Best place between Oxford and Keswick

Hi smxbob -

I guess you could stop off in North Wales (Snowdonia or Anglesey for instance) or in Chester or Liverpool if you wanted to break the journey from Oxford. That said, I’m going to go against the usual advice and suggest that you spend two nights in Oxford and, as you are heading for the Lakes then there’s no reason why you can’t do it in one day. It might be a long day as the motorways on the west side of the country (M6, M42 etc) are often dug up and speed is restricted, usually to 50 mph max. Our motorways are being converted to ‘smart motorways’ - if they haven’t been already - which means that they are a forest of speed cameras (on the overhead gantries and those multiple yellow ones on the road side where construction is ongoing). Ignore the posted speed limit and lane advice at your peril!

All of this can make for a slow, somewhat tedious journey, but it is doable in one day. If going all the way in one go to Keswick and making good time, I’d suggest coming off the motorway when you see signs for Kendal and Windermere and follow the road through Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere, past Thirlmere and St Johns in the Vale for a more scenic drive through the Lakes. It’s busy through the honeypots in the south and a slower journey (again observe the speed limits as there’s some craftily positioned speed cameras along the way!) but it’s a much more interesting drive than the motorway if you have time.

If the day is running out on you follow the motorway all the way to Penrith and turn off for Keswick there. Still pretty scenic as you pass Blencathra on your right on the road into Keswick.

So I’m suggesting fewer ‘one night stands’ with an extra night in Oxford and getting the motorway slog up north down in one go! Have a great trip whatever you decide!

Ian

You have Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool in the way. We had been to Liverpool and didn't want to go back there. Also, wanted to avoid the other two cities. Traffic is terrible near those cities.
You could visit Chester, but that is to the west of where you would go for a direct drive to the Land District. Another choice would be Warwick, which has Warwick Castle.

I don't think Anglesey would be a stop-off, but perhaps that wasn't meant to be taken seriously!

Otherwise I agree with Ian and would spend two nights in Oxford, then just accept the dull, but straightforward, grind up (mostly) motorways to Keswick, just breaking the journey at service stations rather than anything more ambitious. Come off the M6 at either Jct 37 for a rural last portion or 40 for a faster, less scenic journey's end.

If you did want to stop then Liverpool is the obvious place (about 20 miles off-route each way). But Liverpool is a great city, one of England's highlights and well worth a couple of nights to itself. So you'd be short-changing both Oxford and Liverpool if you did both.

iandandjulie, geovagriffith, and Nick
Thanks for your responses. Our original plan was two nights in Oxford but we may be getting last minute jitters thinking we need to change something. We agree with you and will stick with that. Your feedback really helps.

And thanks for the info about the travel and roads, really appreciate that!

Steve

Hi -

I actually wasn’t joking about Anglesey having overnighted there once recently to break the journey from the north to South Wales up. Mainly because I’ve never previously been and I’m nosey and it then gave us a full day to go cross country through Wales (always a long drive, time wise) down to Pembrokeshire. Obviously it wasn’t an in depth exploration but we’ve added it as a mental note to go have a longer wander round there at some point.

We stayed overnight in Beaumaris and somewhere like that, a little off the beaten track is quite interesting, and going north again it’s not that big a deal to reconnect to the M6 although, yes, i would acknowledge it’s a fair way off the ‘straight line’ route between Oxford and Keswick.

Looks like the argument is academic anyway as Steve has taken our sage advice (!) and is doing the journey as a single trip. My Google maps shows the most direct route as 4 hours 50 minutes but I’m thinking that might be a touch optimistic.

Ian

Less out of your way is Lancaster. We stayed at the Mill at Conder Green and wished we'd had more time to relax and walk in the amazing surroundings. https://www.themillatcondergreen.co.uk/

If you wanted to be closer to the center of town, see https://www.booking.com/city/gb/lancaster.html

Of course there's also Liverpool, which has plenty to see & do on top of iconic Beatles experiences.

We stayed in Stratford-on-Avon between those two destinations, and several nights, taking in a couple plays and roaming along the tow path to Mary Arden Farm at Wilmcote, a reasonable distance, shady, and a delight with canal boats going through the locks. I hope you have planed enough time in Keswick. This turned out to be my favorite place in our three week England trip!