19 Day Itinerary Review: London, Bath, Ludlow, Manchester, Lakes, York, Edinburgh, and Highlands

Which hotel did you go with in York? I booked Park Inn, but it's overpriced. The B&Bs won't go for a one night stay.

Day 8. When you leave Tintern, you will be driving N up the Wye Valley on the A466. You may like to make a detour to YAT ROCK = a viewpoint high above the river Wye. Look at this map:>https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.8177567,-2.6676379,13z/data=!5m1!1e1

Where you see Redbrook, that is the way you will be coming up the Wye Valley from Tintern on the A466. Can you see ‘Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ marked on the map? That is where you will find YAT ROCK. Now, you could take some back roads by turning R at Redbrook. Alternatively, stay on A466 until just S of Monmouth & then turn R onto A4136. After the village of Staunton, you will need to look out for the left turn that will take you to Yat Rock via Berry Hill (B4432).
http://www.wyenot.com/yatrock.htm
http://www.visitherefordshire.co.uk/explore/Hereford-area.aspx

Follow the signs into the parking area at Yat Rock and then cross the wooden bridge over the B4432 to reach the viewpoint. When leaving the car park, you are sent in a loop through woods back to the B4432 - turn L & go under the footbridge & down the hill - which is steep & narrow - you may have to reverse to let people pass. You will need to get to the A4137 (top of map) to continue your journey N to Hereford - which is also worth a look. (I suggest you zoom in and pull on the yellow man to check out the street view of the road going under the wooden bridge & down the hill to see if you are up for it)? Click this link & you should see this road:> https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.842713,-2.6363789,3a,75y,138.06h,83.15t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfyTeCSb4nDXJkjomfqDQOA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1!6m1!1e1

Day 9. Ludlow to Manchester. You will be passing near the Pontcysylllta Aqueduct - you would need to take a short detour between Chirk & Ruabon if you wish to see this wonder of the Victorian Age.
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/places-to-visit/destination/93/pontcysyllte-aqueduct-world-heritage-site

You would also be looping around one of Britain’s most historic cities - Chester. Well worth stopping for a look!
http://www.visitchester.com
Here is the AA route for this leg:> http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp#fromNode=0%7CLudlow%20SY8,%20UK%7C%7C-2.713913%7C52.367749%7CtoNode=0%7CManchester,%20UK%7C%7C-2.242631%7C53.480759

A couple of comments:
I do not see any mention of museums in London. I would consider the British Museum, the National Gallery,the Wallace Collection, the Tate Modern (if you are into really modern art), the Churchill War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum - perhaps only one but they are all worth a visit.

Cornish Pasties are my favorite street food - enjoy.

This looks like so much fun! I too, often over plan. I think it is great to go in "full steam ahead" as long as you are willing to listen to yourself and your husband if you need to take an afternoon off once or twice. On our last trip we skipped going to a museum that was in the itinerary just to relax and eat ice cream. Remember, while it may be a trip of a lifetime it is a vacation, not military maneuvers :)

This looks fun...things take a while to drive to. I think the only caution I had was the "return to Bath late," depending where you are at out in the Cotswolds when night comes there are no street signs, no lights, etc. Make sure you have a very good GPS and watch out for stray sheep and such... Otherwise this looks quite fun- you'll be exhausted but will have seen a lot.

James - thanks for the recommendations. Our scheduled is already full as is, do you think we'd have time to detour to any of the sights you mentioned?

Trinitony - >>I do not see any mention of museums in London.<< We really aren't huge fans of museums. We have considered going to The National Gallery as it is only a few minutes walking from our hotel. But not sure where we could fit this in?

kbachtell and jaeson1992 - thanks for the encouragement! We are very excited! :)

On Day 8, you are going from Bath to Ludlow. You should reach the M48 Severn Bridge in about 40 minutes out from Bath. I earlier suggested that you could detour to see the view point at Yat Rock. If you would like to see another viewpoint over the Wye Valley that is just off the main road (A466) - look at this map:> https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6536456,-2.6751684,11795m/data=!3m1!1e3!5m1!1e1

Note that Chepstow has a Castle that you may like to have a quick look at from the outside - and walk onto the nearby iron bridge over the Wye. (Zoom down as the road pattern in Chepstow is a bit complicated - or skip Chepstow). Anyway, you would need to get onto the A466 heading towards Monmouth via Tintern (Abbey). Can you see St.Arvans on this route? Go around the bend at St.Arvans and at the next bend turn left up a minor road. After about 3 minutes, you come to a parking area on R. Leave car & follow track up gradient for about 16 minutes - turn R (looks like you will go over a cliff) - a few steps lead to the ‘Eagle’s Nest Viewpoint’. Then back to car and continue to Tintern.

I would see how things go as to whether you make another detour to Yat Rock. I know that I could cover all of the places that I mention when going from Bath to Ludlow in one day. It is also possible to go by train from Bath to Ludlow - with 1 change at Newport.
Direct trains also go from Ludlow to Manchester hourly. Of course, going by train means you can’t make detours to see places en-route. (In Ludlow, best view of Castle is from W bank of river).

On Day 9, the critical thing is whether you have to return the rental car by 3pm? Can you return it say by 5pm or even 6pm? Perhaps your relatives can have tell you how long it would take to get from Chester to the depot in Manchester - this road is all motorway = 70mph max? I would think that you have time to make the detour to see the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Look at the map that follows. You should be on the A483 coming up from Shrewsbury. Can you see the A5 going off W to Llangollen? That is the road you take for a short distance - but look out for a sudden* turn R onto the B5434 which will take you down to an ancient bridge over the River Dee from which you will see the aqueduct. Continue on this road until you climb up to a village - park up - but beware of yellow lines = no parking. Walk onto the aqueduct - a wonder of the Victorian Age. Return to car and head back to the A483 on the Ruabon side.
* Check on streetview.

Obviously, skip this if you are short on time. It would also be a pity if you skip Chester - but perhaps your relatives could take you back to Chester on another day? From memory, I think I drove from Chester to Manchester in about 1 hour. Map follows of area by aqueduct:>https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.9676746,-3.0973667,14z/data=!5m1!1e1