Balancing Sightseeing with Absorbing the Atmosphere

On a gray November day enjoying lunch at the Snowhill Arms near Broadway in the Cotswolds. Then walking through the cemetary across the road.

I love cemeteries. Find them relaxing. Provides solace and reflection.

Walking through a canopy of trees via the Kings Gate path into Richmond Park. Following a path through the park, getting to see the herd of fallow red deer as I walked toward the Isabella Plantation.

Saying a prayer for my late mother in small churches while exploring the Cotswolds.

Finding myself along with a few sheep, a trap, a couple of lorries and a few other souls hiking and enjoying the beautiful fall colors along the Gap of Dunloe in Ireland.

Honestly, in the UK and Ireland finding a good pub for lunch and a pint after exploring sites. Usually there around 3pm so the late lunch becomes my meal of the day. Pleasant respite time. Most time I’m the only patron. I leave before the after work crowd starts to gather.

Planning only to see one “ must see “ a day and then meandering. Its how I discovered the Gap of Dunloe in Ireland. Walking it for a few miles is one of my fondest days abroad.

FYI I also look at church bulletin boards. Its how I learned about the artists enclave Christmas open house on Eel Pie Island. Who can pass up seeing a place called Eel Pie Island?

Really it’s about time and having a relaxed/flexible itinerary. Personally, I kind of need to “switch off” of hardcore sightseeing mode and make myself available for the experiences. Pick a “major sight” target in the morning, and a low-key sight in the afternoon or evening with a place for lunch between or near one of them. Keep your eyes and ears open, investigate anything that looks interesting: street performance, shops, pubs, parks. Skip your afternoon sight if you don’t feel like it. You can do some full-speed sightseeing days too, but intersperse them with a lazy trip to the local market for a picnic.

So that’s 3 countries in one week, then one city for a week?

I would if nothing else lose Glastonbury.

I would skip north Wales. We only visited there on our first UK trip- the scenery IMHO is better in Scotland and the Lakes District. Is the car a one-way rental and then you fly or train back to London? Best to do that even if it costs more, unless you could add a third week for a leisurely return trip down the east side of the UK.

I would not enjoy your week 1. The first 3 are fairly close together but you will basically just be doing a driveby of the others. Edinburgh deserves at least 3 nights, 2 full days. I love London, but hotels are expensive and I would take 2 of those nights and add to Edinburgh. I assume you plan to turn in the car when you get to Edinburgh and take train to London.

That first week lookds a killer to me and most of it is going to be spent sitting in the car watching the scenery go past. Also a lot of it is going to be motorway or main road driving - not the most scenic of routes. I'm not sure how much time you are going to have to actually stop and do any of the sights. I can't see any 'nice balance of seeing our must sees, and spending time just "being" in England.' in the first week.

Don't underestimate how long it will take you to drive between places in the UK. Distances may not look that far on a map but will take a lot longer to cover than you might expect. England is a congested place and roads can be busy with traffic. Town etc can take a long time to navigate your way through.

Seriously think about pruning back that first week. More is less in England and by the end of it, it will all seem a blur...

@ Claudia- Thank you, those all sound lovely! I will remember the late lunch in a pub idea, that will provide a nice break. We will definitely be wandering though cemeteries wherever we go.
@ awrzesinski- Fantastic perspective, thank you. We have definitely limited our "big" sights most days.

As for the itinerary, we have planned it all in short driving bursts, the longest being the drive between the Cotswolds and Conwy, then the drive from Conwy to the Lake District. The morning we leave Keswick we will drop the car in Penrith and take the train to Edinburgh. We don't expect to see Edinburgh fully (that's what future plans are for, correct?) but we want to get a taste of it and take the train the next day to London. We are quite used to doing "road trips" so we are comfortable with the driving distances we have planned out.

Sorry, but you aren’t going to get much time to relax and “just be” as you are going to spend longer in the car than out of it. Take Google map times and add a third.

I would personally drop Glastonbury. Wells is charming and you could easily spend much of a day here at the Cathedral, the Bishop’s Palace, the market and Vicar’s Close.

Lacock - the Abbey and the Fox Talbot Museum.

North Wales in addition to several castles, near Conwy is Bodnant Garden. Take a trip up Great Orme in Llandudno on the funicular tram or visit the prehistoric copper mines. Take the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

The Lake District - drive to Eskdale in the western Lakes via Wrynose Pass. The western lakes are quieter than the Keswick/Ambleside area.

While I do appreciate your advice, please know that we already did take advice given on this forum and have added extra time to the google maps estimate, we have studied and planned and are comfortable with the itinerary. We have left open the idea of making changes as we go (Oxford may become a day trip from London).
We fully understand that we won't be "doing" the Lake District, we will indeed be just driving through it on the way to our lodging for the night. But driving through the Lake District is better than not driving through the Lake District ever in my life.
We fully understand that Edinburgh is deserving of multiple days. So does that mean that we should forego spending an afternoon and night there? I don't understand the all or nothing idea here, if we can't spend 3 days in an area we shouldn't go there at all?
I truly don't mean to sound ungrateful, but I do believe that perhaps we forget that not everyone is able to take 3-4 weeks of vacation, not everyone is able to go to England over and over again.
Okay, rant over. I'm ready to stroll through the park and come across that little herd of deer before heading to the pub. Please do continue sharing some of the "special quiet moments".

I've had trips where I failed to find the magical moments.. so know their value when a true one comes along.
Claudia offers beautiful such moments.. And isn't it great that some can be whole events, or moments in a day.
I'll offer a few.. Walking the pastoral path from Stow-in-the-wold to Bourton-on-the-water and watching part of a cricket game in Lower Slaughter. Ordering an ale at a Bourton pub along the water and discovering we'd mistakenly gotten a golden cider, which tasted like heaven.
Lunch in the very old pub across from Windsor castle and my bff secretly bribing an employee for a tour of the area under the bar so we could dream of the old pathway into the castle.
Taking a moment at the Roman wall near the London city museum.
Traipsing through Hampstead Heath on a sunny day.
My husband getting hauled up to sing at a Kilkenny pub during the evening entertainment where the singers looked for tourists to join in,and hit him with "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"! Does anyone besides Gordan L. know all the words? Hilarious. The message there is go ahead and join in with the singing. We were all up there at some point and had a blast.
An early morning walk through Nottinghill as workers began to set up the Portobello Road market.
Walking the York wall just ahead of a rain storm. Walking the Sussex downs in the rain and seeing a windmill emerge from the mist.
The kindness of the Dublin cabbie who saved us when we were lost. The immense history in every inch of Westminster Abbey. I'll end with a long walk to the old St. Pancras church, graves and grounds and finding it as fascinating as I'd hoped.

I haven't driven in Britain or ridden much in a car with someone else driving. But I do understand the attraction of road trips where the point is the driving, the going, and not necessarily the being there. My version in 2016 was lots of train and bus travel. I loved seeing the scenery and countryside.

Am I interpreting this correctly to think you plan to spend one night in each of the areas on this list?

1. Wells/Glastonbury.
2. Salisbury, Lacock, Oxford.
3. Cotswolds.
4. North Wales.
5. Ambleside/Keswick.
6. Edinburgh.

So long as you're not too disappointed if, due to something unexpected, you don't have time to stop for the specific sights you have on your list to see, I'd say go for it! Such unforeseen glitches can lead to some great experiences.

My husband and I (as well as I alone) are very familiar with road trips that are all about the movement from place to place and not so much about where we spend the night.

As for the "being" there part, you can have a little of that every night just by watching a little British TV each night of that first week. It's amazing how much you can learn about where you are by doing that.

Sorry but you asked for a “nice balance” and those of us that live here or have spent time here have pointed out that as your itinerary stands, you aren’t going to have much time for anything other than looking at tarmac. It’s certainly going to be a road trip! I hope you enjoy it.

@ RandR - What wonderful stories! Thank you for sharing. For the record, I will NOT be singing...
@ Claudia - Thank you, I appreciate you.
@ Lo - No, not one night each. We are actually using a RS suggested itinerary, eliminating some stops that he included and replacing with other more direct stops which hold more interest to us. If you are interested, here is the plan:
Arrive London, travel directly to Bath, stroll, dinner, sleep.
Day 1: Pick up car, drive to Wells (19 miles) explore as much as we choose. Drive to Glastonbury (6 miles), explore as much as we choose. Drive to Salisbury (55 miles). Depending on the time, visit the cathedral. Dinner, sleep in Salisbury. (Total: 80 miles)
Day 2: Cathedral (if we didn't see it the day before). Drive to Stonehenge (10 miles), gaze in wonder at the stone circle (not interested in the visitor center). Drive to Lacock (25 miles) explore and have lunch. Drive either to Oxford (57 miles) or straight to the Cotswolds (45 miles) depending on how we feel. Sleep in the Cotswolds. (Total: 119 miles, or 79 if Oxford is skipped)
Day 3: Meander around at will. Look at sheep. Drink cider. Sleep in Cotswolds.
Day 4: Drive to Conwy (190 miles). Explore the town and castle. Sleep in Conwy. (Total: 190 miles)
Day 5: Caernarfon castle (23 miles), whatever else strikes our fancy. Sleep in Conwy. (Total: 46 miles RT)
Day 6: Drive from Conwy to Keswick, via Ambleside. (168 miles) Stop at anything that catches our attention. Sleep in Keswick. (Total: 168 miles)
Day 7: Keswick to Penrith (18 miles). Drop off car, train to Edinburgh (1 hr 40 min). Stroll through Edinburgh, dinner, sleep.
Day 8: Train to London. 6 nights in London.

As I said, we are accustomed to road trips. Not even the longest drive on this itinerary is even remotely close to the distance we drove to our daughter's college, which we did frequently, nor to our favorite lakeside vacation spot. We will have 2 drivers, so each will have time spent as a passenger. The funny thing is, when I posted one of our first versions of an itinerary it included train travel from Cotswolds area to Wales, and on to Edinburgh, and I got a lot of "why not just drive?". After much discussion, we decided driving would be more relaxing than always worrying about getting to a train at a specific time.

My thoughts are 6 days in a car is a lot and Glastonbury is not worth any time.

Hope you have a great time.

Looks a solid plan. We did a 7 week "roadtrip" in UK/Ire. back in 2016. Great fun. Despite seemingly popular opinion your planned drives are a piece of cake. The area your covering is small and the roads are actually mostly really enjoyable to drive (except the motorways). We tried to take the road less travelled as much as possible.
We drove some of the more notorious roads in the UK inc Hardknott and Bealach na ba. Very enjoyable but certainly not as challenging as Aussie roads as far as the driving. We always found ourselves arriving earlier than we expected.

I am glad you are backing yourself to see what YOU want to see and do.

@ Wurundjeri: I could just hug you. Thank you so much.

Your welcome. Happy to share.

Magic moments?

Early rise and breakfast on a grey day in March. Walk to the Tower of London in the early morning as it starts to lightly rain. First ones through the gates and casually stroll directly to the Crown Jewels. Take several "laps" on the people movers because my wife and I are the only ones there apart from security. The only sound we heard was the machinery of the people movers.

Sitting at the champagne bar in Harrods with a mid-afternoon "livener" in hand, watching all the beautiful people do their thing, oblviious to the fact we are even there.

Standing at the bar at Ye Olde Mitre waiting on my order. An older gentleman next to me (late 80s or so) stood with a tray containing four half pints. Asking him if he needed assistance, and being told no and that he was minding his wife's direction. When I looked at him quizically, he politely informed me that his wife had told him specifically he was not to stop and have a pint. She had said nothing, however, about having a half...or two...or three...or four.

Finishing a visit to Warwick Castle and leaving its cacophony, walking up the hill to St Marys Church. After a moment of silent reflection, climbing the bell tower and looking down on the castle with little noise but the sound of the wind.

@Tom- those are wonderful stories, thank you for sharing. I love the one about the man minding his wife!

I read the post and understood the question, so will reply only to it. MaryEllen, I commend your patience with some of those who didn't.

I'm a big fan of "being" in places.

I see the sights, but just one or two in a day, to leave time and energy for all of the in-between.

-I walk. A lot. I might take public transit when my destination is more than a few miles away.

-I freely pop into little shops that catch my eye.

-I have a mid-morning coffee. Seated. A pastry with it, maybe. I might read for a while—my book, email, the paper... whatever- just being there, calmly on the sidelines of the locals' everyday life.

-I have a mid/late afternoon coffee/beer/vermouth/Aperol Spritz. I don't read, but just sit back.

-I sometimes plan lunch or dinner, but never both in one day, letting the unplanned be more spontaneous or even a quest in the moment.

-I look at cultural calendars and buy tickets to shows or events. Seeing a favorite band in Mexico City was a delightful, unique experience. Merging with the herd wearing tuxedos and gowns in Victoria Station, all of us headed to a countryside opera house was a sublime moment. (And made packing a singe-wear outfit well worth it!) The Modern Dance in Madrid was horrible, and I walked out of an opera in Vienna— But no regrets!

-I go to the shopping promenades. Not to shop—that fast fashion crap is the same everywhere—but to stroll amongst those hoards. And flea markets!

-I go to parks. I might stroll, sit on a bench and read, or find some mid-park concession cafe for that afternoon "coffee".

-I go to bars—gay bars. (Did I just come out to the RS forum‽) I'm not a bar-goer in home life, but bars are the epicenters of a city's gay community and going out for a beer or two offers insight and connection to my community, and through that, the larger culture I'm visiting. (This one I realize is... niche. In fact, I feel privileged and grateful to be part of a community that can offer a sense of belonging almost anywhere in the world.)

I'm late to this thread and I have read it in its entirety.

My biggest concern is that by listing miles instead of time you are setting yourself up for surprises. When I lived in the US I was used to looking at miles and counting miles as minutes, so 60 miles would take about an hour.

That's not likely in very many places in the UK, even on motorways.

My biggest concern is your Day 6. Conwy to the Lake District will subject you to the infamous M6. Really the only way to get there...

Over the last several years what passes for a government in this country has been converting the motorways into what they call "Smart Motorways". What means in the long term is variable speed limits controlled by overhead signs enforced by speed cameras... what it means in the short term is massive construction zones on the motorways, and the M6 is the best example I can find. I was on it the other day and it hasn't improved. Miles after miles of 50mph with very narrow lanes with heavy articulated trucks that somehow aren't worried about the speed averaging yellow cameras which keep the rest of us nailed to the posted speed. When somebody bumps another the whole thing stops. I promise you, the M6 is no fun. At all.

I forget, because yours is quite a long and complicated journey, if you have any time on the M25 or M4. I had the thrill of the M25 yesterday and on Thursday. Both days. On Thursday 2 trucks and a car had an accident between the M4 and M3. 3 out of the 4 lanes closed, tailbacks all the way to the M40. Added an hour. Yesterday just north of there on the opposite carriageway the whole carriageway was closed and I had the thrill of diverting via the North Circular. In the rain. Gosh that was fun. Waze was melting down.

Just please don't underestimate the time it takes to get places. And don't speed in the construction areas - the cameras will get you and you will be on the wrong end of a big fine. They will chase you through the rental agency.

@Scudder- Thank you for sharing! Those are really good strategies for intentional breaks.
@Nigel- Thank you for your thoughtful response. Really something to consider. Are there any viable parallel routes? My map shows maybe A49 or A6 could work in place of M6, thoughts?

Oxford is a perfect venue to just relax by walking through the Quads of Christ Church College and the acres behind Magdalen College. Try to take a stroll (@ 30 minutes from central Oxford) to South Park where you can view the spires of Oxford at the higher elevation.
My husband and I used to love to take "Sunday afternoon" type drives and just enjoy the ride. Sounds like that is what you like to do, so go for it. We have lived in northeastern US for over 40 years now and no longer see driving as fun! It's not unusual when we visit our son and his family on Long Island to hear the gps say, "There is a one hour and 52 minute slow down on the Verrazano Bridge." "You are still on the fastest route"!!!!! It's all about your experiences and perspective. Here's hoping that the routes you'll be taking treat you well and that you have a most enjoyable driving experience.

In Edinburgh, if you are OK with foregoing the major sights (Castle, Holyrood, Royal Mile, etc) and want a bit of space and quiet, head into the Stockbridge neighborhood and walk along the Water of Leith. Or spend time in the Botanic Garden — to which you could walk, if so inclined, from Stockbridge. If you’re in the mood to visit a museum, try the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, on Queen Street. It doesn’t usually draw as many visitors as other museums in the city, but has a nice collection — and a great cafe, also.

In London, I always enjoy visiting Kew Gardens, no matter what time of year. Syon House and park are favorites, too.

I’ve had many quiet and pleasant moments in all of the above! Hope you have a great trip and find some wonderful places to “just be.”

As someone who lives near the M6 and A49, I would say just use the M6. There are roadworks limiting you to 50mph for about 10 miles around Wigan but apart from that, there shouldn't be a problem, just stick to the limit. The A roads tend to go through town centres with roundabouts and traffic lights, and the journey will take an eternity, will probably be just as congested and the statistics say more accident prone.
It's all about timing, avoid the rush hours of 7am - 9am and 3:30pm - 6pm.
Last week I did the trip from Warrington to Blackburn on the M6 and it took 50 minutes for the 40 miles. If I used the A49 it would have been around twice that.