UK trip in 2024 - input sought

[FifteensAway]

Wife and I plan to give ourselves a milestone anniversary present of a trip to UK in 2024. Timing likely to be May to align somewhat with our anniversary.

Exploring options, probably a small group tour of the UK to include all four countries (less Northern Ireland perhaps) - though Ireland might be skipped as a whole, a bit of a hem-and-haw on that front.  But that gets to be an expensive option, the small group tours.  Not keen on 40-60 person tours, very off-putting.

I like history and prehistory, museums and library (a kind of famous one in London at least), wife likes castles and garden related sites.  We both enjoy nature's beauty - though we aren't so young any more; fit, but not young - not antiquated yet but those extra grinds in the bones sort of stuff.  Wife?  Well, she just wants to go to "London" but can't say why.

Seems a counterclockwise run from London to Wales, cross to Ireland, return to England, run up to Scotland, head back south through England to London is a fairly standard 'tour' itinerary.  May make a three week trip, maybe a few days more.  Figure a few days extra in London on the front and back end.  Certainly on the front end to allow at least a day to acclimate to the time change (8 hour difference).

Some items on my wish list: Stonehenge, Lake District, Cotswold Downs (or similar), a night in a National Trust home somewhere - higher up the nobility the better (maybe?), visit Hadrian's Wall, some nice recreated living history sites, perhaps a regimental museum.  We are not drinkers though I'm willing to give a publican a visit just to see the inside of one.  We are also not smokers but I hear that shouldn't be too much of an issue.  Not sure about hiring a car and driving on the "wrong side of the road with a car with a steering wheel on the wrong side".  Old dogs, new tricks challenges.

A big maybe is to visit a miniatures show but not essential, buying days are mostly behind me, would just be to see the 'other half' way of the 'cousins'.

So, looking for input from those familiar - either you are a UK resident or an experienced traveler in the UK.  (Got some good input in another thread started by someone else so starting this one for me.). I figure others thinking of making a similar trek may find the information valuable as well.  How say you all?  Given the very broad direction of travel bit above and preferences/likes, what is a must see side trip, etc.?  And what is a purely touristy waste of time - in your opinion.  Really like to avoid excessive crowds and queues, maximize time seeing/experiencing stuff.

Thank you all.

[2010sunburst]

Two things spring to mind.  If you want to visit Stonehenge, then you probably need a car.  It isn’t the easiest place to get to by public transport from Salisbury (the nearest town).  There is a tourist bus from the railway station, but your own transport gives you far more flexibility.  I would spend a day in Salisbury, perhaps staying centrally, to cover Stonehenge and the Cathedral.  Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest spire in the UK and is in a wonderful setting.  I should say both are must sees in your context.  The town itself (I know it’s called a city, but it is a town in size.  I lived there for nearly sixty years) is also worth a walk around, centre being quite medieval in character.  If you extend your stay there slightly both Bovington tank museum, and Highclere castle (used as the setting for Downton Abbey) are within easy reach.  There are numerous other attractions, historical and otherwise, close by as well. 

As to driving on the wrong side, well I’ve done that in America, France, Italy, and Spain, and to be honest, it’s really not that hard.  If you hire a car, the wheel is on the “right” side for that country which makes the whole thing more intuitive.  I wouldn’t try to drive in London though, public transport is far superior there. 

Enjoy the trip 

[SJWi]

Good Morning, I'll give your needs some considered thought and get back to you. However a pretty instant thought concerns your comment about visiting a wargames show. One of the best shows in UK is Partizan, held in Newark.  It is diarised for Sunday May 19th next year. Newark itself is roughly halfway between London and York and easily accessible by rail. As well as the show there is a small aviation museum there, plus the National English Civil War centre . Its not a tourist hot spot but could tick several boxes for you.     

[fred]

Sounds a good trip - with lots of time.

Probably a key question is around how much time you want to spend travelling between places (which will allow you to see the countryside in passing) vs how much time you want to spend at places exploring? Whilst the UK is fairly small when measured in miles - travel times can be quite lengthy especially between smaller places.

[Lost Egg]

Sounds like an epic trip. If you want to find out more about historic sites then check out both English Heritage and the National Trust websites, they both have maps to help figure out whats near where you're going.

If you want to avoid crowds & queues then you might want to give Stonehenge a miss. The road leading up to it is notoriously busy and congested. The site is usually very busy and I don't know if you know but you can't get close to the stones themselves. But then if thats something you particularly want to tick off on the list then go for it.

[Plynkes]

The north west corner of Wales is crammed with castles, all quite close to each other, if you are into that sort of thing. The Royal Welch Fusiliers museum inside Caernarfon Castle is also well worth a visit while you are there. You also have Conwy, Beaumaris and Harlech, among others. And the scenery of North Wales is quite breathtaking, at least if you're from a place that doesn't have 'proper' mountains.

[2010sunburst]

Sounds like an epic trip. If you want to find out more about historic sites then check out both English Heritage and the National Trust websites, they both have maps to help figure out whats near where you're going.

If you want to avoid crowds & queues then you might want to give Stonehenge a miss. The road leading up to it is notoriously busy and congested. The site is usually very busy and I don't know if you know but you can't get close to the stones themselves. But then if thats something you particularly want to tick off on the list then go for it.

The road past the Stones, A303, is quite bad, it’s the main road to the west from London, but going to and from the stones from Salisbury is actually not that bad at all.  It crosses the A303, but doesn’t use it.  It’s one of those sites where it’s worse to drive by it than to drive to it.  You can’t touch the stones, but you can walk around them, and the new visitors centre has improved the site visit immeasurable from a few years ago.   Agreed, National trust and English Heritage sites are good for planning your visit.  For gardens, the Royal Horticultural  Society site is probably worth a visit as well.  There used to be an open gardens scheme where they listed all local gardens open to the public…..Key gardens in London is also worth a visit. 

[jon_1066]

I think wise to reduce your itinerary where possible, everyone always tries to cram in too much and gets exhausted and sees nothing properly.

I would focus on a few areas and on things you generally couldn’t see in the US. 

You can do an organised day trip to Stonehenge from London if you want.  Salisbury is OK but nothing super special.  You may find stonehenge kind if underwhelming as well.  If you do hire a car go to Avebury as well for a completely different feel to an ancient monument.

Portsmouth historic dock yard is good, it’s the only place in the world you can walk around a napoleonic ship of the line.  I wouldn’t stay in Portsmouth though.  Visit the Maritime museum in Greenwich as well (in London) to complete the Nelson story.

You are never too far from a country house or castle so should be easy to build them in to whatever itinerary you come up with.  Just search the National Trust and English Heritage websites for the closest ones.

Area around Telford in Shropshire is good for history of industrial revolution with Iron Bridge and living history museum of Blist Hills.  Alternatively Beamish in County Durham is a similar set up.

York is a great place to visit.  Compact, lots of historic sights, very old in places, a cathedral, castle, railway museum and rambling medieval streets.

As beautiful as the Lake District or Scottish Highlands are to be blunt they don’t really match the wilderness of the US.

Be warned - outside the major cities and transport links public transport is rubbish.  If you want to visit the Cotswolds or Lake District you will need a car or join a tour.

Don’t bother with Wales.  Too far out of the way, mostly post industrial decline in the South and tourist walking focus in the north.

I could imagine a trip starting in London.  Get a train to Salisbury and hire a car.  Explore this western area (Portsmouth, Stonehenge, Avebury, Cotswolds, Bath are all day trips).  Then train back to London and on to York.  Few days there inc Beamish visit then onto Edinburgh as a base with perhaps day trip to Stirling.

[Harry Faversham]

Duxford IWM, near Cambridge. It's an old Battle of Britaiin fighter station. Everything from tanks to WW1 Bristol Fighters. Evey chance there'll a genuine Veteran BofB Spitfire flying. In Scotland visit Edinburgh before Glasgow. In the castle there's two museums, one with the Eagle the Scots Greys took at Waterloo. Outside is the grave of Sergeant Ewart, the man who did the deed.
Lastly, make a pilgrimage to a tradition Northern seaside resort. One such place, is a pokey little resort called Cleethorpes, if you're really lucky you may find a place called 'Harry's Emporium of Priceless Artefacts/Tat.', therien you'll find a very nice man, who'll give yer a game wiv his toy sowjers!
Unlike your good self this rogue does drink, like a fish.so after he's cheated his way to victory, will take you for a pint in a proper English boozer!
Good that, innit?

 

[Cypher226]

If you want to stay in a characterful old property, I suggest you look up The Landmark Trust rather than the National Trust (few of which I think have accommodation) - though some are very isolated so a car would make this much easier.  Old English Inns is another option for characterful lodgings usually with good food.  Bath is a beautiful city with lots of excellent architecture as well.

If you try to work around going to Partizan as others have mentioned, be aware the train service from Newark is (or at least was, some years ago) very poor on a Sunday.  It looks like the air museum has been spruced up a bit in the last few years - which is good as it was looking a bit tired last time I was there.  On the subject of air museums, the Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton is superb, as is Cosford. 

Agree with almost all of the other recommendations but no-one's mentioned the Tank Museum (also within short range of Stonehenge and Salisbury), and Lawrence of Arabia's house just down the road from it (Clouds Hill) is a lovely stop.

Vindolanda is one of the finest Roman sites in the country and well worth the stop on the way to Scotland - new discoveries are being made there all the time, and the guided tours are included in the price of entry.

[Redshank]

A few thoughts on Scotland. One option is the train from London to Edinburgh. The quickest route (from King's Cross) only takes 4.5 hours. Make sure you get a seat on the right hand side going north to get a good view of the gorgeous coastal scenery on the top third of the route (and obvs try and hit that part during the day).

I would say at least a day in Edinburgh to see the castle. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, and also compact and walkable, so you could have 2 or 3 days easily there to see the art museums and wander about.

Then train to Stirling is 45 minutes. The castle is more enjoyable to visit (in my opinion) than Edinburgh. It was a main royal residence down to the 17th century and it has been nicely developed for visitors. There are attractive gardens and great views. A highlight is the museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. One of their parent regts the 93rd was the Thin Red Line at Balaklava; the museum has lots of stuff dating back to 18th century, including stuff on post-WW2 conflicts. Stirling also has the Wallace Monument (unmissable Victorian rocketship on top of hill to north of town with exhibits and great views from the top), and the Bannockburn battlefield with a modern visitor centre. For anyone interested in history, I think Stirling is unbeatable on sheer density of stuff. They run shuttlebuses around the key sites although a car would be easier.

If you're into Jacobites, the Sheriffmuir battlefield is a few miles from Stirling and is a pleasant walk, but there is not much historical explanation. There is a monument to the Falkirk battlefield a few miles away as well (in the other direction back towards Edinburgh), but it's probably a bit far out of your way for a 10 minute look, which is about all it's worth.

Further afield, there is a newish visitor centre at the Culloden battlefield about 3 hours north of Stirling, but on the day I went it was closed for some reason (might have been tail end of COVID).

Another way to do Scotland from London is the sleeper. It is expensive even compared to a hotel room (unless they are having a deal), but it saves you time.

[manic _miner]

 If you are heading to Hadrians Wall you wont be too far away from Beamish Museum which is a living history site.

 https://www.beamish.org.uk/

 Holy Island might be another place to visit.

 https://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/

 Barnard Castle is another nice place.

 https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/barnard-castle/

 The Hancock Museum is another nice place in Newcastle.

 https://greatnorthmuseum.org.uk/

 York is another really nice place to visit.Some great old buildings in the Town along with the Cathederal and Jorvik Viking centre.

 https://www.google.com/search?q=york&sxsrf=AB5stBiwiFtXV-y_-p3DMlMxc9pu1fxQCA%3A1688552489290&ei=KUSlZICgEdqjhbIP3tqLmA0&ved=2ahUKEwjVqaz_rPf_AhXRbMAKHXEGDWsQnZMFegQIJBAC&oq=york&gs_lcp=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&sclient=gws-wiz-serp&si=ACFMAn8hieP5aE6nZoDwYPRSCYx59jKGmLYHjzayiK0FEhCrwFC8Qs-V2Pf1FhOoG1y71lNSTZRlPe_XEdLRJ_Nl4-dhtoa3uA%3D%3D&ictx=1

 https://www.jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk/?gclid=CjwKCAjwqZSlBhBwEiwAfoZUIC3pWxdHgrO6porDEQ27M6IChCOA7wEIBwa-Iud5QN2BlXRfDuKdqxoChLEQAvD_BwE#G0Xvw27pjmfK6owR.97

 https://www.yha.org.uk/experience/york-castle-museum?psafe_param=1&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwqZSlBhBwEiwAfoZUIMWFNQRE9Z2FWu3zqgMjvhnKaObcnBjqHU-vZ4P6PVeZCrBN8vNpgBoCgkEQAvD_BwE

 Leeds has the Royal Armouries Museum.

 https://artuk.org/visit/venues/royal-armouries-museum-leeds-4863?gclid=CjwKCAjwqZSlBhBwEiwAfoZUIOVyOnDpj8jcgs58ijLRzjE-dzY18_8UP9YYWJYvNh8UBPsBHonVpBoCmakQAvD_BwE

 This site might give you a few ideas.

 https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/north-east?campid=ppc_north_regional_google_General&dfaid=1&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwqZSlBhBwEiwAfoZUIJ9NAG95zhBs_TZOwRZGb6sfhIZvJ9uGdt3GiAU3MuBMfl-lhxuN1hoCG9MQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


 

 

[Panzer21]

If you want to stay in a characterful old property, I suggest you look up The Landmark Trust rather than the National Trust (few of which I think have accommodation) - though some are very isolated so a car would make this much easier.  Old English Inns is another option for characterful lodgings usually with good food.  Bath is a beautiful city with lots of excellent architecture as well.

If you try to work around going to Partizan as others have mentioned, be aware the train service from Newark is (or at least was, some years ago) very poor on a Sunday.  It looks like the air museum has been spruced up a bit in the last few years - which is good as it was looking a bit tired last time I was there.  On the subject of air museums, the Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton is superb, as is Cosford. 

Agree with almost all of the other recommendations but no-one's mentioned the Tank Museum (also within short range of Stonehenge and Salisbury), and Lawrence of Arabia's house just down the road from it (Clouds Hill) is a lovely stop.

Vindolanda is one of the finest Roman sites in the country and well worth the stop on the way to Scotland - new discoveries are being made there all the time, and the guided tours are included in the price of entry.

In addition to the poor rail service on a Sunday, the Newark Showground  is outside Newark with no public transport or safe walking route so a taxi would be required if you don't hire a car. Travel on Saturday and stay over? Sunday travel to say York? On same rail line.
This is also true of many of the wonderful places suggested.
The Tank Museum and Monkey World are out of the way,  nearest station Wool IIRC. Beamish is a whole day but no idea if served by public transport.
IIRC, Hadrian' s wall is served by a bus route probably infrequent and the Newcastle - Carlisle rail service is close to some sites but not all.
It would be possible to take in Salisbury and Bath in the same day with an early start, as said there is a bus to Stonehenge from Salisbury station. Bath has Georgian architecture and the Roman baths. Salisbury has the cathedral, so good Russian secret agents visit....
York is nice, can be done in a day. London and Edinburgh would need a couple of days each, or 3 for London, 2 for Edinburgh.

So London, Salisbury, Bath, Newark, York, Roman Wall, Edinburgh would be 10 breakneck days......with a lot of travel...
Neil

[Doug ex-em4]

Landmark Trust: This was mentioned earlier and I can recommend it. One of my daughters arranged a stay at the Martello Tower near Aldeburgh for my 75th birthday present. It was just before Christmas and was a truly unique experience - highly recommended:

https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/martello-tower-9317/#Overview

Doug

[Harry Faversham]

Lawrence of Arabia's house just down the road from it (Clouds Hill) is a lovely stop.

Spot on there mate, just down the Road from Bovvy there's St. Nicholas Church, Moreton, and Lawrence's grave. The Church has unique etched windows, the old stained glass ones being bombed out in the war. One of our fighters downed a Dornier during the BofB, which jettisoned it's bombs, the blast blowing out the Church windows. The great Whistler etched  the new ones. In the graveyard is a 15 year old boy seaman, killed at Jutland. Further up the road, toward Wool is a separate cemetery, in it is Lawrence of Arabia's final resting place.