Picturesque, Restful Northern English Countryside for 28, 2 nights

There's a lot of picturesque country to consider - the Peak Distrct, Yorkshire Dales, County Durham and the Pennines come to mind. What time of year are you traveling?

I know this wasn't your question, but have you considered taking the train for at least part of the way, perhaps York to Edinburgh for example?

Are you going northbound only or returning back to London? I say this because of you are going north from Oxford to Edinburgh I would suggest using a westerly route with perhaps a stay in the Lake District (Windermere to Keswick area). Then, if returning south to London - use the easterly route via a stopover in York.

Note that you can get group travel discount if travelling by train(s).

If you are going up the West Coast the M6 the half way point would be around Preston- somewhere west of Preston in the oft neglected countryside of the Ribble Valley.

If going up the East Coast (the A1) it would be somewhere in the Harrogate/Knaresborough/Ripon area.

The big question in helping to select somewhere would be what is your per person budget (in £)?- probably many hotels of that size would give a large discount for a booking (maybe a whole property booking) of that size.

I wouldn't call a group of 28 small, at least in a British context. Your challenge is going to be finding somewhere in the countryside both big enough to accommodate you and willing to give up that much space. For the latter point your dates will be important.

I suspect that you will need to be in or around a small town at best rather than right out in the country.

Have you got some idea of budget in £s? That might also be a limiting factor.

My vote would be for Hadrians Wall. You can see some very impressive historical sites quite easily within the short time frame you have, plus explore pretty towns like Corbridge and Hexham. Northumberland is a very rural county so would hit the countryside brief.

You would need a large hotel for your group. There are some large country house hotels in the area but budget will be a consideration.

If you’re going up the western route, then somewhere around the Lake District such as Kendal, Oxenholme, or Keswick might work, and it doesn't take you too far off the main route. Even Windemere is an option, but it's more crowded, so not as restful.

For the Yorkshire Dales, somewhere around Skipton or Grassington are options. Grassington is a charming town with several easy countryside walks starting from there, including one along the river and another one where some of the group could take the local bus to Kettlewell, then hike back to Grassington. It is used for filming exterior scenes in the current All Creatures Great and Small series.

However, for a group of 28, you would probably have to stay in multiple locations. The B&B where I stayed in Grassington had 4 double rooms, and the hotels are small. There are a number of B&B's within 2 or 3 miles of Grassington.

All the best,

What we have not been told is the likely age range of this group. They could be school children or high end rich older people?

With that size group you will need to look at hotels and possibly one that is used to accepting coach parties. Ones I have used and can recommend would be:

• Stonecroft Manor on the outskirts of Kendal which has 32 rooms

• White Swan in Alnwick which has 56 rooms.

Both are comfortable with a lot of character and food was good.

You guys are awesome, thank you for the questions & suggestions. I will sort through. Ages are 30-60, mostly couples.

Hi,

Something cropped up in my e-mail this morning-

Lowbyer Manor Country House at Alston in the North Pennines (very close to Hadrian's Wall)- an 18th century Grade 2 Listed property- they take 22 in the Main House and 6 in the Coach House.
So it is a whole property let.- http://www.lowbyer.com/wp/

I've stayed there several times (solo) and can highly recommend them. Lovely people, lovely property, lovely setting. It certainly suits your specification to a T.

I know the website says 4 night minimum for whole property (which is something they specialise in)- but you can only ask. TBH 4 nights would be an ideal length of stay here anyway.

This looks phenomenal, I will inquire for the whole place & see what they say. Close to Hadrians Wall too! Thank you!

Alston is a fine little place.
I see the Angel pub shut a couple of weeks back but the Cumberland a short walk away has had my customer, ditto the Miners up at Nenthead.

I am unsure what has been happening at the Angel in Alston (built in the year 1611) but this is the valedictory facebook post from the Manager of the pub-

And that’s a wrap, we moved out today. Thank you to those who supported us, for the friendship, for the lovely memories. We are moving on to bigger and better things. It is a bittersweet goodbye as we loved this little inn and Alston but the brewery were difficult, we didn’t like the trouble, we weren’t paying ourselves or making substantial money and honestly too much competition for such a small town. It’s not a feasible business. But we had so many plans. And wasted a lot of money and time trying to get this place out the gutter. Massive fingers up to the police, licensing and those who relentlessly tried to destruct us.