Looking for "off the beaten" path base locations

Some of my favourites, not including places you’ve listed-

-North Norfolk coast
-Peak district
-Dorset coast
-Devon/Dartmoor

I think any of these would make a nice holiday!

Somerset has some lovely places to visit and is not very touristy.

Pembrokeshire in Wales is delightful.

North Norfolk Coast
Suffolk coast near Orford
Kent
Dorset coast
Wye Valley
Pembrokeshire coast

You've been to the Lake District, but that doesn't mean you have been to Cumbria.

There are many gardens in Cumbria, some in the tourist Lake District, many on the edge-

those accessible by public transport-
Muncaster Castle
Holker Hall
Sizergh Castle
Levens Hall
Blackwell Arts and Crafts House (at certain times of the year, otherwise taxi from Windermere)
Brantwood (Coniston)
Holehird
Allan Bank (Grasmere)
Acorn Bank
Dalemain
Mirehouse Mansion
Lowther Castle
+ ones you have probably done- Hill Top, Dove Cottage and Wordsworth House (Cockermouth)

those not accessible by public transport-
Hutton in the Forest
Melkinthorpe Larch Cottage Nurseries (one of Cumbria's biggest secrets) (you can walk there from Clifton, after investigating the Jacobite story in Clifton village)

I think you would want a Northern Base (Penrith) and a Southern Base (Kendal, Grange over Sands or Ulverston- not sure Arnside would really work)- each for 4 or 5 days.

Lyme Regis and other spots like Bridport along the Jurassic Coast. Think of David Tennent and Oliva Coleman in Broadchurch

Katie, I will definitely agree with Cat with regards to the Peak District and Devon/Dartmoor. Especially when it comes to gardens. Devon had some most beautiful gardens (especially at Coleton Fishacre and I highly recommend a visit there). Dartmoor is an area where you can feel a bit like you're in the wild, and the same with the Peak District and Devon is just wonderful. They're both beautiful areas, with a lot to see and do, but they're generally more uncrowded than the rest of England. They have tiny little places you can go to where you won't find anyone there. They're just beautiful and you really couldn't go wrong with either place.

If you're looking more specifically for gardens, I would think about heading to the southeast, like Kent (think Sissinghurst Castle Gardens), and other places like Hever Castle, Leeds Castle, Canterbury, and much more. I'm heading there in September of next year, and I can't wait. But I've already been to the Peak District twice and to Devon and Dartmoor. Otherwise, I might feel the need to go back there. 😊

Thanks for all the replies. Lots of ideas for me to research. Yay!

Mardee, I know you had a car in Devon and in the Peak District. Do you think it would have been doable without a car?

Cat VH, do you have a specific town along the North Norfolk Coast that you would recommend as a base for that area?

Helen, is there a specific town in Somerset you would recommend?

The Peak District is easily do-able without a car, as lots of both Yorkshire people and Mancunians will testify. Even the Winnats Pass at Castleton is now traveled by the Chatsworth open top bus.
There are lots of places accessible by public transport, such as the "Dambusters" reservoirs which never seem to be visited on this forum.

Mardee, I know you had a car in Devon and in the Peak District. Do you think it would have been doable without a car?

Well, Stuart and some of the other Brits here could probably answer that question better than me, Katie. I honestly have no idea. I never needed public transportation, so I never looked for it.

I did see a lot of buses on the road in the Peak District, but I really don't remember Devon that much. I would think that there's public transportation in both places, though. I know there are obviously trains, but probably buses as well. Sorry, I wasn't more help with that!

EDIT: Haha, Stuart actually beat me to the punch. So you have your answer for the Peak. And with regards to Winnats Pass, if there's a bus that goes there, definitely take it, because it was gorgeous pass! The Peak is great for walking and hiking and it's probably one of my favorite areas in England (although that is very hard to narrow down).

Thanks Stuart and Mardee for more detail on the Peak District.

Also, I know that the week after Easter is not an ideal time to travel in the UK. However, we love to travel in April and Easter is right in the middle of April in 2028. Are there places mentioned above that you would definitely avoid the week after Easter?

Katie, I was in Devon the the week after Easter (2024), and didn't feel like I was missing out on anything because of the holidays. There were some places closed on Easter Sunday (and of course, that can happen anywhere), but I did my research, and made sure that my itinerary was arranged so that I could visit other places that were open. In fact, I went to Coleton Fishacre on Easter Sunday and had a wonderful time there.

The only issue is that children will usually be off school for that week, so keep that in mind when you're planning.

I agree with Somerset, it gets practically no tourism but there is plenty to see and do. Wells is the obvious choice as a base, there is no railway station but it's reasonably connected by bus.

Thanks Olivia, I'd been looking at Wells. I checked to see if it was a reasonable train ride from Chichester where we will be this based this Spring (27) but that it wasn't practical. So I will put it on the list of potentials for the following Spring (28).

In Devon- two things- there is a multi operator day ticket, which is fantastic value- the Devon Day Ticket- https://www.traveldevon.info/bus/tickets/day-tickets/

especially as it is a County with lots of independent operators.

Secondly the County Council does a great job in actually promoting the buses, so there is still an actual map of routes- https://www.cartogold.co.uk/Devon/map.html#Devon%20County%20Map

The individual route timetables are on the Travel Devon website, but there are still timetable books which are widely available locally.

On the trains there is the Freedom of Devon and Cornwall weekly rover ticket- https://railrover.org/pages/freedom-of-devon-and-cornwall-rover.html

and the Freedom of the South West- https://railrover.org/pages/freedom-of-the-south-west-rover.html

both of which are fantastic value

Also I don't know if you are aware but for coaches to Somerset the main service is provided from London (Hammersmith) by Berry's Superfast. They used to run into Victoria but curtailed the route due to traffic congestion, and it's frankly faster by tube from the adjacent station- https://www.berryscoaches.co.uk/london/travel-information/london-superfast-timetable/

(For instance route SF3 serves Wells)

For north Norfolk coast, the biggest town is Wells-next-the-Sea, and it probably has the most accommodation. We’ve stayed in a small cottage in Blakeney which was lovely. There’s also Cley where you can stay in a windmill!

Thanks Cat, I had not thought about that area at all before.

Thanks Stuart, always so helpful with the transportation details.

Katie, this is a wonderful thread that I am bookmarking for future use. 😊 I'm getting lots of ideas for myself!