Exploring Northeast England with a peek into Scotlabnd

Cragside is with a look, really lovely gardens too.Rothbury is a lovely town too

Thank you so much for your suggestions. This is just the kind of information we need. Since we are not yet familiar with the area, the roads and driving times, it is difficult for us to know how to plan. We see that we should add an extra day to see and appreciate all we would like between Whitby and Alnwick. We know we cannot possibly see and do all we'd like in our short time in that area so we do want to make the most of the time we have. Again we thank you for your helpful suggestions.

Cragside is one of my favourite NT properties and you could easily spend 4 hours there. Holy Island is a great place to visit and again needs 3 hours minimum. Dunstanburgh and Bamburgh Castles are also interesting, but visiting these may mean dropping Edinburgh.

Beamish Open Air Museum near Durham is also worthy of a day's visit.

We did a similar trip. I too, really enjoy the Great Estates... Look at English Treasure Houses on line. The National Trust UK site is great for planning your visit as it shows open hours, etc. They also have for Overseas Visitors a Touring Pass that saved us money on admissions. 7 days or 14 days starting on your first visit. Couples pass 53/66 pounds.
We stayed in Ripon It is close to Fountains Abbey right near the Church mentioned. It was Lewis Carrols ...it has Bunnies carved on the pews. Harwood House is all done like a Wedgwood Cameo and it is Charming. Durham Cathedral is wonderful with the fabulous columns; all carved with different patterns and the Venerable Bede in a closet. Edinburgh Castle is worth the trip there and a walk up and down High St. Sounds like a great trip!

Thanks to each of you for your reply to our query. I will look into places to stay in Ripon as well as Harrogate. We would like to stay in charming, clean, comfortable places with character that are not too hard on our pocketbook. The suggestions we have received so far in planning our trip make us all the more excited about making this journey. Purchasing a pass for visiting the treasure houses is indeed helpful too. Again our thanks to each of you.

I would buy a Royal Oak membership for two. It is the National Trust membership pass for Americans and is cheaper than a National Trust membership. With it you get a book and map of all their properties. Just Google Royal Oak or NT

You wrote:
"On day 9 we would visit Alnwick Castle and gardens and again stay in Alnwick. Our plan is to then travel to and across the English/Scotland Border with stops to see Paxton House, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Jedburgh Abbey. Now, what to do? Perhaps overnight in or near Edinburgh, Scotland then spend two or three days there and returning to U. S. from Edinburgh airport. Or, returning to Manchester for the flight back."

After Alnwick Castle, I would definitely stop at Bamburgh Castle. Then travel on toward the Scottish border.

You asked, "Now what to do?" I would turn in your car in Edinburgh, check into a hotel there for several nights, and relax. There is plenty to do in Edinburgh. Fly home from Edinburgh. Do not back-track to Manchester.

"We are senior citizens but have traveling experience and have driven in the UK, Ireland and Scotland but avoid driving in cities as much as possible."
I am slightly concerned that you will be driving through a lot of cities, since you specifically said you avoid driving in cities as much as possible. But only you can determine when you've taken on too much of that.

"Again my questions are: Is this itinerary a practical one?"
It seems practical to me.

"What should be changed, added or subtracted?"
The only thing that stands out is that this is going to be a busy day: "After an overnight in Whitby we would drive leisurely through the Moors (Durham, NewCastle Upon Tyne seeing sights and sites such as Durham Cathedral, Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle, and Hadrian's Wall, overnighting in Alnwick."--Unless this represents several days.

"When is the best time of year for the best weather for this trip?"--Summer. Warm weather, longer days, hopefully fewer rainy days than spring or fall.

"We would appreciate any suggestions to help with our planning."
Suggestion: Type out a day-by-day itinerary, with everything you have mentioned put into it.
Day 1--
Day 2--
Day 3--
And so on.
Be very detailed. Be realistic about how long it takes to see some of the attractions.
Put into this schedule "Alnwick Castle--4 hours"
"Driving time from Alnwick to next destination....3 hours" and so on.

In this way, you will know whether to add a day or two to your trip.
You will also know if time-wise you will need to cut out one thing.

Do this soon, rather than closer to time for your trip.
Be realistic about driving times.
This will help you very much and relieve some of the stress of planning.
Good luck to you!

A word about Hadrian's Wall. The very best parts are in the mid-section. You will be not close to some of these places. If you are basically driving up the north-eastern coast of England, the mid-points of Hadrian's Wall will be very much out of your way. I would suggest that you skip it. Or at least study the map to decide how much and what parts of it you wish to see.

As a substitute for this, I would look at Holy Island, as mentioned by Keith.
This is Lindisfarne Island and Castle. Breathtaking and a bigger payoff than seeing one of the not so spectacular bits of Hadrian's Wall.

I will look into getting a pass for the treasure houses, good idea!
Rebecca, what good suggestions. I'd been looking at maps and wondering about Hadrian's Wall--We have actually seen it (years ago) at one of the sites further west so your suggestion to skip it on this trip and stay closer to the coast is what we will do. Following your suggestion I am starting a detailed itinerary with visiting times and travel times. I see it takes much of the wishful thinking of zapping from one place to the next out of the equation. While this is taking a bit of time, it is making the trip seem more real. We now think planning the trip for the last two weeks in August will be best for us. We may be able to bring along a younger person or couple to drive for us at that time--although we are both good drivers (and navigators) and had no problems driving in Ireland and Scotland several years back. Nor do we have problems here in the US where we both drive a great deal, ( including in cities & on vacations throughout the US & Canada). We understandably have some concerns about the volume of traffic & unfamiliar towns and cities in the UK. Our previous visits to England have been without a car--we either traveled independently using public transportation or we traveled with tour groups.
We now, given the feed back to our post, do not plan to pick up a car until we leave Leeds, (perhaps at Harrowgate or Ripon?); do plan to park the car on the edge of the city and use public transportation in York; and do plan to turn in the car near Edinburgh. We have been to Edinburgh twice previously (last time three years ago). We have no problem staying on the outskirts of the city, visiting sites we have not yet seen, (like Rosslyn Chapel), and taking a bus into Edinburgh to see sites there. Thank you for all these really helpful suggestions. ---We had not heard of Holy Island previous to Keith's suggestion. It sounds like a place we would enjoy visiting. If possible we will include it in our itinerary. So many places---so little time. Again thank you for your insightful input. We are so looking forward to this vacation.