North Wales and Northern England Itinerary Check

Not going to Conwy?
We are planning to visit the Lake District as well as York, Whitby (perhaps the steam train) , Hadrian's Wall as well as South Wales, Cotswolds and more. Your plan looks good to me.

Thanks for the suggestions! We will visit Conwy from our base in LLandudno. I thought about basing in one place for the week but that presented 2 problems. More daily driving to and from locations and it is very difficult to find lodging that is available for the entire week. We really love B&Bs and the ability to meet people when you stay in them so I was thinking it would be ok to base in 2-3 different locations. We plan to explore Chester on our way to York. We can take the train to LLandudno junction to avoid the drive from Chester and rent our car in LLandudno Junction instead. Any input regarding our Northern England section?

personally I would keep the car all the time from Chester until Manchester

Durham Cathedral??

can you fit an extra night in , Northumberland - Lindisfarne, Alnwick, Alnmouth, Warkworth, Cragside, Embleton Bay, Farne Islands - there's a lot to see.

Only plan for Sheffield is to see Chitty...My hubby is a Man U fan so maybe a tour of the stadium? Nothing else really pulling me to Manchester except flying out the next day. We could keep the car from York to Manchester airport possibly.

I also think you need more time for Northumberland and along Hadrian's Wall. If your son loves archeology, I think he will love Hadrian's Wall. Be sure to spend some time at Vindolanda (when we were there, we talked to some folks who were working on an excavation). We loved hiking along the wall. The "wall" is really much more than a wall -- there were trenches in the valley, forts, the military road. It is fascinating.

We did not get to Bamburgh, but we loved Lindisfarne and loved our walk to Dunstanburgh Castle (down the coast a little from Bamburgh). This is a lovely area!

Of course, if you add something, you have to take something out of your itinerary, and that's always tough to do. We liked this area so much\, we came back 2 years later to see more.

If your son is interested in archeology do the Great Orme Mine while you are in Llandudno. It is a Bronze age copper mine and the story behind it's "re-discovery" is just great. I am not big on mine tours but this was pretty cool.

http://www.greatormemines.info/

I agree with Emma about Chester, and I didn't grow up there. You could spend the best part of a day there with the cathedral, the walls, the streets full of half-timber buildings, and more. And I wonder why base yourselves in Llandudno when Conwy is so close? Llandudno has a pretty beach, and the view from Great Orme Head is, well, great. I don't know about the old copper mine but it sounds interesting too. But as I recall the route from the main highway up to Llandudno has about half a dozen roundabouts, a pretty slow progress to be making twice a day for three days. There are lots of good places to stay in Conwy and Caernarfon, both more central to North Wales sights than Llandudno or Anglesey. But maybe it's too late to get into them.

Besides York Minster, don't miss the nearby Yorkshire Museum with Roman and Danish artifacts. I agree that Durham Cathedral is well worth a visit on your way between Whitby and Bamburgh. And I'm glad you're giving at least a day to Hadrian's Wall.

Overall, a lot of packing and unpacking, covering a lot of ground for 16 nights. We covered similar ground, a figure-8 from Manchester and back, but also made it to Edinburgh, in three weeks, with three nights in most places and four in two of them. A little more time than you have, a good deal more distance, but fewer different lodgings.

Check out these photos of north Wales - select ‘All Tags’ from the side menu & then WALES NORTH. They may help you decide on what to see in the area. Having done that, click on the menu for Chester.http://www.panoramio.com/user/528528

You might like to visit Plas Newydd when on Anglesey.http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/plas-newydd-country-house-and-gardens

If going by train from N.Wales/Chester to York, you might find the price cheaper by splitting the tickets at Manchester.

When in Bamburgh, you may like to consider a day trip by train to Edinburgh. Alnmouth is the next station south or Berwick-upon-Tweed going north. It takes 1 hour from Almouth (station is not in the town) or around 45 minutes from Berwick. You will find the cheapest fares if you can pre book or purchase tickets at least the day before travel.
See www.nationalrail.co.uk

Also in Northumberland:>https://www.alnwickcastle.com
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cragside

Pick up your car immediately on arrival at Manchester Airport, and keep it all the way through until Sheffield.
Consolidate Anglesey and Barmouth to perhaps 3 nights in Portmeiron, and also include an overnight in Chester.
Great if you can make all four of the northern Welsh castles - Conwy, Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Harlech.
Make sure you start out early from Whitby to Bamburgh, to allow time for Durham Cathedral and Alnwick Castle.
Castle Howard and Fountains Abbey, of course, from York.
Try and get to Chatsworth House before your arrival into Sheffield for the night.

Fly into Manchester. Pick up rental car.
3 nts LLandudno
3 nts Portmeiron
1 nt Chester
2 nts York
2 nts Whitby.
1 nt Bamburgh.
2 nts Keswick.
1 nt Sheffield (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). Return rental car.
Train to Manchester for 1 nt
Fly home

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions.. we have updated our itinerary and have booked all of our lodging.

I am making a general list of sites and activities for each area but no real hard-fast plan to allow for some flexibility.

Arrive 9 am Manchester-Train to Llandudno Junction-pick up rental car drive to B&B in Llandudno (only a 4 mile drive)
Spend the rest of first day in Llandudno exploring (up and outside walking to help with jet lag)
One day to explore Anglesey (including Beaumaris Castle)
One day to explore Conwy and the area around Betws-y-Coed

3 nights in a B&B north of Barmouth-On the drive there we plan to explore Caernarfon Castle and Harlech Castle
One day to explore Llyn Peninsula
One day to explore Snowdonia NP

Return car to Llandudno Junction and Train to Chester-One night in Chester (we are returning the car because we don't want the parking issues in Chester and in York nor do we care for the drop charge of a one way car rental)
Train to York
2 nights in York (no car)

Rent car and drive to Scarborough for Fossil and Dino trek with Hidden Horizons Tour then spend the night in Whitby

Drive up coast-stopping along the way at Durham and Alnwick Spend 2 nights in B&B in Bamburgh
Explore Lindisfarne and surrounding area

Drive and Explore Hadrian's wall to Keswick B&B and stay 2 nights
Explore Lake District

Drive to Sheffield with a stop at the Royal Armouries in Leeds
One night in Sheffield for Chitty

Spend our last full day exploring with a stop at Fountains Abbey-as we drive to return car to York and train back to Manchester
Last night in airport hotel with a dinner stop near the stadium for hubby's Man U fix.

I am so excited for this trip! If you can think of any other can't miss stops close by feel free to share. Much Thanks for the great ideas!

Have you looked at the cost of dropping the car in Sheffield? One-way hire within the UK from one the big firms isn't usually prohibitive.

Then simply take the train to Manchester and spend a relaxing day there.