My wife, daughter, and I are looking into making a trip to England next year. We are in the middle of planning and are looking at a very long drive from Liverpool to Bath. I am looking for stops along the way to break this drive up a bit. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.
Thanks
The drive isn't that long, about 4 hours, so a sightseeing stop isn't essential.
An interesting stop along the way, if you detour slightly, is Painswick, a village in the southern Cotswolds. The drive from there to Bath along the A46 is quite scenic in places.
Worcester and Gloucester, along the M5 motorway, both have interesting cathedrals but not sure about what else they offer.
can be done with no fuss no muss by train - Liverpool Lime Street to Birmingham New Street, easy change, New Street to Bristol Temple Meads, easy change to the short hop to Bath Spa. No traffic. 4 hours and a few minutes. Simples.
If you took the route down the A49, how about Church Stretton or Ludlow in Shropshire? You also drive right past Stokesay Castle, which is worth a stop, or make a detour to Tenbury Wells. You could also stop at Hereford or Monmouth. That route has some very attractive scenery, and the alternative M6 and M5 can be very congested.
Closest to Liverpool is Chester that is nice to walk around. A little further south is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct that is worth visiting. Both Shrewsbury and Ludlow were nice to walk around for short breaks, to see the timbered buildings. Near Shrewsbury is Ironbridge with its 1779 cast iron bridge. There’s also a tile factory and Blists Hill historic town nearby. Continuing south in Wales, Monmouth is worth walking around for its Monnow bridge and nearby to it is Tintern Abbey and Chepstow castle.
Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds would be nice (3h). Lesser sights include Ironbridge Gorge (1h 45m from Liverpool). Bristol is 1h 30m south of Chipping Campden and Bath is another 45-minutes from Bristol.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Stratford-upon-Avon. But I would say it is really a destination in itself, not a particularly pleasant place to stop off. I say that because it's very busy, at least during the shoulder season and main tourist season.
