Best place to stay on the road between Edinburgh and Bath

I wouldn't recommend driving the lot in one day - it's a good hour or two to get from Edinburgh to Northumberland (the distance may look short but the roads aren't great in that area and add considerably to journey time), plus another 5-6 hours from Northumberland to Bath. That's an especially long haul if you're spending a day touristing as well.

As for somewhere to stop: Durham? York? Those are probably the most obvious options as they have the most tourist appeal. If budget is a concern however you will likely be able to find cheaper hotels in places like Leeds or Nottingham.

I vote for York, Amazing city, even more amazing minster. You could also get cream tea at Betty's Cafe.

If you're taking time to stop and experience Hadrian's Wall, you definitely should not try to go on to Bath the same day.

Between Edinburgh and Bath you're traveling from northeast to southwest, so your main decision should be whether you want to stay on the eastern side of Great Britain (stopping overnight at, say, Durham or York) or the western side. The latter offers possibilities such as the Lake District (Keswick), Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Cotswolds (for a sizeable town along the main highway, consider Cheltenham or Gloucester though I realize they may not be officially considered Cotswolds).

Your choice really depends on what interests you and perhaps which parts of England you haven't already seen on previous trips.

If on the easterly route you can do it as the Romans might have done (almost).

Down the Ermine Way from Eboracum to Lindum, then the Fosse Way through / round Ratae Corieltauvorum, Venonae, Corinium Dobunnorum finally reaching Aquae Sulis.

Or in modern day terms (!) A1 from Lincoln to York, A46 to/round Leicester, M1/M69 then dog leg down the A5 to High Cross, then take what is still called and signed the Fosse Way (various numbers, starts as the B4455) via Cirencester to Bath. The latter is a much better quality road than its lowly 'B' classification might suggest.

If Roman structures are your bag, maybe you shouldn't miss the Jewry Wall in Leicester on this route as this is one of the largest pieces of surviving civil Roman architecture in England

Do you want to just see part of Hadrian's Wall or go to the visitor centre and spend more time there? Vindolanda is quite a way out of the way between Edinburgh and Bath. It will take about 3 hours to get there.

Driving from the Wall at Vindolanda to Bath is quickest by the M6 and M5, so you wouldn't go anywhere near York. I would suggest that you stay somewhere such as Sedbergh or Lancaster or Appleby, which is about half way. Then you can explore the Yorkshire Dales and the Forest of Bowland the following morning before making your way to Bath. If you must be in a city, Liverpool or Chester would be less out of the way than York.

Thanks very much to everyone for the information. We've decided to stop south of Vindolanda in Preston, then drive from Preston to Bath the next day. Each day's drive isn't killer and allows for a little bit of exploration. Since we'll be on the M6 (I think) for most of the drive, is it a good well traveled road, like the freeways we have in the US?

Well, Preston is an unusual choice for a tourist but if you're simply getting off the motorway for the night I guess it's a stopping point. Not much else to say about it.

I wouldn't describe the M6 as good but it's certainly well-travelled. It's one of the busiest motorways in the country (yes, like a freeway, except without the whole freedom of movement concept). The road clogs up very easily if there's an accident. Lots of lorries use it. It is very rarely a pleasant driving experience but it will get you there... eventually. Don't rely on journey time estimates. I once left myself six hours to get from the Midlands to Manchester, what should be a 2.5 hour drive, and arrived late for my event after a lorry shed its load on the M6 and traffic was held up for hours.

It can be fine but often isn't - but what you'll get is a genuine British road trip in all its frustrating delight...

By the way I realise my post sounds relentlessly negative. You'll understand clogged freeways, being from LA. It'll probably be fine but don't expect to derive much sightseeing enjoyment from the day.

You will be on the M6 to Birmingham and then the M5 to the Almonsbury intersection where you take the M4 eastbound to junction 17 and then A46 to Bath. Click this link & you will see the M6/6 at Birmingham. I have switched it to show live traffic at the time you click it. Right now - 16.40 on Wednesday - it is showing red = jams. You would have seen more scenery by taking a detour into Wales but that would have meant poorer roads and not possible from Preston to Bath in a day. (Go and read some of the posts in the Wales forum).https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.5202633,-1.9575315,12z/data=!5m1!1e1

A lot of people would have taken the train from Scotland to Bath or flown down to nearby Bristol airport.

Jane, thank you for the candid answer. Hubby picked Preston because they have a Marriott, and we can use our points for the stay. I figure not all of any country is sightseeing material! I did get us a map from the Auto Club, but we do kind of have to keep to our schedule to get back to London in time for other commitments there. If we can take a more scenic route that still gets us places when we need to be there, I'd love to take it. James, thank you for the map, It is really helpful!

Preston isn't as bad as Jane made it sound. I've been there several times when my aunt and uncle was still living.

It is a lot of driving. The pity of it is that you will be shooting down the M6 passing (just to the west), the most scenic part of England = http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk

You could consider skipping Hadrian’s wall and taking the train from Edinburgh to York for an overnight. Then train from York to London (Kings Cross) or direct to Bath. www.nationalrail.co.uk (Pre-book about 11 weeks out for lowest fares).

Preston isn't as bad as Jane made it sound

It ain't fabulous.

Instead of taking the train via London a valid option is Virgin West Coast from Edinburgh to Birmingham New Street, then a Cross Country to Bristol Temple Meads and then a very short distance on the train to Bath.

Flying into Bristol will remove much of the stress of driving on motorways which are, in themselves, the worst part of the country.

You've never lived until you have had the thrill of the M6, then Spaghetti Junction (the name for the junction of the M6 and M5) and then the M5.

The M6 is absolutely renowned for accidents and long delays, pretty much anywhere along its length, the traffic buildups around Manchester, Crewe, and Birmingham, and its never ending construction of the spy cams which randomly put up speed limits and then send tickets to anybody misbehaving, and especially at the yellow stanchioned speed averaging cameras in reduced zones.

Spaghetti Junction is always a problem, day or night.

The M5 is particularly diabolical, even if they have finished putting in the spy cams near Droitwich - which I don't know that they have - because caravans and trucks get out of control and tip over on the steep downhill between Lickey End and Droitwich. Service areas on the M5 leave something to be desired, especially the one north of Cheltenham.

There is however one excellent services on the M5, at Gloucester. I time my journeys to have lunch here.

Correction: 'Spaghetti Junction' is the link between the M6 and the A38M in the North of Birmingham. You have probably gathered that many British people regard driving as a chore rather than a pleasure.

yup, true enough. Having driven on, under, and around the devil's child of an interchange for the better part of a decade you'd have thought I would have had it right. bah!

But never did I call it the A38(M). It was (is) the Aston Expressway to me. right or wrong...

And I still don't like the M5/M6 out near the Ikea.

Thanks, everyone! Hubby is determined to drive (we've done this before in Italy and Spain)- Spain was the worst because none of the street signs in town are on poles where you can see them, but up on the side of a building on the corner, with a tree planted helpfully in front of it so you can't see it.

We've rented an automatic car, so at least we won't have to be thinking about how to shift gears on top of sitting on the wrong sides of the car and the wrong side of the road. Hopefully all will go well and we will make the trip with no major issues.

Stephanie

You might wish to get familiar with the roads that you will be on. Click the link to the map - which I have switched on to show live traffic flows at the time you click it*. Zoom down on different parts of the route and use street view to see what it looks like. Selecting satellite view might also be useful. Especially check out the parking situation near/at any hotels. The centre of Bath is mainly pedestrians only - the surrounding roads can be busy and parking is limited.

• Don’t forget to allow the time difference. If you click when the Brit’s are asleep, you will mostly see clear roads.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.7157182,-1.8414473,7.25z/data=!5m1!1e1
http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/index.jsp

Let's start at the beginning - which is actually Edinburgh if I've read you plan correctly.

The drive to the wall (any particular point on it,? http://www.vindolanda.com/ is interesting) will take over 2 hours. Then say you stay for 3 hours including lunch. If you leave Edinburgh at 9AM after the traffic dies down it will be 1PM before you start the long part of the journey. This will take at least 6 hours, probably longer and will go through the dreaded Birmingham motorway network during the late afternoon peak times, and by the time you reach Bath and try to find your way aorund it will be going dark. A journey from hell!

Let's turn this into a relaxed tour. Ask Google Maps to plot you a route Edinburgh- Kielder Water - Vindolanda. Even without the wall it's a journey worth doing, will take about 3.5 hours . Have your lunch and visit, then head to somewhere convenient for the M6 between Penrith and Kendal (or maybe even Windermere, there will still be daylight to see the lake). Then next day head to Bath at about 8AM skillfully missing all the peak hours delays! You could be there by 1:30PM.