Road Trip from England to Scotland

Between the Peak District and the Lake District you would ideally add an extra night in the Yorkshire Dales.

As this is a road trip, not just A to B the way to leave Chatsworth is on the A57 Snake Pass- a real driver's road, the classic way over the High Peak. The road is moving (literally, like the Mam Tor road decades ago, it may not be there for ever, the County Council are currently talking about a Mam Tor solution- abandoning the road). From Glossop the M67 and M60 across the top of Manchester, then the M65 to it's end at Colne where you pick up the A59 to Skipton. If the traffic has been kind to you that should be around 2hr30 in. so Skipton is an ideal place for lunch.
From Skipton the A65 is the obvious way to the Lake District- 1 hour 30 to Windermere. But you really should have stops in Ingleton and Kirkby Lonsdale. Personally if I took the A65 route I would be tempted to turn off at the Devil's Bridge (Kirkby Lonsdale) and take the A683 up to Sedbergh to join the A684- for me a more scenic if slower road.

However the scenic way from Skipton is up Wharfedale and Wensleydale on the B roads to Aysgarth then the A684 to Kendal and the Lakes. Lots of possible stops (planned and unplanned) on that route. As a through route, no stops it is around 2 hrs 30 minutes that way, but I challenge anyone (even me who knows the area like the back of my hand) to do it straight through. At the very least you want to have stops in Grassington, Aysgarth, Hawes and Sedbergh.
The Grassington area is where I would add an overnight stop, time permitting.

So routing via the Snake and the Dales around 5 hours of driving.

If this was just A to B I would say Snake Pass-M67-M60-M61-M6 which would be 3 hours give or take, with a stop at Carnforth Railway Station (Brief Encounter etc) .
For pure A to B functionality the old A6 to Stockport via Buxton then the Motorway system is the most efficient route at 2 hrs 30 minutes to Windermere. With good traffic and using the Motorways to their full potential you should be able to knock that down to about 2:15 in my view, but no fun in that.

You are right to describe this as a road trip as you will be spending a lot of time in your car.... A one night stay only allows for a few hours to explore a place. I think you are understimating distances and driving times. They may not look far compared with the States but will take a lot longer to cover than you might expect. Driving in the UK can be slow and motorway driving can be very boring.

My personal advice (and it is mine as what I like may be completely different to what you like....) is to cut back on the number of stops. There is a danger of ending up seeing very little of anything. Definitely cut out Dublin and allocate that time to Scotland. In fact I might also suggest cutting out London and flying to Manchester and begin with Chatsworth and the Peak District - a much under rated part of England and not yet discovered by the tourists. Then head to the Lakes - isn31c has given a lovely route and you could easily break journey and spend (at least) one night in the Dales before reaching the lakes. Then head to Scotland and fly back to the States from Scotland

You don’t want a car in London, so if Cambrige is a must think about catching the train there and picking up a hire car when you leave. To be honest I wonder if the few hours you have in Cambridge whether it is worth it.

Cambridge to Chatsworth is going to be 3-4 hours drive. Allowing for parking up comfort stop and then walking to the house is going to be another 30 minutes. Are you planning on anything to eat - if so that could be another hour... The house and grounds are magnificent and you could easily spend a whole day there. Again I think you are short changing it, especially as it is expensive...

Lake District - effectively only just over a day and a bit to explore.

Lakes to Fort William - this is going to be nearly a full day in the car. Rather than do a one night stop in Fort William think about heading directly to Inverness. Alternatively think about an overnight in Oban and build in a day trip to Mull (scenically nearly as good as Skye).

A day trip from Inverness to Skye means 6-7 hours in the car PLUS any time for stops.... Other ideas from Inverness include Culloden and Clava Cairns, Fort George, Dunrobin Castle, Glen Affric ( possibly one of the prettiest glens), The Black Isle....

I agree that you’ve got so much driving time that you won’t make the most of any of your destinations.

Road trips for pleasure are not really a British concept. Driving here is slow and stressful and is generally only seen as a means for getting from a to b. We’re also densely populated so you don’t need to cover large distances to see new and interesting things. By driving for 3-4 hours you’re skipping over a lot of things that you could enjoy in favour of spending more time in the car. As noted above, when you drive from Chatsworth to the Lakes you miss out the whole of Yorkshire!

Another thought, there are Inverness to Belfast City flights, then at least 3 buses an hour, or the hourly train to Dublin.
That maximises your time in the Highlands.
Or open jaw flight returning from Inverness on a connecting flight via Heathrow.
Booked on the same ticket flying out of Inverness avoids Air Passenger Duty.

We did a four week drive tour of England and S. Wales in 2017 and did the Lake District, Yorkshire Moors, Hadrian's Wall, York and Durham in the north of England.

Personally, I liked the Yorkshire Moors, York and Durham more than the Lake District.

Thank you so much for that helpful information everyone! And thanks for the route suggestions isn31c…that is definitely something to consider…and helpful :-) I do like the idea of staying one night around Yorkshire.

That is a lot of driving. If google maps says a route takes 2 hours, assuming at least 3 maybe 4. Major roads (M roads and some A roads) are double lane divided, but usually crowded and few and far between. B roads may be single track 2 way traffic so you are going slow. B roads that are 2 lanes are usually 2 narrow lane. Nothing like US roads. Even some A roads can be pretty narrow. Your chosen sites are not on major roads. Having driven in the Lake District, the roads are challenging and often crowded due to the number of tourists. You get no where fast.

I disagree with the whole "double the Google Maps times" thing. We found Google gave driving time estimates that were fairly accurate, within say 15%. Then again, I hew pretty closely to the speed limit, or even a few mph above. Never enough to get a ticket, though; 3-4 mph above mark is pretty safe.

Hi Jonna
Have you found Undiscovered Scotland's website? It has an interactive map where you can find more information about areas that interest you. Check out the links to areas around Inverness for possible day trips.
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/

We did this driving tour in late September. It had rained hard days prior and both Rogie Falls & Corrieshalloch Gorge were spectacular. We had lunch at a lovely community cafe in Gairloch.
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ustours/gairloch-poolewe/index.html

From Inverness we also visited Elgin Cathedral ruins, Rutherven Barracks with its fascinating legend (see below), Highland Folk Museum, Clava Cairns, Culloden Battlefield, Beauly Priory ruins to name a few visits.

In you would enjoy a bit of walking the Walkhighlands website is a great resource. The below link describes a few short lovely walks nearby Inverness although there are many more...
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/aviemore.shtml

** The legend: According to legend, a visitor to Ruthven Castle in 1394 challenged Alexander Stewart to a game of chess. The visitor was dressed in black, and by morning, no one was left alive in the castle. The story goes that Stewart played with the devil, and the shades of Stewart and his followers still haunt the place, playing chess with the devil.wonderful story about Alexander Stewart and a mysterious stranger)

You will love Scotland!

Thank you so much for that interactive map Diane! We will definitely look at that...I can see that being very helpful for Scotland! :-)
I appreciate all of the suggestions!

Google maps is accurate until it’s not.

It assesses the length of your journey based on traffic as it when you start travelling and probably some algorithmic stuff. If conditions are fairly typical it will be very accurate. Often though conditions are not typical and the journey takes much longer.

If you are using Google maps to plan, make sure you adjust the time of day to match the journey.

But the thing about driving in the UK is how quickly things can snarl up.

I used to have to drive from the Midlands to Manchester a lot up the M6 (coming back late at night so train travel wasn’t possible). It can take 2.5 hours - and alll things being equal, that’s the time Google Maps might predict. But if there was a minor accident, the whole system can grind to a halt. I once left at midday for a 6pm job, imagining that I could park up then spend a nice couple of hours in the city centre. A lorry shed its load, blocking a couple of lanes, and my journey took six hours. Thank goodness I’d left so much time for my journey.

I agree with all of the above who say that this is a LOT of driving over a large area in a relatively short amount of time. I would strongly suggest leaving out Dublin, as that just adds more travel and less time to see places. Is there any way you can add more time to your trip? You are trying to see half the country in just 12 days. I understand the desire to do so, but you will appreciate everything much more if you slow down.

If it were me, I would skip the Lake District, which is pretty but nothing compare to the other places like the Peak District and Yorkshire. My opinion, of course. And it's less out of your way to get to Scotland. Or just head up to Scotland from The Peak and maybe make a stop in Northumberland, which is highly underrated by tourists but has some incredible scenery, castles, and places like Holy Island that are wonderful.