Lake District & North Wales - 6-7 days with car

On the way to Keswick...
Hardknot,Wrynose and Honister Passes,plenty of wow factor there.
Just when you think it can't get steeper..it gets much steeper
The Honister mine tour is good and be easy to wander up to Dalehead for a leg stretcher.

Hardknott and Wrynose passes are both excellent drives - I hope your hire car has a decent engine in it!
Continue over to Boot or Eskdale Green in the Eskdale Valley (my favourite part of the Lakes) and take a stroll there.

There is much to see in the Lakes and north Wales, so I would be tempted to take the M6/M56 quickest option, however the area around Leighton Moss is a nice drive.

A bit if route but we nearly always call to the cafe at carnforth station ,it was the setting for the film ,Brief Encounter, plus the food is excellent.
Whitehaven us certainly not on the tourist trail but is an interesting town with a couple of anglo-US connections, it's harbour got attacked by the fledgling US navy in the revolutionary war and one of the president's family is from the area.
The old Abbey? hosts a decent cafe too.
Ennerdale is not too far away and has a very peaceful air as traffic is very restricted,Black Sail hut would make an extraordinary place to stay
The young Bill Clinton proposed to Hillary in Ennerdale

When travelling between the Lake District & N.Wales, you may like to stop at the city of Chester.http://www.visitcheshire.com

When in north Wales, consider visiting Bodnant Gardens - which are not far from Conwy.

Your husband might also like driving the roads through the mountains of Snowdonia - Capel Curig to Llanberis & Capel Curig to Beddgelert - he may well enjoy.

When in the Llangollen area, I would suggest you visit the wonder of the Victoria age:> https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/places-to-visit/pontcysyllte-aqueduct-world-heritage-site

The road going SW from Llangollen via Bala to the west coast at Barmouth, is a lovely drive. On the coast road going N from Barmouth is Harlech Castle.http://cadw.gov.wales/daysout/harlechcastle/?lang=en

(You will find more info on Wales in back posts in the Wales forum).

www.visitwales.co.uk

I would just head for Wales and skip the Lake District if you want to avoid too touristy locations. We did stay in a Farm House B & B near Keswick which was away from it all. But a week in Wales with the coastal views and castles and excursion trains in Snowdonia National Park, etc. is great fun. Beware of sheep! The Lake District seemed a little tame to us after Wales We just drove right on through...but some people find it charming.

Agree with Jennifer, from the Lakes to Snowdonia, go M6-M56-A5. It's quite fast until the dual-carriageway ends. You could do it in around 3 hours, if you're lucky with the traffic.
As long as you have a car, 2 days will give you a taste of the Lakes. Try something a little different from the tourist norm, like the wonderful Art Deco house at Blackwood. There are plenty of smaller things like that.

Sorry, that should say 'Blackwell' House, and it's Arts & Crafts, though with some Art Deco flavours. I'm obviously baffled by being up early on a Sunday.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply! Very helpful. Looking forward to our trip next week!

Whatever you do be sure to drive through Windermere and visit Huddleston Butchers in the morning- they've won best meat pies in England and, so far, its the best meat pie I've ever tasted. They sell a certain amount of cooked/warm meat pies each day until they sell out (usually before noon).

http://www.cumberlandsausage.co.uk/aboutus.html

The drive between Keswick and North Wales is really fantastic. I managed to drive from Ambleside to LLandudno in one day, I'd imagine going from Keswick to Conwy is feasible, but a really long drive (around 3- 4 hours in good weather). The roads are rather slow in the Lakes, but very beautiful. I don't know if you'd need to shut your eyes necessarily, its not super scary (and I'm an eye-shutter type).

There are many walks in the Lake District that aren't strenuous and will give you a nice sense of what the area is all about. For a 45 minute stroll I highly recommend walking between Rydal Water and Grasmere. If you have a few hours you can also walk around Buttermere. Both are relatively flat and will take you though classic Lake District scenery.

I highly recommend Gwynfryn B&B in Conwy. Besides being a great B&B, how often do you wakeup inside the walls of a 13th century castle? They have a corkboard with Christmas cards they’ve received from guests over the years and I noticed a few from Rick Steves. I know this might sound out of place in Wales, but next door is Alfredo’s, an excellent Italian restaurant.

An easy drive from Conwy is Caernarfon and Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch. If you have a little more time, the drive from Caernarfon through Llanberis to Pen-y-Pass has quite rugged and beautiful scenery.