England-August 2015 Middle? coast? or north?

I've been to some of the places you're thinking about, want to see others, and from what I've done and heard I'd expect to use a car for all of them. You're looking at mainly rural areas. Bus service is good in the Lake District but still lacks the flexibility and efficiency a car gives you. I don't like the left-side driving at all but if I were going to any of your destinations (except the city of York) I'd grit my teeth and grab the wheel. Or hire a driver-guide at great cost, but maybe worth it for a good one.

Look up The Treasure Houses of England. It is a pass that features 10 of the kind of places you want to visit including Blenheim, Chatsworth and Castle Howard. Being from Puget Sound I wasn't that impresses with the Lake District for scenery and it has many day trippers. Cornwall is far out of the way and is a family vacation destination.. I liked the Midlands best of all because it is still the epitome of Englishness. If you have not been to the Cotswolds, you should go once; it is postcard pretty and is on the tourist check off list. Look up the National Trust UK site for other touring ideas and they also have a pass for overseas visitors. The World Heritage site has other things on the Bucket List. I do recommend a car for the freedom of it and the chance to see amazing things on your own time.

Another suggestion would be to go to Kent in Southeast England. Many stately homes, small towns and gardens (see Leeds, Rochester, Hever, etc.) . We have always had a car in England so would not know how to do it without. I would probably pick (from your list) Blenheim and the Cotswolds - I love that area - so much to see.

To clarify Sharon's post...

Many stately homes, small towns and gardens (see Leeds Castle, Rochester Castle, Hever Castle, etc.).

These are indeed in Kent. Leeds itself is some 200 miles north of Kent :o)

I'm sure everyone knew what Sharon meant.

No need to travel great distances from Cambridge to find Stately Homes & nice villages as East Anglia has them. Click this site & then Norfolk / Suffolk & Cambridgeshire & the other counties if this part of England. (These are just the National Trust properties - others not NT exist).http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/east-of-england/

Ely - just N of Cambridge is worth a visit & you can travel there by train. www.nationalrail.co.uk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_Cathedral
(The line continues to King's Lynn which is not that far from Sandringham).https://www.sandringhamestate.co.uk
http://www.visitwestnorfolk.com/explore/kings-lynn/history/maritime-kings-lynn

This website is useful for telling you how to get to places using public transport.http://www.traveline.info

Another place you can easily reach by train from Cambridge is Norwich.http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk

These villages in the east of England are quaint:. Lavenham, Thaxted. (A car is best for getting to villages).
http://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk
http://www.visitsuffolk.com
http://www.visitcambridge.org

North of Cambridge where it is a bit like the mid west with vast flat fields of crops. Hunstanton is worth a look if in the area.

We did just the trip James is talking about last June - it is fantastic!! I highly recommend that area and could actually take the same trip again!

Avoid Cornwall, Cotswolds and the Lake District in August would be my advice as they will be over-run with holiday makers and much of the decent accommodation will have been booked by now. Portsmouth is OK if you are interested in naval history, but the town centre has declined over the past few years with lots of vacant shops (apart from the great Outlet Shopping waterside) and now has a depressed feel to it, so I would not put his in my Top 50 (probably Top 100) places to visit in the UK and cannot understand why any tourists would want to go there!

If you are in the Cambridge area, I would concur that Lavenham/Norwich/north Norfolk coast etc will give you all you are looking for without having to spend most of your holiday travelling. Kent is also good for variety of old houses/castles, coastal walks, gardens etc but is further away from Cambridge. The weather is likely to be better in the south than in the north. There are local coach companies in both areas that run day trips to nearby (and not so nearby) places of interest. (Note that if you ask about bus tours here you will get a public bus, single or double decker that stops every few hundred yards, whereas a coach tour has more comfortable seats and probably has a WC onboard and just goes from A to B once all the pick-up points have been completed.)

Book quickly as accommodation will be filling up for August.

If you are willing to rent a car, you might enjoy the northwest corner of England (Yorkshire and Northumberland) and the adjacent Borders area of Scotland. Loads of castles - both ruined and palatial ones - , a plethora of abbeys, Hadrian's Wall, and some stunning scenery, both inland and coastal. If you choose to travel in that direction, try to include Whitby Abbey and Lindisfarne.

Thanks for the good advice! I am researching your suggestions. Keep them coming!