Hello, we will be travelling to London in June. We have hired a car for 8 nights and would like to visit Bath on the first night before heading to Edinburgh. I understand the roads and traffic are quite different to Australia so we know that we won't be able to do or see everything... we are just looking for a few nice towns to stop and visit in between Bath and Edinburgh. Any suggestions would be welcome? Many thanks.
If you can bear it not to go to Bath then your journey to Edinburgh would be much more straightforward. There may be a whole host of guide books pushing Bath as the place to go first and I just don't get it.
I would head from London up the A1M to Stamford and then on to York and Yorkshire and from there then on to Edinburgh and I would spend quite a few days getting there too.
If you definitely want to do Bath then it makes sense to travel up the western side of the UK to places such as Stratford upon Avon with all the Shakespeare sights to visit and then on to Chester with its lovely old Tudor buildings and Roman history too.
Loads of other possibles too.
Edited: 15 April 2014, 11:43If you want to go to Bath first (is that from Heathrow?) and want to stay there you may want to pick somewhere with parking - otherwise you may have an expensive overnight car park to add in. There is a Park and Ride, so the alternative would be to use that and stay outside the centre.
Are your 8 days all for the drive or do you want to take some of them for a stay in Edinburgh? If you have the time I'd travel through the Wye valley and then north along the Welsh border (lovely scenery, interesting small towns etc) there's a few options, but Ludlow, Leominster, Bishop's Castle are some) then to Chester. Spend at least half a day in the city (see post #1) before moving on.
I won't add more at this stage in case you want more of an A to B for the journey to have most of the time in Edinburgh.
Hi sorry it has taken me so long to come back. We are arriving to Gatwick. I have booked one night in Bath just so we have something for the first night. That said it can be cancelled. I think that driving straight up stopping on the way is the way to go also but i just thought my parents would enjoy Bath - and yes it does appear in loads of travel books and they have had friends talk about it etc.
So my new question is...if we were to cancel the Bath trip and head straight up can you please suggest 3 or 4 beautiful destinations to stop the night. and places to visit for a stroll etc. I will have my elderly parents with me so I have booked a "high" car so we might be able to see over a few fences without them having to get out all the time....well that is the theory anyway. Thanks again.
So you're still planning the high risk/dangerous idea of driving in a jet lagged, tired state straight off a flight ?
"So you're still planning the high risk/dangerous idea of driving in a jet lagged, tired state straight off a flight ?"
Lots of people do it without injuring themselves or others. Up to the OP to know how they would feel and whether they think it might be a risk.
They may well be neither jet lagged nor tired.
Time of day of arrival would help as it may give people some help in suggesting how far would be sensible to travel.
Edited: 06 May 2014, 08:58
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451 reviews You're right, Paul.
The OP may be flying in short haul from somewhere in Europe and may be well rested. However, I have never known anyone fly in from Australasia without soem tiredness and jet lag effect, so for anyone doing such a long flight, even with a stopover, the advice not to drive on arrival stands, in my view.
Could not agree more. I guess I should have explained we are arriving from rome so it is only a short flight. We are taking a 15 days cruise in Europe before arriving in uk so I am hoping all signs of jet lag are well and truely over. Arriving approx 11am to uk. Thank you.
Just also on this...we would never put our lives or anyone else's live in danger. If we are tired from driving or anything else we stop. That really goes without saying in my book. Thanks again.
If you really want to see Scotland, then just get a plane ortrain straight there. If you do want to take a few days, then possible stops may be near Oxford (Blenheim palace?), Kenilworth or Warwick castles, Stamford (burghley house) and nearby villages in Rutland. The a1 then takes you up to Yorkshire. You could also pad through the peak district (Chatsworth). Yorkshire is nice, and then you go up to Northumberland (lindisfarne, castle's). That s enough to keep you for longer than you have, so choose a few of them. Remember that UK roads can be busy and busy!
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64,436 posts
451 reviews >>>Could not agree more. I guess I should have explained we are arriving from rome so it is only a short flight. We are taking a 15 days cruise in Europe before arriving in uk so I am hoping all signs of jet lag are well and truely over. Arriving approx 11am to uk. Thank you.<<<
No problem. It just stops everyone jumping to conclusions based on your avatar if you mention where you are flying from!
To be honest, though, if you want to do justice to driving up to Edinburgh and back, you will probably need more than 8 days! There are some beautiful parts of England on the way, apart from those mentione dby Martin C, such as York itself, the Lake District, or the Borders area of Scotland, and Dumfries and Galloway is not without its charms!
With a couple of overnight stops, and allowing some time to actually see places rather than simply travelling through them, it's easy to spend three or four days on a one way drive!
