I plan to travel out of London to Yorkshire and the Lake District from a Monday to Friday in mid-May. We want to travel by train for the long distances and rent a car for moving around in the countryside (there is a good rail days/car rental days package available, if we can figure out how best to use it).

I am looking for travel/transportation itinerary suggestions. My preference would be to start with York and Yorkshire -- train from Kings Cross to York -- then proceed to the lakes and take a long train-ride back to London from - somewhere.

Rough idea - York or Yorkshire (e.g. Haworth one night) 2 nites, Lake District 2 nites. Out of London Monday am, back by 9 pm Friday. What are the trains that would be useful for us? And -- do you think a visit to Hadrian's Wall is out of the question?

(And - any ideas about this trip are welcome. I have read other Yorkshire & Lake District posts.)

Seems like an ok plan. GNER train to York, a couple of nights there, then drive across the Yorkshire Dales, entering the Lake District from the south and staying 2 nights someplace central like Ambleside or Grasmere. On the Friday, I would recommend exiting the Lake District north to Carlisle for a late afternoon Virgin train back to London Euston. You could leave your Friday plan open -- either spend the morning and early afternoon in the Lake District or go directly to Carlisle in the morning and spend the day there (interesting cathedral, castle and very good local museum and art gallery) or drive about 45 minutes beyond Carlisle to Housesteads Fort for a quick visit to the interesting part of Hadrian's Wall.

I wanted to add that there is no reason to try to figure out a rail/drive package. Just buy advance purchase, discounted rail tickets on qjump or trainline booking sites and book your car separately with one of the major international rental companies or through a broker like Autoeurope.

ron has given you very good information. Staying Mon/Tues nights in York. York is a small city and you really can see most of its sights in one day. On Tuesday you can head out to Castle Howard and the Noth Yorkshire Moors and maybe Whitby/Robin Hood's Bay.

Then across the Dales to stay Wed/Thurs in the Lakes.

And ron is correct -- for this little amount of train travel I doubt if any rail/rental car packages would save you money. Just buy point to point tickets and get the cheapest rental deal you can.

Hi
I live in Yorkshire and would find it easier to help you if I knew more about your interests. I wasn't sure from your post if your itinerary was actually already sorted or if you were still making plans. If it's already sorted then apologies....You mention Haworth - a great place if you have a Bronte interest as the Parsonage is wonderful - but would only take a couple of hours to see at the most. If you don't have a Bronte interest then I wouldn't visit and certainly wouldn't stay the night there. Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal are World Heritage Sites and normally Yorkshire 'must see's'. If you want superb shopping go to Leeds. If you love stunning scenery and beautiful villages head for the Dales. Bolton Abbey is magical ..........if I can assist further let me know!

Thank you very much for your help. Train back from Carlisle - that is exactly what I couldn't figure out and I am so appreciative of advice from people familiar with this part of the world.

Morgana - thanks for offers of help re: itinerary. I may take you up on it - for now what I was looking for was help with the big picture, transportation in particular.

One question - does this make sense?-------leave York Wednesday morning (having stayed there Mon, Tues nights) - drive to Haworth, visit the Bronte place and take a walk to Top Withins (we are positive we want to do this) - then drive to Windermere by dinnertime.

How long would this drive take, going slower rather than faster?

Three hours driving, so you should have lots of time for your Bronte visit. There is a good journey planner at www.theaa.com

Given your mid-May timeframe, one of the first things you should do is deal with your Carlisle to London train ticket, if trying to control costs is a concern. Friday afternoons are busy train times; while advanced purchase tickets are theoretically available for as low as £15, any at that price will sell out fast.

Very easily done. From Haworth take local road to Keighley (well signposted) and take A629 to Skipton (worth a stop for interesting shops and castle). A short detour east brings you to Bolton Abbey, prettily located along the river Wharfe. From Skipton take A65 which skirts round the southern border of Yorkshire Dales National Park. You go through several fine villages like Ingleton and larger Kirkby Lonsdale before crossing M6 motorway. The road becomes A590/591, bypassing Kendall (fine county town famous for mint) and reaching Windermere in no time. The journey from Haworth without detours is around 65 miles and takes about 2 hours of leisurely drive. I was in South Lakes yesterday with the family and while it rained in Grizedale Forest (between Lake Windermere and Coniston Water) the buds were ripening and spring flowers in full bloom.

Thank you so much, this is great information, I am so grateful for this board where I almost always find somebody writing to me from exactly where I am going.

And thanks for the prod to get the Carlisle-London train reservations right away: thanks to you I knew where to go (Virgin) and got tickets for 15 pounds each at the exact time I wanted to travel!!!

I'll post next questions as separate threads as I think that's better for the future travel researcher.