Itinerary - England/Scotland/Ireland/Wales

My only comment would be about your stay in Kendal in order to explore the Lake District. Since you are coming from the north it would be more convenient and save you time to stay in Keswick rather than backtracking from Kendal which is to the south of the Lake District. Kendal is a nice town but it isn't really in the part of the Lake District that people go there to see. Unless you have a special reason for going there I would consider changing your plans and stay within the Lake District rather than staying outside of it. Usually we rent an apartment or small house near Keswick but last summer, we didn't stay as long as usual, so we stayed at The Herdwick House, a great little B&B right in town. If you change your mind I highly recommend it!

Thanks for the ideas.

Emma, I am aware of the change of train in London but am thinking it would be nice to have 2 full days in London at the end of the trip rather than going up to Cambridge for one of those days. We have allowed the whole day to get from Plymouth to Cambridge. I will consider your suggestion as that part is not really finalised.
Re 3 nights in Thirsk: We are planning on basing ourselves here as we would like to spend one day travelling across the Yorkshire Moors and on to Whitby/Robin Hood's Bay and go to York on the other day. I was concerned about the feasibility of driving from Thirsk to Porthmadog but have received some fantastic advice and suggestions re that day from an earlier post on the forum. Caernarfon-Holyhead - I have checked the bus and train timetables and it is easy and doable and we will only have a small, wheeled cabin bag each.

Anita - Changing our accommodation from Kendal is a possibility I am considering. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks again.

Firstly, I would not bother with Cambridge. Had you driven - or gone by train - from London to Yorkshire, then a detour to Cambridge might have been worthwhile. Why choose Cambridge when Oxford = a similar type of place, would have been so much easier to reach by train when coming up from Cornwall.

You say that you are landing at Pembroke. By that, I take it you are using Irish Ferries from Rosslare. The odd thing is that Stena operate a service from Rosslare direct to Fishguard. So, why would you choose to stay in N Pembrokeshire (Fishguard) rather than S Pembrokeshire where you say you are landing back in Wales? Anyway, if you are only staying in Pembrokeshire for 1 full day, this does not give you anything like the time you need to see this area properly.

Your day trip from Fishguard will either have to go south or north. If going south I would do Stumble Head > perhaps Aberiddy*, then St.David's & possibly Whitesands Bay (sands are not white), the go east to Solva before returning back to Fishguard. If going north - take A487 to Newport (Pemb) about 2Km NE leave A487 & take back roads to Pentre Ifan Burial Chamber. Return to A487 & head for Cardigan. From Cardigan take B4545 towards Gwbert but 1Km out, turn R & head for Mwnt *. Then use back roads to Aberporth - then back to A487 & soon turn L on B4334 for Llangranog. No parking in this village so park in field & use shuttle mini-bus. You can see Llangrannog here (& click for other places on the Ceredigion coast). If you are fit, walks along coast either way from Llangrannog are excellent. http://www.cardiganshirecoastandcountry.com/llangrannog-cardigan-bay-wales.php
* These places are down narrow roads - make sure you can drive backwards!

New Quay - the next place up the coast is also worth a visit as is the beautiful harbour side town of Aberaeron. If you have time, you might want to go back to Fishguard via Cenarth - where men in Coracles are often seen on the river. Google these places & select 'images' to see what they are like. Also find them on Google Earth.

So, 2 whole days should have been given to Fishguard and even then, south Pembrokeshire including the lovely town of Tenby is being completely missed.

Now for your journey east to Chitterne. To be quite honest, it looks like you are going to miss many places of interest in south Wales. Assuming you are using the A40 to Carmarthen - then A48 > M4. About 5Km E of Carmarthen is the National Botanic Garden of Wales - just 1Km off your route! http://www.gardenofwales.org.uk

Shooting on to the Cardiff area - 2Km S of M4 J33 is www.museumwales.ac.uk/stfagans (free). If you do make a pit stop at this place, you must return to the A4232 expressway - go south to the next junction & loop back to M4 J33. (See it on Google Earth).Then, at the next junction M4 J32, you will see Castell Coch on a wooded hillside. I suggest you come off the M4 & follow signs for Tongwynlais - terrible road humps - & proceed to Castell Coch. http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/castell-coch/?lang=en
You might just about be able to do the above on your trip to Chitterne but really, you should have had at least 2 nights in the Cardiff area.
You are also missing in the immediate Cardiff area > http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/caerphilly-castle/?lang=en www.cardiffcastle.com www.museumwales.ac.uk/cardiff (closed Mondays) http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dyffryn-gardens/
www.visitcardiff.com

Continuing E on the M4 - you are missing Tintern Abbey (ruin) & the lower Wye Valley (N of the Severn Bridge). http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/tinternabbey/?lang=en

Chittern > You will probably go to Bath. Bath is very congested although the middle is pedestrianised. You might find it easier if you drive to Warminster & take the train. (parking by rail station).
An easy drive from Chitterne is > www.longleat.co.uk/explore/longleat-house
From Chitterne, it is also possible to reach the Dorset coast at Lulworth Cove & Durdle D.

I forgot to say that on your trip from Thirsk to Porthmadog, you will be virtually passing http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/conwycastle/?lang=en
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bodnant-garden

Try and allow time to see Caernarvon Castle from the outside.

Assuming a clear run, driving non-stop from Fishguard to Cardiff is about 2 hours with the National Botanic Garden being about half way. From Cardiff to Chitterne - with no stops - is about 2 hours.