland as one being preferable over the other?

Or would you say we just do south England and Wales?

Will Yorkshire live up to Its reputation (and our expectations)?

jamikins advice is good. It is impossible to compare the Lake District and Scotland, or any other areas. They are all individual. I suggest the best for you is to decide what you want from the visit and go for a couple, perhaps, of areas or places that will meet your requirements. Historical cities, ancient places, beautiful scenery, local culture, whatever, it has to be your decision.

And to repeat, do not be suckered into the belief that because the UK is physically small it can be 'done' in a few weeks. I'll repeat what I've posted here before: I've lived in the UK for 51 of my 55 years and still am not familiar with some areas.

Hmmmm...train and coaches will make it a bit more difficult and less flexible.

You may think about training to York, and then using the public transport to see some of Yorkshire for a few days...I believe there was a thread recently about that. Then you could train to Edinburgh and spend a few days there, and do a couple day trips via bus - there are lots of tours from there...then you could fly out of Edinburgh to avoid backtracking.

I'm really not sure about Lake District without a car...doesnt seem possible, or very easy.

Hope this helps!

Oh and we will be heading to the Lake District and Yorkshire the first week of May so you can look for our trip report shortly after May 11! I hope they live up to our expectations

I would not try the Lakes District without a car.

If you're not going to hire a car, then I would cut down the places to see. A car will give you much more flexibility and allow access to places where the trains don't go.

Spend your 5 days in London, then head for York(train from London). Forget the Herriot thing, one Yorkshire dale or village is much like another and you can waste too much time driving round country lanes, unless you've got a thing for that. Then head for Scotland, either City (Edinburgh) or country(Loch Lomond area).

After that, train down to Manchester-great City, lots of heritage and history, great hotels, restaurants, shopping etc. and day trip access to the Lake District or North Wales either by road or train.

Depending on time, you could take in Stratford on the way back to London to return home.

Regards

"Forget the Herriot thing, one Yorkshire dale or village is much like another"
Nooooooooooo!!! I hope this was a light hearted comment! I've never heard ANYONE say that before if it was serious! I am fortunate enough to live in one of those Dales and have done so for many years. I say fortunate because to me (who has travelled all over the world) they cannot be beaten for so many reasons and I have NEVER had anyone tell me the area failed to live up to their expectations. I can assure you and anyone else planning a trip to the Dales that each one is absolutely unique and has its own charm and beauty. You could blindfold me and put me down in any of them and I could tell by the walls or the fields or the style of the barns or houses which one I was in. They are all very different.
Having said that, the area is a beggar to explore without a car. There's very limited public transport which is not geared up for tourists, and Mr Beeching got rid of the rail lines decades ago.
If anyone wants more detailed info on North Yorkshire and is planning a trip up here then do give me a yell. I love the area passionately and can recommend pubs, restaurants, places to explore etc etc.

For any wide-ranging trip consider either the BritRail Pass, which includes Scotland and Wales and England or the BR England pass for England only. You can hop any train anytime -www.nationalrail.co.uk shows regular fares - walk up fully flexible fares can be very expensive - making the pass for such a seemingly wide ranging trip a good deal - if you daughter is under 16 she gets a free pass to match the one you buy (or if under 26 can get a cheaper youthpass. For lots on British trains and railpasses: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id11.html

I have used passes every year for decades and most every place a tourist will want to go to is easily accessed by train - you must buy your pass before arriving as no train station in the U.K. sells them (only the BTA in London IME sells them but they keep bankers hours and could be inconvenient to get too say it you want to train right from the airport (airport express trains are covered by the pass). Go to a travel agent in India and buy it. That said i do not know as you do not know your final itinerary but if going up to Scotland and back and other places it could be a great deal.

jayadev, I had to chuckle when I saw your post, because I asked the same sort of question on this board in preparation for our June 2007 circle-tour of the UK. I was trying to decide if we could squeeze Wales, the Lake District, and Scotland into one 2-week driving trip. (Our priorities were great scenery, castles, and small towns. We did not go to London.) In the end, we got so many different opinions that we couldn't narrow it down, and we didn't know when we would make it back to the UK, so we decided to squeeze in all three (and a couple of days in Cornwall to boot). I am very glad we did not give up any of our destinations. We did end up "passing through" the Lake District on our way to Scotland, so we hope we can spend more time there someday. If I had it to do over again, I would not miss northern Wales or Scotland's Glen Coe. (If you click on my screen name you can find my trip report.)

With that said, we love to drive, and driving great roads was an important part of our trip. Since you are planning to take public transit, that will dramatically alter your style of travel. Even so, I strongly recommend getting up to Edinburgh and possibly taking an overnight bus tour to Glen Coe. Others on this board should be able to help with the logistics of doing that by public transit.

I'm afraid Lets_do_it knows not of what he (she?) speaks. Thirsk is a nice stop for Herriott fans -- plus it is very easy to get to by train from York.

And one village is definitely not like all the others.

Most of the places you want to visit are doable by public transport - even the Lake District. Just not all on one short trip. The Dales would be the most problematic. So you'll need to bite the bullet and pick two other locations (I assume you are also going to London too - right?)

One easy option would be London for maybe 5 or 6 days, York/Thirsk/the North Yorkshire Moors for maybe 3 days, the rest in Scotland (2 or 3 days in Edinburgh and 2 or 3 traveling around by train) plus your travel days to/from the UK. If you meant 15 days on the ground in the UK - then you'd have another couple of days to play around w/.

Or - you could do London/Yorkshire/North Wales in the same sort of time frame.

Hi all, it's so heartwarming to read these friendly and helpful responses. I think I have found the answers to all my questions. A big Thank You to all!

BritRail today has announced a "Free Day Promotion" where on all BritRail Passes except the London Plus Pass you will get an extra day free - 8 day pass becomes 9, etc. Applies to consecutive day passes and flexipasses and for either 1st or 2nd class passes and includes Party Passes, Family Passes, Senior Passes; Youth passes.

Must buy pass before June 2, 2009 - can activate anytime within six months of purchase.

Just wanted to chime in about the Lake District via public transport. As janis said, it is doable, although it would be hard to stay in the smaller villages. On my trip a couple of years ago, we stayed in Windermere (where that train line stopped), in a b&b within walking distance of the station. From there we walked to Bowness-on-Windermere a couple of times; we also took the bus to Grasmere, walked to Ambleside and then caught the bus back to Windermere. If we'd had longer we could have done more. However, it would be difficult to stay in places not on the bus routes.

With 15 days and five in London, I would choose two or possibly three places. You could visit the Lakes for 3 days, Edinburgh for 2-3 days, and stop in York (or elsewhere in Yorkshire) for 2-3 days on your way to London. That, of course, assumes your 15 days do not include travel days.

With 15 days and five in London, I would choose two or possibly three places. You could visit the Lakes for 3 days, Edinburgh for 2-3 days, and stop in York (or elsewhere in Yorkshire) for 2-3 days on your way to London.>

excellent suggestion IMO - and from the Lake District you could easily also stop in Bath en route to London for a night and see what i think is one of the top 5 nicest towns in Britain - a unique Georgian look and feel and of course the ancient Roman Baths, just all wondrously restored.